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| Dvdivas
was founded by John Gabbard in 2000. It's purpose has been and
remains to be to provide you, the entertainment community with
the latest dvds and movie reviews. It will continue to be your
link to the most popular dvd movies. |
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“Charmed:
The Complete First Season”
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Reviewed
by: |
Wayne A. Klein |
| Genre: |
Supernatural
Drama |
| Video: |
1.33:1 full
screen |
| Audio: |
Dolby Digital
2.0 |
| Languages |
English |
| Subtitles |
English,
Spanish |
| Length |
16 hours
and 12 minutes |
| Rating |
NR |
| Release Date |
2/1/05 |
| Studio |
Paramount
Home Entertainment |
| Commentary:
|
None |
| Documentaries:
|
None |
| Featurettes:
|
None |
| Filmography/Biography:
|
None |
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Interviews: |
None |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
None |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
None |
| Music
Video: |
None |
| Other:
|
None |
| Cast
and Crew: |
Shannen Doherty,
Alyssa Milano, Holly Marie Combs, Brian Krause, Dorian Gregory,
T. W. King, David Carradine |
| Written
By: |
Sheryl J.
Anderson, Tony Blake, Constance M. Burge |
| Produced
By: |
Constance
M. Bruge |
| Directed
By: |
Richard Compton,
James A. Contner, John Berhring, Gilbert Adler |
| Music:
|
Jake Alston |
| The
Review: |
Charmed finally comes to DVD in
a bare bones edition featuring all the original uncut episodes
of the first season. Why did it take so long? Clearance issues
related to the show’s music score comes to mind as the primary
culprit. Prue (Shannen Doherty), Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) and
Piper (Holly Marie Combs) discover that they are descendants
of witches and have that ability themselves. Each sister has
powers that are unique to her although their skills gradually
deepen as they master them. Eldest sister Prue has telekinetic
skills, Phoebe can see into the past or future while the middle
sister Piper can manipulate time and space. They use these
abilities throughout the first season to thwart evil. ***
A very popular series when it first
appeared, Charmed:The Complete First Season establishes the
formula that the series uses throughout later seasons. Although
there would be some major cast changes and the developing
story arc that appeared in later seasons would expand on the
initial concept of the show, Charmed tackles many of the same
themes as Buffy: The Vampire Slayer although it doesn’t quite
have the quirky sense of humor or flair of that series. The
series appeared in the wake of Buffy and like other series
inspired by that show, it tended to suffer by comparison.
To be fair, Charmed has its own innate “charm” all its own
due to the interplay of the three primary cast members from
the first season. ---
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| Image
and Sound: |
While Charmed
looks good, it’s far from bewitching on this set. The images
vary from quite good to acceptable with particularly dark sequences
appearing murky and with poor definition. One of the drawbacks
of stuffing four episodes of a series on a dual layered disc
is the risk of compression artifacts particularly if careful
attention isn’t paid. That occurs here with occasional halo
effects evident and a noticeably distracting grainy look enhanced
by the compression. The soundtrack comes across as crisp and
clear although a bit flat without much depth. Since this isn’t
an action movie, that’s not necessarily a bad thing as the dialogue
comes through loud and clear and that’s the most important element
of the series. --- |
| The
Extras: |
There aren’t
any extras provided. Again, my guess is that the marketing
budget that might have been used to add value in the form
of commentary tracks and featurettes went to keeping the show’s
original soundtrack intact. I can’t complain because at least
Paramount didn’t alter the show and the price seems fairly
reasonable given the amount of episodes that we get for the
first season. Still, there had to be promo pieces produced
for the series and interviews for shows such as Entertainment
Tonight (which is owned by Paramount) that might have enhanced
this set.
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| Commentary:
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No commentary
tracks which is a pity as it would have given this set added
value. I realize that the target audience for this is women
and that generally speaking women don’t care as much about extras
and commentary tracks as men do but Paramount should have made
an effort here particularly for the pilot episode. --- |
| Final
Words: |
Although
it arrives in its birthday suit, Charmed at least is finally
available on DVD. We get the entire uncut first run of first
season episodes. While Paramount could have provided extras
here (some of which could have been pulled pretty easily from
shows like Entertainment Tonight), I’m happy that Paramount
provided fans with unaltered versions of the first season. |
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