Great show, alright release by Gord Lacey (All reviews)
3/20/2003
Imagine, Jerry Bruckheimer executive producing a TV show where there aren't explosions every few minutes! Created by Anthony Zuicker, CSI is a show about the Las Vegas Crime Scene Investigators, a team that uses science to put people behind bars. Gil Grissom (William Peterson - Manhunter) becomes the head of CSI after an unfortunate incident in the pilot episode triggers the Sheriff to fire Captain Brass (Paul Guilfoyle). Also part of CSI is former stripper Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger - China Beach), problem gambler Warrick Brown (Gary Dourdan - Soul Food, Alien: Resurrection), ladies man Nick Stokes (George Eads - Savannah) and the beautiful Sara Sidel (Jorja Fox - ER). The show is a wonderful mix of "whodunnit," science and humor.
I've always been a fan of Sherlock Holmes and the way he uses his brains to solve his cases, so I figured a show like this would appeal to me. It's not the typical "cop show" where they run around kicking doors down and beating confessions out of the perps. No, this is a show about the science and methods used to solve a crime. I've been a fan since day one.
Before the show aired, it was on numerous "Shows that will fail" lists. They were so wrong. CSI is consistently one of the highest rated shows on TV and has already spun off another hit, CSI: Miami. Coupled with Survivor, CSI has helped CBS become more popular with the younger viewers.
Video
This show has one of the most distinctive looks on TV. The crimes are reenacted in wonderful detail; bullets and knives penetrate skin with quick zooms and cuts. With the show set in Vegas, in the middle of a desert, the picture is slightly washed out and over-exposed. The major problem with this picture is grain. Nearly every scene contains at least some noticeable grain, some more than others and it can be really distracting at times. It's too bad since there really isn't anything else wrong with the image. There are hardly any dust specs, and besides the grain this image would be nearly perfect. Thankfully there are chapters set right after the opening theme so you can quickly skip over it.
And now...for the controversy. The image on this DVD is 4:3 (1.33:1). CSI is a show broadcast in both 4:3 and 16:9 in HDTV. We've gotten to the point where there has become two aspects ratios for TV shows; the regular 4:3 and 16:9 used for HDTV broadcasts. The image on this DVD is how I remember the show since I didn't have access to an HD broadcast. While I would have liked to see an anamorphic widescreen version of the show, 4x3 is the same aspect ratio that was released in Canada and the UK. Although people may blame Paramount for the lack of widescreen, they are the distributor for this title and had nothing to do with the content. You know what they say...."Don't shoot the distributor."
Audio
The audio has got to be good to accurately capture the ambience of Las Vegas. From the buzz and whirr of the casinos to the vastness of the desert, there are many different sounds in Las Vegas. I listened to the English Dolby Surround 2.0 track since I don't speak Spanish, the other audio choice. Actually, if you want a laugh, listen to part of an episode in Spanish just to hear the dubs. The audio on the discs is much better than I remember from TV. The opening song sounds great on the DVD releases, and those of you who heard that the opening song was left out of the R2 release will be happy to know it's intact here. The rear speakers are used effectively for ambient effects in casinos, or the sound of the wind in the desert. One of my favorite "audio moments" was in episode 3, 11:45 into the episode when the helicopter flew by. The audio panned from the left rear speaker to the front right sounded excellent. Although you won't find any subtitles on the release, it's closed captioned for the hearing impaired.
Music Video "Who Are You" by The Who (2:50)
A video of The Who playing in concert with shots from the show. Right after this is a 0:30 commercial for the soundtrack CD.
"CSI - People Lie...But The Evidence Never Does" (19:12)
A short featurette about the show with cast and crew interviews.
Character Profiles
Each of the 6 main characters has a single screen about them. This has the worst navigation ever; there's no way to see the previous cast profile.
Summary
If you're in Canada and looking for this release, you're out of luck. Alliance Atlantis owns the Canadian distribution rights and have released two sets in Canada, the second part of the first season was released on March 18th, a week before this one. If you want this release you'll need to import it from the US.
For such a popular show, I was expecting something more from this release. This is the type of show that could have some killer commentary tracks from technical advisors and the cast and crew. There could have been a great featurette on the science of the show, but instead we get a promotional featurette. Maybe CBS Video thought the show would sell itself, and they're probably right. Maybe we'll get more when the second season is released.
After watching these episodes again, I realized something about Captain Brass. Either the writers forgot that he used to be in charge of CSI, or he's become stupid and forgot everything he once knew. His character has also chilled out a lot since the pilot episode, and he gets along better with the rest of the characters.
