Release date: July 28, 2009
MSRP: $48.99 (DVD), $69.99 (blu-ray)
Stars: Eliza Dushku, Harry J. Lennix, Tahmoh Penikett, Fran Kranz, Enver Gjokaj
Did Dollhouse start slowly?
Oh yeah!
It was only my faith in Joss Whedon and my Editor’s even greater faith that kept me keeping on. Good. It has raised the ante by several times and it has turned into a real thriller/who dun it, who’s the inside man (or woman, my bet) What is Alpha ( Alan Tudyk of Firefly, playing Wash on steroids and then just the steroids. Nice piece of work I didn’t see coming) and just what exactly the hell is going on here?
For those of you who don’t know, the Dollhouse is an seemingly huge company that finds people in trouble, legal trouble not apparently other kinds, and make it go away if you sign a five year contract after which they erase your memory and personality and program you for whatever job they have. Concubine, spy, hostage negotiator, gigolo, what have you. Thus there are several stories going on at once. The jobs. the dolls, in the main Echo/Caroline played by Buffy the Vampire Slayer alum Eliza Dushku, the FBI Agent everyone keeps telling the Dollhouse is an urban myth, and management, fronted beautifully by snooty English babe Olivia Williams.
It is a different and damn good watch. By the end of season one, you can’t help but pine for more!
Video (Blu-ray):
Dollhouse is blessed with a nice 1080p MPEG-4 transfer, with a 1.78:1 ratio. The picture is very clean with vivid colors. Black levels are excellent with nice contrast. The final ep was shot with a lower budget and it shows, especially on the Blu-ray version.
Audio:
The Blu-ray comes with 5.1 DTS-HD audio. The show certainly takes advantage of it. Not only do you notice the music and action scenes, but the backgorund sounds as well. There were some moments where the dialogue seemed a bit low, but not enough to be a real issue.
Subtitles are presented in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese.
The extras include an enjoyable group of featurettes as well as three commentary tracks.
Lee Crawford
For more reviews from Lee, and the rest of the Crimespree crew, check out the index of reviews.
