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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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“Dallas
– The First and Second Seasons”
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Reviewed
by: |
Wayne A. Klein |
| Genre: |
Drama |
| Video: |
1.33:1 Full
screen |
| Audio: |
Dolby Digital
Surround 2.0 (mono) |
| Languages |
English |
| Subtitles |
English |
| Length |
Approximately
1300 minutes |
| Rating |
NR |
| Release Date |
8/17/04 |
| Studio |
Warner Home
Video |
| Commentary:
|
Larry Hagman,
Charlene Tilton and creator David Jacobs on the pilot |
| Documentaries:
|
None |
| Featurettes:
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“SoapTalk Dallas Reunion”
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| Filmography/Biography:
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None |
|
Interviews: |
None |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
None |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
None |
| Music
Video: |
None |
| Other:
|
None |
| Cast
and Crew: |
Larry Hagman,
Patrick Duffy, Victoria Principal, Barbara Bel Geddes, Jim Davis,
Linda Gray, Steve Kanaly, Ken Kercheval, Charlene Tilton |
| Written
By: |
David Jacobs,
D. C. Fontana, Darlene Craviotto |
| Produced
By: |
Lee Rich,
Philip Capice |
| Directed
By: |
Vincent McEveety,
Alexander Singer |
| Music:
|
Jerrold Immel
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| The
Review: |
Shakespeare would have loved “Dallas”.
It had all the “court” intrigue that dominated many of his
plays, the ongoing storylines featured murder, sex, cross
& double cross, secret identities and, at one point, a dream
sequence that really ticked a lot of people off. “Dallas”
stands as a unique prime time soap opera. Why? Unlike a lot
of prime time soap operas, it dominated the Nielsen Ratings
for years without little or no challenge. “Dallas” tells the
story of a Texas oil family the Ewings. J.R. and his brother
Bobby are constantly in conflict over the direction of the
business. While they’re fighting it out between them, their
father Jock tries to steer the business on a steady path.
The loves and conflicts of these petroleum magnates have as
much to do with reality as “L.A. Law” did with the real world
of lawyers but, like the aftermath of a car crash, we still
can’t help but watch. Now we finally get this classic prime
time soap in a deluxe boxed set. The set features both the
original “first season” mini-series and the full second season
for a total of 29 episodes spread over five discs. So if you’re
aching to spent some time with Bobby, J.R. and the rest of
the Texas oil clan (is it just me or does this family remind
you of the Bush family?), you’ll have all the essentials in
one set with some very cool extras as well. ---
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| Image
and Sound: |
Digitally
remastered for DVD, “Dallas” looks splendid. There’s a bit of
compression issues during some of the darker scenes but the
colors are faithfully reproduced and the image quality is pretty
sharp overall. The mono sound is nicely remastered for the DVD
although it is in the original mono. It appears that it has
been digitally compressed to enhance the sound and give it more
presence. |
| The
Extras: |
There’s
a single featurette which actually aired previously “SoapTalk:
Dallas Reunion” where four of the original cast members along
with others appear. It’s a love fest as they discuss the show
and it’s impact on TV and each other.
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| Commentary:
|
A running
commentary track from Hagman, Tilton and creator Jacobs provides
interesting tidbits about the production of the show. Hagman
is delightful full of mirth and humor in his discussion but
he also takes great pains to compliment his other cast members.
He became the breakout star of the series after languishing
in movie and TV hell for a number of years after “I Dream of
Jeannie”. He’s quite gracious when discussing his co-stars and
readily admits that, while the audience loves J.R., without
the other cast members (particularly Gray and Duffy) to bounce
his character off of, J.R. would not have been nearly as poplar.
That may be true but J.R. is a truly great and complex villain
worthy of comparisons to the best popular culture has offered
so far. --- |
| Final
Words: |
A great
boxed set from Warner Brothers provides us with the mini-series,
the complete second season and a nice featurette. Additionally,
we get a great running commentary on the pilot episode and enough
soap to clean the grime off of an oil rig. “Dallas” remains
great fun with its larger than life stories and strong performances
from the cast. |
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