Defiance: Season One Blu-ray Review.

Defiance: Season One Blu-ray Review

By: MattInRC

Here's why SyFy's Defiance won't be the next Battlestar Galactica.

As a person who grew up during the syndicated run of Star Trek: TOS, the theatrical run of Alien and Blade Runner, and the premiere run of Babylon 5, I'm used to Science Fiction that does more than kill hundreds of alien creatures ala Starship Troopers. I loved SyFy's Stargate Atlantis, but was saddened to see its untimely cancellation in 2009. What we didn't know at the time was that the network was going through major changes in its financial plan, happier to throw slop up on the wall than commit itself to quality television. And while Battlestar Galactica was a stunning success for the network, its accidental popularity never translated to a change in course for a network known more these days for Sharknado. The recent release of Defiance sadly demonstrates that SyFy's priorities are still unchanged.

The Movie - 3/5
It's a post-apocalyptic 2046, and the former city of St Louis is now the town of Defiance, standing in the middle of a world completely terraformed and transformed by war. Soon, the town welcomes its newest visitors, the drifter/lawman Joshua Nolan (Grant Bowler) and his partner, the warrior Irisa (Stephanie Leonidas). No sooner do they settle down do they become aware of the deep political tug-of-war that's been raging between the Mayor Amanda Rosewater (Julie Benz) and residents like the lounge owner Kenya (Mia Kirshner), Rafe McCawley (Graham Greene), and the ambitious Castithan couple Datak and Stahma Tarrs (Tony Curran and Jaime Murray). As events begin to unfold, Nolan must choose a side before the town explodes into violence, shattering the fragile peace that Defiance has struggled to maintain.

Sounds like a good premise, right? And with the added element of an XBOX 360 game that ties directly into the story, this should represent the next step in television. Sadly, Defiance gets immediately engrossed in ridiculous premises, barely passable dialogue, and seemingly unfinished scripts, while the video game has suffered the wrath of the gaming community. Sure, the incredibly rich visuals of a post-apocalyptic Earth remind us of Tom Cruise's Oblivion, but that's where the quality control ends. As I got deeper into the 13-episode arc, I found myself feeling more frustrated and confused with things, with a season finale that brought more relief than interest in a second season. Defiance really isn't anything more than Deadwood and Battlestar Galactica blended into a drink that's hard to swallow and keep down. Part of the problem is that I don't own the game, which may not matter considering how poorly it was received by gamers, who considered it more eye candy than a satisfying MMO-RPG. When reviewers flatly painted it with a 'one step forward/two steps back' moniker, you knew that a critical element to the show's success had somehow crumbled.

In fact, the whole post-apocalyptic/alien-invasion genre on television looks more like the desolate landscapes they portray in terms of story. While the jury is still out on Revolution, at least it doesn't pretend to be more than what it is. Falling Skies features a better cast than Defiance or Revolution, and SyFy's arc is definitely the worst of the three. That doesn't say much for the genre, which is begging for a quality penner like J. Michael Straczynski to step back in to save it. That's not been SyFY's MO since 2009, and there's no reason to expect it will ever change. To the network I say the following: learn from your mistakes, or watch this grand and laudable experiment become yet another cancellation victim, due entirely to factors which you alone can rectify. For now, I won't wait to see their results, but perhaps a new season and lessons learned will do something no SyFy scripted show has done recently: prove its meddle and bring in the ratings.

The Video - 3.5/5
For a show that has the financial backing of Universal/NBC, one would think their view of the future would benefit. Instead, the series was given a shoestring budget (a factor in their cancellation of Stargate Atlantis and other shows), resulting in only decent visual effects. In a word, the CGI looks cheap, with evidence of aliasing in scattered scenes throughout the 3-disc BD set. The Blu-ray release exposes some of the series' cheapness that were safely hidden in a 1080i network release. But just like the series as a whole, the problems with the CGI are balanced with a sharp and colorful human focus. Skintones look lifelike, while the browns of a terraformed Defiance balance the strong and stark lighting used to bring the town to life. Blacks suffer too much crush, leading to a problem with shadows; but for the most part, fans and newcomers should be pretty happy with Defiance. Just not me.

The Audio - 3.5/5
In a world where home theaters are becoming the go-to way to watch a television program or movie, Universal's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is a bit of a disappointment. There's an expectation that a show of this kind should arrive with a more aggressive soundscape than it does. Instead, I found myself using the word 'passive' too often to describe my concerns with this lossless track. The problem is especially pronounced in the LFE, where the thunderous pounding of weapons, explosions, and alien tech get only minimalistic attention, leaving listeners to deal with a surround field that's just as sparse. I did confirm that my setup was in good working order, but it's clear this version of the future is not as high-tech as we have come to expect. On a positive note, Composer Bear McCreary's distinctive score resonates throughout the series, and our speakers loved the attention, encompassing us in a symphony melodic sound. Another positive lies in the dialogue track, which never gets supplanted by weapons discharges or other effects. For a show that does some things so well but misses the boat so entirely in others is frustrating to say the least.

The Supplements - 2/5
True to SyFy's continuing mission to provide fans of their shows with the minimal amount of features, Defiance is similarly lacking the insights that fans deserve. Unlike Faling Skies, which offered episode commentaries and good overviews of the show, the offerings here are disappointing. At least all of the following are presented in HD:

• Making Defiance (11:00): This is a general overview of the series, including pre-production and shooting.
• Defiance: A Transmedia Revolution (7:00): If you own the videogame, you might be interested in this. Otherwise, it seems a bit like an advertisement.
• Behind the Scenes with Jesse Rath (7:00): We're granted access to a day in the life of a Defiance actor.
• Deleted Scenes (11:00): As with most deleted scenes, there's a reason why they were left on the editing floor. These are no different.
• Gag Reel (3:00): The future isn't supposed to be funny.

The Bottom Line - 3/5
An average effort at best, Defiance: Season One suffers from too much high concept and poor execution on almost every level to recommend. I'm tired of shows of this kind receiving less-than-adequate budgets and surrounding them with second-rate talent, and its many issues become readily apparent as soon as the Blu-ray spins up. A decent video and audio transfer can't save the poor writing and predictable ends which plague Season One, leading me to hope for the best but plan for the worst. In a dystopian world, that's usually not a good mix, except I'm not waiting to find out how this one plays out.

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