Supergirl : The Complete First Season Blu Ray Review
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the DVD I reviewed in this Blog Post. The opinions I share are my own.
All-New Extras Include Featurettes, Comic-Con Panel,
Deleted Scenes and a Gag Reel! Own It On Blu-ray™ & DVD August 9, 2016
BURBANK, CA (June 2, 2016) – A new Super Hero will soon be flying into homes, as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment releases Supergirl: The Complete First Season on Blu-rayTM and DVD on August 9, 2016. Delivering 10.9 million Total Viewers weekly, Supergirl is the #2 series on CBS amongst Men 18-49, just behind The Big Bang Theory and a Top 5 series on the network with Men 18-34, Men 25-54 and Tweens 12-17*. Fans can purchase the set which, in addition to all 20 exhilarating episodes, contains over an hour of extra content, including the 2015 Comic-Con panel, featurettes, deleted scenes and a gag reel. Supergirl: The Complete First Season is priced to own at $49.99 SRP for the DVD and $54.97 SRP for the Blu-ray including Digital HD. Supergirl: The Complete First Season is also available to own on Digital HD via purchase from digital retailers.
*Source: Nielsen National TV View L+7 US AA%; excluding repeats, specials, sports, and <5 TCs; Season To-Date = 9/21/15-2/7/16
Born on the doomed planet Krypton, Kara Zor-El escaped at the same time as her cousin, Superman, but didn’t arrive on Earth until years later after being lost in the Phantom Zone. Raised by her adopted family, the Danvers, Kara grew up in the shadow of her foster sister, Alex, and learned to hide the phenomenal powers she shares with her famous cousin. Years later, at age 24, and now living in National City while working as an assistant for Catco Worldwide Media mogul Cat Grant, Kara has spent so many years trying to fit in that she forgot to ever stand out. All that changes when she decides to embrace her superhuman abilities and become the hero she was always destined to be. With the help of Daily Planet photographer James Olsen, her bioengineer sister Alex, and the research of the super-secret, off-the-grid Department of Extra-Normal Operations (DEO), who are tasked with keeping the Earth safe from aliens, Kara takes to the skies to protect her world. (TBC)
With Blu-ray’s unsurpassed picture and sound, the Blu-ray release of Supergirl: The Complete First Season will include 1080p Full HD Video with DTS-HD Master Audio for English 5.1. The 4-disc Blu-ray will feature a high-definition Blu-ray and a Digital HD copy of all 20 episodes from season one.
Supergirl stars Melissa Benoist (Glee), Chyler Leigh (Grey’s Anatomy), Mehcad Brooks (About Last Night) and Jeremy Jordan (Smash), with David Harewood (Homeland) and Calista Flockhart (Brothers and Sisters). Season One guest stars include Dean Cain, Peter Facinelli, Jenna Dewan Tatum, Laura Benanti and Helen Slater. Based on the characters from DC Comics, Supergirl is produced by Berlanti Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television, with executive producers Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, Ali Adler and Sarah Schechter.
BLU-RAY & DVD FEATURES
- 2015 Comic-Con Panel: Warner Bros. Television Presents a Night of DC Entertainment at Comic-Con 2015: Supergirl
- The Man From Mars: Superman once described J’onn J’onzz as “the most powerful being on the face of the Earth.” This documentary will explore J’onn J’onzz’s current circumstances on Supergirl as the alien who swore an oath to a dying father to protect his daughters.
- A World Left Behind: Krypton: Kara Zor-El’s home planet of Krypton was destroyed in the opening minutes of the pilot. It was a spectacular, futuristic society filled with mystery and intrigue! This documentary will explore the history of this famous planet and its role and depiction in Supergirl.
- Gag Reel
- Deleted Scenes
20 ONE-HOUR EPISODES
- Pilot
- Stronger Together
- Fight or Flight
- How Does She Do It?
- Livewire
- Red Faced
- Human for a Day
- Hostile Takeover
- Blood Bonds
- Childish Things
- Strange Visitor from Another Planet
- Bizarro
- For the Girl Who Has Everything
- Truth, Justice and The American Way
- Solitude
- Falling
- Manhunter
- Worlds Finest
- Myriad
- Better Angels
DIGITAL HD
The first season of Supergirl is also currently available to own on Digital HD. Digital HD allows consumers to instantly stream and download all episodes to watch anywhere and anytime on their favorite devices. Digital HD is available from various digital retailers including Amazon Video, CinemaNow, iTunes, PlayStation, Vudu, Xbox and others. A Digital HD copy is also included with the purchase of specially marked Blu-ray discs for redemption and cloud storage through participating UltraViolet retail services including CinemaNow, Vudu and Flixster Video.
BASICS
Street Date: August 9, 2016
BD and DVD Presented in 16×9 widescreen format
Running Time: Feature: Approx 880 min
Enhanced Content: Approx 39 min
DVD
Price: $49.99 SRP
5 DVD-9s
Audio – English (5.1)
Subtitles – Eng SDH, Latin Spanish, French
BLU-RAY
Price: $54.97 SRP
4-Disc Elite 3 BD-50s
BD Audio –DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 – English
BD Subtitles – ESDH, French, Latin Spanish
About Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Inc.:
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (WBHE) brings together Warner Bros. Entertainment’s home video, digital distribution and interactive entertainment businesses in order to maximize current and next-generation distribution scenarios. An industry leader since its inception, WBHE oversees the global distribution of content through packaged goods (Blu-ray Disc™ and DVD) and digital media in the form of electronic sell-through and video-on-demand via cable, satellite, online and mobile channels, and is a significant developer and publisher for console and online video game titles worldwide. WBHE distributes its product through third party retail partners and licensees.
About DC Entertainment
DC Entertainment, home to iconic brands DC (Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Flash, etc.), Vertigo (Sandman, Fables, etc.) and MAD, is the creative division charged with strategically integrating across Warner Bros. and Time Warner. DC Entertainment works in concert with many key Warner Bros. divisions to unleash its stories and characters across all media, including but not limited to film, television, consumer products, home entertainment, and interactive games. Publishing thousands of comic books, graphic novels and magazines each year, DC Entertainment is one of the largest English-language publishers of comics in the world.
Supergirl and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © DC Comics.
Season One Review (Courtesy of Gabriel Alcantara):
Quick, little disclaimer… I don’t know what I’m doing here. I have never written a review for an entire season of a television show. Hell, I can barely get through with reviewing one damned episode of a show. However, the Menzel’s asked me to help them out, and because we have a grand history with each other – basically, I owe them – I agreed to get behind my keyboard and pimp out a few reviews, starting with this one; the first season of Supergirl. So, forgive me if this review is weak, all over the place, and I miss important factors and incidents of the show. It’s kind of hard for me to remember everything that happened in a 20+ episode season I finished watching a few months ago. Oh, well, let’s give this a shot.
Oh, yeah, SPOILERS will be in this review.
So obviously this first season was the origin story of Supergirl. We saw her try to blend in with society as she worked a normal job at CatCo Worldwide Media under the identity of Kara Danvers, masking her super powers and abilities until she instinctively decides to prevent a damaged plane carrying her adopted sister, Alex from crashing. After that incident, she decides she wants to use her powers to save people and fight crime like her cousin, Kal-El aka Superman. Like every superhero original story, we see Kara learn how to master her abilities while still trying to have a somewhat normal life. Kara fights a variety of villainy throughout the season which ranges from petty bank robbers and thieves to very powerful metahumans and alien intruders, including her militant Kryptonian aunt, Astra In-Ze and her husband, Non. Kara is not alone in her fight. With her sister, Alex being an agent In the DEO, a secret government organization that specializes in containing extraterrestrial threats under the supervision of Hank Henshaw – who’s actually an alien named J’onn J’onzz aka the Martian Manhunter – she has all the backup she needs. Not to mention her good friends at CatCo, Winn Schott Jr. and Jimmy Olsen who are aware of her identity, and assist her in her superhero duties. They all make Supergirl a little extra super.
Of course, witnessing and caring about the progression and journey of Supergirl is highly dependent on a competent actress that will portray the Girl of Steel properly. Fortunately, we have the perfect actress, who is also the show’s greatest strength, Melissa Benoist. I think in the back of our minds we all knew she was the perfect choice when they released the first image of her confidently posing in her Supergirl outfit. She’s just so damn cute and hella likable. Adorable, in fact. The way she plays this character feels like it was destiny just waiting (for a long time) to happen. I was instantly invested in her journey in both an excited and emotional level. She plays the character as a humble being who just wants to belong in the world and do right by her abilities. Supergirl makes mistakes in her early adventures, and it’s refreshing to see a superpowered character realize her faults and improve on them without sounding like a hopeless case. She’s also genuinely courageous, putting herself in danger in an episode when she loses her powers. Yes sir, Melissa Benoist has taken ownership of this character on the TV screen and has earned every bit of praise she gets.
In addition to Benoist, what made season one of Supergirl fun to watch was its uplifting, light-hearted tone and its genuine sense of adventure. There were many times I felt the same escapist feel I have when I read a light-hearted comic book. While each episode had its share of intense moments and some dramatic themes, I was always satisfied and felt good by each episode’s end. The beautiful, eye-popping colors and visuals certainly added to the viewing experience. There are times when the show gets quite corny, no doubt. The famous crossover episode “World’s Finest” featuring The Flash, which was a cute episode, is a good example of that. While it’s okay to be tongue-in-cheek, seeing hundreds of the city’s citizens stand against the villains saying they stand with Supergirl seemed a like a really silly and dated scenario. You do get the message of hope constantly shoved in your face during this season. It’s welcomed in most cases, but it gets cheesy at some point. The main point is, while I enjoy gritty comic book based TV shows for the most part, Supergirl is refreshingly sweet and rewarding in its tone.
I rather enjoy the characters of this show, some more than other, obviously, but everybody has something to offer. Alex Danvers (played by Chyler Leigh) is tough but compassionate, smart and ambitious. I love the sister dynamic her and Kara have. Jimmy Olsen (Mehcad Brooks), a drastically different interpretation of the famous character, but has a highly likable presence. He very assertive and courageous, but gets very nervous around Kara, whom he has a crush on. She also has a crush on him, sooo… Winn (Jeremy Jordan) is the typical nerdy fellow, stuck in the friendzone with Kara, but is a valuable part of their team. Henshaw aka J’onn J’onzz (David Harewood) is a great leader type. Later he forms a powerful connection with Kara and Alex. And then there’s Cat Grant, Kara’s boss. Man, I thought I was going to hate this character. Fortunately, I was wrong because Calista Flockhart is flawless as this sharp tongued, self-righteous character. Cat Grant delivered some excellent one-liners, but she provided so much more than laughs. Her character had some really good development, and her relationship with Kara was at times quite powerful and rewarding to watch. Kara looked up to Cat as a power figure and would often be inspired by her ability to always move forward.
Like every lighthearted network TV show, the theme of friendship, family and love is apparent throughout the season. I loved the relationships the characters have with each other and the teamwork they display with one another, but it did somewhat annoy me that they had to bring in the romantic element with Kara and Jimmy in this season. I get that it was important for Kara to display that very human aspect of her character but it sometimes felt like there were much bigger things at stake than falling in love. And of course, you gotta have love triangles, right? Kara is in love with Jimmy, he with her, but he’s in a complicated relationship with Lucy Lane (Jenna Dewan-Tatum), yes, Lois Lane’s sister, and a major in the United States Army, and poor Winn doesn’t stand a chance with anyone. Well, until he hooks up with the office nemesis of Kara who would eventually become a super villain. The romance between Kara and Jimmy was always going to be part of the series, but it needed more time to manifest itself before they officially hooked up.
This season had a surprise amount of action, which pleased me. It wasn’t always about powerful beings using their powers against each other, no, there were punches and kicks being thrown. The fight choreography was quite good. Obviously not on the level of something like Arrow, but still, very exciting stuff. The visual effects were pretty damn awesome for Network TV standards. That’s probably because each episode had a hefty budget, which has been reduced significantly since the show has moved from CBS to The CW. So we’ll see how that ends up. But as far as season one is concerned, every shot of Supergirl flying was a grand sight, the design and movements of J’onn J’onzz were amazing, and many of the superpowered fights scenes had a spectacular comic book quality.
In terms of writing, this is probably where I should be more critical, but the truth is, I don’t have too much knowledge on the Supergirl character, so I can’t really compare this show to much of anything else except for that terrible 80’s film with Helen Slater – She has a recurring role as Eliza Danvers – and the Supergirl played by the very sexy Laura Vandervoot – She plays a villain known as Indigo in this season – on the seventh season of Smallville. The truth is, I don’t take this show too seriously, and sometimes, it ends up surprising me with it’s twists and Developments. I will admit that most of the villains are underdeveloped and have that typical “villain of the week” vibe. Astra and Non were the main villains of Supergirl season one, and I never really felt like they were very threatening. They seemed better at posturing their villainy than truly showing it. Even though Supergirl will always prevail, it didn’t often seem like she would have anything too challenging to prevent her from doing so. Maxwell Lord (Peter Facinelli), a human adversary in the vain of Lex Luthor, but not nearly as menacing, was often entertaining to watch as an arrogant tech mogul, but it didn’t seem like the writers knew what to do with him by the season’s end.
Season one of Supergirl was basically the starter pack for a much bigger upcoming event, I’m sure. Its flaws were expected, but I feel like the character, the show will evolve. I feel this is a great show to watch week after week or bingewatch, because it’s just so much fun. You can forgive its shortcomings because it’s a show that’s simply finding its footing, and because the cast is so likable. I am very optimistic for the next season, especially since it’s now on The CW with Arrow and The Flash where it truly belongs. Not to mention, Kara’s cousin, Superman, will be making some appearances.
Supergirl is a character that DC and Warner Bros. has had trouble bringing to life in the past in both on screen and in the comics. However, this show and the talent of Melissa Benoist have finally made sure she can sore high above the clouds.
A-
The Blu-Ray Review:
The Blu Ray Season has three discs.
The first disc has episodes 1- 7 with deleted scenes for Red Faced.
Disc Two has episodes 8-14 with deleted scenes for Hostile Takeover, Blood Bonds, Strange Visitor from Another Planet, and For the Girl Who Has Everything.
Disc Three has episodes 15- 20 with deleted scenes for Solitude, Falling, Manhunter, and World’s Finest. This disc also contains the special features: Supergirl: The 2015 Comic-Con Panel, The Man from Mars, A World Left Behind: Krypton and the Gag Reel. The Man from Mars gives us an inside look at J’onn J’onnz, the most powerful being on Earth. A World Left Behind: Krypton gives the fans a look at the planet from which Kara Zor-El comes.
