Label: Via Vision Entertainment
Region Code: Region Free
Duration: 459 Minutes
Rating: MA15
Audio: English DTS-HD 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.00:1)
Directors: Mike Cahill, Andrew McCarthy, Nick Murphy, Maggie Kiley, M. J. Bassett, Damon Thomas, Mark Tonderai, Stefan Schwartz
Cast: Eoin Macken, David Ajala, Jodie Turner Smith, Angus Sampson, Sam Strike, Maya Eshet. Brian F. O'Byrne, Gretchen Mol, Bronte Carmichael
Based on a novella by author George R. R. Martin (Game of Thrones) the 10-episode series Nightflyers (2018) aired on the SyFy channel. The year is 2093, the Earth is on the edge of destruction, and a team of scientists lead by astrophysicist Karl D’Branin (Eoin Macken, Centurion) journey to the stars via an advanced ship space called the Nightflyer, endeavoring to make first contact with a newly discovered alien race called the Volcryn, hoping that they hold the key to the Earth's salvation. The Nightflyer is piloted by the reclusive Captain Roy Eris (David Ajala, TV's Supergirl) who only interacts with the crew via a hologram projection.
Other key crew include cyberneticist Lommie Thorne (Maya Eshet, MTV's Teen Wolf) who can commune with the ship's A.I., chief engineer Auggie (Brían F. O'Byrne, Bug), psychiatrist Agatha Matheson (Gretchen Moll, HBO's Boardwalk Empire), distrusted telepath Thale (Sam Strike, Leatherface), xenobiologist Angus Sampson, the Insidious franchise) and Melantha Jhir (Jodie Turner-Smith, Queen & Slim) as a crew member who becomes a bit of an object of desire for the ship's aloof captain among others.
Things get off to a bumpy beginning right from the get go when a bit of sabotage nearly has the ship burning up in the Earth's atmosphere before it even gets started, from there the complications never let-up. There's a haunting A.I. presence, the crews distrust of a lethal telepath that's brought on board to communicate with the Volcryn, and the captain's reclusive nature that forces him to communicate with his crew solely through holograms is a bit strange, and leads to some not unwarranted suspicions. On top of that you have the D’Branin seemingly being haunted by the ghost of his young daughter, and when the Volcryn finally do make some sort of contact it's by way of a meat-stuffed satellite that defies description.
There's a lot I loved about Nightflyers, but most of it is a visual appreciation, it's a sharp-looking bit of sci-fi terror in space, but it leans a bit too heavy on the influences with overt nods to 2001: A Space Odyssey, Event Horizon and a so many more. Substantively the show struggled from the start to find it's footing, there's a lot of cool elements, but it should have zeroed in on a more distinct style of storytelling that would have driven the series, but by the end of the first season I felt the show was hopelessly adrift in it's own quagmire, bogged down by a bit too many unnecessary subplots involving betrayal, distrust, ill-timed romance. Visually I thought it was a winner, and to be honest, sometimes that's all I need, a visually interesting sci-fi show can be it's own guilty reward, but even that couldn't stop this from being just a mediocre watch.
The writing of the series touches on so much cool stuff, we get artificial intelligence, virtual reality, alien species, space-madness, space-cults, a telepath who loves to fuck with people's minds, and a satellite oozing mechanical flesh, but it's not cohesive, it goes on tangents, and it never quite comes together in a way that made me feel satisfied, but it certainly had it's moments.
Audio/Video: Nightflyers (2018) arrives on 2-disc region-free Blu-ray from Via Vision Entertainment framed in 2.00:1 widescreen in 1080p HD. The digitally shot series looks excellent, with deep inky blacks, and while the series is not the most vibrant sci-fo on TV, the colors do come to life when called upon, with a lot of red accents throughout. Detail in facial features and clothing looks quite good and contrast is strong throughout. Audio comes by way of an English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with optional English subtitles. Dialogue is delivered neatly, and during livelier action-sequences the surrounds kicks in with some nice low-end built into it. The 2-disc Blu-ray release arrives in an oversized keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork, the 10 episodes are split evenly between the pair of discs, there are no extras.
Episodes:
Disc 1:
- All That We Left Behind
- Torches and Pitchforks:
- The Abyss Stares Back
- White Rabbit
- Greywing
- Torches and Pitchforks:
- The Abyss Stares Back
- White Rabbit
- Greywing
Disc 2:
- The Sacred Gift
- Transmission
- Rebirth
- Icarus
- All That We Have Found
- The Sacred Gift
- Transmission
- Rebirth
- Icarus
- All That We Have Found
Special Features:
- None
Nightflyers (2018) was not picked-up for a second season by SyFy, and barring some sort of unlikely revival on a streaming service like Netflix or Amazon I wouldn't anticipate that happening, so know that before you dive in on this first and only season. While the show didn't completely work for me I won't say it's awful, it might be something a bit worse than that, a show that had potential but was only mediocre. I wanted this show to wow me, I wanted to love it, and while it dazzled me from time to time, my enthusiasm for it waned about half-way through the season and never recovered. Kudos to Via Vision for their sharp-looking/sounding Blu-ray release of the series, they're a foreign distributor to keep an eye on, especially when it comes to genre TV on Blu-ray, many of them being region-free and not available on Blu-ray elsewhere.
Nightflyers (2018) was not picked-up for a second season by SyFy, and barring some sort of unlikely revival on a streaming service like Netflix or Amazon I wouldn't anticipate that happening, so know that before you dive in on this first and only season. While the show didn't completely work for me I won't say it's awful, it might be something a bit worse than that, a show that had potential but was only mediocre. I wanted this show to wow me, I wanted to love it, and while it dazzled me from time to time, my enthusiasm for it waned about half-way through the season and never recovered. Kudos to Via Vision for their sharp-looking/sounding Blu-ray release of the series, they're a foreign distributor to keep an eye on, especially when it comes to genre TV on Blu-ray, many of them being region-free and not available on Blu-ray elsewhere.
More Screenshots from the Blu-ray:
