Special Ops: Lioness appears in an aspect ratio of 2.00:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Across the board, the shows looked good.
Sharpness was fine. A little softness occurred in some wide shots, but those didn’t become a concern. Overall definition seemed solid.
I noticed no jagged edges or moiré effects, and the presentation lacked apparent edge haloes or other artifacts. I also saw no print flaws, as the movie always seemed clean.
In terms of palette, Lioness reflected Hollywood’s modern fascination with orange and teal. As tedious as that has become, the colors looked fine within the design parameters.
In addition, blacks were dark and tight, while low-light shots were decent. Some could be a bit dense, but they weren’t bad. This was a positive presentation.
As for the series’ DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack, it added breadth to the experience. The movie didn’t deliver a consistently rock-em-sock-em soundscape, but it managed to open up well.
A few louder sequences – usually connected to action beats – made more dynamic use of the spectrum, but those didn’t pop up with great frequency. Instead, the emphasis on general environment remained, and that was fine, as I felt the soundfield fit the material.
Audio quality always pleased. Speech remained natural and concise, with no edginess or other flaws.
Music sounded full and dynamic, while effects came across as accurate and clear. All of this suited the series and earned a solid “B+”.
All eight episodes come with Behind the Story featurettes. Combined they run a total of 52 minutes, nine seconds.
Across these, we find notes from actors Zoe Saldaña, Michael Kelly, Laysla de Oliveira, LaMonica Garrett, James Jordan, Jonah Wharton, Dave Annable, Stephanie Nur, Nicole Kidman, Austin Hébert, Jill Wagner and Morgan Freeman.
The featurettes mainly look at character and story elements. They don’t tell us much that seems insightful, as they remain fairly promotional in general.
Disc Three adds three other featurettes. Embedded with Special Ops: Lioness runs 21 minutes, 38 seconds and brings notes from Saldaña, Kidman, Freeman, Kelly, de Oliveira, Nur, Annable, Wagner, Garrett, and creator/writer Taylor Sheridan.
“Embedded” examines the series’ origin and development, cast and performances, sets and locations. These offer little substance and stick with the puffy vibe of the “Story” featurettes.
Battle Forged Calm goes for nine minutes, two seconds. It features info from Wagner, Garrett, Jordan, Wharton, Hébert, military advisor Jared Shaw and armorer Russell Cannon.
This one discusses the actors’ military training. It offers more information than its predecessors but still lacks real depth.
Finally, Inside the Series lasts 19 minutes. Here we get notes from Garrett, Saldaña, Freeman, Kidman, Nur, Annable, Kelly, Hébert, Jordan, Wharton, de Oliveira, and Wagner.
“Inside” delivers a basic series overview. Expect another promo piece.
No one can claim Special Ops: Lioness breaks new ground in the military/thriller genre. Nonetheless, Season One delivers a fairly involving overall narrative that maintains attention from start to finish. The Blu-rays come with very good picture and audio as well as a lackluster set of supplements. I look forward to Season Two.