Reviewed by Johnny McNair 

Warner Home Video – 394 minutes – 2008 – Not Rated – 1080p Widescreen 1.78:1 – Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio Mix

When the original Terminator film came out in 1984, it made Arnold Schwarzenegger a box office contender, put James Cameron on the map as bankable Hollywood director, and created the catch phrase, “I’ll be back.” Since then we have seen the Terminator return twice in the superior Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and the yawn-fest Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Pop culture has kept the Terminator alive in comics and videogames, and there’s also a new film in the works for next summer, but TV up until now was still an open battleground. The Sarah Connor Chronicles hopes to conquer this territory, and for those of you who missed it, season one is now available on Blu-ray from Warner Home Video.

THE SERIES

The Sarah Connor Chronicles takes place directly after the events of Terminator 2, where Sarah (Lena Headley) has saved the world from future annihilation, and kept the T-1000 from killing her son John Connor (Thomas Dekker), who is the hope of mankind. Now Sarah discovers that the machines still have a chance to take over, and the only way to stop them is to travel back to the point where the Skynet Company began to stop them once and for all. The resistance has sent another Terminator to the past to protect John Connor, but this one has a lot more curves than the Schwarzenegger model, in the form of a young woman named Cameron (Summer Glau). Sarah, John, and Cameron are constantly on the run, not only from the enemy terminators that track them down, but from a determined FBI agent named Ellison who is searching for Sarah for previous criminal incidents.

The series is ambitious, but because we know what happens to Sarah Connor in the storyline for Terminator 3, it helps if you just forgot that film existed. Lena Headley tries to bring as much of herself to the character as she can, but Linda Hamilton is a tough act to follow, because she ruled in T2. Headley seems stiff in earlier episodes, but seems to be getting more into the groove towards the middle episodes. Thomas Dekker is very flat as John Connor, looking like he’s trying to make the cut for Gossip Girl, but just like the movies, even though he is the savior, it’s the other characters around him who are focused on more.

Summer Glau gets the most attention, not only because she is the eye candy of the show, but also because she is just trying to “fit in” and it’s fun at times watching her trying to be just a girl. Given a few more seasons, it would be interesting to see how her character will further develop to make her more human, as another sci-fi show, Star Trek: The Next Generation did with the robot character Data.

There are only nine episodes in season one, most like because they wanted to test the waters to see if there was an audience for the show, but a lot goes in per episode building a good amount of momentum to keep you watching. Toward the later episodes a new character is introduced who is a familiar face to TV goers; Brian Austin Green plays Derek Reese, and yes all Terminator fans will know that name means he’s related to a pivotal character in the Terminator movie timeline. Brian Austin Green may have been an annoying pimply-faced kid on Beverly Hills 90210, but here he is a lot more likeable, and does a good job in the role.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles will need another season before it finds its footing, but it’s on the right track, and with the proper care from the team behind it, the show can gain the “must watch” status with the same TV audience that tunes in for Battlestar Gallactica and Heroes. The nine episodes are easy to swallow and can be knocked out in a weekend, and because there’s so much motion in each episode with the characters on the run, it is a good follow-up to the movies. If you are a Terminator fan, and didn’t catch the episodes when they aired, definitely give this Blu-ray set a look.

VIDEO

Featuring a full 1080p image and a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, The Sarah Connor Chronicles offers a very sharp image that really highlights the color scheme of each episode. Skin tones particularly benefit from the style the episodes are shot, which are focused more on warmer tones. Close ups of the character’s faces show strong details, and being that most episodes involve them running, sweating, and bleeding, all these elements are highlighted. Summer Glau is the “babe” of the show and it seems as if a lot of care went into how she was filmed, giving her that cute side, but when the time for her to kick ass unfolds, the lighting changes to give her more of an edge. The CGI effects are handled well for TV, but there are some shots in certain episodes that looked rushed, lacking detail, while other effects, such as what’s in the pilot are more polished. The Sarah Connor Chronicles overall style doesn’t look like what we saw in the Terminator movies, but as a TV show, it’s quality is acceptable for the material.

AUDIO

This Blu-ray offers a Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mix and while it doesn’t have the bells and whistles of a big feature film, for a TV show it’s effective. Dialogue is well balanced with the background ambience of scenes, and when the action heats up, audio is separated amongst the five main speakers. The subwoofer isn’t given much to do, except for that occasional moment when the familiar heavy bass Terminator theme is heard. There’s nothing groundbreaking about the sound, it is simply designed to do the job, and on that note it succeeds.

EXTRAS

The Sarah Connor Chronicles offers a decent amount of bonus features in this three disc set, but it’s a letdown that only one featurette is in HD while the rest are standard definition, ported over from the regular DVD.

There are three different audio commentary tracks featured; one for the Pilot, the second is for the episode The Turk, and the third is for the What He Beheld episode. The Pilot features writer/producer Josh Friedman, producer James Middleton, director David Nutter, and the shows star, Summer Glau. The Turk episode commentary features Josh Friedman, with writer John Wirth and actors Lena Headey and Thomas Dekker. What he Beheld’s commentary again has Josh Friedman, but this time joined by writer Ian Goldberg, and the show’s actors Summer Glau and Brian Austin Green. All the commentaries are flooded with information about the episodes; at times the actors overlap each other, but overall there are some interesting tidbits offered.

‘Creating the Chronicles’ runs forty minutes and is the only documentary presented in HD. It’s divided into three sections, and goes deep into show, discussing what the direction the filmmakers wanted to go to fill in the gaps between Terminator II and III. There’s some good stuff in here, and if you enjoy the show this is the first place to start.

The audition tapes for the show’s stars, actors Lena Headey, Thomas Decker, and Richard T. Jones are featured, given you a glimpse at how casting decisions were made.

There are nine deleted scenes, totaling twenty minutes, selected from multiple episodes. Mainly it’s dialogue related and adds or subtracts nothing from the episodes, but it’s worth a look.

There’s an odd extra featuring Summer Glau doing ballet. If you enjoy seeing her twirl around, this one is for you.

A storyboard animatic shows the sketches created to show the school attack sequence from the opening episode.

And of course no Blu-ray would be complete without a gag reel. You know the deal.

BOTTOM LINE

The Sarah Connor Chronicles is still in it’s freshman stage, but with a lot more structuring the season to come could be great because even though we all know the fate of the future and John Connor’s role in it, seeing it all unfold is still quite a ride. This three-disc Blu-ray set is a must for fans of the show, with good picture and sound quality and a solid selection of bonus features. With the next Terminator movie coming the big screen in 2009, The Sarah Connor Chronicles should fill the void for now, and hopefully as the next season progresses, more interesting storylines will unfold.

SCORES (Out of 5):

The Series: 4.0

Video: 4.0

Sound: 3.5

Extras: 3.0

Bottom Line: 4.0