Seven Barons rule over the Badlands, each controlling a different valuable resource. While they must work with one another to survive, these relationships are tenuous at best. Each Baron has his own army of Clippers—trained soldiers who swore an oath to serve and protect their master, “clipping” his enemies as needed. The Barons also make use of indentured servants known as Cogs to tend to their crops or work in their factories, and hire mercenaries known as Nomads to do their dirty work.

Sunny (Daniel Wu) is the regent—aka Head Clipper—to the Badlands’ most powerful Baron, Quinn (Marton Csokas), whose Fort produces poppy flowers, and thus controls the opium in the Badlands. Quinn found Sunny decades earlier as an orphaned child, took him into his care and trained him as a Clipper. This father-like relationship has always been a source of jealousy for biological son Ryder (Oliver Stark), who can’t seem to please his father, or get him to take him seriously. Quinn’s wife Lydia (Orla Brady) is devoted to her husband, but can’t help feeling a bit upset that her husband plans to take on a second, much younger bride, Jade (Sarah Bolger)—who happens to also be secretly sleeping with Ryder.

The Widow (Emily Beecham) took control of her husband’s oil fields when he died, declaring herself the new Baron. While some question her claim to the title, Minerva is constantly protected by her Butterflies—her trained army of female assassins. And even when they’re not around, she’s still quite the force to be reckoned with! Teenage daughter Tilda (Ally Ioannides) is one of her mother’s Butterflies, and The Widow has no qualms about using her daughter to help manipulate or kill her enemies to get what she wants. The Widow is currently plotting to overthrow Quinn, and thinks she may have found a boy with special powers that she can train to be her ultimate weapon.

While out on a mission Sunny rescues a teenager M.K. (Aramis Knight) from a group of Nomads working for The Widow. He doesn’t know what The Widow wants with the boy, but senses there is something special about him. M.K. wears a pendant with the image of a place called Azra, which lies outside of the Badlands. He was searching for his mother when he was taken by the Nomads and claims to know the way back home to Azra. Leaving the Badlands is unheard of, and something that Sunny had never considered—Clippers pledge their lives to their master, and are not supposed to fall in love or have families. However, Sunny has fallen in love with doctor Veil (Madeleine Mantock), and she is pregnant. Time is running out before her condition will be evident—he will have to act quickly if he decides to try to leave his assassin life behind and run away with her. So Sunny brings M.K. to the Fort, takes him on as his Colt, and starts training him to fight while they come up with a plan on how to make their way out of the Badlands. However, this will not be an easy task, especially with a war brewing between the Barons, and M.K.’s dark secret, which has several of the Barons looking for him. And Quinn is not going to take too kindly to his prized Clipper abandoning him with the constant threat of spies and attacks.
 

I hadn’t seen this series when it originally aired on AMC, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. However, once I started the first episode, I couldn’t help but binge my way through the entire 6-episode season. The pilot has the tough task of establishing this unique world, its terminology and culture, and the various characters and relationships, but it does an excellent job doing so. From the opening moments, it also establishes the kind of amazing fight sequences we see throughout the series—fast-paced, action-packed and gruesome. Over the course of the season we follow several interweaving stories involving palace intrigue, Baron politics, and character and romantic drama. You never quite know who has formed an allegiance with whom, or what is going to happen next.

Sunny struggles to break away from this life of killing, which is the only life he’s ever known, but his love for Veil and serving as a kind of father-figure to M.K. shows him there is another possibility. In the Fort, there is this constant intrigue and power struggle among Ryder, Quinn, Lydia and Jade—Ryder knows his father doesn’t see him as a fitting successor, and so he starts making his own moves to secure more power; Quinn struggles to hide a major weakness from everyone; and Lydia and Jade’s mutual distrust has them both up to various machinations. Meanwhile M.K. is torn between his feelings for Tilda and the fact that her mother wants to turn him into a weapon. And The Widow is out to prove herself worthy of her stolen title.

There are lots of amazing action and martial arts sequences in this first season. Swords, knives, axes, poles, throwing stars, and even steel-tipped stilettos—anything can and is used as a weapon. The characters seem to defy gravity as they climb up buildings and walls, or leap from one balcony to the next. Each of the characters seems to have his or her own unique fighting style, which gives a lot of variety to the action sequences. With all the choreography and wire-work, this is feature-film level martial arts in a weekly TV series! The action sequences are beautifully shot, with a mix of ground-level cameras as well as aerial shots as characters find themselves surrounded by enemies, only to systematically take them down effortlessly. The big final showdown at the end of the season is visually spectacular.

This Blu-ray presentation is superb. The picture is crisp, clear and detailed and captures the richness of the sets as well as all of the fast-paced action. The audio track not only provides clear dialogue, but also adds a general ambiance, and excitement to the action scenes. In the opening sequence we see Sunny snap (and sometimes tear off) arms and legs and the audio track captures every gruesome bone crack!

The discs contain just over 75 minutes of bonus material, including Inside and Anatomy of a Fight featurettes for every episode, looks into the world and characters of the series, behind-the-scenes looks at the fight training, and a digital comic. The two discs are packed in a standard Blu-ray keep case along with the digital copy insert. Over this, there is a nice cardboard slipcover with slightly-raised artwork.

What’s Included:

Episodes: (4:16:00)

• All 6 episodes of the first season:
  “The Fort”, “Fist Like a Bullet”, “White Stork Spreads Wings”, “Two Tigers Subdue Dragons”, “Snake Creeps Down”, “Hand of Five Poisons”

Blu-ray:

• 1080p / Widescreen 1.78:1
• Audio: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

Digital Copy (Redemption Deadline 12/31/2018):

• UltraViolet Digital HD copy redeemable via Vudu or Flixster

Extras:

• Inside Into the Badlands (21:21)
  Executive producers/co-creators Miles Millar and Alfred Gough discuss the characters and their relationships, and break down the major events of each episode. These featurettes also include interviews with director/executive producer David Dobkin, executive producer Michael Shamberg, and stars Daniel Wu (“Sunny”/executive producer), Oliver Stark (“Ryder”), Marton Csokas (“Quinn”), Orla Brady (“Lydia”), Aramis Knight (“M.K.”), Emily Beecham (“The Widow”) and Sarah Bolger (“Jade”). Select from:
  • Inside Episode 101: The Fort (5:02)
  • Inside Episode 102: Fist Like a Bullet (2:17)
  • Inside Episode 103: White Stork Spreads Wings (3:15)
  • Inside Episode 104: Two Tigers Subdue Dragons (3:56)
  • Inside Episode 105: Snake Creeps Down (3:14)
  • Inside Episode 106: Hand of Five Poisons (3:37)
• Anatomy of a Fight (15:50)
  Head on set with executive producer/star Daniel Wu and the crew to get a behind-the-scenes look at how fight sequences from each each episode were brought to life. Also includes interviews with fight director/executive producer Stephen Fung, producer/martial arts choreographer Master Dee Dee, visual effects supervisor Martin Hall, director of photography/camera operator Chris Mosely, stunt coordinator Matt Leonard, and actors Emily Beecham, Teressa Liane (“Angelica”), Ellen Hollman (“Zypher”), Ally Ionnides (“Tilda”) and former MMA champion Cung Le (“Abbot #1”). Select from:
  • Inside Episode 101: The Fort (3:08)
  • Inside Episode 102: Fist Like a Bullet (2:57)
  • Inside Episode 103: White Stork Spreads Wings (2:55)
  • Inside Episode 104: Two Tigers Subdue Dragons (2:21)
  • Inside Episode 105: Snake Creeps Down (2:10)
  • Inside Episode 106: Hand of Five Poisons (2:19)
• Building the World of Into the Badlands (2:54)
  The series creators talk about desiging and creating the sets, costumes and look of the series. Includes behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with director of photography Shane Hurlbut, executive producers/co-creators Miles Millar and Alfred Gough, directors/executive producers Stephen Fung and David Dobkin, executive producers Michael Shamberg, David Wu and Staey Sher, and art director Ray Pumila.
• The Characters Of Into the Badlands: The Barons (3:23)
  The cast and creators discuss the political system of the Badlands, the Baron characters and those close to them, and the various animals used as house symbols. Includes interviews with executive producers/co-creators Miles Millar and Alfred Gough, director/executive producer David Dobkin, executive producer Michael Shamberg, and stars Orla Brady, Oliver Stark, Marton Csokas, Sarah Bolger and Emily Beecham.
• The Characters Of Into the Badlands: The Clippers (3:15)
  The cast and creators discuss the roles of the Regents, Clippers, Colts and Butterflies. Includes interviews with executive producers Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher, executive producers/co-creators Miles Millar and Alfred Gough, director/executive producer and David Dobkin, and actors David Wu, Aramis Knight, Ally Ionnides and Madeleine Mantock (“Veil”).
• The Master: Into the Badlands Fight Camp Episode 1 (2:57)
  Head to the training facility in New Orleans, Louisiana where martial arts choreographer Master Dee Dee teaches the cast how to fight. Includes interviews with executive producers Daniel Wu & Stephen Fung, and actors Aramis Knight, Ally Ionnides, Oliver Stark and Emily Beecham.
• Creating Real Kung Fu: Into the Badlands Fight Camp Episode 2 (3:22)
  Head back to the training facility where executive producers Daniel Wu & Stephen Fung talk about keeping the martial arts sequences in the series authentic. Also includes interviews with martial arts choreographer Master Dee Dee.
• Bringing It All Together: Into the Badlands> Fight Camp Episode 3 (2:38)
  Director Stephen Fung talks about the process of shooting pre-vis for the fight sequences. Also includes interviews with martial arts choreographer Master Dee Dee, and actors Oliver Stark, Aramis Knight, Madeleine Mantock and Daniel Wu.
• Into the Badlands Digital Comic (22:55)
  Pages from the digital comic scroll vertically up the screen before advancing to the next page. I found that the pages move way too quickly, and don’t give adequate time to read all of the dialogue or savor all of the illustrations before the content moves off screen—you pretty much need the remote control at the ready to constantly pause the screen. The stories include “Poll of a Falling Star”, “Piercing Through Stone” and “A Series of Blows”.

Final Thoughts:

I didn’t know much about the series going in, but I was pleasantly surprised by Into The Badlands. The series sets up an interesting world and characters, and over the course of the first season there is an intriguing, layered story along with some excellent fight sequences. They six-episode season is great for binging as it plays out like one continuous story, leading to an exciting conclusion that will make you anxious for the upcoming season. The Blu-ray presentation looks and sounds great, and the release contains a nice selection of bonus material as well as a digital copy of the episodes. This is definitely worth picking up.