TNT’s Steven Spielberg-executive produced Falling Skies: Season 1 is not about an alien invasion despite what its name or alien-heavy marketing materials may imply. That doesn’t mean it isn’t good Sci-Fi laced entertainment; it most certainly is, as long as expectations for massive alien battles are kept in check.
Falling Skies had an apocalyptic invasion as conveyed via the simplistic drawings of a child in the premiere episode’s opening moments. That horrific event is firmly planted six months in the past. The sky has already fallen, and in its wake the last remnants of humanity cling to strands of hope and fight to survive the alien threat and each other.
Helping to lead a small band of resistance dubbed the 2nd Massachusetts is bearded Tom Mason (Noah Wyle), a former history professor and widower whose insight into the tactics of warfare and past lessons compliment and contradict Captain Weaver (Will Patton), the de facto military leader who would rather shoot first and ask questions later. Together they seek shelter away from alien eyes to protect their own including a pediatrician turned physician Dr. Anne Glass (Moon Bloodgood) and Mason’s three sons: Hal (Drew Roy), Ben (Connor Jessup) and Matt (Maxim Knight).
Tom and the 2nd Mass are fighting off Skitters, giant spider-like alien invaders who sometimes patrol and attack in nearly indestructible giant mechs. In a film setting where alien invasion stories are often set we would never learn anything about the Skitters. They would be taken out in the final act via a McGuffin device and that would be that.
Utilizing a television serial format allows more time to massage the alien story and slowly peel back the veil of secrecy behind their true intentions. For instance, they don’t want to kill everyone; in fact, multiple people with a commonality in Tom’s group are taken alive and “altered” for reasons unknown.
Bigger twists regarding the Skitters and their technology are also in the cards, as is the biggest game-changer of all in the two-part finale. That twist is part of a mental shift where the 2nd Mass shed their sole desire to run and hide that persisted in the first part of the season.
Falling Skies is first and foremost a drama so there are plenty of emotional highs and lows through the first season’s ten episodes. It isn’t Fringe with copious amounts of science or Battlestar Galactica with extensive visual effects. It’s more like The Walking Dead where the survivors and their trials and tribulations are the focus. Everything else is gravy as the budget will allow.
It takes a little while to warm up to the characters who experience the emotional landslides. Tom and the others don’t resonate as strongly as The Walking Dead’s survivors from the outset. Their personalities aren’t as immediately defined and they initially tend to blend together.
Getting behind the characters and caring about their fate is easier as their strengths and weaknesses come to light, even if they were despised only a handful of episodes early. One of the liveliest characters, John Pope (Colin Cunningham) is added just after the pilot and his presence seems to charge up everyone around him, for better or worse.
As the male and female leads, Moon Bloodgood and Noah Wyle spend much of the season straddling the line between merely friends and something more. It’s an off-putting distraction whose inevitable resolution would have been better served early on. Unfortunately, Tom’s oldest son Hal and the attractive tomboy warrior Margaret (Sarah Carter) play a similar predictable game.
For all the puppy dog eyes Tom throws Anne’s way and vice-versa, there are tense Skitter skirmishes and encounters with one or more mechs that produce plenty of bullets flying. The narrative design is quite clever in appealing to a broad audience and achieving a balance between the drama and action is satisfactorily maintained throughout.
Just don’t expect to see massive cinematic battles or the sky actually falling.
High-Def Presentation
Falling Skies makes its Blu-ray debut with an impressive and clean 1.78:1 1080p transfer. Upon performing a direct comparison of the 1080i broadcast season finale versus the Blu-ray version, there really isn’t any comparison. The Blu-ray is much sharper with a hint of film grain and no blemishes or artifacts to be seen. Black levels run deep without breaking up which is important considering the numerous scenes set in the dark. Some of the bright lights in the nighttime scenes make the picture feel a little artificial, but that may be more related to the cinematography and post-processing effects than the transfer.
The 5.1 Dolby TrueHD audio track is fuller and deeper than its lossy television counterpart. Both mixes are front-heavy, but the effects and dialogue are clearer in high definition. I have no complaints regarding dialogue being drowned out or ever difficult to understand.
Beyond the Feature
The big extra draw on paper to this set is the ‘Season 2 Sneak Peek’ (1:46). It offers some hints of what to expect when the new season kicks off such as the evolution of the 2nd Mass without Tom, the survivors becoming more nomadic by living in a moving convoy of vehicles, and a more militarized and gritty feel. As far as new footage goes, there are only a handful of behind-the-scenes shots that show the convoy, including a Mad Max-like school bus, and a couple glimpses of actors readying for scenes.
The remaining bonus features are as follows:
- Falling Skies from Pencil to Print; The Dark Horse Comic Book Revealed (16:29) – The comic is teased as both mirroring the series and expanding upon it, especially where combat is concerned and budgets are not a concern. The comic also shows the initial invasion which is not seen in the series.
- Animating a Skitter (4:01)
- Falling Skies Panel: San Diego Comic-Con 2011 (20:46)
- Behind the Scenes Featurettes
- The Unknown (2:44)
- The Second Mass (3:00)
- Audio Commentaries – A mix of the cast, writers, directors and producers chime in on a handful of episodes.
- Blu-ray Exclusive collectible trading card
- UltraViolet digital copy
Falling Skies probably should have been called Fallen Skies, but the lack of the initial alien invasion doesn’t detract from its intriguing aftermath. The 2nd Mass slowly grow on you from episode to episode like George Costanza, and by the pivotal closing scene, a door literally opens up for endless possibilities as to what comes next. With Fringe bowing out this fall and leaving a void in the Sci-Fi television landscape, now is a great time to jump into TNT’s Falling Skies with the visually and aurally superior Season 1 presentation on Blu-ray.
– Dan Bradley
Shop for Falling Skies: Season 1 on Blu-ray for a discounted price at Amazon.com (June 5, 2012 release date).
