|
Millennium -
Complete Season 1
(1996)
Starring:
Lance Henrikson, Megan Gallagher, Terry O'Quinn
Rating:
NR
Distributor:
Fox Home Entertainment
Release
Date: July 20, 2004
Review posted: July 30, 2004
Reviewed by
Dennis Landmann
SYNOPSIS
Lance Henriksen
stars as Frank Black, a former FBI agent in Washington, D.C., who
is looking for a more relaxed life with his family in Seattle. But
Frank's truly special ability to step enter the minds of serial
killer won't allow him to give up the fight of good vs. evil.
Soon, he's found himself aligned with the Millennium Group, and a
new breed of vigilante justice begins to clean up the dangerous
streets.
CRITIQUE
Wow, I have to say
Millennium impressed me. I've never seen an episode before
seeing the DVD but I knew Chris Carter created it, so I thought
I'd give the show a chance and I was pleasantly surprised to find
out how good the first season is - pretty damn good.
Of the 22 episodes,
only two (three at most) don't fare well - they are The
Well-Worn Lock and The Wild and The Innocent. The rest,
twenty of them!, are generally quality stuff! Granted, some are
noticeably better than others (in terms of the story), including
Gehenna, Dead Letters, 522666, Loin Like a
Hunting Flame, Force Majeure, The Thin White Line,
Sacrament, Walkabout, Lamentation, and
Marantha. However, in general the programs
feature strong writing, good acting, terrific cinematography,
slick editing, and the list goes on. The pilot, written by Chris
Carter and directed by David Nutter, is great. Carter's writing
sets up the show very well, and the other writers continue the
trend.
The Frank Black
character is one of the coolest characters on TV for quite some
time, and Lance Henrikson plays the character to perfection. His
ability to observe and interpret crime scenes, as well as put
himself in the state of the killers, works very well for the
show's concept. Essentially, Millennium explores the fight
between good vs. evil. One program introduces a supernatural idea,
while a select few reference the upcoming millennium, or
apocalypse - but that depends on the individual viewer's
interpretation.
On the contrary,
Millennium is a bit hard to watch considering the harsh
subject matter; serial killers, sexual predators, murders, graphic
images, and so on. With that in mind, it took me two weeks to
watch all of the first season because too much of the show isn't
that good for the psyche. The show's tone is quite dark, and more
than often it's also scary and suspenseful. Portions of the first
season introduce a few good subplots and some character notions
that will hopefully be explored in the second season. Those who
don't mind gore, graphic images, and/or scary stuff should enjoy
Millennium.
The first season's
22 episodes break down like this:
Disc 1:
Pilot, Gehenna, Dead Letters, The Judge
Disc 2:
522666, Kingdom Come, Blood Relatives, The Well-Worn Lock
Disc 3: Wide
Open, The Wild and the Innocent, Weeds, Loin Like a Hunting Flame
Disc 4:
Force
Majeure, The Thin White Line, Sacrament, Covenant
Disc 5: Walkabout, Lamentation,
Powers Principalities Thrones and Dominions, Broken World
Disc 6:
Maranatha, Paper Dove
THE VIDEO
Fox presents Millennium
in 1.33:1 fullscreen format. There's nothing wrong with this
presentation, in fact it looks quite chilly and dark as it
should. There's grain here and there, as well as some dust, and
some images are very dark. Dark tones and black levels look
relatively good. Image quality is perfectly fine, no major
flaws. I didn't notice any compression artifacts. The show's
color palette is mostly dark, but brighter colors such as red
and yellow come through quite nicely.
THE AUDIO
Fox presents Millennium
in English 2.0 Dolby Surround. There's nothing going on with
the rear speakers as all sound comes through the front speakers.
In effect, dialogue sounds just fine, it's clear and easy to
understand. I didn't hear any distortions or noise during the
presentation. Sound effects and Mark Snow's creepy score come
through well in this 2.0 track. Overall, there's not enough bass
to the presentation, but the 2.0 track gets the job done.
THE EXTRAS
Except for two
commentaries, the rest of the special features are located on
disc six.
The commentary
by Chris Carter on the pilot is quite informative, as is the
commentary by David Nutter on Gehenna. Both men
speak about the production, the story, acting, and various other
things pertaining to the program. Perhaps they could've teamed up for both commentaries to
make for a more conversational tone, but the tracks are
interesting enough as they are.
Order
in Chaos: Making Millennium Season One (50:48) is quite a
long documentary. It's very good, too. It covers inception, casting,
writing/stories, making the pilot, and more. The interviews feature
Chris Carter, Ken Horton, David Nutter, Frank Spotnitz, Lance
Henriksen, Megan Gallagher, Chip Johannssen, Thomas J. Wright, Mark
Snow, Mark Freeborn, Robert McLachlan, and Academy Group members
Robert R. Hazelwood and Roger L. Depue. Some of the interviews are
edited with rather annoying jump cuts, and the audio in Henriksen's
interview sounds it was recorded inside a big hallway or large studio.
Clips of the show are presented throughout the documentary, as are a
series of still photos.
Chasing the Dragon: A Conversation with the Academy Group (22:15)
offers a look at real-life profilers. About a dozen members are
interviewed for this piece. They cover various topics (profiling,
etc.) and give mostly interesting information.
Creating the Logo and Title Sequence (9:35) is somewhat
interesting. The explanation of the logo revels certain symbols in the
background and the typeface. The editor of the title sequence sits
down to go through it, offering snippets of information on where the
footage was shot and what it means - now I know what's up with the
words "wait," "worry," and "who cares?".
It's
also interesting to see the eight pilot TV spots (5:17).
Rounding out the extras are trailers for Alien Quadrilogy,
Planet of the Apes 35th Anniversary, and Predator Special
Edition.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I'm glad Fox is
releasing Millennium on DVD because it's quite a cool show -
terrific writing, strong acting, and very well-done filmmaking for a
TV show. The video/audio is good, and the extras are nice, too. If you
like the mystery/thriller/horror types of genre, Millennium is
for you - highly recommended.
VERDICT: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Home | Back to
Top |
