Mr. Robot: Season 1 [DVD]

Mr. Robot is an original series of the USA Network, and the first two seasons (22 episodes in all) are currently streaming on Amazon Prime. The third season is in production at this time.The story line of this engrossing program revolves around a group of young people, computer hackers with the goal of bringing down the biggest corporation in America and throwing world financial markets into chaos. (It is apparent, even to someone with limited computer skills like me, that lots of careful research has gone into the making of Mr. Robot, particularly with regard to the methodology of hacking.) The corporation that the hackers are hoping to topple is a massive conglomerate with tentacles reaching into many businesses and industries stretching across America and around the globe. It is known as "Evil Corp."The main character in this fast-paced television drama is Elliot Alderson. He is portrayed by a mesmerizing young actor named Rami Malek. Malek's acting skills in the series were recognized in 2016 when he received an Emmy for Best Actor in a Drama for his role in Mr. Robot.Elliot (Malek) is the leader of the hackers, but his life and mission are complicated by the fact that he is a diagnosed schizophrenic who won't take his meds - but he does have a dependency on crushed morphine tablets which he snorts. Elliot's friends and co-conspirators, at least one of whom is imaginary, sustain him. Elliot is motivated to bring down Evil Corp because its wanton disregard for environmental regulations led to the cancer that killed his father. Elliot also has a mixed legacy of feelings toward his father which color his actions throughout this cyber drama. (In fact, if the show's creator and writer, Sam Esmail, had sought my opinion on the matter, which he did not, I would have suggested naming this primary character Bud Anderson, with a tip of the hat to a television son whose father always knew best.)Christian Slater plays the title role of Mr. Robot. He serves as a motivator and enabler for the group of young hackers, and he is often pitted against Elliot who does not want to injure or kill anyone with the group's otherwise illegal pursuits. Mr. Robot, who once pushed his young son out of a second-story window, has no qualms at all when it comes to violence.Angela Moss (Portia Doubleday) is a fringe player with the hackers who is also an executive with Evil Corp working to bring it down from the inside. Angela, like Elliot, is motivated for revenge because Evil Corp also caused her mother to develop cancer and die.Darlene (Carly Chaikin) plays Elliot's sister, Darlene who steps in to manage the hackers during her brother's occasional mental breaks. Darlene is one of the more ruthless characters in this drama, and will not hesitate to murder when the need arises.B.D. Wong, of Law and Order SVU, has a dual role in Mr. Robot in which he plays both a male Chinese diplomat as well as a female Chinese revolutionary/anarchist by the name of "White Rose." Wong is very cunning and believable as he drifts effortlessly between genders.Swedish actor Martin Wallstrom gives an edgy performance as Tyrell Wellick, a Wall Street executive who is passed over for an important promotion at Evil Corp. Wellick, too, is brilliant with computers, but he has a dark side that smolders with depravity and violence. Wellick satiates himself by roughing up his pregnant wife (Danish actress Stephanie Corneliussen) at her insistence and careful direction. Wellick, in fact, enjoys aggressive sex with other women - and men - and is also capable of murder. There is enough psychopathy between him and his wife to sustain a boatload of bloodthirsty Vikings.Law enforcement is represented in part by FBI Special Agent Dominique DiPierro (Grace Gummer) known as "Dom." Her focus on the hackers in all-consuming, a situation which leaves her as emotionally flawed at the individuals she is pursuing.And those are just a few of the main characters who populate this tightly-wound psychodrama. There is also a second tier of players who are just as vile and brutal - like the drug dealer who had his own brother killed, a porn ring, and a serial philanderer who, even though he is married, works hard at maintaining relationships with several other women.Those who devote the time to watching this series will come away with a more realistic view of the actual threats to personal security and world order. It is a gripping and extremely enthralling look into a future that is probably not too far distant.I highly recommend Mr. Robot. It will definitely rattle your security cage.

Mr. Robot is a showed that aired on the USA Network from 2015 to 2019, and starred Remi Malek as Elliot Alderson, who by day has a job at a reputable cybersecurity company, and by night is a hacker who takes down bad guys. He is approached by a group of hacktivists called fsociety, whose goal is to take down a large, own-everything company called E-Corp, which basically uses the old Enron logo and is a metaphorical stand-in for any of the huge companies that basically run everything. Elliot has numerous mental issues such as social anxiety disorder and clinical depression and breaks the fourth wall by directly addressing the audience. The show has a lot of twists and turns that play out over the course of the ten episodes. By the end of the season a lot is revealed and a lot is still unanswered, and you find out there is a lot more to the storyline than what you necessarily think there will be at the beginning of the season.For those who get the blu-ray, the show looks and sounds great in HD. There are not a ton of special effects, but the cinematography is very well done, and the show goes from looking dark and gritty to sleek and polished, depending on where particular scenes are being shot. The extras include a few deleted scenes and a short gag reel. The most extensive extra is on the second disc, a twelve-minute making-of featurette that includes interviews with the cast members and showrunner Sam Esmail.Overall, the season is very good. Malek is great as the series lead, and it has a strong supporting cast including Carly Chaikin, Portia Doubleday, Martin Wallström, Stephanie Corneliussen, Michael Cristofer, and Christian Slater. I cannot say much about the roles of any of the other cast members because to do so would give too much away. While the show does take some creative liberties, it does try to be realistic with the computer coding and the portrayal of hacking. It is really a show that you will know very quickly if you like or hate it. It definitely uses a serial storytelling format in which the episodes build on each other and more of the story is revealed as throughout the season. It does have some swearing, sexual content, drug use, and violence in it, so it is definitely not a family-friendly show. It is set in the real world as it uses video clips from actual events and utilized deep fake technology to have real-world leaders comment on the events in the show. I definitely put it in one of my best series of the 2010s along with series like Breaking Bad and The Americans. If you have not seen the show and are looking for a good dramatic series, this is definitely worth watching.

Esta serie fue la sorpresa. La vi y prácticamente me tuvo enganchado de un tirón hasta que terminó. Rami Malek está espectacular, la serie tiene unos momentos memorables y puedes verla sin problemas y sin pensar en segundas o terceras temporadas.

Well, it is with some difficulty that I'm going to write this review as, having just finished watching this 1st 'Season' of this relatively recent TV drama, I'm still reeling from the effect but spurred-on by the overwhelming and positive experience it was.I can't remember exactly what attracted me to the 2015 first season of 'Mr Robot', but some reviews seemed positive enough and the seemingly novel subject-matter of the storyline interested me enough to give it a try; with so little on terrestrial TV enticing me, and having ditched satellite TV, I can be more selective/buy 2nd-hand discs more readily to 'fill the void' !On release, 'Mr Robot' received critical acclaim and was nominated for/won multiple awards. I'm a bit behind, as Season 2 has already aired and as it has recently been renewed for a 3rd season I've some catching-up to do !Despite not feeling able to properly outline the plot of this TV drama myself, I still feel able to state that the synopsis on the Amazon product webpage is essentially valid but a little inaccurate, potentially misleading and contains elements of 'spoilers'.So, here's the 'official' synopsis from the back of the DVD box which I think is more pertinent :"Cyber-security engineer by day and vigilante hacker by night, Elliot (Rami Malek, 'The Pacific') finds himself at a crossroads when the mysterious leader (Christian Slater) of an underground hacker group recruits him to destroy the firm he is paid to protect. Compelled by his personal beliefs, Elliot struggles to resist the chance to take down the multinational CEOs he believes are running (and ruining) the world."You should also note that things occur largely in New York and it's surroundings and the '15' viewing certificate for 'strong violence, sex, sex references, drug use, strong language' - this is from the back of the DVD box, whereas (oddly !) the BBFC website has different details !On DVD everything looks and sounds as good as you would expect of a modern release, but even more pleasing is that it is all so good in 'just' standard definition. It's also worth adding that there is a dominant, noteworthy and often powerful musical soundtrack which makes the most of the DD5.1 audio; for me, it's a bit of a 'throwback' to the musical style of 'Tangerine Dream' and the like - but that's no bad thing IMHO !!!So, I cannot see why an 'upgrade' to Blu-ray would be worth it per se - BUT do note that the HD offering does include a UV copy....Very soon after starting to watch the first episode I realised that this show was unusual and, thankfully had plot themes of a highly original nature - the overall feel is VERY dark and humourless, but for me the most significant elements are the central acting performances, 'cerebral' plot themes and that the intense screenplay doesn't 'spoonfeed' help with the story.This is despite the fact that one can get the impression that explanation IS provided, as the lead character of Elliot (played supremely well by Rami Malek, who proved himself capable of playing 'odd' in 'The Pacific' !) often narrates his thoughts to us. HOWEVER, the programme is not filmed from his viewpoint so that usually occurs only when he appears - the rest of the time things play out as 'normal', with us witnessing events and only learning from what is portrayed/broadcast.An additional factor which serves to confuse are the frequent periods of 'flashback', rarely flagged as such so you have to spot the clues to realise the scene is from the 'past'.I like to be challenged by films/shows so, ultimately, the intensity and complicated nature of the screenplay/plot and 'action' in 'Mr Robot' is right up my street; whilst the content is (largely) dissimilar to the supreme viewing experience I had with the excellent 'True Detective' (Season 1 ONLY !), the result after watching is equally as good.Having said that, due to those complexities (AND likely personal shortcomings !) I do feel that this show challenged me more and I was regularly struck with a feeling that I had either misunderstood something or missed something significant entirely, as though when reading a book you turn 2 pages instead of 1 and continue reading in ignorance OR the book has been compiled incorrectly with some of the pages mixed-up a little !Irrespective of the reason, just as soon as I felt I was ever getting to grips with all the story specifics a twist or new revelation would muck things up, usually creating a new direction for my thoughts about things - or at the very least scotching an appreciable portion of what I THOUGHT I'd sorted out !The action is obviously related heavily to IT, hacking and technical equipment in general BUT a knowledge of the intricacies is not required as whilst they might be the origin of most plot developments, it is the intention or result of the action that is the pertinent aspect and what also covers most of the dialogue concerning plans, present activity and any 'aftermath'.Three additional elements of the story are just, if not more, significant : the persona of the characters, their relationships and how they interact.Firstly, there are quite a few 'odd' personalities (including mental illness issues) and/or personality traits on show here, which drive most things but also make things something of a challenge to comprehend, but most importantly 'deal with'.Make no mistake, as captivating as this show is those 'darkness' and humourless aspects I mentioned before are bolstered significantly by most characters being really quite unlikeable; the worst aspects of human behaviour are regularly on show with cruel, ruthless, violent, cold traits from people often devoid of compassion or an appreciation for others.Most of the time it is clear who the 'baddies' are, but it is also quite possible that you will see unacceptable behaviour or attitudes from characters initially deemed as a 'goodie' - sometimes it's a matter of perception related to our own personal 'boundaries', other times it is incontestably bad.As I mentioned before, there are twists but there are also a LOT of shocks, as you (for example) don't see an event 'coming' or think what you suspect might happen 'surely couldn't possibly happen' - BUT it does ! This means the show is also not without an element of sadness.....[If you've seen the TV show 'Fargo', based on the Coen brothers film, then it might prepare you for those aspects - 'phasers' are also present here, similarly set to either 'stunning' or 'weird'...!]The screenplay is the foundation for all of this, but clearly the quality of the acting performances are crucial. Rami Malek, the lead, once again plays a dysfunctional/disturbed character to great effect but the '2nd tier' of performances are just as accomplished - it is notable that the gender spread amongst them is about 50/50, but with males leaning towards the 'badness' end of the spectrum and females usually, but not always, the other way....Martin Wallström deserves a special mention for portraying a character so flawed and despicable.The production-values are very good and noteworthy for relying a lot on clearly 'real' locations and surroundings; the technical aspects of the plot don't need much in the way of CGI or equipment 'wizardry', just usually computer/tablet/phone screen graphics - so everything is well-founded in the real world.Finally, the long periods of discussion, reflection or pulsating action (which isn't 'just' people tapping on computer keyboards) is embellished with that dominant musical soundtrack of, IMHO, an '80s style - it works to great effect.I've attached a photo of the case back with all the disc info as Amazon omits it.You will be able to see from that photo that there are disc extras, but they actually quite 'skimpy' - no commentaries, just deleted scenes and a final disc 'making of'/retrospective featurette.Irrespective of how one might view the final moments of Season 1, as Season 2 has already aired and Season 3 is on the menu there is clearly more mileage to the 'Mr Robot' story. I for one am hooked and, just like the impressive and recently-watched (and reviewed) first season of the TV series 'Billions', I have computer keyboard prepared to snap them up on DVD when I feel that the time is right !

Un véritable chef-d'oeuvre, aussi bien scénaristique, visuel que sonore. L'ambiance pesante, et cette ambivalente descente aux enfers / montée en tension se diffuse tout au long des 10 épisodes avec un final époustouflant, qui ne donne envie que d'une chose, enchaîner sans attendre sur la deuxième saison ! (ce que j'ai fait, personnellement)Rami Malek est absolument incroyable dans ce rôle tortueux, sa présence et son jeu d'acteur crèvent littéralement l'écran. L'empathie que créé son personnage envers le téléspectateur est incroyablement puissante. Mention spéciale également à Christian Slater, son rôle lui colle parfaitement à la peau.Même si je ne suis qu'une âme parmi tant d'autres qui ne donne que son avis personnel, jamais aucune série ne m'avait autant scotché que Mr. Robot et je ne peux que la recommander. Il est vrai que le thème choisi peut rebuter, notamment les moins accros à la technologie, mais cette série ne se résume absolument pas à un piratage informatique et mérite vraiment toute notre attention. Et contrairement à ce qu'on peut croire, la lenteur de certains passages est un plus indéniable pour cette montée en tension, quasiment palpable, qui s'imprègne au plus profond de nos tripes ! Jusqu'à la délivrance du dernier épisode...La société dépeinte dans cette série, ultra connectée...donc très fragile et facilement manipulable, très proche de la réalité est à glacer le sang...1984 n'est pas loin. Big Brother is watching you !ps : série récente oblige, le rendu sur blu ray est absolument magnifique. Aucune hésitation à avoir !

Loved the concepts covered in this Season of Mr Robot.I came here, because of seeing Rami Malik interviewed on the Feed. mark Ferrell mentioned Mr Robot, so I got curious. And WOW, did this show sate my curiosity.I’ll admit, I didn’t understand a lot of the tech...but there ate enough breadcrumbs being tossed to those of us Non-Nerds to get what was going on. And Elliot’s struggle with his mind is well worth the trip. He deserved his Emmy for this performance!Just about to order Season 2....

Livraison rapide et soigné, article correspondant à la description. Super série 👌