Genre: Fantasy | Police Procedural | Drama

Created by: Stephen Carpenter, Jim Kouf & David Greenwalt

Discs: 5

Running Time: Approx. 951 minutes

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1

Summary:

Classic Grimm’s fairy tales come to life like never before in the “dark and imaginative” (Mike Ayers, CNN.com) supernatural series Grimm, from the producers of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Homicide detective Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli, Privileged, Grey’s Anatomy) discovers he is descended from a long line of criminal profilers known as “Grimms,” protectors who are charged with keeping the balance between humanity and the creatures of myth. With newly awoken abilities to detect the evil lurking among us, Nick struggles to keep his old life separate and safe as he becomes ever more entrenched in the ancient rivalries of the Grimm world. Available on Blu-ray™ and DVD on August 7, 2012, Grimm Season One allows fans to experience all 22 chilling episodes back-to-back and uninterrupted.

Grimm Season One also stars Russell Hornsby (Lincoln Heights, In Treatment), Silas Weir Mitchell (My Name is Earl, The Mentalist), Bitsie Tulloch (The Artist, Quarterlife), Reggie Lee (Prison Break, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End) and Sasha Roiz (Caprica, House). Guest stars such as Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (Scarface), Amy Acker (Angel), Titus Welliver (Lost) and Sebastian Roché (Supernatural) also appear in this uniquely evocative series that critics rave “offers genuine scares” (Michelle Tauber, People).

Grimm Season One is available as afive-disc set in special, limited edition packaging with exclusive Grimm collector cards. It features never-before-seen bonus material that takes fans deep into the world of Grimm, including an interactive creature guide, “Making Monsters” featurette and much more. The Grimm Season One Blu-ray™ also features perfect hi-def picture and perfect hi-def sound.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcNsmSwgk5M&hd=1[/youtube]

The series:

Grimm is a terrific show. “A police procedural with a fantasy twist” is how it’s often described. The thing is, it’s actually more like a fantasy series with a procedural twist; the fantasy aspect of it plays a much bigger role than the advertisements would have you believe. It’s not that the creatures (referred to on the show as “wesen”) are out in the open, or even seen that often, but they inform everything about each episode.

Nearly every episode is a combination of monster-of-the-week (yes, I mean wesen-of-the-week) and a larger, deeper, series-wide mythology, like so many sci-fi/fantasy/horror shows currently on the air. In the case of Grimm, the emphasis is definitely on the Meet the Creature aspect in almost every episode, with only a smattering of Something Bigger Going On thrown in, until near the end of the season when the mythology starts to really heat up. This means that, although you can certainly spend a long, rainy weekend having a Grimm marathon, you can also toss on a Grimm Blu-ray disc and watch an episode during the breaks between your 8 pm and 10 pm shows, and then put it away for a while, because so many episodes stand alone and don’t end in cliffhangers.

The transformation of people into wesen is a great effect, a combination of makeup and visual effects that works really well. You see it in every episode, and it’s definitely a highlight. Shot on location in Portland, Oregon, the rain and the forests also work perfectly to visually enhance the moody fairytale atmosphere. But it’s the likeability of the characters and the chemistry between them that bring the story, setting, and effects together to make this such an enjoyable show, and a recommended Blu-ray set.

 Packaging:

Now for the collection details. As indicated above, the Blu-ray and DVD sets now available are in limited, special edition packaging that’s actually pretty cool. Along with the two limited edition collector cards inside – mine are “Blutbad” and “Hexenbiest” – the five-fold LP-style case features a “Wesen Dictionary” on the interior sides of the folds. This lists each wesen name or term used in the show, the actual German translation, and the meaning within the show.

The four back sides of the case list the episodes found on each disc, including a brief summary. I LOVE it when an index of each disc is printed on the case, and especially love when summaries of episodes are also included. Booklets are fun but too easily lost, so I consider having information printed on the case to be a nice customer service.

The artwork on the case is mostly monochromatic blue screenshots but it’s really lovely. The general upside of LP-style cardboard casing like this is that great artwork shows up beautifully; the cardboard is a better medium. The downside, and it is true here, is that when the discs aren’t affixed to the packaging but slide in and out of the folders they could ostensibly get scratched. My discs were frankly somewhat challenging to get out of the folders. Just be careful, because The Pretty is, I think, worth it.

The only thing that isn’t listed anywhere (other than when you insert the disc) are the special features found on discs 1 through 4. Most of the special/bonus features are found on disc 5, as the cover index indicates, but in fact there are some on every disc. Maybe they weren’t referenced because they’re minor:  they’re almost all deleted scenes, and there are some for one or more episodes on each disc. Disc 2 also has a few extended scenes. I always look askance at deleted scenes, because I know that sometimes the reason they’re deleted is because the showrunners decided to go in a different direction. In other words, to my mind, deleted scenes are not canon. Nevertheless, they’re fun.

It’s disappointing that there are no episode commentaries in this set. I really enjoy listening to directors, showrunners, and other members of the production and post-production crew and their behind-the-scenes insights, but alas, we are denied that in this set. Here’s hoping we’ll get at least a few for Season 2.

Bonus features:

• Sorry to say, the “Gag Reel” is the first of the features, and it is the least funny gag reel I’ve ever seen. It isn’t horrible, it just isn’t that funny. Hardly anyone cracks up, ever, which it what I usually love most. There’s some very quiet background music throughout, but then it just… stops. Weird.
• Next up is the “Grimm Guide,” which is cool if you want more info on the creatures and terms. It looks like Aunt Marie’s book, with an index of names and terms in the front which you highlight (the highlighting isn’t very obvious), and you are taken to a page entry that includes a clip from the show.
• “The World of Grimm” is a nice 10-minute featurette giving a background and thumbnail sketch of the show. You could actually watch this before watching the series and not get too spoiled, but as with most bonus features, you’re probably better off waiting until you’ve seen it all.
• “Grimm: Making Monsters” is, as you would expect, a featurette about the process of the transformations, about 7 minutes long and really interesting.
• “Audition Tapes” are of David Giuntoli, Silas Weir Mitchell, Russell Hornsby, Bitsie Tulloch, and Reggie Lee.
• “VFX Progressions” show the transformations as we see them, then the progression of VFX layers. It’s only just over 2 minutes, but it’s a great window into all that’s done by the VFX team, and what the green screen is like for the actors.
• “Highlight Reels” are broken down into “Scares” (a great collection of effects and make-you-jump moments), “Morphs” (another cool collection of examples of transformations) and “the Language of Grimm” (mostly Monroe saying things in Grimm-speak, it’s fun), about 6 minutes total.

One more thing of note, which may only be because I’m relatively new to Blu-ray. I’ve had a few Blu-ray series now and haven’t seen a lot of difference between Blu-ray and broadcast TV in HD. In fact Blu-ray was somewhat detrimental to one of the sets, because it made the computer generated images more obvious. But the picture and the sound on these Grimm Blu-ray discs are gorgeous, so much better than HD TV, that it’s kind of mesmerizing; it certainly draws you in.

I was a fan of Grimm when it was broadcast, but I’m an even bigger fan of Grimm on Blu-ray. Like most series on Blu-ray and DVD, it greatly benefits from the lack of the disruption of commercials or having to fast forward past them. The crispy-clear picture and sound are a gift to a quiet show like this, and the special effects easily withstand the intensified scrutiny. The packaging is a cut above as well, and all of these benefits more than make up for the lack of commentaries and other minor dings. It’s a great set, and definitely recommended.

I give Grimm: Season One (Blu-ray) Five Out of Five Stars