# Lost: Season 5 - Blu-ray Review



## Jon Liu (May 21, 2007)

*Lost: Season 5*
[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=3499&w=l[/img]*Starring:* Matthew Fox, Naveen Andrews, Evangeline Lily, Josh Holloway, Jorge Garcia, Daniel Dae Kim, Yunjin Kim, Terry O’Quinn, Elizabeth Mitchell, Ken Leung, Henry Ian Cusick, Michael Emerson
*Producers:* Damon Lindelof, Carton Cuse
*Studio:* ABC Studios
*Runtime:* 731 Minutes
*Rating:* TV-14
*Blu-ray Release Date:* December 8, 2009

*Show*:4stars:

As a warning, ‘Lost’ as a TV show is not for those who would like something to casually watch. Those who are interested in seeing what this show is about absolutely need to watch it from the very beginning of Season one. That being said, I will do my best to not spoil as much as possible in this very brief synopsis.

Oceanic flight 815 crashed on the mysterious island over 100 days ago and so much has happened since then. Six survivors of the crash finally were able to make it off the island, defying all odds, but the rest of the people who were around were stuck in a randomly changing time warp. The only problem is those who made it off the island realized they likely should have never left. Now, Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, Sun, and Ben are searching for a way to get back to the island. Those who still were on the island must continuously figure out what time period they are in and continue to look for a way off the island.

The list of episodes is as follows:

1 – “Because You Left”
2 – “The Lie”
3 – “Jughead”
4 – “The Little Prince”
5 – “This Place is Death”
6 – “316”
7 – “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham”
8 – “LaFleur”
9 – “Namaste”
10 – “He’s Our You”
11 – “Whatever Happened, Happened”
12 – “Dead is Dead”
13 – “Some Like it Hoth”
14 – “The Variable”
15 – “Follow the Leader”
16 – “The Incident”

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=3500&w=l[/img]The thing about ‘Lost’ is it incredibly hard to describe because for one thing, there are numerous amounts of plots intersecting and branching within a season. To make matters worse there are different timelines to follow, too. So throughout the season you will jump from present day to another time in the past and then back again with one set of characters and then another set of characters that remain in the present time. To make matters even more complicated if you miss one episode and try to pick it up on the next one, you’ll have missed so much and be even more confused than before you started that episode.

Something I particularly liked was seasons four and five was that it was they were both truncated seasons. A normal season is about 24-26 episodes long and during this time, the Writers Guild of America went on strike leaving some downtime during the regular fourth season. It was frustrating waiting for it to come back on air, but what it did in the long run was give the season and show a lot of focus. I think the producers liked it that way as well, which is why I think season five was also condensed. As a result season five turns out to be one of the best of the series. ‘Lost’ is about the only show nowadays that my wife and I watch. We got hooked from the very beginning. Unfortunately, about the third season in, the show kind of got messy due to not having particular direction, but once there was an end point in sight and the producers decided to make only six seasons total, the show became really good again. In fact, I could be wrong, but it felt like they finally answered more questions than they produced in this season over any other season.

*Rating*

This show can be pretty intense at times, but it’s nothing especially graphic, considering it is on network television. I think it still may not be suitable for younger audience members, though.

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=3501&w=l [/img]*Video*:4.5stars:

The video transfer for the five discs in this season is generally very, very good; however it does have a pitfall. First off, the good – Resolution in this season is remarkable nearly all the time. This season likes to use a lot of close-ups of people’s faces and each time they do, you can pick out all the gritty details and blemishes on each person. Far shots are almost as impressive, too. Landscape shots as well as general island backdrop sequences reveal so much detail. What’s more, colors in this show are bold and foliage comes off as absolutely lush greenery. But, as I said this transfer is not free from issue and the minor quibble that I have is with black levels. Some of the dark/nighttime sequences are not consistently rich. The black levels sometime are dark gray and it hurts the contrast especially in those scenes. It’s not always like that, but it came up several times enough that I think it’s worth mentioning.

*Audio*:4stars:

I always look forward to the blu-ray releases for ‘Lost’ because two trends seem to happen, the video transfer looks better than broadcast and the sound is better than presented when aired on television. The video is more of a noticeable improvement over the audio, but there still is improvement in the audio portion. For a network television show, the audio is pretty impressive. There’s not a lot of thunderous dynamics, but there is more dynamics than you get in most other television dramas. Surround usage is present, but it’s not noticeable all the time. A lot of the surround usage comes through as ambience and environmental sounds. There are a couple of instances of directional surround usage, but it’s pretty rare. The dialog comes across very solid, also, which is very important especially in a show as confusing as ‘Lost.’

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=3502&w=l [/img]*Extras*:3stars:

The extras are as follows:

-“Lost 100” – a look into the making of the 100th episode of the series.
-Audio commentary that accompanies only a couple of episodes for this season
-“Lost Starter Kit” – A very brief 5-minute recap of what you missed in the last four seasons. Truthfully, this is not nearly enough to catch anyone up to speed on the series.
-“Making Up for Lost Time” – just an inside view from the cast members and other inside members on the whole time-travel aspect of the show.
-Deleted Scenes – There are about eight scenes that were removed or shortened and they are just compiled here for the viewers.
-“Mysteries of the Universe” – This is a mock TV special that delves into some of the secrets the DHARMA Initiative.
-“An Epic Day with Richard Alpert” – We follow the actor who plays Richard Alpert, Nestor Carbonell during the last day of production for this season.
-“Building 23 & Beyond” – Michael Emerson, the actor who plays Ben Linus, just gives the viewers a look into the writing and production centers located Los Angeles.
-“Lost on Location” – Documentaries that just gives us an inside look on some of the episodes from this season.
-“Lost Bloopers” – 4 minutes of basically what you would expect from the title.

One of the things that I really love is the “SeasonPlay” feature that is incorporated into these discs. If ever you forget where you left off and you happen to put the wrong disc in, when you start “SeasonPlay” it will simply tell you which disc number to put in and it will automatically go from there. A great little small feature I am growing fond of in the Blu-ray technology.

*Overall*:4stars:

I have nothing but great things to say about the show ‘Lost’. One of my friends put it best in saying that once the makers of the show had a final ending date for the entire series, the show got a whole lot better. Season five has become one of my favorites of the series because of how much happens. It’s still frustrating to have so many questions brought to the table in a specific season, but the makers are really good about giving up some satisfying information on other matters to compensate. The blu-ray releases of the show are really the way to watch the show. I continue to watch the show on the days they air because I don’t want to be spoiled by news buzzing the next day, but I love re-watching the seasons when they are released on blu-ray to catch all the less noticeable nuances in the show. Fans of the show must get the blu-ray if at all possible, it is entirely worth it.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

This is the season I missed and it seems like it was one I did not need to miss.

I appreciated the current premier of the season that just started because it explained a good bit that I was unaware of... or never understood from the beginning.


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## Jon Liu (May 21, 2007)

Definitely go back to this season Sonnie, especially if you are trying to watch the final season because there is so much that happened that was not explained in the premier that will make the relationships between each of the characters that much more valid!


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

I'm still liking this series, I think it is impossible for someone who has not watched EVERY episode to comment about it as there is way to much information and development in each show to miss even one without falling behind and getting very confused.
I am looking forward to seeing where they go with this final season.


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