KRYPTON – A Blu-ray and Digital HD Review by John Strange
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-raytm I reviewed in this Blog Post. The opinions I share are my own.
It’s 1961 and a 5-year-old boy learn about the mind-blowing world of comic books! Thanks to his name, two of his favorite comics have heroes with his last name! The DC Comics heroes was Adam Strange. Not your everyday kind of hero but, hey, the name goes a long way with a young boy.
Adam was only one of a compendium of amazing characters whose worlds he entered monthly. With each new comic, his comics world-view grew. Worlds like Thanagar and Krypton, even alternate Earths, were eye-opening.
Fast-forward many, many years to the present. This admitted fan is enjoying the plethora of comic-based films and TV shows. Films like Wonder Woman and Aquaman are bringing a new generation of fans for these characters. The same goes for the TV shows Green Arrow, Supergirl, and The Flash.
New on the scene is Krypton on the SYFY network. This show take place two generations before the destruction of the planet. The lead character is Seg-El (Cameron Cuffe) whose grandson Kal-El will one day be known on Earth as Superman.
The House of El has been ostracized. The head of the house, Val-El (Ian McElhinney), is executed and the family’s elite status stripped away when he tries to warn the powers that be that the people of Krypton are not alone in the universe and there is a dangerous alien menace coming toward their planet and everyone is in great danger.
Following these scenes we are brought forward to a time when Seg-El is a young adult trying to survive in the lowest levels of Kryptonian society. He does whatever he can to earn money to help the family. His father, once a proud member of the elite guilds, now works for the man who ordered his father’s death.
Enter Adam Strange (Shaun Sipos), from the future Earth and dressed in a hoodie and a Detroit baseball cap, telling Seg of the disaster in the future. His grandson is in great danger due to someone else from the future traveling back to change history which will erase Superman from existence.
The entire season revolves around the inhabitants of Candor City, home of House El. This city-state is protected from the deteriorating climate of the planet by a force shield. The people are protected (and sometimes intimidated) by the Sagitari, led by Jayna-Zod (Ann Ogbomo) of House Zod.
Some of you may recognize this house name as belonging to one of the greatest of Superman’s enemies, General Zod, a renegade Kryptonian who was banished to the Phantom Zone for leading a failed coup. Like Adam Strange, General Zod (Colin Salmon) has a big part to play in the series.
But Zod is not the villain here and now. That spot falls to Brainiac (Blake Ritson) (yep, you remember him from the comics of yore, too). Known as the “Eater of Worlds”, the alien entity has lived for thousands of years and destroyed planet after planet. And he is the danger that Val-El was warning the council about.
Some aspects of the season play out like a soap opera as the various political factions manipulate people and events in Machiavellian maneuvers to step up to the top of the heap. The fights are well planned and executed, the cgi of the sets flawless, and the costuming excellent. This is a complex world not unlike our own in many ways but with an entirely different set of morals or perhaps a different set of cultural imperatives due to the extreme age of their civilization (perhaps 25-50 THOUSAND years?). Their world is becoming worn out and they don’t seem willing to see this.
Watching the ten episodes of season one was excellent. The writers have given us plot twist after plot twist to keep us on our toes. Alliances shift as the action and events unfold just as they would here on Earth. And in the end (of the season) heroes stand out for their actions not their words. The last scenes of episode 10 lead me to think that season 2 will have as much wild action as season 1 had.
Along with the episodes the producers have give us a few extras to add a little extra flavor. The Comic-Con Panel from 2017 (I admit I watched this before watching the episodes) gives you a good idea what you can expect from the series with a couple of spoilers that actually make fans want to see the series even more.
Krypton: Bringing the Home World to Life and A Lost Kingdom: Life on Krypton talk about the world the writers/creators/producers/crew have made for us with their thoughts about why they did things the way they did and, in fact, some cases just how they went about making the scenes look the way they did.
The deleted scenes are interesting but, as usually happens, I have to agree that these scenes would not have added anything to the storyline. The gag reel is a tad thin but interesting in that it gives us a look at the personalities of the acting talent giving us this show.
I rate this offering a BRAND NEW on our scale. For those of you who have seen the show on SYFY, and for those of you who haven’t, this is a good show that should have a long healthy run and well worth watching again. I am looking forward to seeing season two.
Created by:
- David S. Goyer, Damian Kindler
Episode Directors:
- Ciaran Donnelly, Metin Hüseyin, Julius Ramsay, Marc Roskin, Keith Boak, Kate Dennis, Lukas Ettlin, Colm McCarthy, Steve Shill, Erica Watson, Clare Kilner
Cast:
- Cameron Cuffe, Georgina Campbell, Shaun Sipos, Ann Ogbomo, Aaron Pierre, Rasmus Hardiker, Wallis Day, Blake Ritson, Ian McElhinney, Elliot Cowan, Colin Salmon, Tipper Seifert-Cleveland
Extras:
- Krypton: 2017 Comic-Con Panel
- Krypton: Bringing the Home World to Life
- A Lost Kingdom: Life on Krypton
- Gag Reel
- Deleted Scenes
Specifications:
Runtime:
- 600 Minutes (Feature)
- 61 Minutes (Enhanced content)
Subtitles:
- ESDH, French, Latin Spanish
Studio:
- Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Release Date:
- 03/05/2019
Region:
- A/1 (U.S. and Canada only)
Website:
MPAA Rating:
- TV-14
Selig Rating:
- BRAND NEW
Selig Rating Scale:
BRAND NEW: Should add to your DVD collection at any cost
SALE ITEM: Worth owning, but try to catch it a sale
SECOND HAND: Plan to get it, but wait to buy it used
RENTAL: Worth taking a look at, but not owning
COASTER: Pick it up at a garage sale and use it for drinks
PULL!: Makes a great Trap Shooting target
