- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
- Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz/24-bit), French DTS 5.1, Spanish DTS 2.0
- Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
- Region: ABC (Region-Free)
- Rating: TV-MA
- Run Time: 261 Mins.
- Discs: 2 (2 x Blu-ray)
- Studio: HBO Home Entertainment
- Blu-ray Release Date: September 4, 2012
- List Price: $49.99
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Overall
[Rating:4.5/5]
The Series
[Rating:4.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3.5/5]
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]
HBO’s Hung, in its third and final season, continues the wry and cynical sense of dark comedy chronicling the struggles of the middle class in one of the nation’s hardest hit cities, Detroit, during “the great recession.” Ray (Thomas Jane), a high school teacher, coach and divorcee who, along with his friend and former lover Tanya (Jane Adams) has turned to using his natural endowments, so to speak, in order make ends meet. In other words, he’s a male prostitute, a gigolo, and the sexy dark comedy continues breaking new ground in season three.
Ray and Tanya try to take their “business” legit by opening up a storefront, no pun intended, under the guise of a “Women’s Wellness Center” where Ray can meet all the women he will service in this season. But they have problems, butting heads with rival Lenore (Rebecca Creskoff) as she enlists a hot young stud, Jason (Stephen Amell) who begins stealing their clients. As Ray battles his young rival and comes face to face with his encroaching middle age, he also sparks up a relationship with a former student, the now 25-year-old Logan (Kaitlin Doubleday). Meanwhile Tanya continues to seek advice from her pimp boyfriend Charlie (Lennie James), even if she doesn’t always take it. The series also breaks new ground by introducing the popular transgender star Jaime Clayton as one of Ray’s clients, Kyla, a beautiful transgender woman who wants Ray to act as her escort to her high school reunion.
Unfortunately for fans of this remarkable series, the third season was and is the last. Like Bored to Death and How to Make it in America, HBO announced the series was cancelled before the story line could even be wrapped up. Surprisingly, of the three series, Hung had the highest ratings, and even outperformed HBO’s series Enlightened, which remains on the roster. In Enlightened‘s favor, the series garnered two Golden Globe nods.
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Filmed on Super 35 format 35mm Kodak film, Hung comes to Blu-ray in an AVC/MPEG-4 1080p encodement that maintains the film-like appearance of the series. It at times looks a little bit gritty, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The layer of grain remains organic looking and offers a natural, textured appearance with lots of detail and strong contrast. The image offered here in is also, it almost goes without saying, far superior to the heavily compressed 1080i broadcasts of the show. It is absent of posterization, clipping of white levels, and video noise.
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack has a good, punchy sounding midrange bolstered by beefy low frequencies. It offers clean dialogue in the center channel and a balanced amount of atmospheric effects in the surrounds.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3.5/5]
The crux of the supplements here are the four audio commentaries from the creators and crew. Most of them are self-explanatory, but see below for further details.
The supplements:
- Seasons 1 and 2 Recap (1.78:1; 1080i/60; 00:03:04)
- “Previously On” (1.78:1; 1080i/60)
- Episode Previews (1.78:1; 1080i/60)
- Audio Commentaries:
- Episode 1 “ Don’t Give Up on Detroit” or “Hung Like a Horse” with creators/executive producers Colette Burson and Dmitry Lipkin
- Episode 2 “Take the Cake” or “Are you Packing?” with creators/executive producers Colette Burson and Dmitry Lipkin and writer Julia Brownell
- Episode 3 “Mister Drecker” or “Ease Up on the Whup-Ass” with creators/executive producers Colette Burson and Dmitry Lipkin and writers Eduardo Machado and Drew Lindo
- Episode 7 “ What’s Going on Downstairs” or “Don’t Eat Prince Eric!” with creators/executive producers Colette Burson and Dmitry Lipkin and writers Eduardo Machado and Michah Schraft
- Hung: Inside the Series (1.78:1; 1080i/60; 00:14:52)
- Pimpin’ Ain’t Easy (1.78:1; 1080i/60; 00:04:01) – “Charlie” gives us the lowdown on life as a pimp in the “great recession.”
- Wellness Center Tour (1.78:1; 1080i/60; 00:03:42) – We get a tour of the new set for seaon three of Hung.
- “Where is Henry Ford?” Monny & Darie Music Video (1.78:1; 1080i/60; 00:02:53)
- Deleted Scenes (1.78:1; 1080i/60; 00:15:00)
- Episode 10 Alternate Ending (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:02:19)
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:4.5/5]
Hung, despite its limited run, will be remembered as being one of HBO’s finest half-hour comedies. The third season was one of its strongest, even if its ratings dipped. Now’s the time to experience it in the highest possible quality in this high quality Blu-ray set from HBO.
Additional Screen Captures
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Purchase Hung: The Complete Third Season on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
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[amazon-product]B005LAJ1K4[/amazon-product]
Purchase Hung: The Complete Third Season on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:4.5/5]
The Series
[Rating:4.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3.5/5]
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