Dexter The First Season Blu-ray Review

Dexter The First Season

Blu-ray Review
Paramount Home Entertainment
Released: January 6, 2009

The complete first season of Dexter is set to be released on the Blu-ray format as the hit Showtime series is ready to tear up your Blu-ray player.

Showtime’s Dexter is set to hit the Blu-ray format for the first time on January 6th as the series is being distributed from Paramount Home Entertainment.  The series revolved around a serial killer who goes after criminals.

The killer, Dexter (Michael C. Hall), was trained by his father to kill criminals whom the police can’t get their hands on.

Hall does a fantastic job in the role as Dexter  as the character is very dark and cynical, making you believe everything he is doing.

It is strange, but you will actually get behind Dexter in this one, supporting the serial killer and what he does.  Throughout the first season, you will immediately see why this show was and still is such a success.

The first season of Dexter is presented in the Blu-ray format in 1.78:1 in 1080p and looks fantastic.  The transfer does a great job of showing off little details with vibrant colors, natural flesh-tones, etc.

This is carried over as well to the audio mix which is presented in Dolby TrueHD 5.1.  Even though the audio is a bit on the front-heavy side, there are plenty of moments where the rear channels are used to set up a nice atmosphere.

As for the extras, you are presented with two audio commentaries that were also available on the DVD release.  Once you get beyond those though, everything else is available via BD-Live.  As of review time, these features were unfortunately not available so we cannot comment on them.

It is nice to see them go ahead with BD-Live features though for this release as it will certainly add a lot of depth to the set.  The features included are The Academy of Blood – A Killer Course, Witnessed in Blood – A True Murder Investigation, Michael C. Hall Podcast, First episode of Dexter, Season 3, and the first two episodes of United States of Tara.

Dexter Season One is a nice release on the Blu-ray format and is a great first step to bring more television series onto high-def.  The first season of Dexter received a great deal of praise for a reason, and after watching the first few episodes you will know why.  For those who haven’t yet seen Dexter, this release on Blu-ray is the perfect opportunity to jump onboard!

Episodes: 8.7 A fantastic first season that really hooks viewers, great stuff!

Video: 8.7 Highly-improved over the DVD release, great details, vibrant colors, etc.

Audio 8.4 The audio is very clear throughout.

Extras: 7.8 Fans should enjoy the robust BD-Live features.

Final Score: 8.4

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