Call The Midwife: Season One (2012/BBC Blu-ray)/The Equalizer: Series Four (1988 – 1989/Umbrella Region 4 DVD
Import set)/Mannix: The Final Season
(Season Eight/1974 – 1975/CBS DVD)/Trial & Retribution: Set 5 (2007 –
2008/Acorn DVDs)
Picture: B-/C/C+/C+ Sound: B-/C+/C+/C+ Extras: C/C-/D/D Episodes: C+
PLEASE NOTE: The Equalizer Region 4 DVD set will
only play on machines that can handle those versions of their respective
formats and can be ordered from our friends at Umbrella Entertainment at the
website address provided at the end of the review.
Here are
some shows at the end of the road or in a holding pattern to stretch themselves
out…
First we
have Call The Midwife: Season One
(2012) which is our only outright drama from the BBC and British TV of the kind
of show you would never see on U.S.
television unless it was cable or PBS. This
follows a church of nuns and their representatives who spend each episode going
out and helping women have babies. Not
great excitement unless you love endless melodrama and it does take place
around WWII, but it is a woman-aimed moderate hit. Even with Jenny Agutter as a lead nun, I
wonder how long this show can last.
It is
well done for what it is, but I could only take it so long before it got dull
in many parts of each episode. Still, it
is at least different and we’ll see how long it can last. Also, the BBC is putting some money in it,
which helps. The only extra is the Wimpies, Babies and Bicycles featurette
on the show.
If action
and murder are more you thing, the rest of the shows on the list might be of
interest to some extent, but for two hit classics, it was the end of the
road. In 1988, Edward Woodward returned
after health issues for what turned out to be the last season of The Equalizer: Series Four in which he
had to continue to fight battles in the streets with criminals, try to hold his
life together, keep a relationship with his estranged son and also operate in
the spy world.
This time
however, it was obvious that Woodward was no longer in the total health to do
the role and the writing was sadly becoming thin despite adding new talent
behind the scenes with those already making the show. At least the final episodes here have some
watchable moments and the show ended with its dignity in tact. Guest stars for the final 22 hour-long shows
(over 6 DVDs here) include E.G. Marshall, Stanley Tucci, Reginald VelJohnson,
Keith David, Kasi Lemmons, Theodore Bikel, Kevin Conway, Christopher Meloni,
Tom Noonan, Joe Morton, Austin Pendleton, Jenny Agutter (there she is again),
Hector Elizondo, Stephen Lang, William Atherton, George Plimpton, Michael
Moriarty, Shirley Knight, Pat Hingle, Tony Plana, Dan O’Herlihy, Maureen
Stapleton, Laura San Giacomo, Vincent Gallo, Lawrence Fishburne, Caroline Cava,
Verna Bloom, Ving Rhames and Robert Lansing turning up as Control in many
episodes.
The show
had seen better days and just could not recoup from the last season where other
starts had to step in for Woodward, but the show remains popular and a remake
(first for Russell Crowe, now Denzel Washington is in talks for the role) is
being considered. However, Woodward will
be a tough act to follow and was as great an actor as men like those so we’ll
see. They ended the show while they were
ahead. Extras include text Cast
Biographies and a Photo Gallery.
Also
ending its slate of DVD releases is another hit for CBS, Mannix: The Final Season (aka Season
Eight) ended the Mike Connors hit in the 1974 – 1975 Season as this show
was also starting to wear thin and though still viable, Connors (though in good
health) was just getting too old to punch out a few dozen guys a week, except
shooting a few was more convincing.
The theme
had changed, the scripts turned formulaic and the genre moved on, so the last
24 hour-long shows (also on 6 DVDs) have their share of name guest stars or
names to be, but the series lasted twice as long as The Equalizer and now this too may get a feature film revival. I like Connors and Gail Fisher as Peggy, but
it was time to wrap things up and they did it just in time, though a season
sooner would not have hurt, here this one is.
There are no extras.
Finally,
we have Trial & Retribution: Set 5
(2007 – 2008) which gives us four telefilms, is more of a police procedural
series than action, spy or solo detective and is a quality series form the
creator of Prime Suspect, but
is not necessarily as exciting. It has been a while since I have looked at
the show and though it is not bad, the duo of DCS Mike Walker (David Hayman)
and DCI Roisin Connor (Victoria Smurfit) are even more integrated than when I
last watched, but this is only do good and only stays with me so much.
Sure, I
like slower, smart detective fiction, but the thrill is gone here and only goes
so far. Try any set we have covered so
far and see for yourself. There are no
extras.
The 1080p
1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Midwife maybe be stylized to fit an older period and has more
softness as a result, but there is also some motion blur and minor detail
issues, yet this is the best presentation here as expected. The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on
Trial and 1.33 X 1 image on Mannix tie for second place, with the
former soft but viable and latter colorful, slid and consistent enough from its
original 35mm film shoot. That leaves
the 1.33 X 1 on Equalizer being
grainier, often darker and more inconsistent than expected. Text can be off center and all this suggests
second generation copies in more than a few cases, so playback disappoints.
The PCM
2.0 Stereo on Midwife has vague Pro
Logic surrounds and is both warm and well recorded, but also occurrently on the
quiet side. Still, it is the best
sounding of all the titles as expected.
The lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono on Mannix
and lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo on Trial
and Equalizer tie for second place
all professionally recorded and well mixed.
That suggests all would sound better in lossless Blu-ray presentations
they all could arrive in down the line.
As noted above, you can order the import version of The Equalizer exclusively from Umbrella
at:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
- Nicholas Sheffo
