Farscape: The
Complete Series (1999 – 2003/A&E Blu-ray Set)
Picture: B Sound: B Extras: A+ Episodes: B+
The sci-fi genre adapts well to series television. Strong ensemble casts and exotic settings
prove ideal fodder for telling very human stories -- this formula bears out
over time with shows like Star Trek,
Star Trek: Next Generation, StarGate (and all of its offspring), Andromeda, and many others too numerous
to mention here. Farscape fits neatly into this ensemble sci-fi mold, and over its
four amazing seasons the show earned a loyal following that still inspires a
lot of Internet and convention love.
With the arrival of the Farscape:
The Complete Series boxed set for Blu-ray, A&E TV delivers perhaps the
greatest holiday present any fan of the show could want.
Fantastic high-definition transfers render the exquisite action and
drama of these episodes into crisp detail. Four packs of Blu-ray discs cover eighty-eight
episodes, and also include a whopping fifteen hours of bonus features. For
the uninitiated, Farscape tells the
tale of displaced U.S. astronaut John Crichton (Ben Browder), who gets blown
into a strange part of the galaxy by an experiment gone awry. He quickly
finds himself mixed up with a crew of alien fugitives and ne’er do wells. These beings include the warlike Ka D’Argo
(Anthony Simcoe), the mysterious priestess Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan (Virginia Hey), the
renegade pilot Aery Sun (Claudia Black), the deposed king Dominar Rygel XVI
(voiced by Jonathan Hardy), and the enigmatic Pilot (voiced by Lani John
Tupu). The last two main characters in the list of principals are puppets
developed under the influence of series producer Brian Henson, son of the
legendary Muppets creator Jim Henson.
These puppets became one of the show’s unique claims to
fame--eschewing the then nascent CGI technology in favor of traditional puppets
for these creatures was a bold move at the time. That is not to say that
the series uses no CG effects; it does so, and as it matures, it uses them more
and more, but only where and when it seems appropriate. The show and its
creators rely more on the strength of characters and the actors who perform
them than the quality of the effects. Again, this is not to suggest that Farscape looks cheap; it almost never
does.
The series writers and producers realized from the beginning that
sci-fi action would bring people in to watch, but the strength of the
relationships between the characters would keep them coming back. The
slow growth in the trust of the characters for each other, their eventual
maturation into a sort of weird family of rogues travelling on a stolen,
semi-sentient ship ( her name is Moya) through deepest reaches of space
develops into a winning formula. This familial bond does preclude bumps in the
road. These characters are not
perfect. They possess dark secrets. These things come out over
time. Dynamics change as well when new characters show up and join the
crew. Chiana (Gigi Edgley), a thief and confidence person fleeing
“re-programming” from her planet’s government adds a bit of fun and tension to
the mix. Her almost cat-like mannerisms
and sense of personal anarchy make her a great foil for the militaristic Aeryn
Sun and Ka D’Argo.
The plentiful extras include: Memories
of Moya (a brand documentary including interviews with cast and crew), Farscape Undressed (a behind the scenes
look at the show), three older documentaries on the show--In the Beginning, Making of a
Space Opera, and Farscape: the Story
so Far, a trio of Inside Farscape
featurettes (Villains, Visual Effects, and Save Farscape, thirty-one audio commentaries, numerous deleted
scenes, and alternate version of the Season
2 premiere episode, numerous video profiles of cast and crew, original TV
promos, and more. This cache of extras will be pure gold for long-time
fans of the show, and newly won fans will find them incredibly informative,
bringing up to speed with the most dogged longtime supporters in no time.
Ultimately, Farscape’s
amazingly human approach to sci-fi alien drama could not save it from the
headsman’s axe. Its devoted fans railed against the injustice, but the
show was a cancelled after four seasons. This boxed set will stand as the
ultimate monument and catalog of this amazing show, a seminal piece of the
history of the sci-fi genre on television.
- Scott Pyle
