‘Rocco Schiavone: Ice Cold Murders’ Season 2 Blu-Ray Review – An Even Stronger Sophomore Effort

Based on the best-selling series of novels by Antonio Manzini, Rocco Schiavone: Ice Cold Murders is a devilishly entertaining Italian crime series that follows the idiosyncratic adventures of cranky and unorthodox detective Rocco Schiavone (Marco Giallini). In Season 2, the irascible Schiavone remains exiled in the Alpine town of Aosta, investigating murders far from his beloved home city of Rome. But while he has left home, it hasn’t left him, as his tragic past comes back to haunt him.

For thoughts on Rocco Schiavone: Ice Cold Murders – Season 2, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic: 

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Video Quality

Rocco Schiavone: Ice Cold Murders – Season 2 arrives on Blu-Ray with another terrific 1080p transfer which arguably improves on the visuals of the first season. This sophomore season provides the series with eight episodes over two discs which allows it to breathe fairly well. The color palette continues to capture the cooler side of the spectrum to match the environment with icy blues and grays. Although, when traveling outside of Aosta, you get a bit more vibrancy. The landscape featured in certain environments also gives the disc a chance to shine in the detail department. The series not only excels with this, but also when it comes to production design and costumes. 

The presentation lacks any major flaws which results in something mighty impressive in high definition. The cinematography is simply striking with many distinct and intricate locales. The white levels are stable and do not veer into blooming, which is important for a series with so much snow on the ground. Shadow detail remains tight with crisp delineation and not much in the way of noise. Skin tones look natural throughout the season, and there are no digital anomalies of great note. Kino Lorber keeps this series rolling along without issue. 

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray set comes with both a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 track in the original Italian that are perfectly representative of the series. Once again, this set does not have an English dub, but the series was made to be heard in Italian with optional English subtitles. The dialogue primarily stays anchored in the center channel and is reproduced clearly. The track does a good job of making sure neither sound effects nor the score ever overpowers dialogue. The original music helps establish the mournful mood of the series that fills up the room on this track. You might be disappointed if you come to this show for big action set pieces, but even still you get a few moments throughout the season which put the low end to good use.

Although the series is primarily dialogue driven, there is a notable array of atmospheric effects that give this track a nice sense of dimensionality. The ambient activity in the mix makes each location feel a bit more dynamic and three dimensional. Certain environments really engage the surround channels with sounds emanating from their natural direction. This presentation is perfect for the series.

Special Features

There are no special features included on this release. 

Final Thoughts

Rocco Schiavone: Ice Cold Murders continues to carve out its unique place in the European crime genre by taking the quirky detective trope and adding some necessary depth. The character dynamics are firmly established heading into this sophomore run which allows the writers to tighten up some narrative beats and allow the story to pulse with energy as you learn even more about them. The cases are pretty interesting, but once again the character development is what makes the show what it is. Kino Lorber has released a Blu-Ray set that offers a wonderful A/V presentation but nothing in the way of special features. If you enjoyed the first season, it only gets better. Recommended 

Rocco Schiavone: Ice Cold Murders – Season 2 is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray and DVD. 

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Kino Lorber has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.