Release Date: September 9, 2014
Rating: TV PG
Running Time: Approx. 946 minutes
The mind-blowing saga that began in Marvel’s The Avengers continues in ABC’s action-packed series, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. — The Complete First Season.
In the wake of The Battle of New York, the world has changed forever. An extraordinary landscape of wonders has been revealed! In response, mysteriously resurrected Agent Phil Coulson assembles an elite team of skilled agents and operatives: Melinda May, Grant Ward, Leo Fitz, Jemma Simmons and new recruit/computer hacker Skye. Together, they investigate the new, the strange, and the unknown across the globe, protecting the ordinary from the extraordinary. But every answer unearths even more tantalizing questions that reverberate across the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe: Who is “The Clairvoyant”? What is Hydra’s sinister master plan; what dark secret lies behind Skye’s puzzling origins, and most importantly of all, who can be trusted?
When Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was announced with Joss Whedon attached, everyone’s expectations were high. I was super excited for this show and remained excited in the first few episodes. But it took awhile for me to connect with most of the main characters (I only connected with one character from the very beginning during the series premiere: Skye) and it took awhile for the show to really get the serial drama feel and embrace the darkness we all know this universe has. In the beginning, if you missed an episode, you didn’t necessarily need to catch up to watch the next one. Not so in the latter half of the season. The ball really got rolling quite a few episodes in and even then, the momentum lasted for a short time before another dry spell and then BAM! the show got good again.
Plainly put, the first season of this show is quite the roller coaster. The thing is, roller coasters are overall, very fun plus anything Joss Whedon is worth the commitment, so my time catching up on season one was not wasted and I have high hopes that season two will be way better than everything we’ve seen in season one. Season one was great groundwork and looking back, I actually did love the pace in which the stakes were raised but I am so ready for season two. More danger. More stakes. More guest spots from Whedonverse actors (Yes, “The Only Light in the Darkness” is my favorite episode of the season and no it’s not because one of my absolute favorite Whedonverse actors, Amy Acker is in it but it sure helps). More laugh out loud moments. More Marvel movie crossovers (that was freaking awesome by the way). More more more! Who’s with me?!
Commentary – There are three commentaries on the DVD. I’m shocked that there’s no commentary for the Pilot, Season Finale, or a handful of other more notable episodes but here we have it. “FZZT” commentary is conducted by Co-Executive Producer/Writer Paul Zbyszewski and actors, Iain De Caestecker and Elizabeth Henstridge. Yes, I love this commentary especially because we get to hear Elizabeth and Iain’s accents for so long – they are beautiful! Aside from that, this is a very fun commentary with lots of awesome information about this episode and the show in general as are the other two commentaries…“The Magical Place” commentary is conducted by Supervising Producer/Writer, Brent Fletcher and actors, Clark Gregg and Chloe Bennet. “T.R.A.C.K.S.” commentary is conducted by Co-Producers/Writers, Rafe Judkins & Lauren LeFranc and actors Min-Na Wen and J. August Richards. All of these commentaries are worth watching/listening to so if you’re a fan, which you clearly are since you’re buying the DVD/Blu-ray, your time will be very well spent.
Marvel Studios: Assembling A Universe (42 minutes) – What a fun walk down memory lane! All the way back to San Diego Comic Con 2006, this documentary special is an exciting look at the inception of Marvel Studios and the beginning of the next phase of comic blockbusters. I loved the interviews with the cast and crew of the Marvel films and behind the scenes footage from Iron Man to Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Quite a treat… we get to see a bit of Robert Downey Jr’s screen test, Scarlett Johansson’s final costume fitting, some concept art, and more. It’s a great documentary special that only aired once I believe on ABC and ABC puts together awesome docs so go ahead and give this a watch.
Journey Into S.D.C.C (13 minutes) – Now this is a Comic Con feature done right! Instead of including an outdated panel and nothing more, this is a behind the scenes feature that follows the cast and crew as they travel with their loved ones to their first big event, San Diego Comic Con. From the panel to the signing and with many of the cast members feeling underdressed and overwhelmed, this feature covers it all. I absolutely loved it!
Appearing in this Feature:
Moderated by Executive Producer, Jeph Loeb
Cast Members, Brett Dalton, Elizabeth Henstridge, Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Iain De Caestecker, Chloe Bennet
Executive Producer/Writer, Maurissa Tancharoen
Field Reports (16 minutes) – “The Malibu Jump” follows Chloe Bennet as she is tasked with her first stunt scene. “The Bridge” follows the warehouse and bridge scenes, one of Mike’s big moments and quite a fun scene to have witnessed it seems. “Asgardian Bar Fight” follows Elena Satine and Jaimie Alexander in perhaps the most memorable and exciting episode of the season! That was exciting to watch. “Classified” is a great feature all about Ward betraying S.H.I.E.L.D. and what it’s like playing Ward as well as playing against Ward. “Cello Duet” follows Amy Acker one of my favorite episodes of the season, so this was quite a treat for me and I’m sure many other Amy Acker fans. There is not the option to play all but you should certainly watch all of these. Short and fun and to the point. Love it!
Appearing in this Feature:
Cast Members, Chloe Bennet, Brett Dalton, J. August Richards, Ming-Na Wen, Elena Satine, Jaimie Alexander, Clark Gregg, Elizabeth Henstridge, Iain De Caestecker, Saffron Burrows, Amy Acker
Assistant Location Manager, Ronald “Kartoon” Antwine
Key Asst. Location Manager, Justin Hill
Special Effects Foreman, Blair Foord
Stunts, Greg Rementer
Producer, Garry A. Brown
Special Effects Supervisor, Gary D’Amico
Executive Producer/Writer, Maurissa Tancharoen
VFX Breakdowns (2 minutes) – There are two VFX breakdowns for the scenes Lola Takes Flight and Free Falling which play individually. The breakdown consists of the scene as a whole and then the scene again from various stages of production including the Modeling + Compositing, Green Screen, Composite Final, Motion Capture, and Digital Double stages. I love seeing how just a few components can make or break the validity of a scene so this was cool to see.
Deleted Scenes (7 minutes) – There are eight deleted scenes with the option to play all or individually. The scenes are from the “Pilot,” “Girl in the Flower Dress,” “The Hub,” “The Well,” “The Magical Place,” “Seeds,” and “Providence.” I really liked the Debbie’s Alternate Demise scene from the “Pilot,” I Shot Someone scene from “The Hub,” and Simmons Had Boyfriends scene from “Seeds.” That said, I’d still encourage you to watch them all.
*Bloopers (6 minutes)
on Blu-ray and DVD today.