LOST Season 4 Blu-ray Review

LOST is hands down my favorite television show.  I know some people don't quite 'get' it, mainly because they haven't been watching the entire series.  If you haven't been watching then things like a hidden bunker on the island or polar bears attacking won't make sense.  These things have mostly been explained already.

Season 4 is where we really start getting more answers.  With the additions of the Flash Forwards along with the Flashbacks, more of the puzzle pieces are being placed together.  We also learn that getting off the island isn't the end of the story.  There's so much more.

I think I'd have to say that because of added information, this has been my favorite season.  You really didn't know what to expect. You didn't know if you were watching a flash forward or flashback.  The season may have been cut a little short due to the writers strike (only 13 episodes) but it delivered so much.  Watching it in high definition is such a treat.  I won't go into detail about the actual episodes.  The episodes alone in HD are reason enough to own this set.

What about the extras?

On the first disc there is a "LOST in 8:15" recap.  Get it?  8 minutes 15 seconds...Oceanic Flight #815.  So if you are a little unclear as to what has happened or if you need a little reminder, pretty much all you need to know is told.  Disc 5 is where the extras are.

Lost On Location consists of some behind the scenes features from certain episodes.  From "The Beginning Of The End" we get a four minute feature on Hugo's car chase scene from the first episode of the season.  "Confirmed Dead" is a four and a half feature on how they filmed Charlotte parachuting onto the island.  From the fifth episode, "The Constant" there is a five minute feature on Desmond's trip back and forth in time and meeting Faraday.  "The Other Woman" is a five minute feature showing a fight scene with the stunt women.  "Meet Kevin Johnson" is a four minute feature dealing with Michael's return.  "The Shape Of Things To Come" was the ninth episode and there is an almost eight minute feature on the big fight scene with Sawyer and the explosives.  "Cabin Fever" is a five minute feature showing the death of a Freighter Folk.  Finally there's a five minute feature on the fight scene from "There's No Place Like Home, Part 2."

The Island Backlot: LOST In Hawaii (17:53) shows the amazing job they do to turn Hawaii into different locations.  In this season we've seen scenes that took place in Berlin, Tunisia, Iraq and Korea.  All were filmed in Hawaii.  It's pretty cool seeing how they do it.

The Right To Bear Arms (11:15) is all about the (numerous) guns on the show.  There's even a guy that tracks the location and possession of each weapon for continuity's sake.

Soundtrack of Survival: Composing For Character, Conflict & The Crash (26:21) gives us a performance of the music from the season.

LOST Bloopers (3:22).  I love bloopers as much as the next person.  The ones here were simply okay.  Nothing outrageously funny.  Maybe the actors are just that professional.

Deleted Scenes (9:11).  There are nine scenes included.   Interesting.

Course Of The Future: The Definitive Interactive Flash Forwards.  This starts out as a sort of mini game.  You're given ten flash forward mini scenes and you have to place them in the correct chronological order.  Once you do, a new menu is unlocked.  You can then view all the flash forwards (including the one at the end of Season 3) in order.  This runs at 56:05. It's cool and does help to clear a couple things up.  You also have the option to Choose Your Own Path.  You can choose a character (Jack, Kate, Aaron, Hurley, Sun, Sayid or Ben) and follow their flash forwards in chronological order.

The Oceanic Six: A Conspiracy Of Lies (21:16) is a mock documetary examining the 'story' the press is given about the six survivors.  If this was actually run in the world of the LOST characters, I don't see how anyone could buy their story.  Basically the cover story is ripped to shreds.  There's no way their story could work.  It's almost as if they're knocking down what the writers of the show came up with.  Good to see that they have looked at the different angles.

The Freighter Folk (12:40) gives us a look at the new arrivals on the island.

Offshore Shoot (7:50) deals with filiming on the freighter.

LOST: Missing Pieces (Mobisodes) (31:22).  The thirteen 'webisodes' that were released on Verizon mobile phones and later on ABC.com are here.  The scene where Jin loses his temper on the golf course (on the island) is hilarious.  He rants on in Korean while Hurley and Michael look on is priceless.  There is also an interesting scene involving Vincent (the dog) and Jack's dad from right after the crash on the island.

This is definitely a 5 stars out of 5 set.  The episodes deliver the goods.  The visuals are simply amazing in HD.  There's some new Blu-ray features including the option of having your machine save your place in the series, even if you remove the disc.  With the new season starting in January, now's the time to watch the season all over again.  The set also comes with a safety pamphlet for Oceanic Airlines.  Lost: The Complete Fourth Season [Blu-ray] (also on DVD) lands in stores Tuesday December 9.

The funny thing is, this set almost got lost when it was being sent to me.  Thankfully it made it's way to me.