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By
NICK ZEGARAC
"Law & Order" is the
ground-breaking, record-breaking police/lawyer
television drama that in recent years has spawned
several television spin offs. Despite, or perhaps
because of the spin off successes, Universal has
at last decided to start releasing the original
television episodes on DVD.
At last we get the original series (Season One) as
it premiered back in the mid-eighties, with its
original cast. The box set is rather impressive,
with all 24 episodes from season one are
represented. Some of the best and most disturbing
moments in the entire series came during season
one, including the child molestation and wife
battery episode -- considered so emotionally
disturbing that after its initial broadcast it was
never aired in network prime time again. How times
have changed.
Overall, the image quality on these discs is
fairly good. Some episodes have a considerable
amount of film grain present. However, I suspect
this is more the fault of the original tape
elements used to record the series and also lesser
quality of equipment used in television
productions nearly thirteen years ago. Colors are
muted and dated but they are well-balanced. Flesh
tones are accurately presented. Black levels are
solid. Contrast levels are generally good, though
a few episodes seem to have considerably lower
levels than the norm. Edge enhancement and
pixelization are generally kept to a minimum,
though they are present throughout the series. The
audio is remastered and well presented, only
occasionally sounding strident.
Extras include a brief mini-documentary from Dick
Wolf, the producer and some trailer junkets. If
you're a fan of this great television series you
should seriously consider adding this box set to
your collection. |
