- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Video Codec: VC-1
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
- Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
- Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
- Region: ABC (Region-Free)
- Rating: Not Rated
- Run Time: 1032 Mins.
- Discs: 4 (4 x Blu-ray)
- Studio: Warner Home Video
- Blu-ray Release Date: October 11th, 2011
- List Price: $69.99
[amazon-product]B003R0MF5S[/amazon-product]
Purchase Chuck: The Complete Fourth Season on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(Screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG thus are meant as a general representation of the content and do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
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The Film
[Rating:4/5]
In this fourth season of the series, we find Chuck working for the CIA again, despite informing Ellie otherwise. Chuck and Morgan also are determined to find Chuck’s mother (Linda Hamilton), who has been working for Alexei Volkoff (Timothy Dalton). Sara and Chuck try to grow closer, despite their communication being rocky at best. Morgan begins dating Casey’s daughter Alex, much to the chagrin of John. Oh and of course other recurring characters in Lester, Jeff, Dr. Devon “Awesome” Woodcomb, “Big Mike” all return to add humor to the situations found within.
I’ve always had a fond place for the writing of Josh Schwartz. Ever since watching the 1st season of Chuck, I’ve since gone on to watch his highly underrated series The O.C. (it’s not JUST about teens in the OC) as well as subsequent seasons of Chuck. Throughout all his series, there’s one aspect of his writing that remains constant. Schwartz knows how to capture the emotions of each and every character in a manner that is top notch. Take for instance Chuck. At first glance he may come off as a bumbling geek, separated from the world because of his oddities. As the series progresses, we learn Chuck is the exact opposite. A family man with a big heart that will do anything for those in and around his life. Schwartz has a keen style of writing, one that makes each character feel special, the kind of character we want to remember.
Minus his character development, Schwartz also adds humor and wit to each sequence. Perhaps because I’m such a fan of the series, I’m labeling this review with accolade after accolade. Do note though that I will never say Chuck is the greatest series ever created. Chuck isn’t that and never will be. It’s a great show simply because the episodes handle all ranges from funny to sad, from charming to witty. And that’s all we can really ask for a series.
Video Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Chuck arrives on 4 BD-50 VC-1 encoded Blu-ray Discs that average 33.97GB per disc. With that said, Chuck‘s hi-def transfer over the previous three seasons has been good but nothing amazing. While I did find the same lingering issues in this 4th season (varying colors look great in one sequence and flat in others), I found they weren’t as problematic this 4th time around. While I did mention the colors a bit, this season’s palette contains more consistency than before. Colors are more vibrant, not as bland, more steady, less dull. Grain is still present through, but more a fine layer nothing overly obtrusive. DNR was an issue in previous seasons (more the 1st), but no sequence or character looked overly ‘glossy’.
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Chuck: The Complete Fourth Season arrives with a (FINALLY) lossless English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. While Warner has been lambasted for not supporting lossless tracks on their TV releases, I was very pleased to see a lossless offering on this 4th season. Putting aside my excitement, I found that a lossless track is a solid upgrade. Do note that this is a fairly front heavy mix only occasionally opening up the atmospherics. LFE is mostly subdued rarely giving anything more than a subtle rumble. Dynamics are reserved for moments via musical keys or background activity like gun shots or other characters. Minus that, the audio quality is only ‘so’ good here. I would have given this a 3/5 but decided to pump it up to a 3.5/5 duly in support of Warner finally using lossless audio. I’m sure fans will be pleased.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
The supplements provided on this release are:
Disc 1:
- Deleted Scenes on Episodes ‘Chuck Versus the Anniversay’, ‘Chuck Versus the Cubic Z’, ‘Chuck Versus the Coup d’Etat’ and ‘Chuck Versus the Couch Lock’.
- Buy Hard: The Jeff and Lester Story – 5-Episode chronicle of their quest for an Elusive Video Game.
Disc 2:
- Deleted Scenes on Episodes ‘Chuck Versus the First Fight’, ‘Chuck Versus the Fear of Death’, ‘Chuck Versus the Leftovers’ and ‘Chuck Versus the Balcony’.
- Top-Secret Chuckipedia
Disc 3:
- Deleted Scenes on Episodes ‘Chuck Versus the Push Mix’ and ‘Chuck Versus the Seduction Impossible’.
- Spying on the Chuck Cast – Operation Gomez
Disc 4:
- Deleted Scenes on Episodes ‘Chuck Versus the Wedding Planner’, ‘Chuck Versus Agent X’ and ‘Chuck Versus the Cliffhanger’.
- Chuck Versus Directing – Zachary Levi Takes Charge on ‘Chuck Versus the Leftovers’.
- Gag Reel
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:3.5/5]
This isn’t the kind of title you’re going to blindly buy one day. Being in the fans category, I found the video to be serviceable, audio improved and features interesting enough to warrant a recommendation.
Additional Screen Captures
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[amazon-product]B003R0MF5S[/amazon-product]
Purchase Chuck: The Complete Fourth Season on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2/5]
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