Family Home Theater

Grade: B+
Entire family: No
2013, 440 min. (10 episodes), Color
Rated TV-14 for some violence and peril
Warner Bros.
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Featured audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Included: Blu-ray discs (2), UV copy
Bonus features: B+
Season 3 preview

Falling Skies is as out-of-the-question for younger children as any monster or war movie would be, because it’s essentially a combination of the two. But families with older children will find it easy to get hooked on this series about a group of humans who’ve survived an alien invasion and are now fighting as an underground unit to reclaim the planet and perpetuate the species.

My ‘tween daughter isn’t a big fan of sci-fi and she’s definitely squeamish about violence. Yet, like my teenage son, she loves Falling Skies, which is produced by Steven Spielberg. Maybe one reason is that there are certain “shooter” games on the X-Box that she’ll agree to play with my son, and the sci-fi violence on this series tends to resemble what they see as they’re blasting away in the basement.  More

Grade:  B+
Entire family:  No
2012, 440 min. (10 episodes), Color
Rated TV-14 for sci-fi violence and peril
Warner Bros.
Aspect ratio:  1.78:1
Featured audio:  Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Season 2 preview

When Steven Spielberg signs on to co-produce a project, you know it’s going to have terrific production values, art direction, set decoration, and special effects. Falling Skies certainly does, but the one-hour TV sci-fi drama also offers a unique take on an alien invasion of Earth.

After attackers had wiped out over 90 percent of planet’s population, all that remain are groups of survivors who look to find a way to fight back and reclaim what was once theirs. What’s unique, though, is that conscious comparisons are drawn between the Second Massachusetts irregulars that band together in the Boston area to fight aliens and the original regiments that formed segments of the Continental Army during the American Revolution. It’s not just another post-apocalyptic survival story. By drawing comparisons, the series tries to make you think more about the nature of rebellion.  More