Morpheus aka Sandman aka Dream (Tom Sturridge) is one of the seven Endless, a family of immortal beings, more powerful than gods, that also includes Destiny, Death, Destruction, Desire & Despair, and Delirium. Dream is the king of dreams and nightmares, and ruler of The Dreaming, the realm humanity enters when they close their eyes and go to sleep. In 1916, Morpheus leaves his kingdom to pursue the Corinthian (Boyd Holbrook, Justified: City Primeval), a rogue Nightmare and serial killer, who’s been wreaking havoc in the waking world. However, Dream soon finds himself captured by wealthy aristocrat Roderick Burgess (Charles Dance, Game of Thrones) who utilizes the occult in an attempt to summon and imprison Death in order to resurrect his deceased son. However, he accidentally captures Dream instead, locking him up and harnessing his powers. During the 106 years that Morpheus is locked away and unable to control dreams, an epidemic of “sleepy sickness” has spread across the waking world causing people to fall into eternal sleep, the Corinthian has been able to run wild, and The Dreaming realm has fallen into decay. Once Morpheus finally manages to escape, he must hunt down his tools, reclaim his power, and restore The Dreaming. However, the world has changed a lot over the century he has been away.
The first season of The Sandman features an amazing all-star cast and adapts the first 18 issues of Neil Gaiman’s acclaimed comic book series, introducing viewers to this fantastical world of god-like beings and alternate realms. I was not familiar with the source material, but found the series to be quite interesting and visually stunning. The first 6 episodes have more of an episodic feel, each introducing either new members of the Endless or other new characters, as Morpheus hunts down the tools that were taken from him—his ruby, sand pouch and helm. There is a bit of an ongoing story following John Dee (David Thewlis) as his search for “the truth” puts the world in danger, and we get glimpses of the Corinthian at work manipulating people and working to stop Morpheus from rising to power again. Among those we meet during Dream’s quest to reobtain his tools are librarian Lucienne (Vivienne Acheampong), Cain (Sanjeev Bhaskar) & Abel (Asim Chaudhry), exorcist Johanna Constantine (Jenna Coleman, Doctor Who), talking bird Matthew the Raven (Patton Oswalt), Lucifer Morningstar (Gwendoline Christie , Game of Thrones), Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), Desire (Mason Alexander Park, Quantum Leap) and Despair (Donna Preston), and many others. Some of these folks are plotting against Dream, while others become allies. In the second half of the season, things really come together in a more heavily serialized story as Dream goes after the Corinthian, who has set his sights on Rose Walker (Kyo Ra), a young woman in search of her missing brother. The eleventh episode of the season is a bit of a bonus, originally a surprise release by Netflix a couple weeks after the first 10 episodes. This is more of a one-off, comprised of two somewhat standalone stories, the first of which is a short 15-minute animated tale, and the second featuring Arthur Darvill (Doctor Who) as a struggling author who kidnaps Calliope (Melissanthi Mahut) to be his muse.
Warner Bros has released this first season of The Sandman on 4K UHD, Blu-ray & DVD. I was sent the Blu-ray version for review. The production value of the series is very high…this definitely doesn’t look like a cheap show to make. The video presentation is generally very pleasant with a clean picture and a beautiful color palette. While the picture generally looks quite good, at times (in darker scenes) it can look a bit flat, particularly in Dream’s pale face. For this reason, I’d recommend going with the 4K release if you have the means of playback. The Atmos audio track sounds fantastic, providing a rich, full sound and a fully immersive experience. There is a nice, general ambiance throughout, but it really shines when the action and excitement amps up, like in scenes when Morpheus descends into Hell and is surrounded by demons.
The 11 episodes are split across 3 discs, which are placed on a tray in a standard HD keepcase, along with a cardboard slipcover. Unfortunately, like other recent WB TV show releases, there is no digital copy included. The third disc contains two short behind-the-scenes featurettes, both of which can be found on YouTube.
What’s Included:
Episodes: (9:47:04)
- All 11 episodes of the first season:
Disc 1 (2:55:55): “Sleep of the Just”, “Imperfect Hosts”, “Dream a Little Dream of Me”, “A Hope in Hell”
Disc 2 (3:18:07): “24/7”, “The Sound of Her Wings”, “The Doll’s House”, “Playing House”
Disc 3 (2:33:02): “Collectors”, “Lost Hearts”, “Dream of a Thousand Cats/Calliope” - 1080p / Widescreen
- Audio: English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1)
- Subtitles: English SDH
- The Sandman: Behind the Scenes Sneak Peek (1:51)
The cast and crew discuss the premise of the series, and what it’s been like bringing this world from the graphic novel to life. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with author/executive producer Neil Gaiman, and stars Tom Sturridge (“Dream”) & Gwendoline Christie (“Lucifer”).
- The World of The Endless (3:07)
The cast and crew discuss the characters and premise of the series. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with author/executive producer Neil Gaiman, showrunner/executive producer Allan Heinberg, and stars Tom Sturridge, Jenna Coleman (“Johanna Constantine”), Gwendoline Christie & Kirby Howell-Baptiste (“Death”).
Blu-ray:
Extras:
Final Thoughts:
The Sandman is an interesting and often visually stunning series, introducing viewers to a fantastical world created by Neil Gaiman in his acclaimed comic book series/graphic novels. It features an amazing cast and has incredible production value. While the series originally streamed on Netflix, now it is available to own on physical media (and also available for purchase on digital). Warner Bros’ Blu-ray looks good and sounds amazing, but is unfortunately light on bonus material, and also doesn’t include a digital copy. However, it’s worth picking up for the quality of the series itself. If you have the capability of 4K playback, I’d certainly opt for that version of this release (Vudu also offers the season in 4K digital).
Note: We got the chance to speak with some of the cast/creators of the series back at San Diego Comic-Con 2022. You can find those interviews here.
The Sandman: Season 1 (4K UHD)
$49.99 $48.55 (as of April 26, 2024 08:41 GMT -04:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Sandman, The: Season 1 (Blu-ray)
$20.87 $16.48 (as of April 26, 2024 08:41 GMT -04:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Sandman, The: Season 1 (DVD)
$15.49 (as of April 26, 2024 08:41 GMT -04:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
The Sandman – Season 1
$19.19 (as of April 26, 2024 08:41 GMT -04:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
