Terminator - The Sarah Connor Chronicles - The Complete First Season [Blu-ray]

I must say I didn't expect too much at first. What is there to tell that hasn't been said before in the movies? And how do you create more than a couple of episodes about a mom trying to protect her son from human-like robots?
Man, was I wrong.
Of course there are Terminators all over the place and they are constantly being destroyed and get back up and what not again and again but that's what the story is about.

In short, for those who don't know: Sarah and her son want to destroy the computer network Skynet to avoid a future Armageddon. They get help from a sexy fem-bot: Cameron Phillips.
The trio is being chased by the FBI who doesn't know that the Connors are the good guys and by the machines whose existence is at stake.

It's fun to watch (if you keep in mind that most of the shot people are in fact robots...)
Lena Headey does a terrific job as Sarah. She is convincing as a caring mother, but she also manages the action very well and even looks convincing when others think she's insane. (Sorry fans, but I didn't think Linda Hamilton ever pulled that off. She looked insane all right but for the rest ...)
Summer Glau as the protective Terminator is funny. The way she moves and reacts to emotional (and other) outbreaks always make me laugh.
Some SciFi critics think Thomas Dekker too old for his role as John but I never had a problem with that. He is a terrific actor in his own right (as he already showed us in Heroes) and fits perfectly in the story.
Richard T. Jones is very good as the FBI agent who senses there is much more behind all this.

If you don't take this all too seriously (who does?) you're in for a ride.
Of course I would have wanted more episodes in this season but because of the writers strike there are none. Well, less is more. Better this way than having a few more but written by amateurs.
Blu-ray is state of the art. Also the extras are nice to watch. Of course there's a making of with interviews of the producers and writers etc. but what I really liked were the audition tapes of all the leading actors and the dance practice of Summer Glau.

Terminator
The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Awesome, awesome, awesome, a DVD must for every good Sci-Fi home movie library. Sarah's Chronicles offer something old, something new and the missing links to thread the both together. Great sets, CGI and extraordinary acting, this first season is jam packed with intense riveting footage so believable it will quickly pull you in and capture you. Trained ballerina turned actress Summer Glau is powerful as Cameron, a female cyborg sent from the future to protect a computer prodigy from the evil intent of "Skynet."

I was first memorized by Glau's acting skills in Josh Whedon's "Firefly" series. Her offbeat character in "Firefly" makes Summer Glau the perfect cyborg choice to protect young John Connor who is destined to fight machines who will take over the world in the future.

A writers strike during the first season left only 9 episodes in the can but well worth the DVD purchase. If season two is anything like the first, hold on to your hats for an edge of you seat ride.

I again need to recommend a close watch of Summer Glau's gifted acting talents. Anyone who has seen a ballet knows a story unfolds through movement and expression. Danced trained in expression and movement since a child, Glau is a leg up over the acting skills of most actresses.

Great special bonus features in and on the Blu-Ray DVD's will provide hours of cyborg food for the hungry who just can't get enough of The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Couch Potato Review: 7 Potato More.

I had enjoyed Sarah Connor during its initial run on Fox. I was disappointed that it, like many shows, had to cut down on episodes due to the writer's strike. However, upon a second viewing on Blu-Ray, the show seemed to get even better. Thomas Dekker takes over the reigns as John Connor, and Lena Headey replaces Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor. Both do well. Summer Glau is a real treat as Cameron Phillips. Upon first viewing, I thought that the writers had really screwed up writing Cameron, regressing her ability to act human quite a bit after the pilot episode. It didn't feel that way the second time through, so maybe this series gains some momentum on Blu-Ray that makes the inconsistencies less noticeable.

Blu-Ray is where this series belongs. The picture quality is quite good, and the sound is amazing. The extras here are quite nice - there are quite a few deleted scenes, some commentaries, auditions, and a few others.

The first season is only 9 episodes, but they are all engaging.

I fully expected this to be horrible (like the Bionic Woman).
To my surprise, this was a great show (unfortunately way too short. Thank you Writers Strike).
I have 3 reasons to buy this.
1. Great show
2. Blu-Ray
3. My DVR crapped out on me before I got the chance to watch he last episode. Talk about MAD.
This was a great show to fill the void when "24" was clearly going to have to wait another year or so for better writing.
$27.95 is not cheap. But you are getting over 6 hours of viewing. That's very good when you compair it to any other Blu-Rays priced at $27.95.

The first season of "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" surprised me; I expected the show to piggy back on the movies, be short lived and not be very good. Luckily, I was completely wrong on all counts. "Chronicles" manages to be engaging, expand on the first three films and be terrifically entertaining. Show developer Josh Friedman ("War of the Worlds") establishes an identity for the show. The pilot isn't the strongest episode but sets up the story arc for the rest of the series which was what it was intended to do. The good news is that the show improves and becomes VERY good as it goes along.

The image quality for the transfer of the Blu-ray looks very good although it isn't perfect. Flesh tones look accurate,with nice, rich blacks. Image clarity and detail is extremely good although edge enhancement crops up on a couple of episodes. Audio sounds quite good with a nice dramatic score and a nice surround mix.

Following Sarah Connor(Lena Heady), her son John (Thomas Dekker) and Cameron (Summer Glau) a cyborg sent from the future to protect them the series focuses on their attempts to prevent Skynet from being built. They're also being pursued by a variety of Terminators sent into the past to eliminate them.

The set comes with deleted scenes and a number of commentary tracks featuring Friedman, actors Thomas Dekker, Brian Austin Green, Lena Heady Summer Glau and others. The commentary tracks are pretty good like the episodes themselves they improve as they go along although a couple are merely perfunctionary.

We also get a gag reel, deleted scenes, a three part documentary on the production of the show that DOES provide us with plenty of behind-the-scenes info about the series. One of the best extras is an extended episode of "The Demon Hand" (Both a reference to the hand of one of the Terminators AND Harlan Ellison's "The Outer Limits" episode "Demon with A Glass Hand" which was one of the inspirations for James Cameron's "The Terminator". The character of Ellison played by Richard T. Jones is also a tip of the hat to Ellison)which has deleted scenes that gives us information on the childhood of Sarah Connor's character.

"Chronicles" is a well made, well thought out drama and it will be interesting to see how the series develops over the next 22 episodes of season two. If the pilot (which is well made) doesn't impress you give it a chance with the episodes after the first episode as the show starts off quite good and gets exceptional by the end of the nine episodes.

3 1/2 stars.