Why So Blu?

Sex And The City: The Complete Series + 2 Movie Collection (Blu-ray Review)

Likely due to the upcoming follow up/reboot series as well as the advent of HBO Max and the desire to have HD masters for the series to display on the streaming app, Sex and the City is finally finding itself a Blu-ray upgrade. Warner Bros will be releasing the entire original run of the show plus the two feature films together in one set; Sex And The City: The Complete Series + 2 Movie Collection. This is the first time the show will be on the Blu-ray format and with lossless audio. It appears the extras from the DVD editions of the show will be carried over and the discs for the theatrical release films are the exact same as was released before on Blu-ray. This deluxe package is coming at a solid time for people to revisit, catch up or check out before the new series drops or to make for a great holiday gift for that Sex and the City fan (Who also still enjoys collecting physical media). The set released on November 2nd and is available to order from the paid Amazon Associates link that follows the review.

.

Series

Sex and the City stars Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw, a New York-based writer who explores and experiences the unique world of Manhattan’s dating scene, chronicling the mating habits of single New Yorkers. The series also stars cast regulars Kim Cattrall as PR executive Samantha Jones, who’s seen — and done — it all; Kristin Davis as Charlotte York, still trying to hold on to the idea of happily ever after; and Cynthia Nixon as corporate lawyer and mother Miranda Hobbes, a pragmatist trying to balance the idea of love with the realities of life.

Winner of seven Emmy Awards, and the first cable show to win Outstanding Comedy Series, Sex and the City celebrates the bond of female friendship. It’s a salute to New York City, and a celebration of fashion and style. It’s a revolutionary series that broke boundaries, changed television and liberated women. Sex and the City set cultural and fashion trends, taught women to have honest conversations about relationships, and showed viewers how to express their individuality through fashion and style.

While The Sopranos gets a lot of credit for being a pivotal show in HBO and premium television’s history, as well as the TV landscape in general, Sex and the City deserves the equal kudos in being just as monumental. The show really pushed and advanced not only the obvious writing and presentation of women for TV, it also helped evolve the writing of males as well. Sex and the City also gave us a different look and play with comedy as well. I’m not sure if its the first of its ilk, but it certainly popularized the “dramedy”, giving its characters more than just being classy week to week sitcom types. They could produce the situations and laughter of the sitcom while also allowing for the growth, depth and production of a TV drama at the same time.

My personal experience with the show is that of a sampling of episodes over the years and both feature films. And I understand and know very well that the second film is NOT a fair representation of all things good with the show. Whenever I’ve caught an episode, I’ve rather enjoyed it and I remember being absolutely surprised at how good and well written the show was the first time I’d seen it. My early 20 something male brain had been program to not be attracted to a show like that and that’s just stupid and ignorant. With this set I hope to go through the series proper and finally take the whole thing in.

Episodes

Sex And The City: The Complete Series + 2 Movie Collection contains every episode from the show’s 6 season run (1998-2004) and the 2 feature films; Sex and the City: Extended Cut (2008) and Sex and the City 2 (2010).

Video

Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC (TV Show), VC-1 (Both Films)

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 (TV Series and Both Films)

Layers: BD-50

Clarity/Detail: For this review I’m looking over what’s new here – the TV series. The Sex and the City movies are both the exact same discs that were released prior and carry the same spec. Different than the DVD and original broadcast, the show is presented more open with a 1.78:1 framing. No, this is not cropped or zoomed and features more information in the frame. The image improves A LOT, knocking out the noisy DVD issues and carrying such striking colors and a more crisp, sharp picture. The show also features a nice layer of grain to it as well. Details, patterns and textures are much more rampant. This is probably the ultimate presentation for the show and will have fans feeling like they are seeing it for the first time.

Depth:  The show opens up from being a flat SD presentation to providing a nice, more open and spacious depth of field. The city and some interior spaces feel much bigger and able to breathe and its not just from the framing change. Hanging on to the grain really allows added dimension to the show. Movements are filmic and smooth and no issues occur from rapid motion causing a blur or jitter.

Black Levels: Blacks are deep and quite rich. There is beautiful nighttime and shadow work here. Minimal information intended to be scene is lost. Great contrast helps to bring out a lot of the colors and fine definition of details. There’s a little heavier grain in the more darkened areas of the picture. No crushing witnessed.

Color Reproduction: Colors really pop, right from the opening sequence their is a burst of colors from all the fashion, garments and such on display. There’s a great saturation and many different flavors of some hot colors. This show has a vivid look to it and really radiates a lot as you check it out.

Flesh Tones: Skin tones are natural and consistent from start to finish. Facial textures and details like make-up brush strokes, freckles, sweat, wrinkles, stubble and more showcase with great clarity and are very easily visible from any medium and close up shots.

Noise/Artifacts: None

Audio

Audio Format(s):

• TV Series: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA, French 2.o Dolby Digital
• Sex and the City: Extended Cut (2008): English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD, English 5.1 Dolby Digital
• Sex and the City 2 (2010): English 5.1 DTS-HD MA, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, Portuguese 5.1 Dolby Digital

Subtitles:

• TV Series: English SDH, French, Dutch
• Sex and the City: Extended Cut (2008): English SDH, Spanish
• Sex and the City (2010): English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish

Dynamics: For this review I’m looking over what’s new here – the TV series. The Sex and the City movies are both the exact same discs that were released prior and carry the same spec. The show not only upgrades to lossless, it now has a new 5.1 mix to play with. Its a slightly more vocal heavy mix with solid balance between the music, vocals and effects. Said effects and ambiance in the presentation do have good depth and layering in attempt to craft a more lifelike experience in each environment.

Height: N/A

Low Frequency Extension: The subwoofer hits at good, accurate levels with natural foley in terms of engines, doors closing, scuffles and the musical hits from drums, bass, horns or strings.

Surround Sound Presentation:  This is a rather front heavy mix, but the rear channels do provide some nice ample and city-like ambiance to each scene. Sound travel is accurate to screen and comes with some decent force when necessary.

Dialogue Reproduction: Vocals are clear and crisp with good attention captured on actor diction and mouth sounds.

Extras

Sex And The City: The Complete Series + 2 Movie Collection is an 18-Disc set and does NOT come with any digital codes. For a look at the packaging set and a few screenshot comparisons to the original DVD releases, please see the videos above.

Season 1 – Disc 2

Inside Sex and the City (SD, 3:52)

Season 2 – Disc 3

Meet the Cast of Sex and the City (SD, 8:25)

Season 3 – Disc 2 

Audio Commentary

• “Easy Come, Easy Go” – By Executive Producer/Writer Michael Patrick King
• “All or Nothing” – By Executive Producer Michael Patrick King
• “Running with Scissors” – By Executive Producer/Writer Michael Patrick King
• “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” – By Executive Producer Michael Patrick King

The Writers of Sex and the City (SD, 3:53)

The Fashion of Sex and the City (SD, 3:23)

Sex and the City: Real New Yorkers (SD, 2:28)

Season 4 – Disc 3

Audio Commentary

• “The Good Fight” – By Executive Producer/Writer Michael Patrick King
• “Change of a Dress” – By Executive Producer Michael Patrick King
• “I Heart NY” – By Executive Producer/Writer Michael Patrick King

Season 5 – Disc 1 (Only Disc for the season but is labeled as such)

Audio Commentary

• “Anchors Away” – By Executive Producer/Writer Michael Patrick King
• “Plus One is the Loneliest Number” – By Executive Producer/Director Michael Patrick King
• “I Love a Charade” – By Executive Producer/Co-Writer Michael Patrick King

Behind the Scenes with Patricia Field (SD, 21:28)

Season 6: Part 1 – Disc 1

Audio Commentary

• “To Market, to Market” – By Executive Producer/Writer/Director Michael Patrick King
• “Great Sexpectations” – By Executive Producer/Director Michael Patrick King

Season 6: Part 1 – Disc 2

Audio Commentary

• “Boy, Interrupted” – By Executive Producer Michael Patrick King
• “One” – By Executive Producer/Writer Michael Patrick King

Museum of TV & Radio Seminar Series: Sex and the City (SD, 32:34)

Season 6: Part 2 – Disc 1 

Audio Commentary 

• “Let There Be Light” – By Executive Producer/Writer/Director Michael Patrick King

Season 6: Part 2 – Disc 2

Audio Commentary

• “Splat!” – By Executive Producer Michael Patrick King
• “An American Girl In Paris (Part Une)” – By Executive Producer/Writer Michael Patrick King
• “An American Girl In Paris (Part Deux)” – By Executive Producer/Writer Michael Patrick King

Farewell Tribute 1 (SD, 26:30)

Farewell Tribute 2 (SD, 25:55)

USCAF Writers’ Panel Discussion (SD, 48: 32)

Alternate Series Finale Endings: Alt Ending 1 (SD, 00:48)

Alternate Series Finale Endings: Alt Ending 2 (SD, 1:10)

Alternate Series Finale Endings: Alt Ending 3 (SD, 1:22)

Deleted Scenes (SD, 11:32)

Sex and the City: Extended Cut

Audio Commentary

• With Director Michael Patrick King

A Conversation With Sarah Jessica Parker And Michael Patrick King (HD, 23:49)

The Fabulous Fashion Of Sex And The City (HD, 18:03)

Fergie In The Studio (SD, 2:11)

Additional Scenes With or Without Commentary By Director Michael Patrick King (SD, 3:53)

Fun and Games

• The City
• Dish It!

Sex and the City 2

Revisiting the ’80s (HD, 4:00)

Behind the Scenes with Alicia Keys (SD, 3:03)

Summary

Sex and the City will remain one of the seminal television shows of all time with its kicking down the door for women’s programming, being the poster child for everything that would follow. It makes a nice dazzling debut on Blu-ray with the show opening up with the 1.78:1 framing to display more information and becoming more crisp with detail and color to go along with crisp audio. Extras carry over and you get the previously released Blu-rays of the movies to boot. This is a nice legitimate upgrade and a must-have for fans.

This is a paid Amazon Associates link