The Originals: Season 1

I'm not usually into vampire stories, mostly because they're either too gooey with high school nonsense, or they are all action packed and full of gore. I am into none of those things. (Side note: The witches out-gross the vampires in this show. Just an FYI.)But lucky for me, that is not the case with The Originals. Even though some of these elements are present, they are in reduced form, and are not as overt as in other vampire stories. Yes, it can get a bit bloody, but it is manageable in that you can look away for a few seconds here and there if you so choose and NOT miss the entire episode in doing so.I find the characters to be psychologically interesting and compelling (no pun intended), and especially those of Niklaus and Elijah and their relationship as brothers. It's an interesting concept to me to explore a being who is over 1,000 years old and has done a lot of living, and the effects that would/could have on the choices that they make (and why), their psyche, and their emotional well being. This concept is what usually causes me to give vampire stories a chance. Not any of the blood stuff. Yes, the Originals are powerful, but it's what they choose to do (or not to do) with that power that interests me.Visually, the show is good, the colors, the sets, the costumes, and indeed most of the people. I found the casting to have been done really well in this department. As mentioned above, I dislike the high school vibe, and visually, The Originals avoided that and because of this I feel like I am watching adults, and not children. It lends a maturity to the show which I do appreciate.I must also mention that I think that the soundtrack/music is REALLY well done. I have even purchased two or so tracks used in season 1. No regrets. I feel that the music is definitely fitting with it's backdrop of New Orleans. And no, I do not mean straight up jazz (among other things), but it has a warmth to it and is full of soul. Music brings all of the other (really good) elements alive.And, to add to that thought, and also a reference back to casting, I found a lot of the characters voices to be very interesting to listen to, those of the three "Originals" siblings in particular. Perhaps that's partially because they all have accents that I enjoy listening to, but it's more than that, it's also their rhythm/meter of speech, as well as tone. They also use words one doesn't normally hear out of your average Joe in conversation (from Elijah especially). After all, you'd expect someone who is that old to have a very large vocabulary, and perhaps even a different manner of speaking. Lends itself to bring more depth, realism, and believability to their characters.Plot. Not without its flaws but it's good! But okay, let's be honest here. Most everyone appreciates a good romance story. But this show focuses more on the family bond and what that really means, and let's face it, it's a straight up story about the concept of forgiveness and redemption (Niklaus is the best example of this, but it is certainly not limited to him). Which is another concept I find extremely interesting. All of the various romances are a little off center focus, but highly present. And most importantly, NOT the usual gooey high school form of romance. Thank God.All in all, worth the watch. I await season 2. Let's hope they keep the quality going.

I'd never even heard of this series before I came across a clip on YouTube.I figured I'd buy the first episode and see how it is. I was pretty much assuming it was going to be some kind of teenage angst fest. And it's got that, but thankfully it wasn't the stomach turning kind, where you wish they'd all just kill each other already, and put everyone out of their misery.It is possible that this is because everyone was already either killing everyone else, or trying to.You could probably write a whole new chapter in the DSM about every single one of them.Whatever. Didn't suck, bought the season, glad I did.End of review.

It's always the same: writers at this level never do seem to overcome the contradictions of their own creations.Marseillaise, being a vampire and having the power to change people's minds wants to go out with a gal he knows, a human. So, why not just gaze into her eyes and convince her she's in love with him? Or, that she's horny and wants to have sex with him? Having the power to convince people by a vampiric mind meld precludes any wants of that sort. Ok, so maybe he wants her 'true love.' But why wait for the first date? Just, you know, make it happen. It's these types of things that make me yawn.However, after two episodes, and I've never read any Ann Rice--although I did see an Ann Rice novel turned into a Broadway show I watched in person in NYC, and it was quite engaging and thought provoking--but the writing is on the level of a cheap soap opera, because that's what it is. It's marginally as good as Sanctuary, and no where close to Star Gate/Atlantis or Star Trek Next Generation/Deep Space Nine, or Enterprise. Yes, those can be cheesy, but the writing is coherent.I know there are a lot of people here who have followed this series from the Dairies. I have no truck with you. You most likely watch the these types of series for other reasons than I do. I watch them for consistency in plot, character, morality/ethical philosophical issues that make me think, and tactical strategies that make logical sense. So, when I see contradictions, I lose a little interest until after too many, I simply stop watching. This is what happened after "The River in Reverse."I just finished "The River in Reverse." Same thing again, and after this last episode, I've figured out where the writers are coming from. It's a Vampire Soap Opera. Or, put another way, a soap opera with vampires. Or, put another way, no way to make sense of what people do.The main point of watching soap operas is to get your emotions yanked by people doing stupid things to each other. Case point: Nickolaus can't be killed. He can't even be subdued. Really? How about this: Instead of wrapping some chains around his arms and then having a couple of weak flunkies hold them, why not fire a few iron harpoons through him like whalers use to do to whales where the loose ends of the chains are screwed into 10' x 10' concrete blocks, then dump him in 20 feet of solid concrete? I have another idea. Why not cut his head off? Oh wait, here's another more modern solution, a 30mm cannon round in his head (If he lives, well, ok, but that 30mm round is going to vaporize half his body. Maybe they could call the next episode "The Torso w/o a HEAD!"). Really? This is stupid. And then at the end of the episode, we're suppose to feel sorry for a psychopathic murderer? Please! This is 8th grade mentality, people, with a dose of unbelievable tossed in to make sure your completely brain dead. It's really sad too becsaue the acting is great and the idea superb.Overall impression:Acting: Pretty damn decent. Actors are believable. It would be nice is casting would work on getting some normal looking people as I doubt all people are as beautiful as they are in these types of series--which is really non-reality. Conversely, in Game of Thrones, you get all sorts of people, not all pretty, which makes the entire series feel more real and emerges you into the plots.Writing: As stated. A sell out to a lower mentality who needs cheap thrills by having their emotions yanked again and again, no matter how idiotic the ideas get to yank them.FX: Good. Nothing cheesy about the FX.Plot: Well, it's all about power, hubris, and emotions. It would be nice if the writers had enough skill to pull that off. Instead, they go for cheap emotional thrills, much like a bad horror flick goes for the cheap adrenaline rush.Conclusion: If you're looking for cheap emotional thrills at the expense of coherent story line, and you like soap operas, go for it. You'll get your fix almost every 3 minutes. However, if you have more than an 8th grade mentality and you need your brain challenged on a critical level, in that you need some semblance of coherency in plot, you'll really be dissapointed. This is purely a soap opera where the writer's goal is to simply yank your emotional chain with unbelievably incoherent events unrelated to any real thought process. Think cheap horror flick and you have it, except the goal here is to give the viewer a cheap emotional fix rather than a quick shot of adrenaline.

Very late to the party. I watched The vampire diaries very recently with my 15-year-old niece... romantic and fun little teenage drama, I enjoyed it. The originals, however, is a very well done series with a grown up feel. Anyway I'm enjoying it very much I just finished season 1 and about to start season 2. The acting is stupendous for this type of a series.. wow. My only real question is why the heck didn't they develop Hayley into a more meaningful character.. I mean I couldn't care less about her but it would have been nice to get an idea of what the heck Elijah is so attracted to in her other than she's a cute girl that's pregnant with his brothers baby. Other than that she's of absolutely no interest.

Tiene el doblaje al castellano.

Purtroppo non si legge in nessun lettore dvd in mio possesso, perché è una edizione canadese e in lingua originale.

日本語字幕日本語吹き替え共にありませんでした英語がわかる方は画像も綺麗で充分楽しめることでしょう英語がわからない私にとっては期待ハズレの金の無駄でした画像が綺麗でも、何を言っているのか、ﾁﾝﾌﾟﾝｶﾝﾌﾟﾝなんですから(笑)日本語を期待されてる方は購入の際注意して下さい。※その他の関連作品のなかで「import盤に日本語あります」と評価されている方もいるようですね確かにヴァンパイアダイアリーズ４などは商品の一部に日本語字幕のものがあることも確認はしておりますが・・・この新作に関しては実際Amazonサイトより購入したものを直接確認して日本語字幕吹き替えが全く無かった為期待し楽しみにしていただけに非常に残念だった訳ですが事実をそのままお知らせ致しました。日本語字幕吹き替えがあったならば喜んで「日本語あります」とお知らせします。ヴァンパイアダイアリーズ5のインポートものもAmazonサイトマーケットプレイスで購入済、到着待ちなので到着次第、中身確認して日本語字幕吹き替えの有無をお知らせします。〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜ヴァンパイアダイアリーズ5星５つです★★★★★(笑)お待たせ致しましたぁ！！！ヴァンパイアダイアリーズ5インポート版届きましたそして確認してみました！な、なんと日本語字幕日本語吹き替えほぼ全て日本語でしたぁー(^O^)こちらの「オリジナルズ」とは見た目は全く同じような商品なのに中身は全然違うんですね？これは「運」でしょうか？不思議ですね。私がここで購入した「オリジナルズ」は完璧な外国版でした。

I would've rated this as a 5 star because the product itself is amazing. The Originals is based on some of The Vampire Diaries characters. If you liked Elijah, Niklaus or Rebekah there, you'll absolutely love them here! The story of each Original is told well in details and pure emotion. Honestly there are no ways do describe my love for the series, along with its cast! All I can say is that each episode is breath-taking, and that you won't be disappointed!I only removed a star because like usual my package was lost/damaged/late with Amazon, but I'm kind of getting used to that.

Perfectly functional DVDs. Would reccomend to anyone looking to purchse the series on DVD.