“FlashForward” has turned out to be quite a riveting series. A good balance of sci-fi, action and mystery. Definitely a series worth watching!
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DVD TITLE: FlashForward – Part One, Season One
DURATION: 10 Episodes (430 Minutes)
DVD INFORMATION: Widescreen (1:78:1) – Enhanced for 16×9 Televisions, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, French and Spanish Subtitles, English SDH
COMPANY: abc studios
RELEASE DATE: February 23, 2010
Directed by Nick Gomez, David S. Goyer, Michael Nankin, Bobby Roth, Michael Rymer
Written by Brannon Braga, David S. Goyer, Robert J. Sawyer, Marc Guggenheim, Lisa Zwerling, Scott M. Gimple, Ian B. Goldberg, Barbara Nance, Dawn Prestwich, Nicole Yorkin
Executive Producer: Jessika Borsiczky, Brannon Braga, Vince Gerardis, David S. Goyer, Ralph Vicinanza, Marc Guggenheim
Co-Executive Producer: Lisa Zwerling
Producer: Mark H. Ovitz
Co-Producer: Cathy M. Frank, Cleve Landsberg, Samantha Thomas, Jeff Betancourt,
Consulting Producer: Seth Hoffman, Dawn Prestwich, Nicole Yorkin
Music by Ramin Djawadi
Cinematographer: Nelson Cragg, Jeff Jur
Edited by Julius Ramsay, Avi Youabian, Jeff Betancourt
Casting by Wendy O’Brien
Series Production Design by Wendy O’Brien
Series Production Design by Stephen Storer
Series Art Direction by Mark Zuelzke, Ron Yates
Series Set Decoration by Jennifer M. Gentile
Series Costume Design by Marian Ceo
Starring:
Joseph Fiennes as Mark Benford
John Cho as Demetri Noh
Jack Davenport as Lloyd Simcoe
Zachary Knighton as Dr. Bryce Varley
Peyton List as Nicole Kirby
Brian F. O’Byrne as Aaron Stark
Courtney B. Vance as Stanford Wedeck
Sonya Walger as Dr. Olivia Benford
Christine Woods as Janis Hawk
Lee Thompson Young as Al Gough
Ryan Wynott as Dylan Simcoe
Lennon Wynn as Charlie Benford
Dominic Monaghan as Simon Campos
Genevieve Cortese as Tracy Stark
Barry Shabaka Henley as Agent Vreede
Gabrielle Union as Zoey Andata
Chaos reigns in Los Angeles after a mysterious event causes everyone in the world to lose consciousness at exactly the same moment. Was it an act of nature? Something man-made gone wrong, or something even more sinister? Whatever it was, every person on Earth blacks out for two minutes and seventeen seconds and sees a series of events on April 29, 2010 at 10:00 p.m., Pacific Time – exactly six months in their future. For some the future will be joyous and hopeful; for others, shockingly unexpected; and for a few, it simply doesn’t seem to exist. Knowing their fate will alter each person’s life in one way or another and poses the questions: Can destiny be changed? And by changing just one destiny, what effect would that have on those of others? Viewers will be able to catch up on the heart-pounding first ten episodes of ABC’s thrilling series “FlashForward†before it resumes airing March 18, 2010.
In 2009, as the popular drama series “LOST” was on hiatus until Feb. 2010 on ABC, many people were wondering what series ABC would have for viewers in the meantime. Fortunately, the network had a new sci-fi drama series titled “FlashForward” based on the 1999 novel by Canada sci-fi writer Robert J. Sawyer set for debut in Sept. 2009 and a total of ten episodes aired through December and set for a return in March 18th after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
So, in order to get people prepared for the second half of the series, ABC is releasing “Flash Forward – Part One, Season One” on DVD featuring the first ten episodes and will be releasing the complete series on Blu-ray and DVD later in August. Fortunately, abc studios is including a $15 coupon with this DVD release, if people plan to upgrade to the complete series.
The series revolves around a few main characters and what happens to them when every human in the planet loses consciousness for 2 minutes and 17 seconds. During that time, each person was given a glimpse of their future six months later. The FBI are trying to find out the source of why this happened, while everyone is trying to deal with what they learned of their visions of the future (good and bad).
The main characters of “FlashForward” are:
- FBI Special Agent Mark Benford (played by Joseph Fiennes) – The primary character investigating why this global phenomenon has happened. His FlashForward features him in the FBI building alone hiding from masked gunmen.
- Special Agent Demetri Noh (played by John Cho) – A partner of Mark who is also investigating the phenomenon. He didn’t have a FlashForward, thus leading him to believe he will be killed in the future. In fact, he receives a mysterious call that he will be killed on a certain date and was told so he could possibly change his fate from happening. He is engaged to attorney Zoey Andata (played by Gabrielle Union).
- Dr. Olivia Benford (played by Sonya Walger) – Married to FBI Agent Mark Benford. She is the top surgeon at a hospital and mother of a young girl named Charlie (played by Lennon Wynn). Her FlashForward featured her making love to another man who she doesn’t know. She can’t understand why she would do such a thing since she loves her husband and now because of her FlashForward, it’s affecting her relationship with him. Meanwhile, her daughter Charlie’s FlashBack featured her daughter worried about the son of the man she is supposedly to be with in the future.
- Dr. Lloyd Simcoe (played by Jack Davenport) – An academic from Stanford who believes he and his partner Simon were responsible for the blackout. He is the man that Olivia Benford had a FlashForward of. His wife was killed in an accident during the blackout and raises his autistic son Dylan (played by Ryan Wynott). His FlashForward was talking to someone and seeing a woman at his home (not seeing the face).
- Dr. Simon Campos (played by Dominic Monaghan) – A quantum physicist who works with Dr. Lloyd Simcoe. He doesn’t believe they are responsible for the blackout. His FlashForward is fighting with another man and killing him.
- Dr. Bryce Varley (played by Zachary Knighton) – An intern for Dr. Olivia Benford. He was a man who was about to kill himself because he has kidney cancer until the blackout came and now feels that he has been given a second chance.
- FBI Assistant Director Stanford Wedeck (played by Courtney B. Vance) – He runs the FBI Los Angeles office and directs his agents on the case. His FlashForward featured him reading a newspaper on the toilet and later trying to save a man who nearly drowned when his head fell inside a toilet in the restroom.
- Special Agent Janis Hawk (played by Christine Woods) - The technical special agent of the FBI. Her FlashForward featured her pregnant but is in disbelief because she is single and is a lesbian.
- Aaron Stark (played by Brian F. O’Byrne) – A recovering alcoholic and Mark Benford’s sponsor and good friend. His FlashForward features an image of his dead daughter still alive.
- Nicole Kirby (played by Peyton List) – A 19-year-old student and the babysitter of the Benford’s. Her FlashForward featured Nicole being drowned by someone and now is in fear for her life, not knowing why someone would try to kill her.
“FlashForward – Part One, Season One” features a total of ten episodes on two DVD’s. Included are the following episodes (feat. spoilerless summaries):
DISC 1:
- EPISODE 1 – No More Good Days – Everyone experiences a blackout and try to make sense of their FlashForward.
- EPISODE 2 – White to Play – Dr. Benford meets the man who she sees in her FlashForward. Meanwhile, Demitri receives a call from an anonymous person warning him of his death on a certain date.
- EPISODE 3 – 137 Sekunden – Mark and Janis travel to Germany to speak to an imprisoned Nazi who may have knowledge of why the blackouts happened.
- EPISODE 4 – Black Swan – Dr. Benford who tries to believe that the FlashForward’s are not all true, tries to go against another man’s vision and realizes that she’s wrong.
- EPISODE 5 – Gimme Some Truth – A Senate Intelligence Committee wants to know why the LA office are conducting unauthorized investigations. Meanwhile, a shootout takes place and one of the agents is shot.
DISC 2:
- EPISODE 6 – Scary Monsters and Super Creeps – Mark, Demetri and Wedeck try to investigate the connection from the shootout.
- EPISODE 7 – The Gift – An agent who has trouble with his own FlashForward is ridden with guilt, meanwhile the agents investigate the “Blue Hand Club”.
- EPISODE 8 – Playing Cards with Coyote – Aaron learns the truth about Tracy and Mark receives a tip about an assassin.
- EPISODE 9 – Believe – Demetri tries to find his mysterious anonymous caller, meanwhile Mark tries to find out who texted Olivia that he was drunk in his FlashForward.
- EPISODE 10 – A561984 – Mark and Demetri go behind their boss and travel to Hong Kong to find the woman who has details on Demitri’s fate.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“FlashForward” is featured in Widescreen (1:78:1) – Enhanced for 16×9 television. Picture quality is good and the fact that the series is filmed in a variety of locations gives you an idea that how beautiful and vibrant this series would look in HD on Blu-ray. So, for those who want enjoy the series and prefer it on Blu-ray, the complete series will be available on Blu-ray in August. For those who want the series on DVD should be happy that the picture quality is very good. There is little compression artifacting, especially since there are five episodes on each DVD disc.
As for audio, “FlashForward” is featured in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. The series has quite a bit of action in the ten episodes from cars crashing, gun shots, glass breaking, tables being flipped over. As mentioned, “FlashForward” would probably sound much better via lossless on Blu-ray if you are an audiophile. As for the DVD, the series sounds good via Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. The series is front and center channel driven. I preferred to watch the series with stereo on all channels set on my receiver for a more immersive soundscape.
Subtitles are in English SDH, French and Spanish.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“FlashForward Part One, Season One” comes with the following special features:
- Creating Catastrophe: The Effects of Global Blackout – (7:06) The making of the blackout catastrophe from the first episode of “FlashForward”. How the scene was filmed on the 110 freeway in Los Angeles with over 200 extras.
- FlashForward: A Look Ahead – (4:48) A short teaser for the second half of “FlashForward”.
With the final season of “LOST” now airing on ABC, for quite some time, ABC has been trying to find a drama series that can capture that same magic and so far, every series within the past few years that have aired have not lasted more than a season. I felt that “Lost in Mars” from 2008-2009 had so much potential but ABC ended the series after its first season and here we are with “FlashForward”, a sci-fi drama series which features a few talent from “LOST” with a pretty cool concept and a lot of potential.
I am enjoying the series thus far and have enjoyed the first ten episodes a lot. I like where the series is going but the big question is if this is the type of series that can continue for multiple years. One of the things that “LOST” has been successful is that with each hint given, there is more mystery also added in each episode. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t but nevertheless, it was enough to keep the series going for six years straight. With “FlashForward”, the main premise is the investigations to why these FlashForwards are happening and people having to deal with their own visions from the future, good and bad.
So, far the series has done a good job by drawing the viewer in and I can imagine, if the series during its return followed “Lost” during the 10:00 p.m. Tuesday time slot, the series will do quite well. It’s a very cool series with a good amount of sci-fi, action, mystery and also a series with a lot of potential. I really hope this series lasts more than a single season because it’s very good!
As for the DVD release, the presentation was given that “LOST” vibe with how the menus are presented on the DVD. Although, this is more or less a release to get people up-to-date when the series returns in March, you only get the first ten episodes on this DVD but again, people who purchase this DVD will get a $15 off coupon when they purchase the complete series on Blu-ray or DVD in August. So, if you want to watch “FlashForward”, definitely a series worth picking up now.
Overall, “FlashForward” has turned out to be quite a riveting series and definitely a series worth watching! I look forward to the return of the series on television in March and as for “FlashForward – Part One, Season One”, if you want to know what this series is all about, then definitely pick this DVD up. Definitely recommended!