• Aspect Ratio: 1:78:1
• Video Codec: AVC MPEG-4
• Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
• Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French DTS Digital Surround 5.1 (Seasons 5-8), French DTS Surround Sound 2.0, Spanish DTS Surround Sound 2.0
• Subtitles: English SDH, French, Latin Spanish, Norwegian, Swedish (Seasons 7-8), Finnish (Season 8.)
• Subtitles Color: White
• Region: A (B? C?)
  
• Rating: TV-MA
• Run Time: 2,575 Mins.
• Discs: 18 (18 x Blu-ray)
• Studio: HBO Home Entertainment
• Blu-ray Release Date: November 6th, 2012
• List Price: $299.99

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Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Series
[Rating:4.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]

Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures

(All TheaterByte screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG at 100% quality setting and are meant as a general representation of the content. They do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)

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The Series

[Rating:4.5/5]

Entourage, one of the biggest series to ever hit the HBO network, tells the stories of Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier), Eric (Kevin Connolly), Drama (Kevin Dillion) and Turtle (Jerry Ferrara), as they deal with Vince’s sudden rise to fame as a hot, young Hollywood actor. Loosely based on the rise of Producer Mark Wahlberg, the first few seasons find Vince and his pals adjusting to his new career by doing anything four young guys would do. Drink, flirt, spend money, and just party. All this while trying to figure out exactly what the Hollywood life offers them. After the midway point of the series (say Season 4), the show begins experimenting with more of a serious tone including the subjects of drug use, reckless spending, as well as Vince and his downfall from fame – only to rise up again thanks to a few great people in his life (like agent of Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven).

Along the way, we meet Ari Gold, Vince’s on and off agent throughout the series. Piven’s Ari is one of the best aspects and (really) makes the series worth watching from episode to episode, season to season. It’s not that the antics of Vince and his boys aren’t entertaining, it’s just after awhile, we just feel as if we’ve seen this before. Ari, on the other hand, is hilarious. He is constantly mad, one can assume at his unrelenting search for unlimited power to feed his huge ego. It’s this endless quest to be the top agent in Hollywood that drives him to sign anyone, from T.I. to Sara Silverman, to Jessica Alba (all of whom make appearances).

Speaking of stars, another enjoyable part of each episode is seeing just which celebrity will appear. While the list is wide ranging, from past celebs to current, hands down the best cameo has to be Matt Damon’s in Season 6. While I won’t give away his exact participation, I will say “Sorry, bro – He Bourned me.” says it all. Truly hilarious.

Simply put, HBO’s Entourage is purely entertaining and just a whole heck of fun. It’s one of those series that you can easily watch multiple episodes back to back without realizing you have. That, my friends, is the definition of a well made show.

Video Quality

[Rating:4/5]

Each season of Entourage arrives with its own 1:78:1 framed, AVC MPEG-4 encoded transfer. Do note each season is spread over 2 discs, with each disc roughly holding 4-5 episodes. Showcasing the Hollywood landscapes in all its glory, the series’ color palette has always had a kind of bright, hot look and feel to it. Despite this, the transfer holds a good amount of detail. Flesh tones, contrast levels and facial close-ups are excellent. Texture detail also is quite impressive. Blacks are deep and inky, with no instance of crush.  All in all, this is a fine effort from HBO.

Audio Quality

[Rating:4/5]

Each season has been awarded its own DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 offering. Dialogue is well reproduced throughout with no instance of dropout. Atmosphere, depending on the scene, can vary from quite active (during the highway driving where background cars, noise can be heard) to rather quite (some of the house chats). Musical selections do open up the sound field more adding in a good amount of LFE and surround activity. Pans between rears are invisible as well. Given HBO’s track record, this is another solid effort from them.

Supplemental Materials

[Rating:3/5]

The supplements provided on this release are broken down by each disc. Do note, there are really no ‘NEW’ features here. Rather, everything has been ported over from the prior DVD/Blu-ray releases:

• Disc 2 (Season One):

1. Behind-the-scenes interviews – This runs 10:20 and offers up interviews with Whalberg and other crew members as they chat up the first season.
2. Audio Commentaries with Creator/Executive Producer Doug Ellin and Executive Producer Larry Charles.

• Disc 4 (Season Two):

1. The Mark Whalberg Sessions – This runs 22:35 and offers up more behind-the-scenes interviews with Whalberg, as well as Grenier, Dillion, Connolly and Ferrara.

• Disc 6 (Season Three, Part 1):

1. Vegas Baby, Vegas! – This one runs 11:30 and is a glance into the making of episode 9, of which shares the same name.
2. Audio Commentaries with Creator/Executive Producer Doug Ellin, Kevin Dillion and Jerry Ferrara.

• Disc 8 (Season Three, Part 2):

1. Anatomy of Entourage – Running 11:30, this is a look into the final episode of the 3rd season, entitled ‘Adios Amigos’.
2. Museum of Television & Radio Panel – This one runs a whopping 51 minutes in length. The panel features a majority of the actors as they speak of the series thus far, while the panel itself is hosted by Critic Elvis Mitchell.
3. Audio Commentaries with Creator/Executive Producer Doug Ellin, Kevin Connolly, Kevin Dillion and Jerry Ferrara.

• Disc 10 (Season Four):

1. Making of Medellin – This runs a scant over 7 minutes in length, and details how the cast and crew filmed this ‘fake’ movie for the season’s first episode.
2. Medellin Trailer – Now this is a nice little extra here. The film’s theatrical trailer, as cheesy and epic as it is, is shown.
3. US Comedy Arts Festival Panel – Here’s another panel, again hosted by Critic Elvis Mitchell. This one runs 47 minutes and features a majority of the cast speaking of the series.
4. Audio Commentaries with Series Creator/Executive Producer Doug Ellin, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Connolly, Kevin Dillion and Jerry Ferrara.

• Disc 12 (Season Five):

1. The Celebrity Factor – This runs 10 minutes and looks into the wide ranging celebrities that have appeared on the series thus far.
2. Audio Commentaries with Doug Ellin, Jerry Ferrara, Kevin Connolly, Adrian Grenier and Ally Musika.

• Disc 14 (Season Six):

1. Life at the Top – This runs nearly 15 minutes in length and looks into the making of the sixth season via cast and crew interviews.
2. A Day at the Speedway – This is a brief 3 minute look at the racing episode.
3. ONEXONE PSA – Okay, now this may be the funniest extra including in this ENTIRE box set. Matt Damon’s very funny 4 minute PSA is definitely worth a look.
4. Audio Commentaries with Doug Ellin, Ally Musika, Jerry Ferrara, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillion, Kevin Connolly and Bob Saget.

• Disc 16 (Season Seven):

1. Inside the Hollywood Highlife – This runs 13:40 and looks into the making of the seventh season via, like other making of features, cast and crew interviews.
2. The Shades of Sasha Grey – A brief 5:47 look at the actress.
3. Audio Commentaries with Doug Ellin, Ally Musika, Jeremy Piven, Kevin Connolly, Adrian Grenier and Jerry Ferrara.

• Disc 18 (Season Eight):

1. Hollywood Sunset: A Farewell to Entourage – This runs 28:33 and is a sit down conversation with Series Creator Doug Ellin and other members of the cast and crew. Of particular interest was Mark Whalberg speaking on how his rise to fame in Hollywood inspired the show.

The Definitive Word

Overall:

[Rating:4/5]

HBO’s hit series has finally arrived on Blu-ray, with all its seasons intact. Like their prior Blu-ray releases, the V/A presentations are solid, and the features (while offering nothing new) are ported over. A set like this, for a fan of the series, is an absolute no brainer purchase.

Additional Screen Captures

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Purchase Entourage: The Complete Series on Blu-ray at CD Universe

Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com

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Purchase Entourage: The Complete Series on Blu-ray at CD Universe

Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com

Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Series
[Rating:4.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]

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