Banshee - The Complete First Season

"Banshee", part of Cinemax's new line-up of action drama series has all the elements of action movie; elaborate stunts, gruesome deaths and even a couple of sex scenes, all while incorporating the character development and shocking revelations usually reserved for a drama series.

The Blu-ray has a robust amount of special features that include the expected deleted scenes, audio commentaries by the creators and a teaser for Season 2. But given the unique format of the series, there are still so many interesting aspects of the show to explore. There are multiple "Look Inside" segments that focus on the elaborate action sequences. One major special segment includes a huge bus crash scene filmed in New York City. The series has elements of big-budget action films but also an elaborate dark world. The "making of" featurette "Town of Secrets" includes interviews with the cast and more insight to the creation of the show.

The fictional world of Banshee, Pennsylvania has a rich history that draws in these dark characters and criminal elements. A series of short episodes titled "Banshee Origins" explores some of this history that brought these characters to this place. There is also an interactive comic to augment the origin story.

"Banshee" is a show built on secrets from the first frame of every episode. "Inside the Title Sequence" offers an interactive feature that allows the viewer to see certain changes in each episode's title sequence that gives insight into the characters and their motivations. Also, there is a secret code and a segment explains the code to the audience. This is a welcome change from so many series that keep secrets and then reveal them later with a disappointing lack of creativity and ingenuity.

An added bonus to this collection is the inclusion of Cinemax's flagship action series, "Strike Back."

"Banshee" offers an entirely new type of series. Not only does it offer a mile-a-minute action, but also scintillating drama and actual answers to series questions.

"Banshee: The Complete First Season"
Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy
$49.99
www.cinemax.com/banshee