BLU-RAY REVIEW: THE ORIGINALS SEASON ONE
08/31/2014

OVERVIEW: Ready to get sucked in? Just in time for the Season Two premiere on The CW, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group will release The Originals: The Complete First Season on DVD and Blu-ray Combo Pack on September 2, 2014.  Season One is also available to purchase on Digital HD. Averaging nearly 3.1 million viewers weekly, The Originals is The CW’s #2 show among Adults.*  Fans can feast on all 22 one-hour episodes from Season One, plus over two hours of gripping extras — including commentary, the 2013 Comic-Con panel, the 2014 PaleyFest panel, featurettes, and deleted scenes. 
 
With Blu-ray’s unsurpassed picture and sound, The Originals: The Complete First Season Blu-ray release will include 1080p Full HD Video with DTS-HD Master Audio for English 5.1. The 9-disc Blu-ray Combo Pack (4 Blu-ray discs, 5 DVD discs) will feature a high-definition Blu-ray, standard definition DVD and a Digital HD copy of all 22 episodes from Season One. 

SYNOPSIS: This sexy and thrilling new series from The Vampire Diaries’ executive producer Julie Plec centers on the Original vampire family and the dangerous vampire/werewolf hybrid, Klaus (Joseph Morgan), who returns to the magical melting pot that is the French Quarter of New Orleans — a town he helped build centuries ago. Acting on a mysterious tip that a plot is brewing against him, Klaus’ questions lead him to his diabolical former protégé, Marcel (Charles Michael Davis), a charismatic vampire with total control over the human and supernatural inhabitants of the city. Determined to help his brother Klaus find redemption, Elijah (Daniel Gillies) follows Klaus and is soon forced to side with Marcel’s enemies. Meanwhile, Klaus and Elijah’s sister, Rebekah (Claire Holt), must decide if she’ll join her brothers in New Orleans and help them to reclaim their hometown and all its extraordinary offerings. 

BLU-RAY: The film is presented in widescreen in a 1.78:1 aspect ration preserving its television format. The picture is just flawless. Not only the picture looks great in this release, also the sound it is good, a 5.1 Dolby Digital in English that provides a good complement to the picture. It also includes  English Spanish and French subtitles.

VIDEO:
Widescreen (1.78:1) 

AUDIO:
DVD Audio – English (5.1), Portuguese
Blu-ray Audio - DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 – English, Portuguese, French, Castilian Spanish

Blu-ray Subtitles – ESDH, French, Danish, Latin Spanish, Portuguese, Finnish, Swedish, Dutch, Norwegian, Castilian Spanish
DVD Subtitles – ESDH, Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Thai

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Pilot Commentary - With Creator Julie Plec and Director Chris Grismer

2013 Comic-Con Panel - Executive producer Julie Plec and the cast discuss the origins of The Originals, and what you can expect in this spin-off of The Vampire Diaries.

2014 PaleyFest Panel -  Cast and producers discuss the creative process in these highlights from the panel at PaleyFest 2014

The Originals: Origins - In this featurette, creator Julie Plec leads us on the journey of creating The Originals and continuing through to the production of the pilot in New Orleans.

The Originals: Re-mixing History – In this featurette, the writers of The Originals will describe how they were able to blend fact with fiction, generating strong roots in New Orleans for the Mikaelson family.

The Original Vampires: A Bite-sized Backstory – A dynamic and stylized montage featuring key storylines and scenes of the original family. Including scenes from The Vampire Diaries, this piece will depict where the originals came from.

Deleted Scenes