| DVD Roundup February 2005
 With
DVDs Like These, Who Needs TiVo? -- Part Two
Last month, I covered
some of the better TV shows offered on DVD but ran out of space. TV shows on DVD now
account for a large percentage of monthly DVD releases. Current shows are appearing
alongside tried-and-true classics. Failed shows are also showing up. If a show didn’t
make it on TV, then perhaps it will in the home-theater market.
Universal’s name says it
Universal was one of the first major studios to show an
interest in TV on DVD, and continues to pump out an astounding number of releases with
incredible variety of content -- literally something for everyone. The studio’s
biggest franchise is Law and Order (****) and its spin-offs, Law and
Order: Criminal Intent (***) and Law and Order: Special Victims Unit (***1/2).
The latter is especially good at times. Could it be because Richard Belzer’s
character, John Munch, was resurrected from the canceled series Homicide: Life on the
Streets? Criminal Intent can seem fussy at times, with Vincent
D’Onofrio’s detective Robert Goren all too often a bit overwhelming. The latest
releases in all three series are last year’s seasons: the fifth for Criminal
Intent, the third for Special Victims Unit, and a whopping 14th for the
original L&O. The shows were run in 16:9 HDTV on NBC, but for some reason the
DVDs are all 4:3 fullscreen. Still, they’re clean and clear, with rich, dark colors
and first-rate Dolby 2.0 Surround throughout. The packages are foldouts, like the ones Fox
uses, but they aren’t nearly as unwieldy -- Universal halves the number of discs by
using double-sided, dual-layer DVDs. The few extra interviews and biographies seem skimpy,
considering the weight these shows carry on the airwaves. On the plus side are the
absences of the copious commercials from the many sponsors they attract.
I’ve talked before about the superb and offbeat
science-fiction show Sliders (***1/2), as well as the eccentric detective show Monk
(***1/2). Both are must-sees. But long before Monk there was Columbo,
the show about the shuffling, disheveled detective with the super-organized mind.
Universal has now released the first season of this popular show (****). The lack of
extras and the use of large, difficult-to-handle foldout packaging is unlikely to deter
fans from watching Peter Falk interact with such guest stars as Ray Milland, Robert Culp,
Eddie Albert, and Don Ameche -- especially when the video is clean and the monaural sound
is remarkably crisp and clear, as it is here.
Sci-fi has always been big with Universal. Last year it
released the complete, original Battlestar Galactica, and recently the complete Buck
Rogers in the 25th Century (***). Gil Gerard starred as Rogers in this swashbuckling
space opera, which poked campy good fun at earlier theatrical serials, especially the
original Buck Rogers. Where else could you find Roddy McDowell, Macdonald Carey,
Buster Crabbe, and Jack Palance all overacting -- in the same episode? Then there was that
irritating robot, Twiki (a half point off there!). The transfers are clean if a bit grainy
-- but heck, the show is more than 20 years old. The flip-file packaging lets you get at
each of the five double-sided, dual-layer discs with ease. No extras.
HBO -- expect the unexpected
While we wait for further seasons of The Sopranos
and Oz, two four-star shows that are among my favorites, HBO has not been idle on
the TV-on-DVD front. If nothing else, it has released all of the magnificent Prime
Suspect shows (****), each in its own separate, sturdy, book-like box. In fact,
HBO’s packaging in general seems the most durable around. Like Prime Suspect, Cracker
(***1/2) is packaged like a hardback book with heavy front and back covers. The show
features Robbie Coltrane as an eccentric, hard-drinking sleuth who uses his background as
a criminal psychologist to solve cases while fighting his own alcohol and gambling
addictions.
The first season of The Wire is not packaged
like a book (***1/2), but don’t let that stop you. This gritty show, set in
Baltimore, is one of the best of the new cop-genre productions. It’s unique in
following a single case for an entire season, examining it from many points of view. Like Homicide,
the other show set in Baltimore, The Wire takes an honest look at good and evil and
the many gray areas in between. No extras are included, but the packaging is the handy
flip-file format. The fullscreen image is purposely grainy at times and the sound is
curiously centered; the surrounds are seldom used to create atmosphere.
A clearer-cut vision of good vs. evil is found in Carnivāle
(****). Set in America’s heartland in 1934, the episodes follow the travels of a
small carnival troupe that harbors a disturbed healer whose goodness is tested against the
evil of an evangelical ministry. Poetic and mystical in style, the show has been
transferred in anamorphic widescreen and has a subtle movie-like quality, with surround
sound that totally involves the viewer in what’s happening onscreen. This first
season comes in one of those hard-to-handle foldout packages, but that’s my only
complaint.
It’s apparent that this overview will fill yet another
installment of "DVD Roundup" next month. It’s not that there are so many
releases, but that so many of them are good -- in writing this, I’ve left out many
lesser shows. So before closing this month, I’ll point out a few unique shows from
other studios that you should look into.
First and foremost is Naked City (****), from Image
Entertainment. There are six discs now of this groundbreaking cop show from the late 1950s
and early 1960s, and each episode is riveting good drama. There are many interesting guest
stars, too: you’ll see such famous actors as William Shatner, Jon Voight, and Robert
Duvall early in their careers.
You should also give The Dead Zone (***), on Lions
Gate, a good shake. Though not profound, it’s entertaining and ingenious, with crisp
video and effective sound. And speaking of Lions Gate, I’ve already reviewed this in
full, but don’t forget Boomtown (****), one of the best shows that was not
renewed. Rocky, Bullwinkle & Friends on Sony is a must, as is Alias
(***1/2) on Touchstone. Next month we’ll see what’s cooking at Fox and Warner.
…Rad Bennett
radb@hometheatersound.com |
