GENNDY TARTAKOVSKY'S PRIMAL - THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON (2019-2020)
Label: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 220 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Genndy Tartakovsky
Cast: Aaron LaPlante
Genndy Tartakovsky's animated series Primal features a caveman at the dawn of evolution, his name is Spear; who encounters a dinosaur on the brink of extinction, its name is Fang. The anachronistic prehistoric duo are bonded by common tragedies when each lose their families to the same pack of predators. Having lost everything the pair now traverse the primordial world of Primal together, facing danger by way of monstrous creatures, giant-sized bats, primitive ape-men, and a tribe of mystics engaging in human sacrifice.
The visual storytelling of Tartakovsky's series is awesome, we get wordless interplay between the primitive man and the beast as they travel together, hunt for food and fight for survival in a brutal prehistoric land that reminded me of a very gory A Land Before Time by way of Conan in the pages of Heavy Metal with a strong Frank Frazetta influence. It's quite fascinating, with each episode running more of less about twenty minutes, the pace is brisk, the action is impactful, and the lack of traditional dialogue never hinders the storytelling. It manages to convey a lot of emotion, particularly Spear's longing for his dead family, and his contemplation of suicide. I love the animation style as well, it's bold and striking and doesn't look like anything else I have seen, but for some reason I kept thinking Sam Keith's The Maxx in regard to the physicality and stance of Spear, not so much in the style or aesthetic, but I would love to own The Maxx animated series on Blu-ray, now that I am thinking about it. The details in the backgrounds aren't as ornate as what we've previously seen in Tartakovsky's Samurai Jack series, but the the water-colored backdrop depicts the primordial settings quite nicely, varying from deep canopied jungle, grasslands, torch lit caves, rocky outcroppings and snow-covered terrain.
The action is also well-done, the physicality of Spear and his primitive hominid movements look fantastic, the animated film is very cinematic throughout. The series is also has plenty of horror elements if that's your thing, with loads of bloodshed by way or blunt force trauma from stone-weaponry, toothsome creatures tearing flesh, spooky mystic imagery, and a scenario that has Spear drinking a potion that basically turns him into the caveman version of Marvels the Hulk, wherein he battles he battles a Kong-sized gorilla wearing the skull of a Triceratops, then tears apart a cave full of ape-men is a geyser of blood, guts and dismemberment!
Audio/Video: All ten episodes of Primal - The Complete First Season arrives on Blu-ray from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment in 1080p HD framed in widescreen (2.35:1). The bold animation looks fantastic, colors are well saturated, and the animation lines are strong. I absolutely love the distinct look of this series, and it translates well onto Blu-ray in 1080p HD.
Audio on the disc comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with optional English subtitles. There's really no spoken dialogue here, though we do get some Neanderthal grunts and howls, as well as shrieks and roars from a plethora of dinosaurs. The score from composers Tyler Bates (300) and Joanne Higginbottom does a lot of the emotional and thematic heavy lifting, the action scenes are pulse-pounding and the more delicate themes of loss, misery and tenderness get their due. There's plenty of low-end and a nice array of atmospheric and action-based surround action.
Extras include a selection of Behind the Scenes Interviews and footage with series creator Tartakovsky composers Tyler Bates and Joanne Higginbottom, art director Scott Wills, voice actor Aaron LaPlante (Samurai Jack), as well as artists from the Studio La Cachet, the French who did the animation. Its only 10-minutes but they crammed it full of tasty content, including some behind-the-scenes goodies of LaPlante recording his voice acting, and animators working on the series.
The single disc releases arrives in a standard keepcase with wraparound artwork without any lettering on the wrap, housed within a slipcase. Inside there's an insert with an episode synopsis, plus a code for a digital HD copy of the series.
Special Features:
- Behind the Scenes Interviews (10 min)
- Digital HD Copy
Primal - The Complete First Season is the single-best animated series I have seen in a very long time, easily. It's a ferocious bit of primordial fantasy-adventure, but there's also humor and depth to it, and it manages to have a wide emotional range despite not having traditional dialogue, which is a tribute to the storytelling and animation. I do wish we had some commentaries or animatics on the Blu-ray, but the audio/video presentation is top-notch, this comes highly recommended. If you are not yet sold checkout the complete first season available now on HBO Max and the second season will be debuting in June!
Screenshots from the Blu-ray:
