BLU-RAY REVIEW

Prison Break: Season Three

Featured In Issue 135, October 2008

Picture3.5
SoundNR
WSR Score4
Basic Information on new release titles is posted as soon as titles are announced. Once reviewed, additional data is added to the database.
(Studio/Distributor):
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
(Catalog Number):
2254098
(MPAA Rating):
Not Rated
(Rating Reason):
NA
(Retail Price):
$79.98
(Disc Type):
Four-Disc Set: BD-50 & BD-25
(Widescreen Edition):
Yes
(Full Screen Edition):
No
(Running Time In Minutes):
565
(Color Type):
Color
(Chaptered/Scene Access):
Yes
(Closed Captioned):
Yes
(Regional Coding):
Not Indicated
(Theatrical Year):
2007
(Theatrical Release):
No
(Direct-To-Video Release):
No
(Disc Release Date):
08/12/08
(THX® Digitally Mastered):
No
(Director):
Kevin Hooks, Bobby Roth, Milan Cheylov, Michael Switzer, Karen Gaviola, Vincent Misiano, Bobby Roth, Craig Ross, Greg Yaitanes & Nelson McCormick
(Screenplay/Written By):
(Story):
(Music):
(Director Of Photography):
(Production Designer):
(Visual Effects):
(Costume Designer):
(Editor):
(Supervising Sound Editors):
(Re-Recording Mixers):
(Executive Producers):
(Co-Producers):
(Producers):
(Academy Awards):
(Principal Photography):
(Theatrical Aspect Ratio):
(Measured Disc Aspect Ratio):
(Disc Soundtrack):
DTS HD Lossless 5.1
(Theatrical Sound):
(Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):
(DTS Bit Rate):
(Dolby Digital Bit Rate):
(Additional Languages):
(French Language):
(Spanish Language):
(Chinese Language):
(Subtitles):
(Cantonese Language):
(Mandarin Language):
(Japanese Language):
(Italian Language):
(German Language):
(Portuguese Language):

After managing to escape from prison in Season One and barely staying one step ahead of the law in most of the second year, Michael Scofield (Miller) was captured yet again at the end of Season Two. Now Prison Break: Season Three finds not only Scofield, but also sleazeball T-Bag (Knepper), former guard Brad Bellick (Williams), and FBI Agent Mahone (Fichtner) all inside the same Panamonian hell hole. This time it's up to Michael's brother Lincoln (Purcell) to be the mastermind and help break him out of jail. (Tricia Spears)

Special features are on the last disc of the Four-Disc set and include the 17-minute Season 3: Orientacion and 13-minute Break Out Episode featurettes.

There are better-looking TV shows on DVD, but the anamorphically enhanced 1.78:1 picture generally delivers sharp images with deep black levels and balanced fleshtones. There is a distracting amount of noise in darker scenes, and near-black information is lost in the darkest areas. Colors are naturally saturated, and contrast seems accurate. The image can be digitally harsh at times, and noticeable—but not overly distracting—edge enhancement is used. The H.264 AVC-encoded Blu-ray Disc is not as sharp as the best high-definition releases are, with fine details looking soft and poorly defined. Black levels are deep, but shadow detail can be clipped. Noise can be visible at random times throughout, and it appears like there is some edge enhancement used. (Danny Richelieu)

The Dolby® Digital 5.1-channel soundtrack features a soundtrack that is typical of most "prime time" shows, basic. The center channel dominates the mix, and the front stage has almost no width to it. The surround channels are rather unaggressive, but there are occasions when effects are effectively delivered through them. The LFE channel is rarely used, but bass is well defined. There is audible imaging in the surrounds at times, but it is difficult to hear in the side and front walls. Dialogue occasionally sounds forward, but fidelity is generally good and dynamic range is wide. The Blu-ray Disc's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio™ encoding is overly bright, with dialogue that can be strident. Fidelity is somewhat limited, as audio can sound harsh and digitized, and effects will sound muddled at times. But the noise floor is low and dynamic range is adequate. (Danny Richelieu)