Blu-ray Review: VIKINGS: VALHALLA: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON

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Sep 10 Posted by Kyle Nolan in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

Disclaimer: “Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray^TM I reviewed in this Blog Post. The opinions I share are my own.”

The original Vikings series ran for 6 seasons on the History Channel and Prime Video and was quite the epic, action packed, and sometimes brutal show—I reviewed several of the disc releases for that series and really enjoyed them. So, when Netflix announced that they were going to be creating a follow-up series, Vikings: Valhalla, I was excited to check it out—though without a Netflix subscription, I never got around to it. The series ran for three seasons, just finishing up this past July. Fans can now rejoice because Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment has just released the first 8-episode season on Blu-ray for the first time.

It’s the 11th century, nearly a century after the legendary exploits of Viking Ragnar Lothbrok. During the 100 years that have passed, many Vikings left their Northern homelands to settle across Europe. One of these settlements was the Danelaw, near London, England. While things appeared to be quite peaceful, the prosperity of these settlements caused the Vikings’ Saxon neighbors to feel threatened, and they urged King Aethelred II to step in to solve their problem. As the Vikings blissfully celebrated Saint Brice’s Day, the king arranged for the Danelaw to be attacked and burned to the ground, massacring all who lived there, including women and children! The killing continued, purging all of the Viking settlements from the English shores.

Prince Harald Sigurdsson (Leo Suter, Sanditon), the “someday King of Norway”, had just left from a visit to the Danelaw and was headed back to Norway when he learned of the massacre of his kinsfolk and loved ones. Now he is determined to get the head of the king as retribution. Back in the North, King Canute of Denmark (Bradley Freegard, Keeping Faith) has sent out a call for all Vikings to make their way to Kattegat. He and Prince Harald are amassing an army to take on England.

Meanwhile, a small group of Vikings from Greenland, led by Leif Eriksson (Sam Corlett, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) and his sister Freydis Eriksdotter (Frida Gustavsson), also make their way to Kattegat. They are unaware of the massacre or of the looming plan to take over England. They have come to the city on their own mission of vengeance, searching for a man who has done unspeakable things. However, tensions run high in the city as the Vikings fall into two groups, Pagans and Christians, and neither group seems to want to work with the other, which causes some fights to break out. Prince Harald has a way with words, and he’s going to need to find a way to convince these Vikings to work together, no matter if they follow Jesus or Odin.

Prince Harald has taken notice of Leif ever since he arrived. First impressed by his skills as a sea captain, and then witnessing his abilities as a fighter. He tries to recruit Leif for the cause against England, but Leif refuses, only concerned about his personal vendetta. But when Freydis gets herself in trouble by exacting her revenge plan, Prince Harald has the leverage he needs to force Leif to come along with him to England. Also assisting with the cause is Olaf Haraldsson (Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Those About To Die, Succession), a devout Christian who has intimate knowledge of the British defenses, since he helped to build them. However, it takes some convincing to get him to journey alongside the Pagans. As the Vikings make their way towards England, they learn that the king, whose head was Prince Harald’s target, has passed. Their goal to take England remains the same, but they shift their focus to the King’s son, Prince Edmund (Louis Davison, Poldark).

As I watched this first season of Vikings: Valhalla, I was quickly reminded of why I loved the original series. The production value is excellent, transporting the viewer back 1000 years to an era of simpler but brutal weapons, and all kinds of political scheming and backstabbing (sometimes literally). The first season primarily follows two parallel storylines. The main storyline follows Leif, Prince Harald, King Canute, Olaf and the other Vikings as they stage a coup of the British monarchy and set up their own Viking rule. As they trying to figure out how to best use these royals—the prince, his resourceful and scheming advisor Earl Godwin (David Oakes, The White Queen, Victoria), and stepmother Emma of Normandy (Laura Berlin)—to their advantage, they also have to deal with tensions within their own ranks. There is a lot of religious intolerance causing a rift between the Vikings, and some are looking for ways to capitalize on this and increase their own power and standing.

Meanwhile, the season also follows Freydis on her separate journey of religious and self discovery, which takes her to Uppsala, Sweden and more before eventually rejoining her brother in London. However, along the way, she attracts the attention of Christian zealot Jarl Kåre (Asbjørn Krogh Nissen) who makes it his mission to hunt her and the other Pagans down.

While there’s a lot of interesting character drama and development over the course of the season, and some surprising twists and turns to the story, the one thing this series (and its predecessor) really excel at are the epic battle sequences. Whether it’s people fighting with hatchets and swords on land, firing arrows and catapults through the sky, or warring at sea, these sequences are always quite cinematic and well done. There are two particularly impressive episodes (4 and 8) that I will definitely be re-watching.

The series had been picked up for 2 seasons right from the start, so episode 8 feels more like a midseason finale, ending on a slight cliffhanger. I hope that Warner Bros. will release the other two seasons of this series on Blu-ray as well bause I’m really enjoying this show! Speaking of the Blu-ray, the presentation is excellent, with a clean, detailed picture that beautifully captures the look and feel of the era, and the battle sequences look great. The soundtrack is even more impressive, providing a thoroughly immersive experience, whether it’s the celebration and massacre at the start of the season, a stormy sea journey, or the massive battle scenes, you always feel like you are right in the middle of the action. At the same time, dialogue remains clear throughout.

The first season’s 8 episodes are evenly split across 2 discs, which are placed either side of a standard HD keepcase. Our review copy did not include a slipcover. The discs contain no bonus material, and there is no digital copy included, but the first 2 seasons are currently available for purchase digitally.

What’s Included:

Episodes:

All 8 episodes of the first season
- Disc 1 (3:06:29): “The Greenlanders”, “Viking”, “The Marshes”, “The Bridge”
  Disc 2 (3:30:45): “Miracle”, “The Last Daughter of Uppsala”, “Choices”, “The End of the Beginning”
- 1080p / Widescreen 2.00:1
- Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
- Subtitles: English SDH

Extras:

No bonus material has been included.

Final Thoughts:

My Rating

Episodes:

Video:

Audio:

Extras:

Recommended

The first season of Vikings: Valhalla is great—I had forgotten how much I enjoyed the original series until I started watching this follow-up. Since this series is set a century after the original Vikings show, there is no need for the viewer to have seen that series before checking out this one. It features interesting characters, lots of twists, drama and intrigue, and some amazing and exciting battles. Fans of the original series will definitely want to check this out. The Blu-ray presentation features solid picture and excellent sound, but is lacking any bonus material or a digital copy. The series ran for three seasons on Netflix, and I hope that Warner Bros. will also release the other two seasons on disc as well. That said, this is definitely worth a look.