Reaper: Season One
by Ron Underwood
List Price:
Our Price: $8.75
You Save: $11.23 (56%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $5.77 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Bret Harrison, Rick Gonzalez, Tyler LabineDirector: Ron Underwood
Brand: REAPER
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 810 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-11-04
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Lions Gate
Movie Reviews of Reaper: Season One
Movie Review: Rest in peace, Reaper
Summary: 5 Stars
Well, it looks like the evil corporate machine that is television has terminated yet another excellent show. Joining the ranks of such programs as "Freaks and Geeks", "Veronica Mars", "Life on Mars" (apparently shows with "Mars" in the title are doomed from the start?), and so many others, "Reaper" has met its end far too soon. So, in light of this, I felt the need to extol this dearly departed show's greatness.
The show is centered around main character Sam Oliver (played by Bret Harrison). Sam is your average fun-loving guy, living a simple but happy life. Then, on his 21st birthday, he discovers that his parents sold his soul to the devil before he was born, and soon the aforementioned devil (played brilliantly by Ray Wise) shows up to collect. Sam must spend the rest of his life as the devil's bounty hunter, capturing escaped souls from hell.
This concept has been done before in similar forms ("Brimstone", "Dead Like Me"), but here it's done with a much more light-hearted and comedic approach, which to me gives it a fresh spin. Most of your supernaturally themed shows ("Smallville", "Supernatural", "Buffy", "Heroes", etc) tend to be more dramatically intense for the most part, and much as I love all those shows, this one had a style that really set it apart from those in a good way.
This, the first season, was strong from start to finish. Like many shows of this format, it starts off with a simpler "villain of the week" formula, and then slowly builds toward bigger story arcs. Sam is faced with a seemingly never-ending array of bizarre and fearsome evildoers to capture, and armed each week with a different "vessel" with which to catch them (which is usually in appearance just a random object, like a toaster or a hair dryer), he rounds them up one by one. Although he feels trapped by his unholy contract, he also gets a sense of pride from his duties, realizing he is doing good for the world and saving lives. However, since the "reward" for these good deeds is an eternity in Hell as the devil's right-hand man, he knows he has to find a way out.
Of course, the show's biggest allure is its excellent cast. Harrison is perfect as a good-natured slacker forced to rise to unusual but heroic responsibilities. He does, however, have a lot of help along the way from his small but loyal group of friends. Tyler Labine is hilarious as the wise-cracking Sock, and although he is borderline derivative of Jack Black at times, it's hard to complain when he's this good at it. Contrastingly, there's Ben (played by underrated character actor Rick Gonzalez), who is largely Sock's opposite personality-wise: more serious and straight-laced, even a little neurotic. However, both prove to be stalwart and reliable companions. Ben starts out as kind of a background character, but fortunately he gets more stuff going on as the show progresses.
Last but certainly not least, there's Andi (played by the oh so lovely Missy Peregrym), Sam's close friend and love interest. Like Sock and Ben, Andi proves to be an important ally to Sam, but still his duties continually get in the way of him having the kind of relationship with her he really wants. Missy has this rare combination of girl-next-door sweetness and supermodel hotness, and what she brings to this smart, strong, charming character is just so endearing.
And of course, as I mentioned before, Ray Wise is excellent as the devil. He is simultaneously creepy and likable, making for a villian that's anything but one-dimensional. He seems to genuinely like and care for Sam in some twisted way (in the second season you find out a bit more about this), even though he's pretty much taking his life away from him. We never forget throughout that the devil is heartless and evil, but at the same time he doesn't seem like a complete monster. At times, he's even almost a sympathetic character, which I think adds an interesting dynamic.
Joining the cast later in the season are Ken Marino and Michael Ian Black, who are hilarious as a gay demon couple who organize a rebellion against the devil. Initially they are distrustful of Sam, but soon they become powerful allies who work to help Sam find a way out of his deal.
If I had to complain about something, and it's not really about the show itself, but rather how the network marketed it at first, which I think might have hurt it in some way. As you may know, Kevin Smith directed the pilot episode, and as a result, both before and after the episode aired, the network latched onto it and used Kevin Smith's name to promote it for about half the season. Kevin Smith was neither a writer or a creator of the show, and aside from directing that one episode he pretty much had little to nothing to do with it. And, although the show did vaguely feel a bit like a more tv-friendly version of "Dogma" at times, I think it was misleading, and may have possibly messed with people's expectations. They basically marketed it as a "Kevin Smith show", which is never really what it was. But, I don't know. That just kinda bugged me, but it's probably not that big of a deal. Anyway...
At this point, it saddens me to think that this show may never reach the conclusion it deserves. There's been talk of it being picked up in syndication, but I'm not holding my breath. This was a fun and unique show that I'm really going to miss.
Summary of Reaper: Season One
Genre: Television: Series
Rating: NR
Release Date: 4-NOV-2008
Media Type: DVD
Similar DVD Movies
SeaQuest DSV: Season TwoUNI; Release date: 2008-01-01; DVD
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops:
Pushing Daisies: The Complete Second SeasonWarner Brothers; Release date: 2009-07-21; DVD
Best price: $10.99
Price in other shops:
Grounded for Life - Season 2Release date: 2011-09-13; DVD
Best price: $4.38
Price in other shops:
Grounded for Life - Season 1Release date: 2011-09-13; DVD
Best price: $3.68
Price in other shops:
Party Down: Season 1Anchor Bay Ent.; Release date: 2010-04-06; DVD
Best price: $4.54
Price in other shops:
Wonderfalls - The Complete SeriesWONDERFALLS; Release date: 2005-02-01; DVD
Best price: $17.31
Price in other shops:
Party Down: Season TwoAnchor; Release date: 2010-09-28; DVD
Best price: $7.13
Price in other shops:
Reaper: Season 2REAPER; Release date: 2009-06-09; DVD
Best price: $10.11
Price in other shops:
Pushing Daisies: The Complete First SeasonWarner Brothers; Release date: 2008-09-16; DVD
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops:
Dead Like Me: The Complete CollectionSony; Release date: 2009-02-17; DVD
Best price: $31.79
Price in other shops: