Homeland Season One DVD Review

There are a few shows every season that catch my attention, but even fewer that I actually watch. With Homeland, the one reaction that everyone had besides the whole “You should watch this” was “this show is f***ing bananas.” Homeland makes it’s way to DVD today, so it’s a perfect time to see what I’ve been missing.

And I can say, it is definitely bananas, and intense. Every episode is a pulse-pounding psychological joyride. The story centers around CIA agent Carrie Mathison played by Claire Danes, and returning war hero Sergeant Nicholas Brody, played by Damian Lewis. Danes’ Mathison, still haunted by the events of 9/11 fears that Brody has turned against his country. She’s fearless, determined, and completely unpredictable. This is unlike anything Danes’ has ever played before, and she is flawless. Lewis’ Brody, is a Marine returning home with PTSD and after spending his last eight years in hell as an al-Qaeda prisoner it’s no surprise he’s having a hard time adjusting back to his normal life. Lewis is perfection  planting seeds of doubt at every turn.

The entire assemebled cast is pretty amazing, but with material like this it’s no surprise that this show has become a crowd favorite. It comes from the producers of 24, but it outperforms 24. The plotlines are tighter, and smarter than 24, which was a long time favorite of mine. It has the same addictive quality of that show, while being remarkably unpredictable. It’s not chockfull of adrenalin, but rather a more cerebral, character driven storyline.

The conversion to Blu Ray is phenomenal. The Bonus features on the Blu Ray include Deleted Scenes, Audio Commentary, a Making of, and probably the best item: A prologue to Season 2. If season one was an addictive intellectual bout of crazy, season 2 looks to continue on the same page.

If you haven’t checked out Homeland yet, this is one that should definitely be watched, and now that it’s on DVD and Blu Ray there’s no excuses. Not only did it win 2 Golden Globes,  2012 Golden Globe® Best Television Series — Drama; Claire Danes, Best Actress in a Television Series — Drama, it’s well deserving of them.

Street Date:	28/Aug/2012
Run Time:	664 Minutes
MPAA Rating (USA):	NR (Not Rated)
Genre:	Drama
Audio:	English: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
Language:	Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
Aspect Ratio:	Widescreen: 1.78:1