Falling Skies Season 5

DVD Wholesale Quick Overview:

The final battle begins as TNT’s Falling Skies returns for its last season. As season five opens, all breed of beast and mutant are running rampant on earth, and humans are now ready to fight against the enemy. Tom and the 2nd Mass are filled with rage, ready to destroy the enemy in an all-out battle to determine the fate of Earth.

it started out really good. most hollywoodisms were missing or downplayed, realistic and intelligent solutions to realistic problems (well for a show about an alien invasion) held together with realistic drama (not the stupid over the top hollywood stuff). things moved at a good pace, not too rushed, and not like they are kept from moving forward. john pope gives them the ability to actually fight effectively, then good aliens land and provide weapons and supplies and turn the outcome from a long drawn out war of survival to an actual resistance effort. concerns are raised at every step of the way to show that all decisions have risk, and some decisions result in bad outcomes. then the alien allies pull out and the show restarts from a point before the show had started (they are a scattered group of survivors with no resources or weapons, the show starts after they had become a makeshift army). they aren’t absorbed into another resistance group, but end up winning the war 2 seasons later. half of season 4 is about the escape, season 5 is about finishing off the enemy. in other words they go from POWs on the run to the dominant force on earth in half a season. the beginning of season 5 they know that they have a short window of opportunity, yet they spend most of the season sitting around in one place or another. in the first 3 seasons they fight aliens that are bullet resistant and the few times they engage other humans they are in cover so as to make the fight a believable fight, but in season 5 there is a few fights in which one side has weapons drawn on humans out of cover and without their hands on their weapons at close range and despite fully automatic fire right off the bat nearly all of the humans that are sitting ducks survive long enough to get to cover and start fighting back, a hollywoodism that was absent in the first 3 seasons. season 4 forgot everything that had happened in the first 3 seasons, and the 5th was a typical hollywood action thing that seemed to push its own agenda and story without regard to believability.

– jamoecw

It starts off as a funny home-story for viewers in Massachusetts: Boston is already in ruins, and aliens drop a small neutron bomb on back bay. The survivors head up for Marblehead and west for Acton, battle against mechs and disgusting critters in local super markets, hospitals and highschools, and forge their group into a relatively interesting party of warriors, surrounded by a never-ending supply of expendables that are killed off in great numbers during every episode. We wonder about the internal structure and policies of the alien invaders, but it soon goes downhill.
Initially, the alien footsoldiers are almost unkillable, are revealed as an oppressed species with own motives and intelligence, and their overlords reside in indestructible fortresses and won’t confront danger in person. This gradually shifts: The footsoldiers become mindless, rarely get a hit in and can be killed by any kid with a stick. Overlords are bumbling idiots, running around the woods to observe and chat with gun-toting humans in person. Humans have unlimited ammo, always, and aliens like to build poorly defended single-point-of-failure devices. A few alien superfighters come to help, but turn out to be thoroughly American emo-kids with daddy issues. The main hero spends most of his waking hours with rousing foundingfatherly speeches. Character developments become dramatically implausible, but at least we know that there is always a clear-cut distinction between good (patriotic, children-loving, loyal, gentle, honorable, intelligent, patient, generous, monogamous) and bad (unreliable, thieving, murderous, drug-abusing) people. The props appear to be more hastily built with each episode, and the plotholes get deeper and wider. The last episode really is not even trying. The defeat of the vengeful idiot alien queen is technically, psychologically and strategically entirely implausible, but easily forgotten in the final, cringe inducing embarassment of the victory celebrations.

– J. B.
While Season 4 started out as most of the others did, revisiting the same old line of getting beaten, then fighting back, all the while having drama thrown in that isn’t really necessary, it wasn’t too bad. And actually, some of it was quite enjoyable to watch. However, once the 2nd Mass was “Thrown into the Brig” by the incredibly awkward, silly, untrained and mindless soldiers, things started getting to be too much. When civilians are somehow able to be slapped with a “Court Marshall” In a time of war as non-military personnel by “Soldiers” that don’t even know how to wear Acu’s, or understand what rank they have. I mean, a supposed LT went to parade rest for some dicked up PFC, as well as an E-5 Shooting him in the back where his plates are supposed to be with a 9mm. (Which is attempted murder, and as soon as he even drew his Beretta, the other men should have dropped him.) They could have at least done SOME research prior to this. It didn’t have to be perfect, but it’s unbearable to watch if you’ve served, or have any inkling of an idea about the military in general. Unfortunately, this list could go on about other things and smaller issues, but the encounter with the dicked up Army guys kind of killed it for me. I’ll be finishing the season, but this is killing my insides. I really liked this series when it started but it should have ended already, they’ve dragged it out too far.

– Edgemaster

DVD Wholesale Main Features :  

Actors: Noah Wyle, Moon Bloodgood, Drew Roy, Connor Jessup, Maxim Knight
Producers: Steven Spielberg, Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank, David Eick
Format: AC-3, Box set, Dolby, NTSC, Widescreen
Language: English
Region: Region 1
Number of discs: 3
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Release Date: February 2, 2016
Run Time: 440 minutes