Mad Men: Season One Blu-ray

Mad Men: Season One

 (TV) (2007)

Drama



What you are, what you want, what you love doesn't matter. It's all about how you sell it. Mad Men delves into the lives, loves and ambitions of a group of ruthlessly competitive men and women working in a 1960s advertising agency. Set on and around Madison Avenue - home of New York's ad agencies at the time, and the "Mad" of the title - the series was created by Sopranos writer Matthew Weiner and has gained rave reviews in the US. The series revolves around the complicated world of Don Draper, the biggest ad man (and ladies' man) in the business, and his colleagues at the Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency. As Don makes the plays in the boardroom and the bedroom, he struggles to stay a step ahead of the rapidly changing times and the young executives nipping at his heels.

For more details about Mad Men: Season One on Blu-ray, see the Mad Men: Season One Blu-ray Review

Mad Men: Season One Blu-ray, Video Quality

 


Mad Men arrives on Blu-ray in it's intended aspect ratio of 1.78:1. Video has been encoded at 1080p using the AVC/Mpeg-4 compression scheme. I wasn't fortunate enough to be able to view Mad Men in HD when it was broadcast on AMC this past year. Having seen the show entirely in heavily compressed 480i over satellite, I wasn't quite prepared for how fantastic this show looks. Mad Men just about leaps off the screen in 1080p. All of the show's meticulous period details fill the frame wonderfully. The show is filmed with a muted color palette that mimics color film of the era. Grain is present and naturally presented as well.

As I made my way through Mad Men's thirteen episodes, I was startled at just how well this presentation has been put together. Black levels remain consistent and deep throughout the series. Lionsgate has managed to keep annoying edge enhancement, digital noise reduction or any kind of encoding-induced nonsense out of the set as well. Once again, the strengths of the Blu-ray format shine through in this stellar collection of episodes. Not only is the Mad Men Blu-ray set superior to any HD broadcast you might manage to catch, it actually represents the best way to view this visually stunning series. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Mad Men: Season One Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 


Lionsgate hasn't skimped at all in the audio department with this Blu-ray release of Mad Men. Presented in lossless DTS HD Master Audio, this Blu-ray edition gives the viewer the opportunity to hear every nuance of this very dialogue driven show. Kudos to Lionsgate for sticking with their lossless audio standards, even for a show that other studios wouldn't have thought necessitated the lossless treatment.

Of course, Mad Men isn't going to ever be accused of rocking anyone's subwoofer or blowing windows out. It is, of course, primarily dialogue driven and features very little, if any, surround activity. What it does feature, is extremely well written dialogue that is presented perfectly on this Blu-ray disc. Voices are always intelligible with every subtle phrase and utterance well represented. The show's exceptional musical score is also nicely featured within the mix. Ultimately, while not being rock 'em sock 'em demo material, Mad Men on Blu-ray gets the job done perfectly.

Mad Men: Season One Blu-ray, News and Updates

• Today on Blu-ray - July 1st, 2008 - July 1, 2008


• Mad Men Coming to Blu-ray this July - April 2, 2008

Mad Men: Season One Blu-ray, Forum Discussions

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