Dominion

Dominion is loosely based on the 2010 Paul Bettany starring film Legion. The show picks up in apocalyptic times where God has disappeared and the angels are torn between fighting to rid the world of humanity (they blame humans for God’s disappearance) and protecting them. Deep inside the protected city of Vega (formerly Las Vegas) are survivors who have banded together to fight off both angels and demons. The city is mostly protected by the Archangel Michael and several facets of security. Their goal is to stay alive long enough to see the coming of a prophesied human savior.

I watched the show when it first came out and liked it. The special effects are great, the story is decent, the acting above par for the SyFy channel whose recent faux pas has been releasing dozens of B movies that rate from horrid to enjoyable.

Unfortunately the Blu-Ray quality of Dominion suffers from noise, often times strange skin pigmentation that leans more towards the red, and worst is the wide out shots (a hurdle for most BD releases) that tend to lose clarity the farther away something is.

Having reviewed so many BD’s in my time I kind of figured this was going to be an issue when I realized that Universal handled the transfer. They have been mostly inconsistent with their releases. The Jaws release was amazing, but probably only because Spielberg made it his business to become involved in it’s process. Their straight to BD release usually carry a good transfer as well which always boggles my mind that their top tier stuff usually comes out less then stellar.

Some pluses for this release are a great sounding DTS-MA 5.1 soundtrack that utilizes the science fiction special effects such as angel wings beating against the air, the creepy demon noises from the possessed and the battle sequences. You also get an HD Digital copy for your collection if you’re trying to limit your media space. I particularly like this option. Finally you get an alternative versions of some scenes, deleted scenes and a gag reel.

All in all the show is worth owning if you’re a fan. I don’t see Universal doing anything to correct some of the issues found on the discs but it’s well worth it for the audio mix if you own a well rounded surround sound system. Enjoy.