|
“Las Vegas:
Season 2-Uncut & Uncensored”
|
 |
Reviewed
by: |
Wayne A. Klein |
| Genre: |
Drama |
| Video: |
1.78:1 widescreen
|
| Audio: |
Dolby Digital
5.1 |
| Languages |
English
|
| Subtitles |
English,
French, Spanish |
| Length |
Approximately
1029 minutes |
| Rating |
NR |
| Release Date |
9/13/05 |
| Studio |
Universal
Home Video |
| Commentary:
|
None |
| Documentaries:
|
None |
| Featurettes:
|
“VIP Only Access-See
How High Rollers Experience Vegas” |
| Filmography/Biography:
|
None |
|
Interviews: |
None |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
Promo for series, promo
for the city of Las Vegas |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
None |
| Music
Video: |
None |
| Other:
|
Gag Reels
from Seasons 1 & 2 |
| Cast
and Crew: |
James Caan,
Josh Duhamel, Vanessa Marcil, Nikki Cox, James Lesure, Molly
Sims, Marsha Thomason |
| Written
By: |
Gary Scott
Thompson, Daniel Arkin, David Graziano, Kyle Harimoto |
| Produced
By: |
Daniel Arkin,
Gary Scott Thompson |
| Directed
By: |
Timothy Busfield,
Michael Grossman, Kevin Hooks |
| Music:
|
Mac Davis
(theme song) |
| The
Review: |
Any new show is a gamble. That’s
true even if your show is named “Las Vegas”. The second season
of “Las Vegas” comes to DVD rolling sixes and looking as sharply
dressed as a high roller on a winning streak. Atmosphere is
the key to “Las Vegas” and this series has atmosphere in spades.
For those fans who follow the show you know what happened
for those who haven’t seen season two, I’m not going to spoil
season two by giving you a recap. I’m going to gamble that
you don’t want to know and you just want to know if this is
a quality set. It is although there were some minor glitches.
Universal has had some problems with some of their recent
TV on DVD releases and, at least with this set, I didn’t have
the DVDs freeze on me but did occasionally have the skipping
that has become a hallmark for their series of releases of
their TV shows. That could have been my set alone. However,
may I suggest that if you have problems to also write Universal
and let them know that you’re still having problems. Hopefully
they’ll do something about this as they’ve been notified of
issues before and considering how much money you pay for a
boxed set, it’s can issue. So what’s uncut and uncensored
mean? Evidently not a whole lot based on what one fan told
me. Evidently there weren’t any new scenes (I never saw the
TV broadcasts so can’t comment on this directly) but it would
behoove Universal to be upfront on the box and explain what
“Uncut and Uncensored” truly means. Otherwise fans will feel
burned by false advertising. As always when someone makes
a product claim the first thought should be “buyer beware”.
---
|
| Image
and Sound: |
You won’t
feel like you’re rolling the bones with season two. It looks
just as good as the first season. Once again the image quality
is so good you can count the beads of sweat on the winners and
losers as they gamble their life away. Fine detail and image
clarity is particularly good although there are some minor issues
with blocking particularly during very dark sequences. The transfer
does credit to the city of Las Vegas capturing every color of
the glittering and sparkling billboards that entice you into
smoke filled rooms. Skin tones appear natural and the blacks
are so deep you might get lost in them without a flashlight.
The 5.1 mix has odds in its favor due to the effective sound
mix. You’ll be itching to break out your wallet and lose money
as you’re watching this program. --- |
| The
Extras: |
I thought
there would be more extras but it just wasn’t in the cards.
We get a featurette entitled “VIP Only Access-See How High
Rollers Experience Vegas”. It’s a clever featurette but hardly
essential. I would have preferred more featurettes with tips
on how to win big at the tables with tips and tricks to help
you score. We also get the gag reels from seasons 1 & 2 which
are entertaining enough. It’s always fun to see highly season
professionals screw up just like you and me.
|
| Commentary:
|
It seems
that the initial set put all of its commentaries in one basket.
There’s none here. I think it would be fun to have professional
gamblers do scene specific commentary and criticism on what’s
reel vs. real and what they would do given certain circumstances
for the season two set. |
| Final
Words: |
Buying any
full season boxed set is always a gamble particularly if you
didn’t watch the show. For fans who purchased the first season
set, you’ll feel reassured that the plots, subplots and deception
continues unabated during the second season. A nice job from
Universal just be very careful handling these dual sided dual
layered discs as they tend to not handle wear and tear quite
as well as the single sided discs. |
