His Dark Materials appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.00:1 on these Blu-ray Discs – I guess. Though the first season went with a screen-filling 1.78:1, S2 used mild letterboxing, so the ratio might be closer to 1.90:1.
Whatever the case, the series came with high-quality visuals. Sharpness worked well.
A few interiors could be a smidgen soft, but those instances remained rare, so the majority of the episodes delivered tight, concise material. I saw no signs of jaggies or moiré effects, and the shows lacked edge haloes and source flaws.
Materials went with an emphasis on teal and amber/orange. These colors seemed tedious, but the episodes displayed them in an appropriate manner, and some other stylized hues popped up at times.
Blacks appeared dark and dense, and shadows showed nice opacity. The episodes came across as appealing.
In addition, the DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio of Materials also satisfied. With occasional action on display, the soundscapes boasted a nice array of information from all five channels, and the information moved well.
Speech came across as natural and concise, while music showed rich, full tones. Effects appeared accurate and dynamic, with good low-end and impact. I felt pleased with the audio found here.
On Disc Two, we find 12 featurettes, and Noble Rogue runs 12 minutes, 43 seconds. It brings comments from novelist Philip Pullman, Autry Museum associate curator Josh Garrett-Davis, writer Jack Thorne, executive producer Jane Tranter, and actors Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ruth Wilson and Dafne Keen.
“Rogue” focuses on the Lee Scoresby character. Some of this turns into basic praise for Miranda, but we get a decent array of insights.
Under Exploring His Dark Materials, we get “Daemons” (7:54), “Panserbjørne” (7:49), “Portals & the Multiverse” (9:15) and “Witches” (8:37). Across these, we hear from Thorne, Wilson, Tranter, Keen, Miranda, and actors James McAvoy, Joe Tandberg, Ariyon Bakare, Lucian Msamati, Amir Wilson, Simone Kirby, Andrew Scott, Jade Anouka, and Ruth Gedmintas.
As expected, the segments cover the Materials topics cited in their titles as well as other unique concepts. These can feel a bit rudimentary at times but they add some good notes about the complexities of the Materials universe.
Bringiing Daemons and Bears to Life spans five minutes, 30 seconds and features VFX producer Russell Dodgson and creature FX coordinator Brian Fisher.
Here we learn about various efforts used to create the series’ non-human characters. It becomes a short but effective overview.
With Exploring Cittàgazze, we get a three-minute, 35-second piece with notes from production designer Joel Collins. He examines sets and design choices in this quick and engaging reel.
Worlds Collide spans two minutes, 40 seconds and involves Keen and Amir Wilson. They tell us a little about the two domains seen in the series, but “Collide” seems promotional and without much depth.
Next comes The Powerful Mrs. Coulter, a five-minute, 32-second program that includes comments from Ruth Wilson, Miranda, Keen, Gedmintas, Tranter, and Bakare. Unsurprisingly, we get some basics about the Coulter character. The featurette doesn’t tell us much of value.
Lyra lasts three minutes, seven seconds and delivers info from Keen, Gedmintas, Miranda, Ruth Wilson, Bakare, Amir Wilson, Tranter, and director Jamie Childs. This becomes another fairly perfunctory character summary without much to make it worthwhile.
Finally, The Subtle Knife goes for three minutes, 21 seconds and features Miranda, Scott, Tranter, Amir Wilson, Ruth Wilson, Gedmintas and Keen. This turns into a minor overview of the title subject, one that doesn’t tell us a lot of value.
Though I thought Season One seemed inconsistent, Season Two of His Dark Materials provides considerably more satisfying. These seven episodes tell a worthwhile tale and move at a good pace to create a compelling series of shows. The Blu-rays brings very good picture and audio along with a decent allotment of bonus materials. S2 makes me look forward to Season Three.