Defending Jacob DVD review

Jul 09, 2021- Permalink

In the Apple TV+ limited series Defending Jacob, Chris Evans and Michelle Dockery play parents of a teen (Jaeden Martell) who is accused of murdering another teen at his school. There’s a problem for Evans though as he’s an assistant district attorney. Does he do his job or defend his son?

This Apple TV+ streaming series has now been released on DVD and Blu-ray by Paramount Home Entertainment and I had a chance to take a look at the DVD. Other cast members in Defending Jacob include Cherry Jones, Pablo Schreiber, and J.K Simmons. Based on the book by William Landay, the story sadly drags a bit and this may be due to the recent disease known as “Streaming Storyitis.” This is a common affliction we’re seeing on streaming platforms, where ideas pitched for movies are suddenly stretched to eight or more hours by streaming executives who want more content to attract monthly subscribers. The cast is great, but the material just isn’t enough to support them.

The three-disc set is presented in a 16:9 aspect ratio. As a DVD release, don’t expect the clarity and detail and expanded colour palette of the Blu-ray release. On the audio side, there’s an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack as well as an English Descriptive Audio track. Subtitles are available for English and English SDH. Total run time is six hours and forty-three minutes. There’s a couple of production extras and some deleted scenes.

If you really want to see Defending Jacob and already have an Apple TV+ subscription to watch something good like Ted Lasso, then watch Defending Jacob there. Unless you’re a superfan of one of the cast and simply have to own everything they’re in, you can probably give this DVD set a pass.