Prison Break (TV Series) (Blu-ray)

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I won't say any more, because this series depends on surprise. Series fans will welcome all 960 uninterrupted minutes, and the show looks great in Blu-ray

Video:
As in, wow. Those prison blue uniforms just pop out at you in HD, and the amount of detail on those hardened faces really adds to the chilling nature of the show. And it wasn't even transferred at the highest bit-rate. The episodes were transferred to six single-sided 50GB discs using AVC technology at 18mbps. The series is presented in 1.78:1, and the colors are nicely saturated, the black levels impressive, and the level of detail such that you can't imagine watching it in standard def ever again. Some scenes have that pristine plasticine look that some of the eye-popping HD transfers offer, while others are a little softer, depending on the lighting. But it's a great-looking disc.

Audio:
The audio is also terrific, with an English DTS HD 5.1 Master Lossless Audio as the main soundtrack and French and Japanese Dolby 2.0 Surround options, with subtitles in English (CC), Spanish, French, and Japanese. Booming bass, nice distribution across the speakers, and a clear and bright treble make this a joy to listen to as well as watch.

Extras:
Commentary tracks are available for the "Pilot," "Cute Poison," "Riots, Drills and the Devil, Parts 1&2," "Odd Man Out," and "Brother's Keeper." Purcell, Callies, Knepper, Amaury Nolasco, are the actors who participate, along with the directors and writers. Collectively, they're pretty average as commentaries go, but fans of the series will enjoy hearing the actors' "takes" on various plot twists and scenes. The central making-of-feature is average to slightly above average. Better is a featurette on Joliet Correctional Center, "If These Walls Could Speak," which tells you that huge portions of the film were actually made inside Gacy's cell, which creeped out more than a few of the cast members. And it turns out the premise isn't as outlandish as it seems. In 1927, an ex-con posed as a priest in order to get into Joliet so he could spring his partner. He failed.

Bottom Line:
What "Prison Break" has going for it is a strong lead actor and more twists than a 50-foot string of licorice, which Erik Martinez also noted in his review. The characters may be recognizably "stock," and there really should be a few more strong females onboard for broader appeal, but because of all those plot twists, "Prison Break" is an engaging series. Plus, it looks great on Blu-ray

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