DVD Review: ‘Lost’ Season Five
We took a look at Lost Season Five on DVD
Lost is easily one of the most talked about, debated and confusing shows of the last decade. What started out as a tale of woe following the survivors of a plane crash on a mysterious island –five years ago I remember thinking it looked like a modern day Gilligan’s Island without the coconut radios–has now developed into a sci-fi narrative complete with time-traveling and a multitude of story-lines.
For all of the hubbub, ABC’s hit show has its fair share of detractors as well, as the left-turn plot changes and inability to tie much together is passed off as “creativity.” Still, season five of the show has been both audience and critically acclaimed. From Emmy nominations to Golden Globe recognition (again), the season marked a turning point for the show and has lured back dwindling audiences with its clever plot devices. (Who is Jacob!?)
At the onset of the fifth season, Jack (Matthew Fox), Ben (Michael Emerson), Sayid (Naveen Andrews), Kate (Evangeline Lilly), Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) and Sun (Yunkin Kim) are not on the island while the rest of the saps, Sawyer (Josh Holloway), Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell), Daniel (Jeremy Davies), Charlotte (Rebecca Mader), and Miles (Ken Leung)) are still haplessly stuck there. John Locke (Terry O’Quinn) and Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) are, as the Russians say, “dead.” Toss time traveling to the ’80s, ’70s and even the hoppin’ era of Eisenhower and Lost is becoming more and more like The Twilight Zone. Yet, with all the shenanigans, some questions were answered; specifically Danielle Rousseau and the Department of Heuristics and Research on Material Applications (Dharma).
For those that haven’t witnessed the phenomenon of Lost first-hand may see the show as a fringe delight for those that have kept up with the series since its inception in 2004. If you have missed out on the past four seasons of Lost, you’re up a creek without a paddle. The best thing for you to do is to sit back and have a Lost marathon for a couple days with the previous DVD entries, then pick up season five. If you don’t, you’ll be even more confused and even more pissed about it.
Audio/Visual:
Presented in an aspect ration of 1.78:1, the wide-screen transfer is fantastic with solid blacks throughout most of the episodes. No distracting problems for the long-time fan, Lost conesiour or audio/visual nut-job.
Along with a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound (7.1 would have been nice, c’est la vie), the package also contains a Spanish and French language Dolby Digital 5.1 track. All subtitles are also available in those languages. (Sorry, Korea.)
The transfer of sound is also spot-on with no muffling of dialogue by music or effects.
Special Features:
Mysteries of the Universe:
A 26-minute mockumentary that is set in the ’80s. The featurette focuses on weird stories about the Dharma Initiative.
Making Up for Lost Time:
A 14-minute cast and crew featurette covering the production of season five including major themes of this year, special effects and design talk. For hardcore fans only.
An Epic Day with Richard Alpert:
Speaking of fans only, this 13-minute featurette has actor Nestor Carbonell (he plays Richard Alpert) providing a day in the life account for his last episode on the show.
Building 23 and Beyond:
Would you like a tour of the offices where most of the behind the scenes hijjinx occurs? Sure you do. Here’s a 12-minute special with Michael Emerson giving viewers a tour.
Lost on Location:
One of the longer featurettes in the package (38 minutes), this special takes a deeper look at the filming of seven of episodes.
Deleted Scenes:
Here are eight scenes that didn’t make the final cut of the season. Learn why here.
Bloopers:
There are two things viewers love. Free stuff and bloopers. Here’s a four-minute special with unfunny mishaps and forgotten lines.
Audio Commentaries:
Included are two full-length commentaries for two separate episodes from this season. Series creators, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse comment on the Because You Left while Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz talk on He’s Our You.
This is an ABC show, not NBC's.
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