Farscape Season 1 DVD Review:

“My name is John Crichton, an astronaut... a radiation wave hit and I got shot through a wormhole... Now I'm lost in some distant part of the universe on a ship -- a living ship -- full of strange, alien life forms... Help me... Listen, please. Is there anybody out there who can hear me? I'm being hunted by an insane military commander... doing everything I can... I'm just looking for a way home.”

This is how one of the best SF/fantasy television show started to steal the hearts of many SF fans out there. It’s partly inspired by the Star Trek and Babylon 5 series but adds a unique freshness to the show never ever seen on television before.
American astronaut John Crichton (Ben Browder) is thrown through a wormhole and comes out in the midst of an alien prison escape on the other side of the universe where no human has gone before. When the United Nations version of “peace” enforcers in space called "Peacekeepers are hunting Crichton after a accident between his spaceship and a Peacekeeper ship Crichton has no choice but to join the escaping convicts: warrior D'Argo (Anthony Simcoe), blue-skinned priest Zhaan (Virginia Hey), fugitive peacekeeper Aeryn (Claudia Black), exiled king Rygel (Jonathan Hardy) and Pilot, the giant insect who is joined together with their living female ship, Moya.

The show uses a lot of CGI, prosthetics, and state-of-the-art puppetry that’s so good it matches the effects used by big budget movies. A lot of credit must go to the Jim Henson's Creature Shop who’s puppets are so well made that it lifts the show to a level of his own because after a few episodes you start to believe and actually care for the puppets that play a major role in the show. Script wise it’s also a relief that they found writers that can justify the big productions value with funny scripts, well written characters and a lot of references to our pop culture that are know to us but often misunderstood by the aliens in the show which makes for a lot of funny moments.

Picture and Sound:
Presented in PAL 4:3 the transfer is really good. The darker or effects loaded scenes remain sharp and clear which is rare for a television show on DVD. The 5.1 Dolby digital sound is excellent and when the dramatic music or multiple laser gunfights take over the sound makes it all work.

Extras:
22 uncut episodes(1.01 – 1.22). The episodes on the DVD are the European version so it’s the original episodes but the US version are apparently cut several minutes.

Making of farscape documentary

Original Jim Henson company trailer

Interview Profiles: John Crichton, Aeryn Sun, Pa’u Zotoh Zhaan, Ka D’Argo, Rygel the tenth, Mya and Pilot, Australian Creature Shop and Costume Design. Here you will see each character on his/her own where they will explain the clothing, characters and their most important abilities.

Exclusive conceptual artwork

Commentaries are provided by the main characters and filmmakers on 8 different episodes. This is the fun part where you get a lot of background information about the making of the show and sometimes really funny.

Overall:
This DVD boxset gets you all 22 uncut episodes and some really excellent bonus material. The commentaries are excellent with a lot of information about how the show got made. The Video profiles gives you a lot of background information about each character and the artwork galleries are truly amazing.

With some of the most spectacular CGI/effects scenes ever shown on television and some really good writing makes this a must buy for every SF/Fantasy fan out there!

DVD star rating: *****/5

Alexander Veldmans

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