The complete first season of Krypton has been released to Blu-ray and DVD as of last week — you can order your copy here — and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has provided KryptonSite with a free copy of the Blu-ray set to review in this post.
The Season 1 Blu-ray set contains all 10 episodes from Season 1 as well as extras including two featurettes, the 2017 Comic-Con panel, a gag reel, and deleted scenes. How’s the set? Read on with this review!
The Episodes: I thought most episodes of Krypton looked and sounded really good on Syfy, but I will say that the Blu-ray upgrade for the series makes it look even better. When the series makes use of colors and imagery — especially in places like Val-El’s Fortress of Solitude, when we see things like Superman’s cape — that is when it looks its best. The upgraded picture alone makes it worth it, and Pinar Toprak’s score is top-notch, especially when bits of the John Williams Superman theme creep in. (Toprak was also the composer of the recent #1 movie Captain Marvel. Perhaps you’ve heard of it.)
For those who aren’t familiar with what Krypton was or is, here’s the short version: Seg-El (Cameron Cuffe) is the grandfather of Superman. His family or “house” – the House of El – has been shunned and made classless as part of the Rankless, the lower class on the planet Krypton. Honestly, when the concept of the series first came up I was very skeptical, but a lot of the elements of the show, including some elements from present day, really made Krypton a series worth watching. While some episodes do admittedly get a little claustrophobic, there are some twists and turns that happen in the short season that leave the viewer hungry for more. The show is also helped by elements like the best live-action interpretation of Brainiac to date, as played by Blake Ritson, the sly Nyssa (Wallis Day), and a character played by Colin Salmon who comes in around Episode 5 who turns the show on its ear.
I will say, though, that the timing of this Blu-ray release is a bit odd, and this is coming from someone who loved Krypton. It has been something like 9 months since we last saw the series. As far as I know, Syfy has not aired repeats, and the show won’t land on DC Universe for a while yet. So, sadly, even my own excitement for the show had died down. Thankfully, the set re-energized me a bit, getting me ready for Season 2’s premiere whenever it comes, but it’s been so long that I think a lot of audience may have forgotten what the series even was. If they don’t remember, will they buy a Blu-ray or DVD set?
The Extras: Before I get into the extras I should probably talk about the great extra that is not on the set. In Summer 2017, about nine months before Krypton premiered, a trailer for the series leaked — and the footage was vastly different. Some of the elements made it all the way through — note that the first episode as aired had two credited directors — but there were other things that were much different. Val-El apparently survived to present day, Jayna-Zod was named Alura-Zod, and a few other things including something as simple as Lyta’s hair were extremely different. I’ve always wanted to see this “earlier draft” of the Krypton pilot…
…but of course, it’s not on the Blu-ray/DVD sets.
In an age where a lot of people don’t buy physical media and wait for these things to just drop on Netflix or something, exclusive content is a premium, and seeing the first draft of Krypton on this set would have been amazing. Even to include that original trailer — which leaned more toward the Zack Snyder films — would have been a treat. Sadly, it is not a thing that happened.
We do get a glimpse of some other “almost-sortas” in one of the two documentary featurettes, as David S. Goyer gives a tour of the set, and points out things like Adam Strange’s comics-inspired gear, the carcass of Doomsday, and even Blue Beetle’s scarab. I don’t know if this was shot during the first draft, or what, but especially for fans of the show, the featurettes are definitely worth watching. They are also fascinating in seeing how much of what we see in the show came from and was inspired by the comics… and Cameron Cuffe’s enthusiasm for all things Superman is infectious to see.
The set also includes the 2017 Comic-Con panel for Krypton, where among other things they talk about how Hawkwoman is coming on to the show. Oops. Still cool to see the producers and Cuffe talking at a time when not much was known about the series yet.
There are some deleted scenes, but it’d been so long since I’d seen the series I lost the context for a lot of them. There are also bloopers.
Packaging and Design: I loved the key art for Krypton so of course I’m happy to see it on this set.
Is It Worth It? Ten episodes will come and go quickly here, but they sure will look and sound beautiful on Blu-ray. And as I said, there are some episodes that get a little slow but the better episodes make the set worth it. Krypton is a much better show than it ever had any right to be, and credit should be given to the talented creators and actors who put it together. It’s obviously highly recommended to get this set before we see Season 2, obviously.
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