Reviews (5)

A beautiful film ruined
Having waited for ages to find a DVD of this, one of my favourite films, I was thrilled to find it available Across the Pond in R1. That thrill has now turned to despair, however ! This is a classic example of an otherwise beautiful movie ruined by a truly appalling transfer. The perpetrators of this monstrosity should be punished by being locked in a darkened cell for a year, fed only on a diet of bread, water, and a perpetual tape of Britney Spears (any album will do).
Save you money for the professional version.

Wonderful story. Excellent actors. Terrible DVD transfer
The Shooting Party shows the decline of the British aristocracy (and why they became irrelevent) through the story device of a weekend of country shooting and the relationships among the manor head (James Mason), those he has invited, those who are retainers on his estate, and those protesting the shoot.

Mason is absolutely superb. He was a subtle actor who made some awful role choices in his career. This was one of his great roles. In the Shooting Party, he embodies the sadness of the loss of values he treasures as well as an understanding of why these values are being lost.

That said, this DVD, for all practical purposes, is unwatchable. It looks and sounds as if it had been made from a fifth generation home recorded video tape. Color is faded, the images are out of focus, the sound is variable.

If this motion picture had been given even an average DVD transfer, I'd rate it 5 stars.

Bad quality transfer
After a long wait, the quality of this DVD is dissapointing, and not worth it at any price. Without the deep fall colors and contrasts of the original, "The Shooting Party's" minor flaws, its sentimentality and heavy symbolism, take over. The print look like a fifty year old Kodachrome slide--washed out, flat contrast and no shadow detail. And the sound is almost as bad.

That said, the secenes between James Mason as the estate owner, and John Guielgud as the animal rights activist, are priceless. But why should this print be worse than the one shown on television...?

"Twilight of the English Aristocracy"
The "Shooting Party focuses on the aristocrats and their country weekends which stretch into five days. The centerpiece of this particular weekend in the country is a shooting party which turns into a contest between two guests. There are the ladies who come to watch the slaughter of thousands of birds, the shooters, the "beaters" whose job it is to drive the poor birds to within range of the shooters, and the "re-loaders" who pass loaded guns to the shooters as soon as they empty the ones they are holding - Nothing should delay their killling spree. Then there are the other servants of the Lord of the Manor; the gamekeeper, and a fanatical bird-lover who attempts to disrupt the hunt. The film shows not only the leisured lifestyle of the rich and titled, but also their disregard for anyone not of their "class," All these characters are woven into a story of great insight and compassion as this group of aristocrats teeters on the brink of World War I. An excellent movie with fine performances from James Mason, Gordon Jackson, James Fox, and John Gielgud. Highly recommended.

Swansong of the British Aristocracy
A weekend shooting party in 1913 at the estate of Sir Randolph Nettleby (James Mason in his last worthwhile role) gives a glimpse of the social and personal interactions of a generation about to be changed forever by the Great War. A wonderful cast of name (Mason, John Gielgud, Edward Fox, Gordon Jackson) and no-name (Robert Hardy, Judi Bowker, Cheryl Campbell, Dorothy Tutin) actors play together and apart with sensitivity and quiet humor. Worth watching if only for the brief scene between Mason and Gielgud - the best scene ever filmed of two men discussing the merits of pamphlet printers. ... Read more

Amazon.com

British mystery fans will find a wry sense of humor combined with a good old-fashioned bloodbath in Death's Shadow. Badger's Drift is in many ways a typical small village: charming scenery, closely intertwined lives, and--whoops!--a headless corpse. Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby is soon on the scene, teasing apart the intricate network of village relationships and grudges with an increasing sense of urgency as new corpses begin piling up at a gratifying rate. The mystery is a fun one, offsetting the gore with a light touch and a knowing wink that this is all in good fun. Barnaby, ably played by John Nettles, makes an excellent detective hero--firm in his resolve, a little too passionately dedicated to his job, and smart enough to crack the case without being so fast as to interfere with the body count. This witty, well-acted production is everything you could ask for in a mystery. --Ali Davis ... Read more

Amazon.com

Mystery author Caroline Graham is at it again with a new and tangled installment in the Midsomer Murders series. Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby (the gently irascible John Nettles) and the trusty sergeant Troy (ably played, as always, by Daniel Casey) are trying to keep the peace between the locals at Martyr Warren and the two clans of Travelers who have decided to settle in for a bit. Things, of course, turn deadly, with murder, theft, and spouse-swapping all on the menu. Graham's welcome undercurrent of humor runs through the carnage, this time in the form of Barnaby's frustratingly strict new diet. As always in this fine series, the performances are first-rate, the puzzle is an engaging one, and village life is depicted with all the affection and gentle teasing it deserves. Well worth watching. --Ali Davis ... Read more

Amazon.com

Strangler's Wood is a gruesomely enjoyable entry in the darkly witty Midsomer Murders series. Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby is on the case again, this time in pursuit of a serial murderer who has apparently resurfaced after nearly a decade of quiet. The story is a thoroughly absorbing one, full of nasty crawling secrets that come out when Barnaby begins poking below the village's surface, and the solution is genuinely satisfying. As in other programs in the series, Strangler's Wood also pays realistic attention to the way Barnaby's job affects his home life, making his tenacity at pursuing a case exasperating without getting melodramatic. Fans of Daniel Casey's Sergeant Troy will be pleased to see him prominently featured in the episode as well. This is a terrific, stand-alone chapter in an excellent series. Watch it. --Ali Davis ... Read more

Amazon.com

Fans of Caroline Graham's young-but-game Sergeant Troy are in for a double treat with this entry in the Midsomer Murders series. At the behest of Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby's actress-daughter Cully, the two policemen spend this episode trailed by a Troy Doppelganger researching a part. And we're not even to the mystery yet, which is a surprisingly and enjoyably old-fashioned one: A ho-hum case of vandalism in a local museum leads to rumors of a haunting and a very real murder. Beyond the Grave has a much less weighty feel than some of the other episodes in this series, but there is much to recommend it, including the exasperated but loyal relationship between Troy and Barnaby and a deft performance by Prunella Scales as a village psychic. --Ali Davis ... Read more