Falling Skies- The Complete Series Blu-ray Review
“Falling Skies” never quite lands.
In between “ER” and the award winning “The Pitt,” Noah Wyle starred in and produced the TNT alien invasion series “Falling Skies” which ran for 5 seasons. The series takes place six months after the invasion of Earth by alien beings known as Mechs and Skitters. The bulk of the series involves the battle between aliens and the human resistance. Of course, there’s a lot of character drama with the leads Tom, Hal, Dan, John Pope, Ben, Maggie, Karen, Lourdes, Anthony, Anne, Sara, and Lexi.
Story wise, there are plots involving enslaved humans, alien collaborators, human armies (the Second Mass and Berserkers), other alien revelations (no spoilers here), tension between humans, surprising alien allies, The President, a birth, weapons, alien ghettos, kidnapped children, and the alien plan for humanity.
The Robert Rodat created “Falling Skies” debuted in 2011 and very much feels like a series of its time. Not only was it highly reminiscent of series like “The Walking Dead,” “V,” “Jericho,” and “Battlestar Galactica,” but it also borrows from films like “Independence Day,” Spielberg’s “War Of The Worlds” and “The Postman” (complete with cast members from that film). It attempts to be a gritty alien invasion series with a promising premise, but unfortunately it has no real identity of its own. It’s a drawn out series that wears its influences on its sleeve, it’s full of cliches, it contains endless human infighting, and it’s filled with characters doing dumb things and saying even dumber things. ‘Skies’ also strangely takes too long to get going. Not that it ever really finds its feet, but it starts improving slightly with season 3 onward. The series certainly coasts on its action spectacles which is admittedly the highlight. The alien costumes/puppets, battles, visual effects and production values (see the ship sets) are first rate here.
On the subject of the characters, the soap opera drama between them really bog the series down amid the post-apocalyptic sci-fi backdrop. There’s nothing subtle about the character drama here. From Noah Wyle’s Tom rambling about history (because he’s a history professor!) to the completely botched Lexi character, it’s hard to form any sort of attachment to the characters. The one character that was actually of interest was the alien Cochise (played by alien actor master Doug Jones). If only the series was about him!
Video/Audio:
Presentation: 1.78:1 1080p. How does it look? The series goes for an intentionally grainy and gritty style. The night scenes can look a bit iffy, but the exterior scenes in the daytime look crisp. Overall, the hi-def transfers are satisfactory.
Audio Track: Dolby TrueHD 5.1. How does it sound? The 5.1 tracks are potent (especially during action scenes).
Extras:
* Commentary on “The Armory” and “Prisoner Of War” by Greg Beeman, commentary on “What Hides Beneath” by Noah Wyle and Mark Verheiden, commentary on “Mutiny” and “Eight Hours” by Greg Beeman, Noah Wyle, and Mark Verheiden, commentary on “Worlds Apart” by Noah Wyle, Greg Beeman and Mark Verheiden, commentary on “Homecoming” by Noah Wyle, Greg Beeman and Remi Aubuchon, commentary on “Molon Labe” by Noah Wyle, Remi Aubuchon, Bradley Thompson and David Weddle, and commentary on “A More Perfect Union” by Noah Wyle, Greg Beeman, Remi Aubuchon, Bradley Thompson and David Weddle.
* “Unanswered Questions: Season 2 Sneak Peek,” a season 3 preview, and a season 2 animated trailer by Dark Horse Comics.
* “Animating A Skitter”- An featurette about the alien visual effects.
* “Falling Skies From Pencils To Print: The Dark Horse Comic Book Revealed”- A featurette on the digital comic book series.
* 2011 and 2014 San Diego Comic-Con Panels and a 2015 WonderCon panel
* 16 featurettes- “The Unknown” (about the aliens and post-apoc world), “The Second Mass” (about the survivors), “Creating The Crawlies,” “Designing The Spaceship,” “Team Skitter (about the Skitter suits), “Terry O’Quinn Is Manchester” (character featurette), “Pope Town,” “The New Charleston,” “Gloria Reuben,” “Doug Jones,” “Shout Out: Two Popes,” “Stunt Man Bradley,” “Warrior Poet: Creating The Character And Emotion Of Cochise,” “Karen: The Overlord Next Door,” “Tom Mason: A Man Of Tomorrow,”
* “One Page At A Time: Writing The 2nd American Revolution” is all about the storylines and characters in season 2.
* “The Skitter Evolution”- Featurette on the puppets, suits, and F/X.
* “The Fans’ Perspective: Touring The Set Of Falling Skies”- A look at the fans who won a contest and got the chance to tour set the set and meet cast/crew.
* “2nd Watch”- Wil Wheaton hosted web series about 5 episodes total.
* 6 episodic prequel minisodes.
* 8 character interviews
* “Inside The Episodes”- Short featurettes on all season 4 episodes.
* “Cast Goodbyes” and “A Look Back”- 2 very short farewells essentially.
* “Farewell to The Skies Featurettes”- Cast members Noah Wyle, Colin Cunningham, Doug Jones, Sarah Carter, Connor Jessup, Drew Roy and Skitter (a gag) talk about their respective characters and the storylines in the series.
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