Season one of Vikings:Valhalla is now available to buy on Blu-ray from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, and they have sent us a copy for review. Set 100 years after the original Vikings series which aired on The History Channel from 2013-2021, this new series had previously streamed exclusively as a Netflix original series.
Vikings: Valhalla chronicles the heroic adventures of some of the most famous Vikings who ever lived — the legendary explorer Leif Eriksson, his fiery and headstrong sister Freydis Eriksdotter, and the ambitious Nordic prince Harald Sigurdsson. As tensions between the Vikings and the English royals reach a bloody breaking point and as the Vikings themselves clash over their conflicting Christian and pagan beliefs, these three Vikings begin an epic journey that will take them across oceans and through battlefields, from Kattegat to England and beyond, as they fight for survival and glory.
The series stars Sam Corlett as Leif Eriksson, Frida Gustavsson as Freydis Eriksdotter, Leo Suter as Harald Sigurdsson, and Bradley Freegard as King Canute. Other cast members include Jóhannes Jóhannesson as Olaf Haraldson, Laura Berlin as Emma of Normandy, David Oakes as Earl Godwin, Caroline Henderson as Jarl Haakon, Pollyanna McIntosh as Queen Ælfgifu, and Asbjørn Krogh Nissen as Jarl Kåre. Jeb Stuart, Michael Hirst, Morgan O’Sullivan, James Flynn, Sherry Marsh,
Alan Gasmer, Sheila Hockin and John Weber served as executive producers.
The video quality on this is AMAZING. The series has high production values, and the outdoor scenes are beautiful, the action scenes are bloody, and the dark scenes are full of detail. Audio is also well done, featuring a nice DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. The action scenes utilize the surrond speakers, and the music, dialogue and ambient noises are all clean and clear.
All eight episodes of season one are features on the disc, but there are ZERO bonus features, and that would be my only criticism. While I appreciate and encourage ALL streaming series to get physical media releases, the studios should throw consumers a bone by including something extra–otherwise why would anyone other than collectors and physical media hardcores want to purchase something they can see on the streamers for what they are already paying?
VIKINGS:VALHALLA- SEASON ONE BLU-RAY
Show Quality: B
Video Quality: A+
Audio Quality: A-
Bonus Features: NONE
Overall Value: B-
