Fire Country: Season One DVD review

Sep 03, 2023- Permalink

The CBS drama series Fire Country stars Max Thieriot as Bode Donovan, a young convict who volunteers for the California Conservation Camp Program which helps prisoners shorten their sentences by assisting professional firefighters with California’s wildfires. Assigned to his hometown, Bode finds himself working with former friends and other inmates. The main cast is rounded out by Kevin Alejandro, Jordan Calloway, Stephanie Arcila, Jules Latimer, Diane Farr and Billy Burke. Paramount has just released Fire Country: Season One on DVD and I had a chance to take a look.

I sound like a broken broken record, but I do get asked why a recent series that’s broadcast in HD would be released on a standard definition DVD instead of a Blu-ray. Long story short, DVDs are cheaper to make and the studio analyzes what it thinks the home market will be. If the show is super popular or a genre hit with rabid fans it gets a Blu-ray, otherwise it gets a DVD. The video presentation does look pretty good with colour palette that captures the natural surroundings and raging fires well. Black levels and shadow details aren’t as good as a Blu-ray could deliver but are good for the DVD format. With the 22 episodes spread over six discs, the video does have some room to breath so compression artifacts aren’t too bad. The series is presented in a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio.

On the audio side of things, the set does come with an English 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack. Subtitles are available for English SDH. Like many TV shows the soundtrack can be a little front-heavy though the surrounds and subwoofer do get usage for the environmental sound. Dialogue is clear and centred.

The six-disc DVD set comes with two featurettes that look at the season and the visual effects and there is also a gag reel. The set does not come with a digital code.

If you’re a fan of the series, then you’ll want to pick up Fire Country: Season One on DVD. If you haven’t seen it, I’d recommending checking it out on CBS or Paramount+ and deciding if you want to add it to your collection.