As I’ve explored all aspects of Blu Ray, I’ve found the TV on Blu Ray genre to be mostly lacking. Even shows aired in HD and filmed for HDTV often look really shoddy when actually presented on Blu Ray. You’ll see specks of white in shots that can’t hold up, and at best it might look the same as it does on broadcast. Some shows like Heroes and Mad Men stand out as actually high quality Blu Rays, and now two of Fox’s series join the ranks.
Lie to Me is a great looking show on Blu Ray. It looks much better than HDTV broadcast with crisp sharpness. You definitely see all the detail in every setting. The Lightman office is full of stark, sharp lines to exemplify Blu Ray, and bright lighting to keep everything clear. Other episodic locations hold up pretty well, including exteriors with gritty detail and other buildings with different color schemes.
Every once in a while a shot at one of the one-off locations, or a really darkly lit tech room, will speckle. Even at its worst, Lie to Me looks better than other shoddy TV Blu Rays. Those are maybe three or four shots per episode, and they just remind you how great the other 41 minutes of show look.
Also, they go to such different places to solve their mysteries, you get an epic sampling of different gritty and colorful environments. You can definitely see those details in faces that they want to cover up with makeup, but on Blu Ray they’re not fooling anyone. Actors may hate that but I dig it. This is Lie to Me, so don’t go pretending you have supernaturally perfect skin.
It doesn’t quite look like a movie because you can tell the lighting and camera setups are standardized. It’s not like Heroes or Mad Men aesthetically but it is the same level of transfer technically.
Prison Break was always one of the best looking HDTV shows. The two seasons in prison had lots of gritty detail in the industrial corners of the cell blocks and boiler rooms. You always had the shiny man sweat beading up in the hot sun, and on the lam in season two they visited lush and colorful locations.
I have not had a chance to sample their complete season Blu Rays but their standalone finale The Final Break looks great. Just like Lie to Me, the settings are crisp and clear. Maybe a few shots get speckled due to low light, washed out backgrounds or just rushed filming, but 89 minutes look fantastic.
None of the settings are familiar from the weekly show. The women’s prison they send Sara to is totally different, not quite as grungy as Fox River but with its share of stark corridors and mess halls. Meanwhile, T-Bag is in a new men’s prison which looks a lot more, how do you say, prison-y. The big fish in his prison had a gruesome scar that looks juicy and gory in HD.
This time, Michael and Lincoln are on the outside trying to work out the prison break. Their settings aren’t anything special, a lot of interiors for planning, but when they’re outside you see all the greenery brightly. They still manage to get man sweat in there.
The Final Break is more Prison Break than the fourth and final season of the show, because it’s actually what the show is about. You know, breaking out of prison. What was great about the show though was that each episode dealt with one small factor in the plan. With that all rushed for a 90-minute film, it’s just a mediocre breakout thriller without the week to week cliffhangers. It looks great though and suggests that the glory seasons of the show will hold up well when they get around to re-releasing them on Blu Ray.
