BLU-RAY REVIEW

LOST: The Complete First Season

Featured In Issue 142, September 2009

Picture4
Sound4
WSR Score5
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):
Walt Disney Home Entertainment
(Catalog Number):
100834
(MPAA Rating):
TV14
(Rating Reason):
(Retail Price):
$$69.99
(Disc Type):
7 Disc Set: Single Side, Dual Layer (BD-50)
(Widescreen Edition):
Yes
(Full Screen Edition):
No
(Running Time In Minutes):
1,070
(Color Type):
Color
(Chaptered/Scene Access):
Yes
(Closed Captioned):
Yes
(Regional Coding):
A
(Theatrical Year):
NA
(Theatrical Release):
No
(Direct-To-Video Release):
No
(Disc Release Date):
06/16/09
(THX® Digitally Mastered):
No
(Director):
J.J. Abrams, Jack Bender, Kevin Hooks, Michael Zinberg, Tucker Gates, Greg Yaitanes, Marita Grabiak, Stephen Williams, Rod Holcomb, Daniel Attias, Robert Mandel & David Grossman
(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):
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, 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):

A group of passengers find themselves Lost after their plane crashes on a deserted island in Season 1 of the ABC hit series. With no one else to depend on but each other, the different personalities find themselves having to rely on complete strangers to get through the day-to-day uncertainties that life has thrown their way. (Tricia Spears)

Like the previously reviewed DVDs, five episodes include cast and crew audio commentary: On Disc One—Pilots-Part 1 and 2, with Executive Producers J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof, and Bryan Burk; and Walkabout, with Executive Producer Jack Bender, Co-Executive Producer David Fury, and Co-star Terry O'Quinn; Disc Two—The Moth, with Executive Producers Damon Lindelof and Bryan Burk and Co-star Dominic Monaghan; and Disc Four—Hearts And Minds with Executive Producer Carlton Cuse, Supervising Producer Javier Grillo-Marxuach, and Co-stars Maggie Grace and Ian Sommerhalder. Additional special features, on Disc Seven, include a seven-part series of standard-definition featurettes named Departure (The Genesis Of Lost, 08:40; Designing A Disaster, 07:59; Before They Were Lost, 23:01; Audition Tapes of 13 actors; Welcome To Oahu: The Making Of The Pilot, 33:22; The Art Of Matthew Fox, 06:07; and Lost @ ComiCon, 01:50); Tales From The Island, which includes Lost: On Location, thoughts and explanations on the episodes, The Trouble With Boars (SD 05:20), White Rabbit (SD 3:20), House Of The Rising Sun (SD 07:19), The Moth (SD 01:48), Confidence Man (SD, 04:24), All The Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues (04:55), Whatever The Case May Be (SD 02:57), Hearts And Minds (SD, 06:21), Special (SD 03:05), and Exodus (SD 09:21) as well as On Set With Jimmy Kimmel (SD 07:15) and Backstage With Driveshaft (SD 06:40); and "Lost Revealed," which includes two Lost Flashbacks from the season finale: At The Airport: Claire (SD 03:07) and At The Airport: Sayid (SD 01:28), 13 deleted scenes (SD 16:24), bloopers (SD 04:17), Live From The Museum Of Television & Radio (SD 10:56), which is an excerpt held at the Directors Guild of America, and Flashbacks & Mythology (SD 07:28), a featurette on the use of flashbacks and mythology in the series. (Danny Richelieu)

The H.264 AVC-encoded picture can look fantastic, with often sharp and nicely detailed images. Contrast and shadow delineation are presented with excellent balance. Colors are richly saturated and nicely balanced throughout, with lush greens, sunbaked fleshtones, and deep blacks. Unfortunately, there is some minor smearing in some scenes that slightly takes away from the presentation. Still, other scenes are quite impressive. Overall, the experience is enjoyable enough to engage you in this fantastic television series. (Danny Richelieu)

Although the mix is rather basic, the DTS-HD Master Audio™ 5.1-channel soundtracks do sound rather good, with a good use of the LFE channel to accentuate tense moments, and an okay use of the surrounds to add dimensionality to the soundstage. True localization of effects in the surroundfield are limited, as a mono signal is typically sent to both surround channels. Dialogue is recorded well, matching on-screen environments for most of the presentation, but some small amounts of sibilance can make it sound slightly bright. Overall, the soundtracks will keep you involved in the storyline. (Danny Richelieu)