Terminator –The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Review

• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
  
• Video Codec: VC-1
  
• Resolution: 1080p/24
  
• Audio Codec: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640kbps)
  
• Subtitles: English SDH
  
• Region: ABC (region-free)
  
• Discs: 5
  
• Studio: Warner Home Video
  
• Release Date: September 22, 2009
  
• List Price: $79.98

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Purchase Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles 
-- The Complete Second Season
on Blu-ray from CD Universe

Download:


Shop With Us for More Blu-ray Titles at Amazon.com
Overall

The Series

Video Quality

Audio Quality

Supplemental Materials


Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
 More Screen Captures (19 Total)
(Screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG and thus are meant as a general representation of the content and do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
The Series



The Sarah Connor Chronicles is a television series that picks up in the Terminator franchise right after the second film in the series, Terminator 2: Judgment Day. In the future an artificial intelligence known as Skynet starts war on mankind and cybernetic creatures are sent back in time to kill John Connor (played here by Thomas Dekker) who will help to battle against this technology. In the Sarah Connor Chronicles, Sarah Connor (Lena Headey) and her son John have skipped 8 years into the future, jumping over Judgment day and avoiding Sarah’s subsequent death from cancer, which was revealed in the film Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Judgment Day has not been averted, but rather delayed and the two must now do battle against new crop of cyborgs from the future sent back to kill John whilst they try to destroy the development of Skynet in the present. Helping to protect John in the present is a sexy cyborg that he has sent back from the future named Cameron (Summer Glau). She has had her “terminate” code wiped out and now is programmed to protect John at all costs.

Season Two of The Sarah Connor Chronicles introduces some interesting turns. Beginning the season with Cameron’s chip damaged and her “terminate” instructive reactivated, Cameron begins to go through changes to her AI that ask philosophical questions about whether it is possible for a machine to grow and develop feelings.  The season also introduces Shirley Manson, lead singer of Garbage, as a new smart metal cybernetic creature heading a technology company known as Zeira. Her cold ambiguity adds a level of mystery and suspense to the series that Season One lacked.
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is a marvelous stop along the roadside of the Terminator franchise. It brings Hollywood blockbuster sci-fi special effects to television, yet it is also more cerebral in many ways than its big screen counterparts. Never lost in the stylized production is the human aspect of the story. That may seem a strange thing to say when speaking of a series that deals with cybernetics and artificial intelligence, but the writers always ground it in real life. I highly recommend this series to any fans of sci-fi or the Terminator series.
Video Quality

 

 With its 1.78:1 1080p/24 VC-1 encoding, Sarah Connor Chronicles looks incredibly strong on Blu-ray Disc. The transfer from Warner captures the look of the series with no compression issues, and there are no visible processing issues such as edge enhancement to sully the superb detail. Blacks are obsidian and flesh tones are spot on. There is a strong level of shadow delineation and contrast doesn’t clip. There is a fine layer of grain that sometimes jumps a tad, but it’s not distracting in anyway. All shows should look this good on Blu-ray.
Audio Quality

 

 The audio quality of Sarah Connor Chronicles is a letdown in comparison to its strong video quality. Firstly, this is yet another Warner release that comes with no more than a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 track. Secondly, the series’ score, by composer Bear McCreary, filled with metallic instruments and electrified orchestral string instruments sounds shrill and thin. The overall use of surround effects is also a bit disjointed. At times it seems like discrete effects are panned to the sides or into the surrounds willy-nilly. Dialogue, though always intelligible, does have some occasional crackle and explosions and gunshots are given some “oomph” by the LFE, but even then they sound a bit distorted.
Supplemental Materials

 

 Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete Second Season comes with a good bit of supplemental materials, from commentaries and featurettes to deleted scenes. All video supplements are provided in 1080i or 1080p high definition, which is always a plus.
The supplements available on this release are:
Disc 1:
Behind the Story

Commentary on “Samson and Delilah” with Executive Producer Josh Friedman, and Actors Lena Heady, Thomas Dekker, Summer Glau, and Shirley Manson
Commentary on “Allison from Palmdale” with Exectutive Producers Josh Firiedman, James Middleton and John Wirth, and Actors Thomas Dekker and Summer Glau
The Storyboard Process: Cameron Goes Bad (1.78:1; 1080i/60; 0:02.55) — The creators discuss storyboarding the season’s opening episode.

Disc 2:

Behind the Story


Cameron vs. Rosie:

Fight Rehearsal (1.78:1; 1080i/60; 0:05.27) — Stunt coordinators discuss choreographing the fight between Cameron and the contortionist.



Additional Footage


The Tower Is Tall But the Fall Is Short — John and Cameron have a moment in the bathroom. (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:01.04)
Complications — Derek digs a shallow grave. (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:00.26)

Disc 3:
Additional Footage

Terminated Scenes:

Strange Things Happen at the One-Two Point — Derek and Sarah have trouble with a valet and the cops.  (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:00.50)
Earthlings Welcome Here — Sarah talks about the symbolism of bobcats. (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:01.04)



Disc 4:
Additional Footage

Terminated Scenes:

Today is the Day — Part 1 — Part of the plan. (1.78:; 1080p/24; 0:01.19)
Today Is the Day — Part 2 — Captain Bligh. (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:00.35)
Today Is the Day — Part 2 — Missed call. (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:00.23)
Today Is the Day — Part 2 — “I shouldn’t have let him get to me.” (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:01.07)
Today Is the Day — Part 2 — Fire control. (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:00.44)



Disc 5:
Behind the Story

Collision with the Future:

Deconstructing the Hunter Killer Attack (1.78:1; 1080p/24) — An interactive exploration of the final episode’s Hunter Killer attack scene.



The Continuing Chronicles: Terminator
Behind-the-scenes featurettes.

Write the Future: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (1.78:1; 1080i/60; 0:12.39) — A behind-the-scenes look at how the writers and creators laid out the direction of the second season of Sarah Connor Chronicles.
Conceptualization: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (1.78:1; 1080i/60; 0:08.18) — Visual Effects Supervisor James Lima and others discuss bringing the sci-fi visual effects of Terminator to television.
Blood and Metal: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (1.78:1; 1080i/60; 0:07.39) — The special effects makeup artists discuss creating realistic visual effects for the series’ cybernetic organisms.
Designing Destruction: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (1.78:1; 1080i/60; 0:07.32) — The creators discuss the set design for the second season of Sarah Connor Chronicles.
Choreographing Chaos: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (1.78:1; 1080i/60; 0:07.21) — A look at the filming of the action sequences of Sarah Connor Chronicles.
War Stories: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (1.78:1; 1080i/60; 0:09.15) — The producers and cast reflect on the most difficult days of filming for season two.
Setting Tempo: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (1.78:1; 1080i/60; 0:13.15) — Composer Bear McCreary discusses scoring the series and actress/musician Shirley Manson talks about recording the song “Samson and Delilah” for the opening episode.
Motivations: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (1.78:1; 1080i/60; 0:09.51)


Commentary on Adam Raised a Cain with Executive Producers Josh Friedman, James Middleton and Josh Wirth, and Actors Thomas Dekker and Summer Glau
Commentary on Born to Run with Executive Producers Josh Friedman, James Middleton, and John Wirth, and Actors Thomas Dekker and Summer Glau.

Additional Footage

Terminated Scenes:

To the Lighthouse — Secrets. (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:00.43)
To the Lighthouse — El Viejo del Monte. (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:01.32)
Born to Run — Stakeout. (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:00.27)






Gag Reel (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:06.04)



The Definitive Word
Overall:

 

 Despite fan efforts, Fox canceled Terminator — The Sarah Connor Chronicles after its second season, another example a perfectly decent show pulled off the air before its time. This Blu-ray release and the release of Season One will be the best options for watching this brief excursion in the Terminator franchise.

Purchase Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles 
-- The Complete Second Season
on Blu-ray from CD Universe

Download:


Shop With Us for More Blu-ray Titles at Amazon.com

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