Mad Men – Season One (Blu-Ray + DVD-Video Sets/Lionsgate)
Picture:
B+/B- Sound: B/B- Extras: B Episodes: B+
It’s a mad, mad, mad world full of drama, ego, and
everything in between. Mad Men: Season One was a bit of a
sleeper hit that if you asked many people they would have told you they never
heard of; but for those who have, they know that not much else on TV can
compare to the drama and ruthlessness that the series offers. Set in New York in the 1960’s Mad Men centers on Don Draper of the
Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency on the prestigious Madison Avenue. The series dives head first into the 1960’s
with Don (Jon Hamm) as one of the head executives for Sterling Cooper who will
do anything and everything to get ahead in business and life. The series in 2007 won two Golden Globes for
Best Television Series – Drama, as well as Actor in a Television Series -
Drama; Jon Hamm.
Creator of the series, Matt Weiner, worked for years on
the HBO series The Sopranos and the skills and experiences
he had utilized/gained on that series are greatly evident throughout Mad Men. The series emphasizes the culture of the
early 1960’s as it is littered with heavy drinking, cigarettes, sexism, and
racial taboos. Cigarette smoke seems to
be more common in the series than oxygen as the series highlights how common
smoking was in the 1960’s by having each and every character smoking a
cigarette in multiple scenes in each episode.
The satire on cigarettes and how much the world has changed is blown in
your face as a viewer from the beginning, as the pilot has representatives from
Lucky Strikes entering Sterling Cooper looking for a new ad campaign after
Readers Digest published an article on how cigarettes cause lung cancer.
The characters of themselves are plagued with their own
personal troubles, besides those that go on at the firm. Don is a man with a shady past, a foggy
future, drinks like a fish, and smokes like a chimney. Peggy is a girl who starts off slow, but
becomes a whirlwind in the office as she becomes the first female copyright
since the war; but at what emotional cost?
Joan is the other office female, but unlike Peggy uses her good looks
and charm to get ahead as the resident femme fatale, in which there always
seems to be something more to her. Pete
Olsen is the less than talented young account manager at Sterling Cooper, who
will do anything to get ahead; including blackmailing Draper and using family
influences that have long expired.
As the series progresses throughout the 13 episodes of Season One more and more of the
characters’ personalities and pasts are revealed; some nicer than others. The acting and setting of the series is
amazingly well done and only makes the viewer want to see more. The series is very satirical of the 1960’s, but
at the same hits the nail on the head.
So whereas the series is charismatic and intriguing; it is scary to
think of where the world was 45 years ago.
Though this reviewer must admit some of the past would be a nice guilty
pleasure.
The technical features on these sets are enough to make
anyone mad…with envy. The picture on the
Blu-Ray release is presented in a very nice 1080p High Definition 1.78 X 1
Widescreen that has a crisp image, solid contrast, and bright, fluid
colors. For a series that takes place in
1960’s New York the production design is done quite well and filmed in such a
manner that the colors are not blaring or overly drab, but instead have a nice
balance of all colors. The DVD release
of Mad Men: Season One is also
presented in a 1.78 X 1 Widescreen image that is crisp but tends to have more
light dark and color contrast issues; nevertheless is one of the nicer TV on
DVD releases. The sound is quite
excellent on the Blu-Ray release of this series in its 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio,
displaying plenty of ‘punch’ and ‘pop’ and managing to use the entire sound
stage even though series itself does not contain a ton of action. The sound is fluid and manages to use all the
surrounds. The DVD audio is a simpler
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround that does not project quite as well as the DTS
track, but still manages to use most of the surrounds though it does not sound
as solid as the Blu-Ray. This reviewer
was both impressed and pleasantly surprised by both the picture and sound on
these sets.
The extras contained on both the Blu-Ray and DVD releases
are the same in every way and contain the same features. The special features include audio
commentaries on all 13 episodes that are both insightful and well presented,
mainly because the directors, writers, and creators get so caught up in talking
about the episodes; the actors also contribute their own brand of
psychoanalysis of their characters, but do no where near as nice of a job as
the other staff does. Also included in
the extras are many features such as ‘Establishing Mad Men’ that takes a nice
long look into the series and its inspiration, ‘Advertising the American Dream’
which explores the 1960’s creative revolution in media that this reviewer was
so enthralled with that he wishes there was more (i.e.-too short), ‘Pictures of
Excellence’ is a photo gallery with commentaries from the costume, hair and
production designers that is excellently done and not something you often see
on TV show sets, and finally there is ‘Scoring Mad Men’ that gives a one-on-one
discussion with composer David Carbonara and his musical influences for the
series.
There are a few more features thrown in such as a Mad Men music sampler and an exclusive
Mad Men Season 2 preview that should wet any fans nicotine soaked appetite.
On a side note the DVD release of Mad Men: Season One (not the Blu-Ray) comes in a very nice, limited
edition, collectable tin in the shape of and opens like a Zippo lighter. It is one of the most creative DVD sets that
this viewer has seen to date, mainly because unlike other ‘creative sets’ it is
not bulky, is functional, and yet it still manages to be fun and reminiscent of
the series. Good Job Lionsgate!
This reviewer highly recommends Mad Men: Season One. The
series is edgy, well written, and recreates a golden era with its use of
dramatic character driven story arches. Mad Men is ruthlessly captivating.
- Michael P.
Dougherty II
