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House of Cards - Season Three [4 Blu-rays]
(John David Coles, Tucker Gates, James Foley, John Dahl, Robin Wright, Agnieszka Holland, 2015)
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: Media Rights Capital Video: Sony
Disc: Region: FREE (as verified by the Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player) Runtime: 13 episodes (av. 0:52:27.504 per episode) Disc 1 Size: 38,592,246,637 bytes Average Episode Size: 13,283,653,632 bytes Video Bitrate: 23.52 Mbps Case: Wallet-Style Digipak Blu-ray case Release date: July 7th, 2015
Video: Aspect ratio: 2.0:1 Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio English 2165 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 2165 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit) DUB: DTS-HD Master Audio French 2166 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 2166 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Subtitles: English (SDH), English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, none
Extras: 50-second Recaps for each episode Disc 4
•
"Backstage Politics: On the Set of House of Cards"- An
extensive behind-the-scenes look into the creation of House of Cards, Season 3
(24:59)
Episode Sample Bitrate:
Description: In Season 3 of “House of Cards”, President Underwood fights to secure his legacy. Claire wants more than being the first lady. The biggest threat they face is contending with each other. This Emmy-winning original thriller series stars Golden Globe winner Kevin Spacey as ruthless and cunning Francis Underwood, who will stop at nothing to conquer the halls of power in Washington D.C. His secret weapon: his gorgeous, ambitious and equally conniving wife Claire (Golden Globe winner Robin Wright).
Season 3 D isc 1S3, Ep1 27 Feb. 2015 Chapter 27 Frank's approval ratings have plummeted. Doug goes through rehab over his injury. Claire plans to run for Ambassador to the U.N. Chapter 28 S3, Ep2 27 Feb. 2015 Chapter 28 Claire's U.N. bid runs into trouble. Frank fights off mutiny with a bold address to the country. Chapter 29 S3, Ep3 27 Feb. 2015 Chapter 29 The Russian president's state visit becomes a cold war of wills.
Disc 2 D isc 3Chapter 33 S3, Ep7 27 Feb. 2015 Chapter 33 The damage is done and the Underwoods must repair it. But deep wounds don't heal fast, and sometimes not at all. Chapter 34 S3, Ep8 27 Feb. 2015 Chapter 34 A hurricane endangers more than just the entire East Coast and Frank must make a difficult choice. Chapter 35 S3, Ep9 27 Feb. 2015 Chapter 35 The Jordan Valley erupts in chaos just as Frank's campaign is picking up steam. Claire gets disturbing intel and counsels him. Chapter 36 S3, Ep10 27 Feb. 2015 Chapter 36 Frank needs to deal with Petrov one on one, while Claire tries to preserve the peace-keeping mission. Sacrifices must be made. D isc 4Chapter 37 S3, Ep11 27 Feb. 2015 Chapter 37 Things turn ugly when Frank, Jackie, and Heather square off during their first debate. Tom joins Claire on the campaign trail. Chapter 38 S3, Ep12 27 Feb. 2015 Chapter 38 Claire is given an even larger role in the campaign. The gain in points drives Heather to look for dirt on Claire. Chapter 39 S3, Ep13 27 Feb. 2015 Chapter 39 Francis and Claire's relationship reaches a critical point. Doug catches up with his past Excerpt from IMDb located HERE Image : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. Sony's Blu-ray package of the highly lauded series House of Cards is as clean and crisp as you might imagine from a new HD-broadcast series. The 13 X 52-minute episodes are housed on four Blu-rays. 3 episodes on the first, second and fourth discs and four on the third - with supplements only on the fourth. The original aspect ratio of 2.0:1 is supported. This is transferred on dual-layered discs with reasonable bitrates for the feature content per Blu-ray. There are plenty of dark scenes in House of Cards (dark topics) but the bitrate is supportive and I saw no noise or compression artifacts. The brighter the scenes the more depth - which is common. Detail is strong, visuals, especially close-ups, are crisp. It is quite flawless and in 1080P.
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio :Excellent audio quality with a supportive and tight DTS-HD Master 5.1 track at 2165 kbps. Any action, and it's not abundant although there are effect sounds that jump to the rear speakers. Jeff Beal's score floats in and out through scene changes. Everything sounds pristine in lossless and there is depth in the score's drums. There is a French language DUB and subtitle options signifying the four discs as being region FREE - playable on Blu-ray machines worldwide.
Extras : Firstly, there are 50-second recaps for each of the 13 episodes. They can play automatically or not as a "Play All" option. Only two supplements; "Backstage Politics: On the Set of House of Cards" runs 25-minutes and is an extensive behind-the-scenes look into the creation of House of Cards, Season 3. "A Death in New Mexico" runs 17-minutes. It is a featurette that chronicles the surprising events occurring in Chapter 39.
BOTTOM LINE: Gary Tooze June 30th, 2015 |
About the Reviewer: Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out new film experiences. I currently own approximately 9500 DVDs and have reviewed over 5000 myself. I appreciate my discussion Listserv for furthering my film education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver. Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our Amazon links.
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