'Arrow - Complete Third Season'
(Stephen Amell, Katie Cassidy, David Ramsey, Willa Holland, Emily Bett Rickards, et al / 4-Disc Blu ray + Digital HD / NR / 2015 / Warner Bros.)
Overview: The Arrow has become a hero to the citizens of Starling City – but that doesn't mean that Oliver Queen can take his eye off the ball and lead a normal life in the spectacular third season of the hit series based on the DC Comics character.
Blu ray Verdict: OK, this has to be said from the start - as a fan of the comics and of Smallville I approached 'Arrow' with a positive and open mind. Within minutes of the pilot I felt disappointed. I decided to give the series and actors time to really develop before writing it off as a 'steaming pile'!
I'm a fan of John Barrowman's work from Doctor Who and Torchwood and was sad to see the writers and other actors give him nothing to work with. I've seen his strength as an actor and it's obvious his talents were not utilized. His acting is far superior to his co-actors. This can equally be said of Seth Gabel (Fringe) who, fortunately for him, only appeared in one episode.
I was not familiar with Stephen Amell prior to 'Arrow' and wish I wasn't now. His portrayal of Oliver Queen is wooden, lacking in range and very unmemorable. His Green Arrow is much, much better but still a little distant. I need a reason to care about the character. This actor was clearly chosen for looks alone.
Justin Hartley's Oliver Queen was simply brilliant, as was his Green Arrow. Given the writing for this show, in my opinion, Justin Hartley dodged a bullet by not getting the part. Though, I personally, miss him on my screen.
Coming full circle and up to date here on this third season, well, most of my feelings still haven't faltered, sorry. Indeed, this third season of 'Arrow' was better, but for different reasons from the first and second. This season really expanded the relationships with Oliver, Felicity, Diggle and the others. It didn't real create anything truly expansive for this universe, but it did allow the sub-characters to shine a little.
In truth, my only hope for the upcoming fourth season lies in the fact that the show has lost Jake Coburn, who was the worst writer on staff, responsible for some unrecoverable derailments. Co-developers Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg need to stop running around creating new shows every other second and finish what they started (along with weak-link Marc Guggenheim).
The few bright spots of the season include winning interpretations of future small man Ray Palmer/The Atom (portrayed deftly by former Man of Steel, Brandon Routh); and under-appreciated Japanese warrior Katana (portrayed by the infatuating Rila Fukushima). If the series would just focus more on developing individual characters, one at a time, instead of making them all orbit Oliver/Olicity's gravity, it could easily defy the greatest of expectations! This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.77:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Features of:
* Second Skins: Creating The Uniforms of Arrow
* Nanda Parbat: Constructing The Villain's Lair
* 2 Key Commentaries with Executive Producers Marc Guggenheim and Wendy Mericle
* Arrow at Comic Con 2014
* The Man Beneath the Suit: Atom's First Flight
* Unaired Scenes
* Gag Reel
www.WarnerBros.com
Own it on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital HD September 22nd, 2015!