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Witchblade: The Complete Series
R1 - America - Warner Home Video Review written by and copyright: Jeremiah Chin (29th July 2008). |
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The Show
 In the late 90’s and early 2000’s there was a boom of sci-fi/fantasy action/dramas featuring strong/empowered female protagonists, fronted and likely inspired by the success of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (1997-2003). Some of the big networks wheeled out some properties to try and match “Buffy”’s cult success; leading to shows like “Dark Angel” (2000-2002) on FOX and “Witchblade” (2001-2002) on TNT. The latter two were both cancelled after two seasons, but now “Witchblade” is finally getting its DVD release 6 years after its cancellation. The series, based on the comic book of the same name, centers around New York City Detective Sarah “Pez” Pezzini (Yancy Butler) who mysteriously comes into contact with the witchblade during an investigation. She rapidly finds out that her encounter with the witchblade is one in a long line of wielders, including historical figures like Joan of Arc, who apparently all looked like her. The blade grants Pezzini mysterious powers and gives her insight about her past, most of the powers she uses in her day job as a homicide detective. There’s a bit of a disconnect between the pilot and the rest of the series, the extended pilot was a made for TV movie to launch the show, features trendy special effects like overly used bullet-time. There’s some big budgetary changes in terms of sets and special effects, it’s a bit disorienting after the pilot episode, but easily flows back into the main story. “Witchblade”’s fusion of cop-drama and fantasy action has its moments but for the most part falls flat. Many of the crimes lead to episodic super-villain-like enemies that are dealt with by the end of each episode. The mythology that the series builds over the short seasons is fairly well constructed, but the episode to episode movement it feels like the show is too unwilling to properly integrate or drop the crime investigation and/or the mythology. Some elements of the witchblade mythos have been altered for TV, decreasing the emphasis on demons and hell in favor of an amalgamation of European mythologies, especially Celtic. While these connections can be interesting, they’re often strung together or just thrust out for the audience to accept without a lot of groundwork or at times without the intent of keeping mythological elements through the rest of the series. The writing and acting throughout the show are fairly on par with a basic-cable produced fantasy/drama, interesting but no spark to really set it apart. Butler as Pezzini plays the part of a tough, no-nonsense cop well, but there are times where she seems to be thinking about the ridiculousness of her mythological character elements and it disconnects her acting from the show. Her main arch-nemeses Kenneth Irons (Anthony Cisero) and Ian Nottingham (Eric Etebari) are the persistent nebulously-bad guys, but their actual important phases in and out as the plot demands, from just providing a few mythological lines in some episodes to being core plot elements in others. Overall the series is inconsistent, sometimes convoluted, clumsy and a bit hokey, but surprisingly entertaining; fluctuating between actually interesting and hilariously bad. It’s not even close to the level of shows like “Buffy,” but can still be decently watchable. I think know if the show will find a new life on DVD, but may be worth a glance. Here’s a rundown of both seasons with some brief synopses. Ep. 1 – “Witchblade” – Det. Pezzini discovers the witchblade, her partner is killed in the aftermath and comes back as a ghost to guide her in fulfilling her destiny as bearare in the witchblade, leading her to Nottingham and Irons, all while Pezzini investigates the murder of her partner and the earlier murder of her friend Monica. Ep. 2 – “Parallax” – Capt. Siri retires and leaves some information about Pezzini’s actual birth parents. Meanwhile a mysteryman and Nottingham slug it out and Pezzini investigates the feud. Ep. 3 – “Conundrum” – A skeleton turns up and the associated tongue ring leads Pezzini to the fashion industry where she makes some odd discoveries about the witchblade’s past during her investigation. Ep. 4 – “Diplopia” – Pezzini meets Gabriel during her investigation of a SoHo art related murder and learns more about the witchblade through him, while Pezzini’s partner is revealed to be a homophobe. Ep. 5 – “Sacrifice” – Pezzini and Gabriel go to a concert to get information on a Celtic symbol found at a murder scene, Pezzini learns about the legend of the ritual murders and of the witchblade’s relation to singer Conchobar. Ep. 6 – “Legion” – While investigating the suspected preist killer, Pezzini thinks there’s a mystical connection within his story. Pez and Conchobar’s relationship gets closer and she learns some new witchblade powers. Ep. 7 – “Maelstrom” – Pezzini and Chochobar’s relationship gets deeper, then he is kidnapped by an Irish gang looking for his IRA brother, demanding the witchblade and more from Pezzini as ransom. Ep. 8 – “Periculum” – While mourning Conchobar’s death, the witchblade puts Pezzini through a hallucinogenic vision quest/trial that has her talking with many of her other selves. Ep. 9 – “Thanatopsis” – Pezzini investigates a pair of murders with possible connections to Irons and Nottingham, discovering some background on this mysterious duo along the way. Ep. 10 – “Apprenehsion” – Pezzini learns of the “white bulls” secret police society in a video made by her dead father over a decade ago, and meets with former Capt. Siri to get some more information. Ep. 11 – “Convergence” – The white bulls continue the hunt for Pezzini, Irons continues with his odd aging and his strange cure is revealed, while Pez and Gabriel try to clear her name and find some dirt on the bulls. Ep. 12 – “Transcendence” – Gabriel and Pezzini try to spread knowledge of the white bulls, Nottingham gets killed, but is revealed to be one of many clones/versions, Pez’s conflict with the bulls comes to a head. Ep. 13 – “Emergence” – Pezzini begins the last year again anew, stopping her partner’s death and rediscovering the witchblade as a result of her turning back the clock. Ep. 14 – “Destiny” – Sarah rushes to get to Danny before his air runs out and he dies again, Irons has recovered the Lance of Longinus and plans to use it against Pezzini. Ep. 15 – “Agape” – After a death at a rave, Pezzini investigates and finds an adrenaline junkie culture, Jake re-emerges in this new timeline working with a new partner and acting suspiciously. Ep. 16 – “Consectatio” – Nottingham calls on his former compatriots, also known as the “Black Dragons” to take out Pezinni to avenge the death of Irons. Ep. 17 – “Static” – Pezzini’s witchblade-senses are tingling in a bad way, throwing her off her game while she has to solve a mysterious murder. Ep. 18 – “Nailed” – A child molester is released from prison and Pezzini starts to get visions of him getting up to his old tricks Ep. 19 – “Lagrimas” – The discovery of a oddly murdered priest, the ghost of Irons warns Pezzini about the ghost of death and Pezzini finds a new flame. Ep. 20 – “Hierophant” – Mobsters are found dead en masse by a mysterious killer that may have something to do with Pezzini’s father. Ep. 21 – “Veritas” – Pezzini chats it up with the ghost of JFK to uncover the murder of a mystery man that draws Pez and Gabriel into a political conspiracy case. Ep. 22 – “Parabolic” – Someone’s killing members of a racist brotherhood, but of course the more Pezzini finds out about the killer there’s some connections made to the witchblade. Ep. 23 – “Palindrome” – Pezzini and gang investigate the Sparticus fighting league and re-discover Conchobar and a doppleganger in the new timeline. Ep. 24 – “Ubique” – Pezzini wakes up to find the witchblade stolen, while she and Nottingham have dreams of Lucrezia Borga using it against her and killing Nottingham.
Video
Presented in anamorphic 1.85:1 aspect ratio, the video quality is for the most part above average. There are problems with the CG witchblade and some of the effects like the over-used bullet-time, but this isn’t a deal-breaker compared with the already ridiculous mythology, falling under the “along for the ride” logic. Otherwise the transfer looks fine except for the stock footage that is a glaringly different quality. However, it’s nice to see that the show, originally broadcast in widescreen, was given an actual widescreen transfer rather than just letterboxed fullscreen.
Audio
The audio track is English Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, and the audio sounds good, but the levels are often inconsistent, with dialogue dropping far below the music or sound effects in the same scene. It gets frustrating after a little while, and may be a result of the after-the-fact mixing job hyped on the disc as an “all-new soundtrack selected by the executive producer.” The music and sound of the series favor for the erie ambient sounds that come across well, but as I said, sometimes too loud compared to the audio. Optional subtitles are included in English for the hearing impaired.
Extras
Fairly bare on special features, especially for a cult show getting a late DVD release, mostly consisting of featurettes. A continuous featurette is “Gabriel’s Philosophical Insights” attached to selected episodes featuring the character Gabriel (John Hensley) discussing some issue within the previous episode, shot with I’m, I’m assuming, intentionally low quality and features clips from the associated episode. Each of these featurettes will be noted by “GPI” followed by the episode they are attached to in the Episodes menu of each disc, there's also some original casting sessions. DISC ONE: “GPI Ep. 1” featurette runs for 46 seconds. The witchblade may abandon the user in their greatest time of need “GPI Ep. 3” featurette runs for 46 seconds. Gabriel discusses the importance of belief in the power of the witchblade. There's a bonus trailer which is an "anti-piracy" startup spot that runs for 1 minute. DISC TWO: “GPI Ep. 4” featurette runs for 1 minute and 49 seconds, Gabriel goes through the chance encounter’s he’s had with Pezzini. DISC THREE: “GPI Ep. 8” featurette runs for 4 minutes and 23 seconds, Gabriel pontificates over the periculum that Pezzini just went through. “GPI Ep. 10” featurette runs for 1 minute and 41 seconds, more philosophizing from Gabriel about the white bulls and Sarah’s partner. DISC FOUR: “GPI Ep. 12” featurette runs for 2 minutes and 41 seconds, Gabriel theorizes about what happened after his death and Pezzini’s time-travel. “GPI Ep. 13” featurette runs for 1 minute and 32 seconds, Gabriel talks connections, the decisions that Pezzini has made after the time-reversal. “GPI Ep. 14” featurette runs for 1 minute and 18 seconds, discussion of what a “destined wielder” means and why Sarah is destined. DISC FIVE: “GPI Ep. 17” featurette runs for 59 seconds, Gabriel talks about what happened to him after he touched the witchblade. DISC SIX: There are no extras on this disc. DISC SEVEN: “GPI Ep. 23” featurette runs for 1 minute and 12 seconds, Gabriel talks again about touching the witchblade and alternate relaties. Next is the “Wielding the Blade” featurette that runs for 7 minutes and 18 seconds and interviews the creators and producers of the show, discussing the mythology of the witchblade, the transition between comic and TV, and the physical production of the blade, overall very interesting. “Bringing the Blade to Life” runs for 11 minutes and 42 seconds, this featurette also covers the comic to screen translation, with more emphasis on the creation of the comic itself and the actual production of the show in terms of the pitch to TNT. Also interesting, the interviews with Yancy Butler and other actors are good, but it just makes me wish they had actually done a commentary on an episode. Finally there are a series of 5 original casting sessions for each of the series leads - Yancy Butler runs for 4 minutes and 2 seconds - Anthony Cisero runs for 6 minutes and 46 seconds. - David Chokachi runs for 3 minutes and 54 seconds. - Eric Etebari runs for 9 minutes and 36 seconds. - Will Yun Lee runs for 1 minute and 46 seconds.
Packaging
The Seven Disc set is packaged in a wide keepcase.
Overall
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