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True Blood Season 1 (HBO) [DVD] [2008] starring: Anna Paquin, Chris Bauer, Stephen Moyer

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Publisher: Warner Home Video
Release date: 26th October, 2009
Media: DVD
Number of items: 5

Subtitles

Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, Norwegian, Swedish

Format

• Box set
• PAL

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Editorial Review

Alan Ball’s True Blood series works well for television, as it has enough sensationalism to tantalise and enough story girth to make the viewer care about the characters. That one can finally invest emotion into monsters, including an undead Civil War victim, a transformer who can shapeshift into various animals, and a female mind reader, speaks volumes about America’s willingness to accept fantasy. Of course, television has always produced good fantasy shows (I Dream of Jeannie), but True Blood’s Southern Goth brand of fun horror is more macabre and more perverse, not to mention gorier, than most shows of its kind to date. Adapted from Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse novels, True Blood thrills because of its equal blend in each episode of erotica, humour, tragedy, mystery, and fantasy.

Set in a rural, swampy Louisiana parish, the show centers around Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) and her clan, sweet grandmother Adele (Lois Smith) and air-headed brother Jason (Ryan Kwanten). Illicit love is spawned early on, when Sookie saves vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer) from having his blood stolen in the parking lot of Merlotte’s diner, owned by Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell) who completes what will form a complex love triangle. As tensions between Sookie’s suitors loosen or tighten, many side plots, such as her African American best friend Tara’s (Rutina Wesley) struggle with an alcoholic, Bible-thumping mother and her brother’s dangerous crush on drug-addicted hippie Amy Burley (Lizzy Caplan), keep one wondering who will succeed in this podunk place. The main tension throughout, however, is a race war waged between vampires and humans. As murders of “fang bangers” occur (human girls who let vampires bite them) and dumb policeman Andy Bellefleur (Chris Bauer) fails to find clues, one sees the metaphorical implications of vampirism and feels deeper resonance with what can be a downright trashy show. Gossip galore, especially about what kinds of babies interbreeding will produce, is rampant. One of the funniest characters is Tara’s flamboyant cousin, Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis), who deals drugs, works as a fry cook, and services the local white politicians, while making sure he’s always up in everyone’s business.

What makes True Blood smarter than pure soap opera is the parallels it draws between its monster mash and actual, familiar social problems. Sookie and her friends watch the news where Evangelicals bash vampires and prohibit mixed marriage and everyone is addicted to V, a.k.a vampire blood, that effects like psychedelic heroin. Even its gore reflects a mix of serious and silly, as vampires explode into red, sticky goop. Though it may not be attempting to qualify for the best vampire footage ever shot, True Blood is as addictive as that substance the town’s youth obsesses over, which is a metaphor in itself. --Trinie Dalton

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Average rating - (more reviews)

Rating: - True Porn... and Blood!

Not much to say, really. A good idea, albeit made by people who are obviously aiming for shock value to sell this show, rather than let the entertainment and writing speak for itself. I found most of the sex scenes unneeded and they didn't really add much. A curious 13-year might find value in it, but as an 18 year old, it's just embarrassing. I'm not a prude for sex and violence, I'd just rather it be more suggestive, instead of the softcore pornography they seem intent on forcing upon us today. I recently bought a DVD of 30 Rock (an innocent situational comedy series), and I was oddly more aroused during certain episodes of that than I was for the entirety of True Blood.

It was the same with Sex and the City (same producers as True Blood). I used to enjoy the program, but the perversion in it (light by this standard) was something I'd have to tolerate and ignore till the rest of the story came back into focus. Funny thing is, towards the end of the series, the producers seem to grow tired of the endless irrelevant sex scenes, and don't bother with them as much.

Of course, there's the inevitable comparison to Twilight this series has garnered, and I'd have to side with this. Sookie Stackhouse is a lovably innocent and naive girl who can read people's minds, and suffers much in her personal and professional life for it. It is only when she encounters Bill Compton, a vampire, that she finds solace, as she cannot read his thoughts. Interestingly, in Twilight, it is Edward Cullen who can read minds, but cannot read Bella Swan's. He doesn't seem to suffer much from his psychic abilities though. I never cared much for Edward Cullen. He had nothing to care about himself. He was forever young, perpetually in high-school, had an entire extended family to spend his immortal days with. Why should I care about him? Because he's handsome? Maybe, but I think he knows he is, all too well.

Bill Compton, on the other hand, is a troubled man with a dark, and yet not stupidly overdramatic past. He returns to his old house before he was bitten after many years, and struggles to gain acceptance among the human community. They begrudgingly try not to act out on their prejudices against vampires because Government legislation forced them to. Bill and Sookie face a crux in their on-off relationship over whether they'll be able to have a normal life together. Bill can't wake up next to her in the morning, as he'd likely burn to death from sunlight. Edward Cullen wouldn't even have to worry about getting a tan. And is Bill as handsome? I'd like to think more so. He is a man of traditional masculinity, and holds old-fashioned views about being a gentleman - that is when he's not fighting off thoughts about joining his other vampire friends in a bloodbath. And the thought of his sexual appeal seems to have never crossed his mind for a second.

These were the only characters I was aware of before buying this DVD. There are tons of others that surprised and disturbed me in equal measure. Sam, the mild-mannered bar owner at which Sookie and her friends work, has a secret that could be considered more disturbing than being a vampire. His crush on Sookie is extended by his jealous nature. Sookie's best friend, Tara, is outwardly abrasive for reasons that are thought to be other than psychological. Her cousin Lafayette is an odd case, as the town's African-American Bisexual (Visexual too) Drugdealing short order cook. He's probably the breakout character. And of course, there's Sookie's brother Jason, who's high-energy libido and dumbness gets him into trouble on countless occasions. There are also some touching minor characters, like a war veteran, who's flashbacks to Iraq are sometimes confused with the Vampires in town. And there's the sweet town idiot, who's innocence astounds even Sookie when her loose friend is murdered, and his inner thoughts are of a much less catty nature than the rest of the town residents.

Watching it the first time, I was wondering "is the plot going to go anywhere soon?". Only after the end, did I realise the connections between what appeared to be a few random incidents in the town, and how far the characters had come. And they still had more to come. Bring on season 2!

Rating: - Fantastic

I watched this when it ran on Channel 4 and loved it from the beginning. Where Twilight is about abstinence this a much more gratuitous and sexy take on the vampire theme. It's extremely gory and violent in parts, there is plenty of sex, nudity and colourful language, but it all fits in fluidly with the general feel of the show. The characters are interesting and well depicted. It's hard not to get addicted to the show and the books are just as good.

Rating: - true blood excellent

Fantastic DVD I am absolutely hooked on true blood series now I have seen the first one and can't wait for the next season to be released on DVD. If you love vampire related stories then this is for you, it makes you laugh, cry and swone for more.Loved it highly rcommend it.

Rating: - Reacting to negative reviews

I wasn't going to bother reviewing this series but I have just read some of the negative reviews and wanted to respond. Firstly I should say that I haven't read the books yet but am going to.
I can understand some of the comments about the sex and swearing in the series, but it is HBO after all and they provide some of the respite from formulaic amerian network series. I didn't find the inclusion of sex scenes and swearing to be excessive, after all, a world filled with vampires is probably a relatively sordid one.
With regards to the characters, I found it very easy to care for many of them and it didn't affect my enjoyment of the show that I actively disliked some of the characters as it at least made it interesting. Although the series, like others, features a few vampires wanting to integrate into human society, it seems that two more equal worlds are colliding here. All the characters are trying to find their own way through it whilst the social and political issues of this race war unfold.
I didn't find the accents a problem at all. I'm not sure some people understand the southern drawl which I thought was reasonably comparable to the way people talk in the southern states of america.
In truth, I could have done without some of the V hallucination sequences but they didn't phase me too much as long as you don't take it too seriously.
All in all, I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to season 2 coming out in the uk. It's a good vampire love story with an interesting plot and other interlacing story lines. It is not meant to be another twilight series or buffy, not to criticise them, but it is a bit more "grown-up".

Rating: - The best tv series of 2009!

What can I say I absolutely loved this, I didn't get to see it on tv but decided to buy it after reading and loving the books.
I still prefer the books and they are a little different to this show but still, I was not dissapointed.True Blood is more quirky than the books are and adds some comedy to the mix, particularly with the new character Tara, despite not liking the changes initially , after about 10 minutes I started to like it for what it is and tried not to keep comparing it to the novels.
For those who don't already know, True Blood follows the residents of a town called Bon Temps and the arrival of their first vampire since they had revealed themselves to the world two years ago.The main story is around a resident called Sookie Stackhouse, she has the ability to hear people's thoughts and the vampire known as Bill takes a liking to her.
I won't give away the whole story but be warned, there is lots of sex, violence and blood, if you can handle all this then buy it ,NOW!

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