Vikings Season 1 DVD Review

Vikings made quite splash this past spring when it premiered on the History Channel, and great news for fans it will be returning for a second season. For those of you who missed it, or just wanting to view it again, the complete first season it made its way to DVD and Blu-Ray October 15th.

The first season finds Ragnar (Travis Fimmel) longing to explore the unfamiliar civilizations across the seas. With the help of his eccentric friend, the gifted craftsman Floki (Gustaf Skarsgård), he has built a new generation of faster longships and proceeds to challenge the local ruler, Earl Haraldson (Gabriel Byrne), to allow raids into unexplored North East England.

Ragnar's brother Rollo (Clive Standen) who's harboring some major lust for his brother's wife, sheildmadien Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick) offers his support, often times pushing his much smarter brother into folly. Ragnar's first raid earns him much ire from the earl, and his only trinket is the monk Athelstan (George Blagden). As conflict boils into a fever pitch the consequence are not only deadly but very bloody as Ragnar rises in status.

The first season is extremely addictive, plunging into the life of a Viking, its dangerous, exciting and even kind of sexy. Although not historically accurate it is entertaining.

The Blu-Ray is really the gem to grab. Not only is it in a nice streamlined case with that V, it has a crazy nine hours of bonus features. If Blu-Ray isn't your thing, the DVD isn't slacking either, it just doesn't have the extended/alternate scenes, and the ability to track Viking journeys.

Vikings Special Features:

• 9 episodes with extended and alternate scenes: These are only on the Blu-Ray.
• “The Armory Of Vikings” - An interactive feature, with history of Vikings armory and weapons. 
• “Conquest and Discover: The Journey Of The Vikings” - An in depth look at the locations Ragnar traveled to throughout Season 1
• “Warrior Society: Viking Culture & Law” -  A featurette exploring the laws, practices and rules of Viking society.
• “Birth Of The Vikings”- Behind the scenes featurette on the creation of VIKINGS.
• “Forging The Viking Army: Warfare And Tactics” - Further behind the scenes featurette this time with the process of casting and creating the epic battle scenes from the show.
• Deleted Scenes
• Commentary from Michael Hirst