Amazon.com

Rarely has The Merchant of Venice, one of Shakespeare's most complex plays, looked as ravishingly sumptuous as in this adaptation, directed by Michael Radford (Il Postino). In a decadent version of renaissance Venice, a young nobleman named Bassanio (Joseph Fiennes, Shakespeare in Love) seeks to woo the lovely Portia (newcomer Lynn Collins), but lacks the money to travel to her estate. He seeks support from his friend, the merchant Antonio (Jeremy Irons, Reversal of Fortune); Antonio's fortune is tied up in sea ventures, so the merchant offers to borrow money from a Jewish moneylender, Shylock (Al Pacino, Dog Day Afternoon). But Shylock holds a grudge against Antonio, who has routinely treated the Jew with contempt, and demands that if the debt is not repaid in three months, the price will be a pound of Antonio's flesh.

The Merchant of Venice is famous as a "problem play"--the gritty matters of moneylending and anti-Semitism sit uncomfortably beside the fairy tale elements of Portia and Bassanio's romance, and some twists of the plot can seem arbitrary or even cruel. The strength of Radford's intelligent and passionate interpretation is that he and the excellent cast invest the play's opposing facets with full emotional weight, thus making every question the play raises acute and inescapable. Irons is particularly compelling; kindness and blind prejudice sit side by side in his breast, rendering the clashes in his character as vivid as those in the play itself. --Bret Fetzer ... Read more

Reviews (38)

"How Sweet the Moonlight Sleeps"
This is, generally, a very satisfying filming of a very problematic play.Director Radford, who also adapted the screenplay, deserves credit for his bold choices in casting and for his not shying away from some of the more troublesome aspects of the text.Is Pacino a successful Shylock?I think so, although by way of Brooklyn.He is especially powerful in the famous courtroom scene, which otherwise comes dangerously close to being exploitative on the screen.There is much to recommend here, including a stellar supporting cast.Few actors can hold their own next to Pacino, but Lynn Collins comes close.After an unfortunate entrance as the young lawyer (she looks uncomfortably like Sonny Chiba), Collins makes us forget the incongruities in her role and attend, instead, to Portia's masterful polemics.The quality of makeup is not strained!(Collins, by the way, is an actress from Texas, but this does not become an issue.She has been linked romantically with Keanu Reeves, her costar in "Il Mare."Perhaps these two will at some point treat us to a film of "Anthony and Cleopatra"?--another of Shakespeare's plays that has been criminally neglected by Hollywood.)Other actors worthy of mention are MacKenzie Crook and Ron Cook as the younger and older Gobbos, and Kris Marshall and John Sessions as Gratiano and Salerio.Heather ("Kinsey") Goldenhersh as Nerissa and Allan Corduner as Tubal are also fine.Several up-and-coming young actors appear in supporting roles, including Tony Schiena, Julian Nest, and Tom Leick, who is soon to be seen in "House of Boys," with a screenplay by J.T. LeRoy.

I have given the film 4 stars, but I would like to give the DVD itself 5. Watching the film, I had many questions for the director--for instance, why are certain scenes deleted, while others are out of sequence?--and I'm happy to say that most all of these are answered in the delightful director's commentary, for which Michael Radford is joined by Lynn Collins.I learned a lot about the rationale behind certain casting and directorial choices and came to appreciate the film itself better as a result.For example, the director has choreographed certain scenes to reflect a love triangle among Antonio, Portia, and Bassanio, something that is heavily debated in Shakespearan criticism.Radford even gives us a rationale for his having asked the actresses playing prostitutes to appear with their breasts exposed!See this film, certainly; it has many qualities to recommend it, not the least of which are a lovely soundtrack by Jocelyn Pook and location filming in both Venice and Luxemburg.But, to get the whole experience, see it on DVD and then watch the director's commentary.

Not Bad
Good sets.Good costumes.Al appears to be reading from cue cards off camera in some scenes, although I think he plays a believable part. I wish Jeremy could speak up a little. No subtitles in English, only French; kinda dumb isn't it?

Pacino and Shakespeare save this movie from itself
Shakespeare's lines will carry any movie above the waterline, and the same can be said of Pacino's acting. They both make this movie presentable and even excellent at times. However, the angle of the movie seems to be one of contradiction to the text, beginning with the introductory text prior to the film's dialogue (text from the Director NOT Shakespeare). This text attempts to excuse the very play itself for its characterization of Christians and the Jew, Shylock. If the play needed an intro, Shakespeare would have written a prologue. It certainly works to bias the audience in a way. The other attempt to do this is several scenes where the "Christian" characters are carousing in a bawdy house with a bunch of half-naked prostitutes. Clearly, the director attempts to make a martyr of Shylock and hypocrites of all the non-Jew characters: however Shakespeare's text is what it is. The nudity is utterly unnecessary and detracts from the integrity of the play--plus it cannot now be shown to young people.

Other than those detractions, I think the film is excellent. The trial scene is superb and brings the tension of the moment to life. Besides Pacino the other actors do a fine job. Unfortunately, though I am a lover of Shakespeare, I would not want to watch this again.

Author of "Shakespeare on Spirituality: Life-Changing Wisdom from Shakespeare's Plays"

gratuitous nudity
While this film is a relatively accurate and well acted version of the Shakespeare play, it has nudity in it where none is called for. This makes it unusable in the American classroom and cheapens the play itself.

Great production of a play that is hard to like!
This is an outstanding production of the one work of Shakespeare that is the most difficult to like.It is impossible to get around the anti-Semitism.This production tries very hard to put the anti-Semitism in context and I think to tone it down, but in the end it is impossible to eliminate it.To some extent Shylock is being punished for being vindictive and not showing mercy, but it is impossible to ignore that in the end the play seems to celebrate Shylock's foced conversion to Christianity.

Al Pacino's performance is disconcerting as he seems to be playing Shylock with a New Yawk accent.But Lynne Collins is truly oustanding as Portia.This version of Merchant really shines in the comic portion of the story where Portia masquerades as a man and successfully entreats Bassanio to give up his wedding ring (which he had earlier promised Portia he would never part with).This is one of the few Shakespearean productions I have seen where a woman masquerading as a man is actually credible.

The settings, costumes, and photography are all spectacular.I found I was able to focus on the positive elements and not get bogged down with the more distressing parts of the plot.But I sympathize with those who find the anti-Semitic aspects of the story too distressing. ... Read more

Amazon.com

One of the best films of 2004, Kinsey pays tribute to the flawed but honorable man who revolutionized our understanding of human sexuality. As played by Liam Neeson in writer-director Bill Condon's excellent film biography, Indiana University researcher Alfred Kinsey was so consumed by statistical measurements of human sexual activity that he almost completely overlooked the substantial role of emotions and their effect on human behavior. This made him an ideal researcher and science celebrity who revealed that sexual behaviors previously considered deviant and even harmful (homosexuality, oral sex, etc.) are in fact common and essentially normal in the realm of human experience, but whose obsession with scientific method frequently placed him at odds with his understanding wife (superbly played by Laura Linney) and research assistants. In presenting Kinsey as a driven social misfit, Condon's film gives Neeson one of his finest roles while revealing the depth of Kinsey's own humanity, and the incalculable benefit his research had on our collective sexual enlightenment. With humor, charm, and intelligence, Kinsey shines a light where darkness once prevailed. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (66)

Pretentious Attempt
In retrospection, Kinsey is over-rated. It rides on the 21st century's fetish of sexuality and pretends to be another "Beautiful Mind" but fails and flops. It is one of those pretentious artistic attempt.

Truth or Perversity?
This became more and more difficult to watch as the movie went along.A selected biography in the style of Ray or Delovely, but quite a different choice of subject matter.

Kinsey's father set the tone of Kinsey's own life, with a certainty that becomes obnoxious.The certainty that he knows what the answer is, in this case to the issues of human sexuality and its associated ignorance and taboos, and as with all people who think they know, there is a fall.At the time that Kinsey was achieving his fame there were restrictions on the entire subject of sex practices and sex mores.It stands to reason that the only people who were working in this area were strange themselves, or at least unconventional.That's where I had difficulty.Were Kinsey and his associates really as perverse as they appeared in the movie?Or were their banter and actions exaggerated for the sake of a good story.

I found no sympathy for Kinsey nor for anyone else in the movie.And some of the conclusions that they reached seem so counter-intuitive that they defy belief.I didn't know whether they were trying to find truth or to present perversity.

Potent Film with Certain Foundation for Heated Debate...
Galileo Galilei and scientists alike announced through in-depth research that the Earth was not flat and faced heavy persecution.Their different thinking broke the standards of the 16th century pious beliefs, which had been used a long time before scientists questioned the validity and reliability in what they observed.This offended the Catholic Church who proclaimed that they held the highest truth, a truth deeply rooted in unquestioned morality.The questioning of the religious beliefs triggered a witch-hunt of the scientists that disagreed with the moral teachings of the Catholic Church.However, the truth eventually emerged, as Galileo's theories are still the instruments of current astronomical research that continues to evolve the human existence beyond the earth.

The Catholic Church and Lutheran Church persecuted people with different ideas of Christianity.Those who desired to exercise their own freedom of religion sought refuge in America where they could exercise their freedom to express their own ideas of religion.After the War of Independence, the founding fathers formed the Congress that drafted the 10 amendments.The first amendment brings the people freedom of speech, which includes religion.However, the very same ideas that sought freedom in America later turned from being the persecuted to the persecutor, as these notions harassed new different thinkers.The notion of cyclical history comes to mind when scientists like Alfred Kinsey are being silenced based on morality and unfounded facts.

Kinsey (Liam Neeson), a biologist, was brought up under strict puritan rules, as his father consistently proclaimed being the ultimate source of knowledge.In a sense he grew up with similar persecuting standards as Galileo, but instead of conforming to the rules he broke the bond with his father when he accepted a partial scholarship to Bowdoin to study biology.Kinsey's father wanted him to become an engineer, which has a certain level of irony to it, as his father believed that all modern inventions at the beginning of the 20th century were evil.The pursuit of the biology degree brought him through Harvard to Indiana University where he took a position as an assistant professor while studying stag beetles and later the American Cynipidae also known as the gall wasp.

Years of research and collecting the American Cynipidae allowed Kinsey to meticulously catalogue his gall wasp library.During this time Kinsey met his wife Clara (Laura Linney) with whom he had three children.However, before having the children they had difficulties in the bedroom, as Clara assumed it was because they physically would not fit together.This was an unacceptable answer for Kinsey who approached the problem, as if there were an answer, which there was.It simply was painful for Clara to have sex as her hymen was too thick, and with a quick procedure by a doctor she had this fixed.Consequently, Kinsey continued to help other couples with problems of sexual nature, but realized that he did not have any real answers to the questions that were posed to him.

In the 1940s, Kinsey got his chance to do teach a marriage course in regards to sex and the social aspects of sex between husbands and wives.As the class went on his interest deepened through the vast number of questions people asked in regards to sex.This concluded in Kinsey beginning to research the taboo ridden topic, which so many have been taught to avoid at all costs except for the purpose of having children.Kinsey opposed the abstinence with his statement, "society has interfered with what should be a normal biological development..."

The sex research forced Kinsey to travel uncharted waters, as he had to find a way to collect data that were valid and reliable.Through this process he design an interview style that had to be nonjudgmental in order for the interviewee to reveal everything without having to feel any negative feelings.This process gave them surprising facts about sex, as they also encountered homosexuality, extramarital affairs, and premarital affairs.They also found evidence of deviant sexual practices, which most of the society rightfully did not tolerate such as pedophilia.An important note to this is that Kinsey was only collecting data, he did not advocate harmful sexual practices.However, in the eyes of the society Kinsey was in the end drawn into the mud, as much of his intentions was misunderstood.

Nonetheless, Kinsey helped breaking the ice of the forbidden issue that in the end opened up the society to understanding this hushed, but normal behavior.If Kinsey did not push the envelope the society might have continued its intolerance towards sexual issues, an intolerance that would force many to hide their true identity in the fear of repercussions and prejudice based on hatred and fear.For example, John Edgar Hoover created a profiling center for homosexuals and other undesirables.The very same intolerance would function as a shield that would have protected many of the Catholic priests that have been uncovered to molest children.It is thanks to Kinsey and researchers alike that it has become acceptable to discuss this taboo topic in media, where horrendous crimes such as child molesting can be caught.Yet, there are still many who believe that Kinsey was wrong to do what he did, and they are naturally free to have their own opinions.As they should let the truth be unveiled from darkness and not let erotophobia, i.e., learned negative emotional response to information of sexual nature, affect any decision-making that could help human beings discover a better future.

Kinsey is a political and potent film that will undoubtedly make many feel awkward and uncomfortable.Yet, it is also an important film, as it displays the importance of learning the truth and not hiding behind groundless rules and laws based on fictionalized morality.The film also has historical value to our contemporary society where many laws often are passed based on morality, which ends up hurting a fraction of the society and slows the progress of humanity.When this happens, history seems to be have drifted into oblivion as prejudice and intolerance continues to haunt the society.Hopefully, the film Kinsey offers an opportunity for debate and insightfulness, and not continued narrow-mindedness.

On balance, a positive contribution to human understanding
Alfred Kinsey did a great service to the study of sex.Yes, some of his methodologies were suspect, "self-selection" throwing a monkey-wrench in the whole randomization requirement.His subjects were perhaps not the most representative sampling of the population.Furthermore, he and his staff became too personally involved in the work.His assistants comprised a sort of swinger's club.Kinsey could be faulted for not having anticipated the conflicts brought about by such activities among colleagues.

Unfortunately, these aspects of his life and the film will obscure - for many - the more significant meaning of his work: Bringing the discussion of sex out of the dark corners of human consciousness and into the light.Also, by removing the shame factor from sex, a natural healthy aspect of the human animal, Kinsey legitimized the scientific study of sex.

As far as the film per se, I was impressed with the honesty of the piece.Contrary to what some reviewers have said, this film does not make Kinsey a hero.It rightly credits him for his work, yet reveals a conflicted, troubled psyche at the same time as Kinsey tries to navigate the line between his objective scientific observation and his subjective sexual experiences.This blurring is where Kinsey erred.

Interesting insight into groundbreaking study
Alfred Kinsey was a pioneer in the study of human sexuality. He was a professor at Indiana University and spent the first 20 years of his career studying an insect, the "gall wasp." This movie, starring Liam Neeson in the title role, depicts Dr. Kinsey as having an obsession with his study of the gall wasp, collecting hundreds of thousands of specimens and devoting his life to studying this species. Tapped to teach a course on marriage and the family, Kinsey developed an interest in human sexuality and he bacame as obsessive in this study as he was in his earlier endeavor. He was driven and pushed his staff hard. He employed interviewers who spoke with thousands of people in taking sexual histories. Kinsey was very hands on as he personally instructed his staff on how to put subjects at ease as they conducted the interviews.

Dr. Kinsey was the son of a morally strict father, convincingly played by John Lithgow. Neeson's depecition of Dr. Kinsey shows the results of this upbringing. His characterization of Kinsey comes across as very stiff and uptight. He is not one to really let his hair down yet, in his groundbreaking study, there is no taboo that he is unwilling to explore. Indeed, he explores his own sexuality as he has an extramarital gay affair. Despite serious misgivings at first, his wife, played by Laura Linney, is accepting.

The studies were very controversial, having been done in the 1940s, long before the "sexual revolution." Some people found his findings to be very liberating in that they discovered that they were not alone in their sexual feelings. Other people were shocked, believing that the subject was taboo and should not be discussed. There is one brief scene in which a woman, who agonized over her lesbian inclinations, was liberated by Dr. Kinsey's findings and, thereby allowed herself to enter into a relationship. Others, including Kinsey's father, were scandalized. Ultimately, however, Kinsey's father allows himself to be interviewed by his son and reveals his own, painful secrets of a repressed childhood.

We live in a more sexually open era than we did, generations ago. This movie gives an insight into one of the reasons this is so. I recommend this dvd. ... Read more

Description

Bertie Wooster is feeling a bit shy of the mark when his new valet reports for duty, bringing with him a much-needed cure for the effects of the previous night's excesses. On the strength of this sterling debut, Jeeves is formally retained, and the unsuspecting servant is thrown headlong into the glorious mix of overbearing aunts, unbidden guests, friends in need and romantic entanglements that is Bertie's lot in life.

To millions of devoted fans, P.G. Wodehouse's "Jeeves and Wooster" stories are a delightful obsession, an irresistible and irreverent romp through the drawing rooms of Edwardian England's tweedy elite. Now, these comic masterpieces come to life in acclaimed productions with an extraordinary cast that features Hugh Laurie (Sense and Sensibility, Strapless) as the well-meaning but dim aristocrat Bertie Wooster, and Stephen Fry (Wilde, Cold Comfort Farm) as Jeeves, his hilariously arch and resourceful valet. This 8-DVD collector's set includes 23 digitally restored and remastered episodes. ... Read more

Reviews (14)

...
These discs are worth the price. You 'll get the full flavor of P.G. Wodehouse's great books by watching these wonderful stories again and again. With the bumbling dim witted Wooster and his quick witted valet Jeeves they go from one pratfall to another.
Each story is full of great characters and fun from beginning to end. So join Barmey, Stinker Pinker, and Tuppy as they, along with Balmey and Stiffy, help poor Berty with the problems of life. Pip Pip and Cherrio.

What Ho Jeeves!
I've enjoyed watching this series from it's inception. What has been interesting is sharing it with my family. My kids were only in grade school when they first watched, and they seemed to get as big a kick out of them as us old parents did. Now they are devoted Wodehouse fans and enjoy his other stories too. The characters seem to enjoy being dragged thru the ringer of the old master PGW. If you enjoy comedy, 1920's flavor styles and music, sumptuous sets, or even gorgeous views of old England, you should enjoy these enough to bear through them with pluck and your chin up.

Wish I Were English
Well, Its like this. Not to long ago an old chump of mine decided to lay on me these televised versions of a previously unheard of cluster of books. With serious hindsight I should have just dismissed the dratted things, but you should know that the future happened to elude me just then, and I launched myself into them with all the gusto of an alley cat onto a fishbone. In fact the whole bally idea of it rather struck me.

To be perfectly honest, I must say that it was hard to say no to after the pitch I was given. My sword swingin comrade said in no uncertain terms, and with a polite slowness that keeps me on the right level, that I would like them, that they were good, and that he would stand behind me with said sword and make sure I laughed. At first I gathered that he was laying it on a bit thick, but when I saw the fevered intensity that broke out into a sweat across his face, I knew that he was sure of himself.

They were dashed nonsense really, but I couldn't help but take a liking to them. Seeing an English gent trying to fix situational problems when he seems to be missing a bit of grey matter is all well and good, but I felt nothing but relief each time his valet was brought onto the scene to take matters into his own hands.

Wooster (the grey matter missing chap), is a likable fellow. Always willing to help out a friend in need, which usually lands him into a tight spot, while Jeeves (the aforementioned valet), has a mind that can tackle the toughest issues, and is willing to do so as long as Wooster can stay within Jeeves's fashion limits.

Along the way I encountered an odd, but strangely refreshing cast. From jolly old fish-face, to the newt toting Finknottle. From a multitude of Brittish gals who have the wrong idea that Wooster is madly in love with them, to an array of aunts who can't wait to find something wrong with the poor chap. (...) And I can't forget to mention the mob of friends who flit from one romance to the next.

After sitting through all four seasons in a short 3 or 4 week time, I realized that Wooster was a part of me and I couldn't very well give up the poor fellow.

I have of late found myself reading a dashed good novel called "Life With Jeeves", also provided by my previous mentioned chum. Supposedly it was written by P.G. Woodhouse, but I know it was really Wooster himself just using a pen name, after getting the idea from his friend Bingo who once gave him the false name of Rosie M. Banks, a popular novelist of her time. I know this because he wrote it in first person, and someone calls him by his real name at least once every page.

I am so infatuated that I have taken to prowling on Amazon, watching all the Jeeves and Wooster pages (and there are a lot of them), waiting for any fresh reviews to satisfy my new needs.

Just remember, your review had better be a bally good one.

Most(ly) Impeccable, sir !
Amongst the myriad fields of art and aesthetics, it can be argued that the medium of comedy contains the greatest level of subjectivity for its audience. That which makes one man laugh will make another weep (or sneer), and vice-versa; the polarities of 'funny' tend to fall into the time-honored wit-slots of lowbrow (Adam Sandler pleb-fests), middlebrow (mainstream sitcoms), and highbrow (satire, tongue-in-cheek obscurest in-joshing). Alas, the boundaries between 'brows are vast, virulently defended, and rarely surmounted by either artist or audience... and as to which is truly 'better,' well, that is (I repeat) a subjective preference: for each represents a facet of humanity - from the all-encompassing exit-point of the gutter to the slick exclusivity of the Ivory Tower - and should be respected as such. The language and technique may differ, yet under the surface the similarities cannot be denied - for as any Buddhist will happily tell you, comedy thrives on *suffering*: the pain and folly of humanity exposed, ridiculed, and reduced in turn by the cathartic chuckle; our redundancies, egocentricies, idiocies and plain tomfoolery encapsulated for exorcism and/or easy digestion.

Rare is it for one to find a comedy that deftly blends the best elements of all three 'brow aesthetics' into a humor-vehicle that is at once escapist and illuminating. *Wooster and Jeeves*, an A&E adaptation of the P.G. Wodehouse serial-novels of the same name, achieves this exceptional distinction. With its natural dialogue (culled directly from the source material), impeccable comic timing and excellent acting, along with an extremely refreshing variation on the standard development-of-conflict/culmination-of-tension sitcom-structure, *Wooster and Jeeves* towers over the dross and diminished returns of mainstream H-wood offerings, exposing the implicit poverty of ultra-recycled miscommunication-muddling, senseless slapstick, lowest-common-denominator joke-dialogue and imbecilic 'shock' theatrics. This is one for the archives.

*Wooster and Jeeves* centers around one Bertram Wooster (Hugh Laurie), an archetypical English wealth-scion of the flapper '20s (i.e. a playboy and all-around fop), and Jeeves (Stephen Fry), his sophisticated valet. Bertie has devoted his existence to simple pleasures: afternoon excursions to the local gentleman's club for drinks and nine-ball; the occasional golf-game in the countryside; learning all the newest tunes on his piano (and, distressingly, a trombone). But this peaceful existence is constantly threatened by his relatives and school-chum companions, who endeavor often-as-not to involve him in their half-witted shenanigans (often via blackmail), or seek to marry him off so as to be 'molded' into an upstanding citizen. Luckily Bertie has Jeeves, his upper-crust manservant of philosophical bent, photographic memory and astonishing reliability, to help him wriggle free from these various entanglements/entrapments: "you're a rare bird, Jeeves!" Bertie invariably exclaims upon hearing the elegant, simple solutions his valet conjures. Indeed, compared to the lassitude and loathsome irresponsibility run rampant in Bertie's circle of the privileged (...peacocks, puff-adders and/or prunes), Jeeves is a pillar and a paragon, far more cultivated in his education and moral fortitude than any of the noble-rank he so impeccably serves. This could be considered a cliché, and with good reason - but we must remember that clichés often have a strong basis in reality, and such is the case here. Wooster & co., born with the silver spoon firmly placed in mouth, have never had to struggle for anything: thus, stressful occasion is usually invented or invited, for excitement, a 'lark', a means to obtain the suffering so key in delineating character and defining pleasure, whereas Jeeve's fortitude is all self-made, stamped upon soul and sinew through years of willing trial.

But I digress. The one thing I like most about *Wooster and Jeeves,* aside from the top-notch writing, acting, set-design and dramatic construction, is the fact that it sidesteps the typical tension-build of very nearly all comedy. In the usual spate of sitcom and other 'brow-aesthetics,' a situation is introduced, complications ensue, and with an unhealthy over-reliance of miscommunication, the tension is milked and milked until 'release' - long after the outcome has been thoroughly predicted by the jaded audience. In each episode of *Wooster and Jeeves*, however, the writers have combined several of Wodehouse's short stories, therein threading events, character-arcs and complications into a sinuous storm of tension/release. Rare is it for an uncomfortable situation to wear out its premise: not only are conflicts dispatched in a speedy and sometimes surprising manner, they often mutate into different, contrasting developments...an incredibly refreshing twist. This show is *not* milked, and there is (almost) always enough material to fill a 45-minute episode.

Until, that is, the fourth season. All that makes this series extraordinary is astonishingly reputed in the disastrous return-to-America episodes, which stretch credibility well past the breaking point and simply are _not_ up to snuff with the prior three seasons. The Empire State Building climax of 'The Once and Future Ex' borders on disgusting parody; the castaway epilogue to 'Bridegroom Wanted' is humorous only in a surreal 'what were they thinking?' sort of way. Everything returns to normal (more or less) once Bertie and Jeeves reach England, though the spark of the show is discernable weakened afterward and even the return of powerhouse personality-clashes like that of Finknottle and Spode come of more like copycat comedy when compared to their predecessors.

Regardless, this box set is well worth the lucre. Five stars.

A Pleasant Surprise
I doubt many people are aware of this fine TV comedy. You are in for a fine treat if you are here. The casting is wonderful, as are the costumes, music, and set design. The series is faithful to Wodehouse's stories. If you are already a Wodehouse fan, as am I, it will give you an extra thrill to see the series rendered so flawlessly. This is definitely a collector's item to be enjoyed over and over again and shared with the family. Tinkerty Tonk! ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

Was George Lucas's Star Wars Trilogy, the most anticipated DVD release ever, worth the wait? You bet. It's a must-have for any home theater, looking great, sounding great, and supplemented by generous bonus features.

The Movies
The Star Wars Trilogy had the rare distinction of becoming a cultural phenomenon, a defining event for its generation. On its surface, George Lucas's story is a rollicking and humorous space fantasy that owes debts to more influences than one can count on two hands, but filmgoers became entranced by its basic struggle of good vs. evil "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away," its dazzling special effects, and a mythology of Jedi knights, the Force, and droids. Over the course of three films--A New Hope (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Return of the Jedi (1983)--Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), and the roguish Han Solo (Harrison Ford) join the Rebel alliance in a galactic war against the Empire, the menacing Darth Vader (David Prowse, voiced by James Earl Jones), and eventually the all-powerful Emperor (Ian McDiarmid). Empire is generally considered the best of the films and Jedi the most uneven, but all three are vastly superior to the more technologically impressive prequels that followed, Episode I, The Phantom Menace (1999) and Episode II, Attack of the Clones (2002).

How Are the Picture and Sound?

Thanks to a new digital transfer, you've never seen C-3PO glow so golden, and Darth Vader's helmet is as black as the Dark Side.

In a word, spectacular. Thanks to a new digital transfer, you've never seen C-3PO glow so golden, and Darth Vader's helmet is as black as the Dark Side. And at the climactic scene of A New Hope, see if the Dolby 5.1 EX sound doesn't knock you back in your chair. Other audio options are Dolby 2.0 Surround in English, Spanish, and French. (Sorry, DTS fans, but previous Star Wars DVDs didn't have DTS either.) There have been a few quibbles with the audio on A New Hope, however.A few seconds of Peter Cushing's dialogue ("Then name the system!") are distorted, and the music (but not the sound effects) is reversed in the rear channels.For example, in the final scene, the brass is in the front right channel but the back left channel (from the viewer's perspective), and the strings are in the left front and back right.The result feels like the instruments are crossing through the viewer.

What's Been Changed?
The rumors are true: Lucas made more changes to the films for their DVD debut. Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker) has been added to a scene in Jedi, Ian McDiarmid (the Emperor) replaces Clive Revill with slightly revised lines in Empire, Temuera Morrison has rerecorded Boba Fett's minimal dialogue, and some other small details have been altered. Yes, these changes mean that the Star Wars films are no longer the ones you saw 20 years ago, but these brief changes hardly affect the films, and they do make sense in the overall continuity of the two trilogies. It's not like a digitized Ewan McGregor has replaced Alec Guiness's scenes, and the infamous changes made for the 1997 special-edition versions were much more intrusive (of course, those are in the DVD versions as well).

How Are the Bonus Features?
Toplining is Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy, a 150-minute documentary incorporating not only the usual making-of nuts and bolts but also the political workings of the movie studios and the difficulties Lucas had getting his vision to the screen (for example, after resigning from the Directors' Guild, he lost his first choice for director of Jedi: Steven Spielberg). It's a little adulatory, but it has plenty to interest any fan. The three substantial featurettes are "The Characters of Star Wars" (19 min.), which discusses the development of the characters we all know and love, "The Birth of the Lightsaber" (15 min.), about the creation and evolution of a Jedi's ultimate weapon, and "The Force Is with Them: The Legacy of Star Wars" (15 min.), in which filmmakers such as Peter Jackson, Ridley Scott, and James Cameron talk about how they and the industry were affected by the films and Lucas's technological developments in visual effects, sound, and computer animation.

The bonus features are excellent and along the same lines as those created for The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. Each film has a commentary track, recorded by Lucas, Ben Burtt (sound design), Dennis Muren (visual effects), and Carrie Fisher, with Irvin Kershner joining in on the film he directed, The Empire Strikes Back. Recorded separately and skillfully edited together (with supertitles to identify who is speaking), the tracks lack the energy of group commentaries, but they're enjoyable and informative, with a nice mix of overall vision (Lucas), technical details (Burtt, Muren, Kershner), and actor's perspective (Fisher). Interestingly, they discuss some of the 1997 changes (Mos Eisley creatures, the new Jabba the Hutt scene) but not those made for the DVDs.

There's also a sampler of the Xbox game Star Wars: Battlefront, which lets the player reenact classic film scenarios (blast Ewoks in the battle of Endor!); trailers and TV spots from the films' many releases; and a nine-minute preview of the last film in the series, Episode III, Revenge of the Sith (here identified by an earlier working title, The Return of Darth Vader). Small extra touches include anamorphic widescreen motion menus with dialogue, original poster artwork on the discs, and a whopping 50 chapter stops for each film.

"The Force Is Strong with This One"
The Star Wars Trilogy is an outstanding DVD set that lives up to the anticipation. There will always be resentment that the original versions of the films are not available as well, but George Lucas maintains that these are the versions he always wanted to make. If fans are able to put this debate aside, they can enjoy the adventures of Luke, Leia, and Han for years to come. --David Horiuchi ... Read more

Reviews (777)

I love the Star Wars Trilogy S.E., warts and all...
I'm somewhat ambivalent about the Special Edition versions of the Star Wars trilogy. On one hand, I rather like the idea that Lucas decided to re-tool the legendary saga more towards his original vision of how he wanted them to look, using modern movie magic technology that had just been a far-off dream when he originally produced these films . On the other hand, I also feel that one should just accept a movie's shortcomings, despite the stature of legend they have attained, and just get on with life. But, I must admit that a lot of the enhancements and expansions worked fairly well, and looked convincing in most cases. Unfortunately, not ALL of the new moments passed muster in my eyes...

I was finally glad that some of the Biggs Darklighter footage was restored to Star Wars (aka prior to the Death Star run). For many years I've heard about these cut scenes- Biggs and Luke talking about the future on Uncle Owen's moisture farm, and the hangar reunion- and had high hopes of finally seeing them. Unfortunately, only the hangar reunion was put back in. The moisture farm intro may well be forever lost...

Another weird addition was Greedo firing first before Han plugged him from under the table in the Cantina. Talk about revisionist history! And the new Jabba scene didn't look that great to me. The CGI Jabba looks a bit too smooth. He was a good sight more wrinkled and warty in both Episode I (Before Star Wars) and Return of the Jedi. Also, you do NOT step on the tail of the most influential crime lord on the planet! I mean, I know they had to tweak the scene to make it work, but still! That should've called for Han's execution right there! Hey, is that Boba Fett hangin' out in the hangar with Jabba? Cool, now he's in all three films!

Then there's that concentric ring of energy that flies outward after the explosions of both Alderaan and the Death Star. Aside from being an unnecessary embellishment, I found this little addition to lack originality as well. This same effect was used in the opening of 'Star Trek VI'. Whoops... I just mentioned 'Star Trek' in a 'Star Wars' review... so much for renewing my fan club membership! Heh...

'Empire' has the fewest changes of the three. The only part I have a problem with are the scenes of Vader boarding his shuttle on Cloud City following his battle with Luke, then exiting his shuttle onto his flagship. Like the explosion rings, I found this to be an unnecessary embellishment; I already got the drift about how he got to his ship from Cloud City, all right? There's also a slight change of dialogue in one scene, following R2D2 getting spat out by the swamp monster in Dagobah. See if you can tell the difference!

I don't have too many complaints about the "improvements" done to Return Of The Jedi, aside from yet another energy ring expanding from the explosion of the second Death Star. The new Jabba's Palace band was pretty neat, but I still prefer the original three-piece band from the original version. I guess I'm just a sentimental kinda guy. There were a few scenes cut from the original release I was hoping to see (Vader force-strangling an Imperial Guard who blocks his attempts to speak with the Emperor, and an Imperial officer being punished by another Imperial guard for insubordination)... no such luck. The expanded Ewok celebration at the end was pretty neat to watch, and included an all-new John Williams composition that has become my second-favorite 'Star Wars' tune (right behind 'The Imperial March- Darth Vader's Theme', from The Empire Strikes Back of course).

I'm not an absolutist about the widescreen format, but in the case of the Star Wars trilogy, it's an absolute necessity. There's just too much happening on both sides of the screen, and you're likely to miss something important. In this case wider IS better.

I just wish they'd finally release these movies on DVD. Like many of the other Amazon reviewers, I too am getting a bit fed up of the constant VHS re-releases. Let's get with the times here!

'Late!

Best DVD's Ever
When the Star Wars trilogy arrives on DVD on September 21, the digitally remastered and restored films will be accompanied by over 10 hours of bonus material that goes inside the making of these classic movies.

Each film resides on its own disc, with sharp, pristene imagery restored and remastered by Lowry Digital Images, and the rich sound experience of the saga presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX. The films also include new commentary tracks, featuring insights from George Lucas, director Irvin Kershner, actress Carrie Fisher, sound designer Ben Burtt, and Industrial Light & Magic's Dennis Muren.

The fourth disc is packed with bonus material, the most notable being Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy. This two-and-a-half hour documentary traces the evolution of the saga, from a low-budget labor-of-love space saga to the movie phenomenon that defied the odds and reinvented the rules.

This comprehensive documentary features all new interviews with George Lucas and more than 40 members of the cast and crew from the original trilogy, as well as a host of filmmakers and media personalities. Empire of Dreams includes some never-before-seen behind-the-scenes footage from the making of the three films.

Other material on the fourth disc includes:

Episode III Behind the Scenes Preview: The Return of Darth Vader: Finally, Star Wars: Episode III will reveal just how Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader, the most iconic villain in film history. In this exclusive preview, George Lucas discusses Anakin's descent, with a first look at the new Vader costume forged for Episode III. Also, experience how Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor have prepared for the epic lightsaber battle that has been anticipated for more than two decades: the climactic showdown between Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

The Birth of the Lightsaber: Its unforgettable hum and scintillating glow are instantly recognizable around the world. Now, viewers will discover the origins of this elegant weapon from a more civilized age in this documentary devoted to the lightsaber.

The Characters of Star Wars: An in-depth look at how favorite characters came to be, featuring rare concept art, behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with George Lucas and the cast and crew who shaped the screen's favorite heroes.

The Force Is With Them: The Legacy of Star Wars: Star Wars opened up a galaxy of possibilities to a generation of filmmakers and creative talents. Hear from some of the most notable filmmakers of our time about how influential the Star Wars movies have been to their lives.

Star Wars Battlefront Trailer and Playable Demo: The fourth disc will offer a trailer featuring an exciting look at the upcoming Star Wars Battlefront video game from LucasArts, along with a special demo for Xbox users that lets players fight the Battle of Endor as a Rebel or Imperial soldier and drive AT-STs, ride speeder bikes and use different weapons to lead their side to victory. The full version of Star Wars Battlefront will also be released Sept. 21 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC.

Star Wars: Episode III Making the Game Preview: Video-game players will be able to experience the stunning Jedi action of Episode III themselves in the new Star Wars: Episode III game, due out in Spring 2005 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. This special feature shows how game developers at LucasArts worked behind-the-scenes and on the set to create the most authentic Jedi experience ever.

Original Trailers and TV Spots: The original theatrical teaser, launch and re-release trailers for each film, plus TV spots, are featured on the DVD.

Never-Before-Seen Production Gallery: Delve into an unseen corners of the Lucasfilm Archives with exclusive photos from the making of the trilogy, with hundreds of rare behind-the-scene images.

Posters and Print Campaigns: The original releases of the Star Wars films came at a time when international campaigns produced a wealth of intriguing, alternative poster art. Explore a collection of theatrical posters from around the world.

Exclusive DVD-ROM Content: The Star Wars Trilogy DVDs are keys that unlock exclusive content available only through a special DVD-ROM website.

M-I-G-H-T-Y F-I-N-E
the star wars trilogy was byfar the best trilogy I have ever seen!!!!!!!!!!!!!! all of the star wars movies were MIGH-TY FINE, and to the guy that said star wars was a LOTR rippoff, I can't see where you are going with your story, its nothing like LOTR, and I for one are one of those people you were talking about and as long as the star wars movies come out i'll help make Lucas richer!!

A Classic!
I just recently purchased a DVD player and knew that the Star Wars Trilogy would have to be in my collection ASAP. Of course I've these three movies many, many times, but for some reason I never tire of seeing them again. The first one brings back many childhood memories (my brother had a Star Wars themed bedroom!) and it's comforting to put it on just to have as background noise when my apartment gets too quiet. I guess that is the true meaning of a classic movie - you love it so much that it becomes a part of yourself.

The added interviews and such on this DVD were pretty insightful to me and the bonus disc of "never before seen" footage from making the three movies had me giddy with delight!

I can't imagine anyone not wanting to have this set in their collection!

Lord of The RIngs Ripoff!!!
The Star Wars legacy was directly stolen from The Lord of The Rings novels, which were publised in the 1950s. It's shameless, I tell you, shameless!

First there's Luke Skywalker, who has to leave behind his friends to face the evil all alone. But he gets to take along a little droid named R2-D2. This is obviously based on Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee in Lord of the Rings. Then there are the wise Jedi Masters, Yoda and Obi Wan Kanobe. These two characters were obviously based on Tolkien's Gandalf.

Han Solo is a carbon copy of Aragorn. Princess Liea, the warrior hottie, is a ripoff of Eowyn in the Lord of the Rings. Chewbacca is just a ripoff of Gimli. And what about Boba Fett, the mysterious loner who is loyal to no one, who is only out for himself? This is just a ripoff of Gollum. The Death Star is really Mount Doom. Darth Vader is Saruman, and The Empoeror is Saruman.

And then there's Lando Calrisian, who is stolen from J.R.R. Tolkein's character King Theoden. You know, the cowardly ruler who bow's down to the bad guy, then finds his courage to fight! The storm toopers are just Orcs. And the most shameless ripoff of all is the Imperial Walkers in Empire Strikes Back! They are just like the Mumakil monsters in Lord of the Rings.

I can't believe how George Lucas become so filthy rich through thievery!! ... Read more

Amazon.com

The biggest change for Stargate SG-1's sixth season was its move to the Sci-Fi Channel. Financial rescue or genre haven from cancellation? Whatever the behind-the-scenes politics, the departure of Daniel Jackson (actor Michael Shanks) the previous year most certainly contributed to the need to run a tighter ship somewhere. With the addition of his replacement, Jonas Quinn, the new show dynamic (hinted at by the new title theme) meant far more convolutedly involved story arcs and less individual focus. One of very few solo spotlights came from Christopher Judge writing his own show, when "The Changeling" saw Teal'c act out a life as a fireman. One reason for its being a fan favorite was the cameo from still-alive-after-all Daniel Jackson. There'd be several more through the year, culminating in a finale that relied on how much attention you'd been paying to that all-important back-story. Other kooky cameos included Dean Stockwell in one of the many spotlights onthe energy resource n'quadria, Ian Buchanan as one of the devilish Replicators (and hopefully the end of that plotline), and regular spots from John DeLancie, Ronny Cox, and Tom McBeath as the Earth-bound series bad guys. More pertinently, we also saw The X-Files' Byers (Bruce Harwood) as a scientist involved with the Antarctic Gate. Lest we forget, there are other portals on Earth. Is that an already planned spin-off on the horizon? --Paul Tonks ... Read more

Reviews (35)

BEST SEASON YET!!
I absolutely love Stargate SG-1 since discovering it a year ago (2003). I was shocked to learn that I had missed this fantastic and amazing show for 6 years just because I didn't have showtime (despicable channel--I don't know why SG-1 was ever aired on it). But in a way, I was able to play catch-up and buy all six seasons in a row, without having to wait during off seasons, cliffhangers, and so on, so I have enjoyed it more this way.

Stargate SG-1 has improved dramatically since the move to The Sci-Fi Channel, and the bigger budget and respect the show is receiving by Sci-Fi really shows in this season. Everything about the production is absolutely top-notch and very professionally done. I was mesmerized by every single episode in season 6, but a little sad that it was limited down from 22 to 18 episodes. Nevertheless, this season is now my favorite. The first three episodes are edge-of-your-seat suspense and action of theatrical quality. Many, many sub-plots are resolved in this season, making it very enjoyable. These folks know how to make a great show, and don't contradict themselves (heLLO Paramount?). What really amazed me was how this terrestrial show has been sucking the life out of Star Trek with many episodes taking place in space. With the 303, humanity now has a home-built interstellar starship that really is taking ground away from the already pathetic (and flushed) Star Trek franchise.

I was a big-time Star Trek fan, but am so angry about how Paramount ruined it. Enterprise is a pathetic joke, simply horrible. The writers can't possibly even be Trek fans, just leftovers from one or another soap opera. Come on people! What happened to bringing on sci-fi writers like Roddenberry used to do? This stuff is garbage.

Well that's where Stargate SG-1 shines. This season is fantastic, so much so that I've watched each episode twice, including the director's commetary and all the extras. Really great stuff.

Continuing the Stargate saga ...
I have to say, that I am somewhat .. if not totally biased to Stargate SG-1. You have been warned! Plus .. spoilers ahead, from Season 5.

At the end of Season 5, a key character of the SG-1 team leaves (essentially) and as such a new character is introduced, Jonas Quinn. He's an off-worlder/alien, from a planet called Kelowna and is in exile because of certain incidents which led to the 'disappearance' of Daniel Jackson. Oh boy, no one thought it would ever work .. the team dynamics would shift, no show has ever done away with such a key character etc. I would have to say that they have done it and done it very well.

The plotlines continue to amaze me. Some stand outs include "Frozen", "Abyss", "The Other Guys", "The Changeling" and of course the season ending cliff-hanger "Full Circle". I'm not sure if it's because of the addition of a new character, but there seems to be a whole variety of different themes, plots, interactions added into the show. It's not focused on one huge Goa'uld baddie, unlike previous seasons .. or the really boring Replicators. And the acting, interaction between the cast is just amazing ... Jonas has to basically work his way into the hearts of the earthlings so to speak. Gain their trust and prove that he's an invaluable member of SG1. And prove that he's not just a 'replacement' of Daniel Jackson - you know, bumbling archaeologist type.

Plus you still have Daniel Jackson coming back from time to time and expanding the 'ascended' plot line as well. I love how conflicted this character was .. between sticking to what he has embraced or saving his friends, world. It all comes to a climax in the finale and will continue on in Season 7.

I have to say I am somewhat disappointed with how they kicked out the character Jonas Quinn in Season 7 - okay, Daniel Jackson is back so he was just filler space .. ugh! If you're a big fan and watched all the 5 seasons religiously, you would think that I would love the idea of having the character back .. but once you watch Season 6, you'll understand. It's THAT good! After that you can't imagine NOT having Jonas Quinn as a member of SG1.

It's pretty unbelievable that the makers of the series can continue to churn out really original, thought-provoking episodes .. deep into it's 6th season. You can't say that about most shows. Don't miss out on it.

The DVDs are as usual full of extras, which is wonderful. They have kept to their streamlined look for all their boxsets, which I love. The only thing I did not like is that it does not have any subtitles. Plus I notice that the sound isn't as crisp as it should be. No extra languages either.

Now it all makes sense...
I have always believed that Stargate SG-1 is one of the best things happening on TV, and I see no reason to change my mind now.

There have been rumors going around for a year or so that the final season is near. Now, with the premier of "Stargate Atlantis" on sci-fi the intent of the show's producers is clear - the tablet found at the end of season 6 that speaks of the "lost city of the ancients" and all the ensuing related plotlines in season 7 refer to the lost city of Atlantis, and are thus the spin-off point for "Stargate Atlantis".

Having said that, season 6 is definitely worth watching for its theme development around the deepening mystery of Anubis. Although Daniel Jackson makes several appearances, it is also anti-climactic since I have become fond of Jonas Quinn by this time. In season 6, I think that the character of Sam Carter has been getting a progressively tougher edge since the death of Daniel Jackson, and I'm not sure I like it all that much. I much preferred the softer, more personable Samantha from the previous five seasons. Perhaps this character evolution is all related to a higher design for the series?

The DVDs all come with featurettes and supplementary material and options for the home viewer.

Overall, I give Stargate SG-1, season 6 my usual rating of five stars for continuing to be some of the best TV being produced.

A negative feel
The weakness of season 6 is not the loss of the Daniel Jackson character, but the negative & dark shadowing of the story lines. The stories & plots tend towards the hopeless and destitute, with very few positive or upbeat endings. Much too much emphasis is put on the "ascension" aspect, to the point of wondering of the show has developed a religious agenda. There are a few good episodes in the group, but the only people who would really need this set are the hard core SG-1 fans, or those who just want the complete set.

Quality Season
After the Season 5 debacle, I was unsure about what to expect with Stargate SG-1's sixth season. I was afraid that year 4 would be the peak and that the show "jumped the shark" in Season 5. Fortunately, that was not the case. Hopefully, the mediocrity (if that's a word) of last year was an isolated incident.
Anyway, the season begins with SG-1 still trying to find a fourth man. Ever since the death/ascension of Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks), they have been unable to find a suitable replacement. Refugee Jonas Quinn (Corinn Nemec) has expressed a desire to join, but Col. O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) never seemed to warm up to the idea. Also, Anubis (David Paffly) has found a machine created by the Ancients that uses one stargate to destroy another, and he used it to attempt to destroy Earth. Using the new X-302, a craft capable of aerial combat and intersellar travel, O'Neill successfully avoids disaster, but the Antarctica gate is destroyed. After that, we don't see Anubis for a while, but the threat of his powers is always hanging over the heads of the SGC.
Anyway, with Jonas as the new member of SG-1, the team embarks on another year of amazing missions. This year, we see the end of the exiled System Lord Niirti, known for her attempts to create a superior human host through genetic experimentation, we are introduced to some technology of the Furlings, one of the members of the intergalactic UN group who rallied against the goa'uld, Earth's first interstellar capital ship, Prometheus is unvailed, the Replicator threat is ended, and, in one of my favorite episodes, Gen. Hammond (Don S. Davis) discloses the existence of the SGC to representitives of the UK, France, and China.
This year did have a few problems, but the season as a whole made up for them. Some great episodes include "Redemption Pts. 1 and 2", "Descent", "Nightwalkers", "Abyss", "Shadow Play", "Allegiance", "Prometheus", "Unnatural Selection", "Smoke and Mirrors", "Disclosure", "The Changeling", and "Full Circle", the best episode of the season. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Launched during the neon-lit 1980s, The Golden Girls shed light on a side of Miami ignored by Miami Vice. In other words, no drugs, no murder--just four women of "a certain age," spending their golden years in the sun. Like the theme, "Thank You for Being a Friend," the long-running sitcom was about friendship (not crime). As for the "girls," they were tart-tongued Dorothy (Beatrice Arthur), former farm girl Rose (Betty White), Southern belle Blanche (Rue McClanahan), and Dorothy's salty Sicilian mother Sophia (Estelle Getty). All were widows, with the exception of the divorced Dorothy.Created by Emmy-winning producer Susan Harris (Soap), The Golden Girls re-ignited the careers of 1970s TV veterans Arthur (All in the Family, Maude) and White (The Mary Tyler Moore Show). At the same time, it made stars of McClanahan (who co-starred on Maude), by playing a comic version of A Streetcar Named Desire's Blanche Dubois, and the scene-stealing Getty, made to look older than her actual age (she and Arthur were born the same year).

Notable guests to lend their talents to the first season include Star Trek: Voyager's Robert Picardo ("The Operation"), Alice's Polly Holliday ("Blind Ambitions"), and WKRP in Cincinnati's Gordon Jump ("Big Daddy"). In addition, Harold Gould (Rhoda), who appears in "Rose the Prude," would return as a (different) recurring character five years later.

The Golden Girls ran for seven seasons and spawned spin-off The Golden Palace (without Arthur) and a British version called The Brighton Belles. By the end of its run in 1992, it had garnered numerous awards, including two Emmys for best comedy series. In addition, each of the four actresses received a well-deserved Emmy for her efforts. --Kathleen C. Fennessy ... Read more

Description

Episode 14--"Guy Walks into a Psychiatrists Office": In the long-awaited season opener, the more things change, the more they stay the same--and create agita for Tony Soprano.
Episode 15--"Do Not Resuscitate": When Pussy goes to the doctor for steroid injections in his back, the person leafing through old magazines in the waiting room is FBI Agent Skip Lipari. As they drive home afterwards it's revealed that Sal Bompensiero, AKA Big Pussy Bompensiero, made man and life-long friend of Tony Soprano, is facing a heroin possession charge and has become an informant for the Feds.
Episode 16--"Toodle-F***ing-oo": Big brother of the late, great Jackie Aprile, Richie has just finished ten years in prison and is looking to pick up where he left off. He figures it should be pretty easy, too. After all, the jerky kid he used to look out for in the old neighborhood has grown up to be none other than the current Boss, Tony Soprano.
Episode 17--"Commendatori": Tony goes to the old country to conduct business while Carmela stays home and contemplates the nature of marriage.
Episode 18--"Big Girls Don't Cry": Watch out, New Jersey, Furio Giunta has arrived. The latest addition to the Soprano crew is safely in the States and now that his operation has some new talent, the Boss can make a few organizational changes.
Episode 19--"The Happy Wanderer": Now that he's back with Dr. Melfi, Tony tells her that he's angry with all the "happy wanderers" in the world: the people who manage to get through life "with a clear head." At the moment, however, he doesn't have time to explore this anger. He's got to organize the "Executive Game."
Episode 20--"D-Girl": On the eve of Anthony, Jr.'s confirmation, uncertainty abounds. A.J. has discovered Camus and Nietzsche and thinks life is meaningless. Christopher has a tryst with his cousin's filmmaker fiancee and thinks he would rather be a player in Hollywood than New Jersey. And Pussy must decide whether the threat of thirty years in prison can force him to wear a wire into Tony's house.
Episode 21--"Full Leather Jacket": Worried about Meadow's college prospects, Carmela asks her next-door neighbor, Jean Cusamano, for help. Richie makes a peace offering to Tony. Christopher's friends, Sean and Matt, seek to improve their status by pledging allegiance to Richie through an enterprising plan.
Episode 22--"From Where to Eternity": Christopher, clinically dead for a moment during surgery, has a textbook out-of-body experience. Paulie consults a psychic. In therapy, Dr. Melfi tells her psychiatrist about her complex relationship with Tony, and discusses her growing substance abuse problems.
Episode 23--"Bust-Out": Richie complains to Tony about his business situation, and seeks an alliance with Junior. Tony decides to spend more quality time with Anthony Jr., with mixed results. Tony orchestrates the bankruptcy of David Scatino's sporting goods store, while Carmela hires Scatino's virile brother-in-law Vic to wallpaper the Soprano powder room.
Episode 24--"House Arrest": After dodging a legal bullet, Tony is advised by his lawyer to spend more time at his legitimate business interests. Junior relieves the tedium of house arrest in the company of widow Catherine Romano. Tony confronts Richie over drug sales. Stressed out Dr. Melfi gets into a public altercation.
Episode 25--"The Knight in White Satin Armor": What's to be done about Richie Aprile? It's not a rhetorical question. And it's going to have to be answered soon because he's rapidly running out his string with Tony. Richie's not the only one with whom Tony would like to sever ties. He's been trying to break up with Irina, his Russian goomah, but she's not the kind of girl you can just shove a pie at, Junior-style. Meanwhile, Pussy's grown increasingly resentful of the Boss' treatment of him since his return. Is Pussy's resentment strong enough that he'll finally give Tony up to the Feds?
Episode 26--"Funhouse": The last episode of the season finds things going pretty well for Tony. Business-wise, things are great. But despite his success, one night Tony's doubts about Pussy keep coming up--along with the chicken vindaloo he ate in an Indian restaurant. Tony wakes up determined to find out the truth about Pussy, one way or the other.

(c) 2003 Home Box Office.All rights reserved.HBO(r) and The Sopranos(r) are service marks of Home Box Office, Inc. ... Read more

Reviews (86)

The Second Season: Nearly as Great as the First
THE SOPRANOS had a tough act to follow after that remarkable first season. With so many characters having gotten wacked by the end of the first season, the show faced the always-tricky challenge of integrating new characters into the mix.

Although there are some lulls early in the second season, the show ultimately surfs the transition extremely well. Episode 14, the first of the second season, reveals what became of Big Pussy Bonpensiero; it also introduces us to Janice, Tony's ne'er-do-well sister from the West Coast. In episode 16 we get a blunt introduction to Richie Aprile (brother of the late Jackie Aprile Sr.). Richie has just been released from prison, and we immediately know that he's going to be a nasty thorn in Tony's side. But frankly, you could skip over episodes 17 and 18 and you would barely miss a thing. By far the most significant long-term development in those episodes occurs when Tony brings Furio back after a "business trip" to Italy.

Things really start cooking in episode 19 when we meet Tony's high school buddy and "degenerate gambler" David Scatino, brilliantly played by the underrated actor Robert Patrick. (Frank Sinatra Jr. has a cameo in this episode). It would be unfair to newcomers to detail any more plot twists beyond this point.

The sessions between Tony and Dr. Melfi remain the prism through which the entire show is filtered. One of their best and most pointed exchanges occurs in episode 22. Dr. Melfi asks Tony if he believes that his nephew Christopher will burn in hell because of his mob activities. Who among us really belongs in hell? "The serial killers, the people who kill for pleasure, the child molesters, the Hitlers, the Pol Pots. Those are the [...] who belong in hell, not my nephew," Tony responds (I'm paraphrasing a bit). After all, "Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan were crooks and killers too." But those Gilded Age elites needed Italian immigrants "to build their cities and dig their subways and make 'em richer." The rise of La Cosa Nostra early in the twentieth century, Tony concludes, was simply a class struggle in which the hard-working sons of Italian immigrants claimed their rightful "piece of the action." Not even Dr. Melfi can stomach this much moral equivalence. In one of the few times that she blows her stack at Tony, she angrily asks, "Does that justify EVERYTHING you do?"

The show's little touches are almost as impressive as the big ones. For example, episode 23 begins with an eyewitness telling the cops about a murder. Later we see him at home, sipping wine and reading ANARCHY, STATE AND UTOPIA. This episode also reveals Richie and Janice's unorthodox (and hysterically funny) lovemaking techniques, which only the two of them could have dreamed up.

One could go on and on about what makes this show so special. The key to the show's success, I believe, is that it tends to be character-driven, whereas too many other shows are strictly plot-driven. That explains why THE SOPRANOS almost always rings true. Thank God this show is on HBO and not regular network TV.

Every time I think I'm out, it pulls me back in!
Things are going pretty well for Tony Soprano at the beginning of the second season of "The Sopranos." With most of his enemies safely sidelined, he is the unchallenged boss of the New Jersey mob, with lots of lucrative business opportunities presenting themselves. Yet, as always, new problems present themselves. His kids Meadow and A.J. are as rebellious as ever, and wife Carmela is increasingly fed up with Tony's absences, infidelities and fits of temper. Janice, his hippie-dippy sister, shows up unexpectedly. Richie Aprile, a mobster so greedy and violent that he scares even Tony, is released from prison and starts muscling in on Tony's business. Dr. Melfi, Tony's shrink, refuses to talk to him. And then, as always, there are the feds... As always, "Sopranos" creator David Chase and his superb team of writers cook up a fascinating, mesmerizing witch's brew of money, murder and various misbehaviors, enacted by what may well be the best ensemble cast in the history of television. (If there were a Nobel Prize for TV acting, James Gandolfini and Edie Falco certainly would be on the short list every year.) Once again, if you're offended by rough language, nudity and violence, stay away. Otherwise, be prepared to get hooked.

The 21st Century Is Awesome, So Is This Cable TV Show
Thank God for the 21st century, we live in a great time of great
movies like The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, Crouching Tiger
Hidden Dragon, A Beautiful Mind, and Chicago. A great time of
great music like: Linken Park, and Fisher Spooner. A great time
of miniseries: Band Of Brothers, the miniseries of Ken Burns, and Angels In America. A great time of Books: Film books, and
all other types of reading. And also a great time of great TV:
HBO's Oz, Deadwood, Six Feet Under, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Family Guy, and of course The Sopranos. What I love about this show is everything, it is completely flawless from the fascinating storylines to the outstanding performances from
everyone involved. James Gandolfini not only plays mafia family
man Tony Soprano with character and depth, but with his persona-
lity he captures the works of Hollywood legends Robert De Niro,
and the late Marlon Brando, who was such a legendary actor with
classic films like The Godfather and On The Waterfront (I coulda
been a contender) which De Niro used for his Jake La Motta role
in the flawless masterpiece Raging Bull. Edie Falco brings
human emotion to her role in the show as Carmella Soprano, and
another standout is Michael Imperolli (Who played Spider in
Goodfellas). This is what TV should be. Five Stars.

Can you survive thirteen episodes with The Sopranos?
I was totally looking forward to this second series of The Sopranos. Its amazing writing and compelling story lines are the finest ever to emerge from TV. Never as a TV show had the same effect on you as a movie does.

Series Two is a lot better than series one and contains more depth in the characters. If the Sopranos just went about killing one another we wouldn't really care about it, but because it could almost be described as a psychological drama (with guns) it is fantastic. I'm Italian American and don't mind one iota at some of the humor in this and appreciated every second this DVD had to offer.

If the creator David Chase is reading this (ha) then when The Sopranos finishes, how about a prequel/spin off with JOHNNY 'BOY' SOPRANO in the fiftys? It'll be a sure hit.

It's a Family Thing....
The Sopranos is one of HBO's greatest achievements (although I admit that I think it lost some of its momentum and spark with seasons three and four). When I first saw the show, I was hooked. I'd watch anywhere from three to four episodes a day. One of the great things about first watching this show on DVD was that I could watch any number of episodes instead of just watching one per week.

"The Sopranos: The Complete Second Season" has to be my favorite season. As much as I love the first one, this was when things were really funny, intense, dramatic and involving. The season doesn't let us down when it comes to Tony having more problems than ever before. Both in his Mafia Family and his immediate family, Tony can never get a break. His wife gives him grief while his kids keep doing things that upset him. And don't get me started on his ill mother and self-centered sister. Life isn't much better in his Mafia Family when the brother of Jackie is released from prison and is giving Tony a hard time both personally and professionally. Not to mention that his long time friend, Big P. comes back from a long hiatus when he was first suspected of turning rat to the Feds. All of this leads to one incredible and unpredictable season that showcases the show like none other.

For me, this was the most entertaining season of them all. I loved the characters, the constantly changing storylines, and the personal and business life of Tony Soprano, which is superbly balanced in this season. There's still the much appreciated humor in these episodes that were found lacking in the next two seasons. It doesn't feel like a soap opera, but a more enhanced look into the Mafia world. There's plenty of action as well as dramatic storylines that will make everybody happy for the most part.

This season comes in a set of four discs, totaling at 13 episodes. The great thing about the show is that it is presented to us in a widescreen format that is enhanced for widescreen TVs. This really makes the show that more effective because you feel like you're actually watching a movie rather than a show on cable. The picture and sound quality is great and really shows. There are some nice little extras, such as featurettes, brief previews and recaps of episodes, web-links and more.

"The Sopranos: The Complete Second Season" is a bundle of laughs, suspense, drama, action and surprises. You're always on your toes and you never know what's coming next. One thing's for sure; this is the most unpredictable season out of the four seasons (the fifth one looks pretty promising thus far). While you'll want to start with the first season if you've never seen the show before, you'll know that you will have something special to look forward to once you get to the second season. In my opinion, this is where Sopranos is flawlessly at its best. -Michael Crane ... Read more

Amazon.com

Conventional wisdom prior to season one of The West Wing was that the only successful television shows were half hour sitcoms and hour long police, legal, or medical dramas. Building on surplus ideas from his film The American President and the walk-and-talk style of comedy and drama from his critically acclaimed television show Sports Night, Aaron Sorkin bucked the trend and created his masterpiece, one of the most memorable American political depictions to reach the big or small screen. Season one introduces viewers to a Nobel Prize-winning economist and unabashed intellectual president Jed Bartlet (Martin Sheen) and his key staff members, a newly elected Democratic administration trying to find its footing amidst the corridors of the White House's west wing. To the credit of its cast and their brilliant ensemble acting, The West Wing manages to immediately conjure nearly a dozen distinct and memorable characters. Perhaps the greatest star of all is Sorkin's rapid-fire dialogue, especially as delivered by Press Secretary C.J. Craig (Alison Janney), Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford), Deputy Communications Director Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe), and Chief of Staff Leo McGarry (John Spencer). They carry on conversations while stalking purposefully and unhaltingly down corridors, around corners, and through doorways, and all of it unfurls with the choreographic precision of a classical ballet and the pace of an Olympic ping-pong rally.

What emerges is more than a collective liberal dream of an impassioned administration battling back ultra-conservative bogeymen ranging from the religious right to bigots to gun-toting militants. Wonderful episodes like "The Pilot" and "In Excelsis Deo" portray a government led by heroic, intelligent, and decent men and women. Whether or not one regards that as a political fantasy, it's a remarkably refreshing and appealing vision of politics and its practitioners, one that the public embraced with consistently strong television ratings. In a country whose citizens are used to viewing their elected leaders with mistrust and cynicism, that might be The West Wing's greatest accomplishment. --Eugene Wei ... Read more

Reviews (131)

Best Show on TV
This DVD has the first eleven episodes with a bonus of interviews with the writer Sorkin and most of the cast.

West Wing is one of the better ensemble dramas ever screened on television. However it was only after seeing the interviews of Sorkin and the cast members that one realised how it was done. Sorkin is clearly highly intelligent and his scripts are powerful and the basis of the show. This becomes clear when you hear the cast members talk. They lack the presence of their on screen personalities and although they are talented actors one realises that it is the structure of the plot and their lines which creates the characters.

Sorkin also indicates how in reality the plots have a high level of sentimental resolutions. One doesn?t pick this up in watching it. Sorkin explains how he uses humour to break up the flow of the story and to prevent the material becoming mawkish. He also indicates that although the White House portrayed is a Democrat one, he interplays conservative and liberal story lines. On first viewing the show it appeared to be moderately liberal but on re-watching the episodes on the CD Sorkin is right. The second episode is highly nationalistic and the last scene is the character played by Martin Sheen regretting that Americans cannot walk the earth with the same protection that was afforded the ancient romans. In other episodes the character Donna argues strongly the Republican line on taxation.

Watching these eleven episodes after watching them on TV some years ago, one is still struck by the strength of the characters, the frantic pace of the action and the fact that the scenes are seldom static. Even though one begins to see that there is a sentimentality which initially slips by you, one can still be moved when Toby arranges the funeral and honour guard for the homeless war veteran. It is however the humour and intelligence which is the driving force of the series and what makes it so watchable.

Best DVDs I've bought... Too bad they're the UK version
By this point there should be no doubt as to the quality of the television programming captured on these DVDs. Every review I've read, both on Amazon and elsewhere, and my own immense enjoyment of the set attests to its quality.

How disappointing then that US fans of this show must look outside their own country to buy the DVD set. I went to Amazon.co.uk (the British local site for Amazon) and found the West Wing Season 1 set there. Be forewarned, however: These are Region 2 discs, meaning they can be readily played only by folks in Europe, the Middle East and Japan. If you are in the US, with a standard (i.e., non-region free) US player, you are out of luck. Your only recourse is to buy a "Region Free" player (many Web sites hawk modified low market players that can play any disc), modify your own player (don't even think about it), or try getting your computer DVD drive to play it.

This last option is what I've accomplished, and though I'm happy to be able to watch these West Wing episodes whenever I like, it's a bummer to have to view them on my computer monitor. C'est la vie, I suppose.

Excellent!
I watch a lot of TV, too much really, and the vast majority of the time I feel guilty about it. But the one show that I never feel guilty watching is The West Wing. There's not a character I don't like, or an episode that does not make me laugh then cry. The writing is at times humorous and at other times inspiring. Finally, I learn something new about government, or people, or the world at large every episode. Makes you feel better about watching all that tv.

Simply the BEST
I missed WW on TV. When I heard about it I rented the first season DVDs. What a show! It is just great. It will make you laugh and make you cry. This has got to be one of the best shows out there.
And, I have seen a lot of movies. One of the few movies that I agree with the critics on.

Warning: Be carefull, if you buy it or rent it you will be hooked. Very difficult not to start watching the next episode when the previous one ends.

The series deals with many current issues and shows us how the people behind the politics really try to do their best (in most cases). Not that this is real life, mind you. But could sure serve as an inspiration to those that serve as our elected officials and those that aspire to serve in that capacity in the future.

What else can I say. Buy a copy, rent a copy but you just have to see this series. Then let us all know what you think.

I was blown away. I think you will be too.

All I can say, it "Wow"
I was skeptical about buying the series before I've even seen it but I've always been a fan of movies with a theme like this one. "The American President", for example. While deployed with the US Military, I took a chance and didn't buy just the first season, but both season I and II at once. I was hooked within the first few minutes of the pilot episode. The mix of drama, suspense and humor have been done with expert precision and I couldn't wait until I saw the next episode. The clifhanger from season I to II had be ripping the disk from my computer just to plow the next one in. All I can more is I really wish Season III was available as I have so much more time deployed and really want to watch more of this show. Several of us at work are now watching it as well. This show has my backing! ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

A benchmark series in the history of anime, Hideaki Anno's Neon Genesis Evangelion is one of the most widely discussed in anime. It's not the first series to combine mecha (futuristic machines, especially robots) with theology and a character-dri