Once Upon a Time - Season 1 [DVD]

I’m very late in discovering this TV show. I had downloaded some of the seasons and also started watching on Disney + last Autumn. Yet with Disney removing lots of content lately i wanted to have a hard copy and not be at the whim of streaming services. Although it is well over a decade old it hasn’t dated badly at all and is a breath of fresh air in-comparison to the dull, boring, unoriginal and uninspiring fodder that is now on our tv screens.

I enjoyed the whole series, would highly recommend it

The series itself gets 4 stars from me. It takes a few episodes before it gets going but as each character's backstory becomes revealed so things make more sense and the idea of well known fantasy people trapped in the present is well played out.It's been well reviewed elsewhere so I just wanted to make a few comments on the blu ray package.The extras remain the same but there's more than you'd usually get for a TV series so it's not bad.The real interest lies in picture and sound quality though. The picture is varied. In most of the scenes set in present day Storybrook the image is sharp and well defined. Colours are more realistic than vibrant and outside scenes in particular are an improvement over the DVD release as they are much clearer and motion smoother.The same cannot be said of the fantasy scenes which are at times a bit disappointing. CGI is just a little too ruthlessly dealt with. Small scale effects are fine but larger, screen filling moments such as castles and dragons can be jittery and suffer from excessive motion blur. The colour palette for the fantasy world can become very soft when outside scenes are shot with greens dominating and scenery not always as well detailed as it should be.Make up can become quite noticeable too with skin at times nearly orange and the latex face masks taking on a 70's Dr.Who style at times. Robert Carlyles Rumplestiltskin no longer looks like a disturbing denizen of the shadows but more like a survivor of the glam rock scene, all glitter and heavy face paint.The sound is perhaps the real disappointment here. DTS HD 5.1 it may be but at most times it bears little difference to the original DVD soundtrack. This really ought to have been an immersive soundtrack with forests creaking and twittering away behind the listener and creatures and explosions kicking the sub into life and racing around the room.It happens occasionally but nowhere nearly as often as it should and never with any great conviction.So is it worth getting the blu ray? Well if you've held off on getting the 1st series then the answer is a definite yes due to the fact that there is not a huge difference in price between the BD and the DVD versions + there is some improvement even if not a great deal.If however you have already purchased the DVD then I really cannot see any reason for you to bother shelling out for this on blu ray as it offers so little improvement for your money.All in all this is a very disappointing effort from abc/ Disney. It has limped along very late after the DVD and has one of the worst DTS HD soundtracks I've come across. I spy a late and lazy cash in that is saved only by it's relatively low price. The series itself is great fun and very immersive but the blu ray is a pretty lacklustre affair.

Sick of so many happy endings around her, the Wicked Witch propels fairyland's inhabitants into a distant future (which is NOW). In the town of Storybrooke their memories have gone, they with new identities - she the Mayor exercising full control. This is HER happy ending. Adopted son Henry suspects the truth and secretly contrives for a visitor to break the curse....This seems an audacious concept, but for all twenty two episodes it works a treat. Brilliantly imaginative, scriptwriters ensure past and present are ingeniously interwoven. The fairy stories are presented as never before, all fleshed out and full of surprises. No one dimensional portrayals here! Amongst mysteries to be revealed: what turned the Witch wicked; how Rumpelstiltskin became evil; why Grumpy was so named. As for Little Red Riding Hood - be prepared for shocks!Full of fairies and dragons and spectacular special effects, here is an offering for all children at heart as well as appealing to more adult aspects. The past has the glamour, the present necessarily more subdued, but it also entertains with so much intrigue.It is all absolutely great, and occasionally unexpectedly moving. The cast rises to the challenge of playing two roles - Lana Parrilla and Robert Carlyle especially impressive. (Note Carlyle in the Episode 8 commentary, he full of fascinating asides - including exactly where he looks when watching acting on the screen.)As well as commentaries there are many bonuses - including surprising revelations about the origins of certain tales. Creators and cast answer questions - confessing that make-up, costumes and weather sometimes proved obstacles to be overcome. (That is real snow as Snow White lies apparently dead in her open casket - she not exactly dressed for the cold.)As ever, a box set is by far the best way to view, episodes seen in quick succession adding immeasurably to impact.For the past six evenings "Once Upon a Time" has proved magical, I never doubting for a moment why fans lavished such praise.Recommended.

Unfortunately I wish I check out what I was buying thought I was buying the whole 7 series but unfortunately paying for each series as I watch which is expensive