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Hawaii Five-O - The First Season
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Reviews DVD Reviews
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Written by Dave Anderson
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Thursday, 22 February 2007 |
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Grade Content Grade:
A-
Sound Grade:
B
Extras Grade:
B
Picture Grade:
A
Specs Paramount 1.33:1 Fullscreen English Dolby Digital Mono; Spanish Mono Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese Subtitles Closed-Captioned 1281 min., color, 1968-1969 Not Rated - contains some violence
Review
I remember "Hawaii Five-O" being a fixture in my house growing up. This was back in the day where the average house had one TV. My parents loved 70s cop shows, and watched them pretty regularly, which meant I ended up watching them regularly, too. There were some good ones, and a lot of bad ones, but "5-O" was the really only one that I actually remember being cool. The stories were cool, Jack Lord was cool, and of course the theme song goes without saying. The show is still cool...perhaps retro-cool, but cool nonetheless, and it's aged a hell of a lot better than most cop shows, even ones made long after the show was cancelled (like "Miami Vice," which arguably wouldn't have existed if it weren't for "Hawaii Five-O"). The first season is finally available from Paramount, who've done a great job restoring the show for this 7-disc boxed set.
This set contains all 24 episodes from the first season, which first aired in 1968-69. Also included is the seldom-seen original pilot episode, "Cocoon," made before much of the show's regular cast was in place. That doesn't really matter, since Jack Lord was always the driving force behind the show. Lord was never what anyone would call a great actor, but he always had a lot of presence & a quiet intensity perfectly suited for the Steve McGarrett character. Though never the most character-driven of shows, "Hawaii Five-O" holds up well because of it's interesting (and sometimes intricate) plots, not to mention it's great use of Hawaiian locations. Picture and Sound
The program is presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio, and for a 40-year-old show, the overall image is remarkably clean, with sharp lines and vibrant colors. The soundtrack isn't as impressive, rendered in simple Dolby Digital mono, but asides from a bit of distortion here and there, it does the job quite nicely. Overall, a masterful DVD presentation of this classic.
Extras
Disc seven contains the only extra feature, but it's a pretty good one, a 45 minute retrospective documentary (made in 1996) called "Memories of 'Hawaii Five-O'." Hosted by Emme Tomimbang and "Five-O" co-star James MacArthur (the only cast member currently alive), it's an informative and fun look back at the series, and includes interviews with much of the cast.
Summary
Longtime fans will likely say "it's about damn time", and they'll be rewarded with a great DVD transfer of this classic show. It's aged remarkably well, and the stories are intriguing enough to even rope in some new fans. And besides, there haven't been too many TV characters as timelessly cool as Steve McGarrett. Highly recommended. Useless Trivia: Jack Lord was once considered for the role of Captain Kirk in "Star Trek," but was passed over because he allegedly wanted too much creative control over the series.
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