On February 12, I wrote:I rarely venture into this thread because I only like to post about a DVD I got that I'm really excited for. Needless to say, the fact that I'm in this thread must mean I bought a DVD that I'm really excited for.
I'm really enjoying some of my DVD purchases!!!
"Falcon Crest": The Complete First Season $29.99 at Target
If you too would like to purchase this DVD, and support UD as well, click the picture to go to Amazon.com!
I was too young to watch this series during its original run (1981-1990, I was only 5 when it ended), and unfortunately missed out on its run on SoapNet (2000-2003, we didn't get SoapNet until 2007). But I've read plenty about the series and have seen various clips online. So to finally watch whole episodes was very exciting!
The series sometimes get lost in the shuffle when people remember the 80s primetime soaps (most remember "Dallas" and "Dynasty") and this one was a bit of a middle-ground between the two. It focused on rich feuding families (The Channings and the Gioberti's), in a business (wine), and had the manipulative lead (Angela Channing). The difference was that "Falcon Crest" had a better focus on the family, as well as the class struggles (the Gioberti's, while well off, are still quite humble and working). It wasn't over-the-top like "Dynasty", and not very rugged like "Dallas". I think that's why even though I like "Dynasty" and generally tolerate "Dallas", I warmed up immediately to "Falcon Crest". It has (in the first season) the perfect balance between drama and camp, with stories and characters worth watching together (as opposed to "Dallas" which is story-centric and "Dynasty" which is character-centric).
The actors all are pretty good too, which I expected for powerhouses like Jane Wyman and Susan Sullivan. Robert Foxworth is very convincing as good guy Chase who butts heads with Angela, and I'm really annoyed that Ana Alicia's character (Melissa Agretti) wasn't introduced earlier. Thankfully, we'll have six more seasons with her
Heck, even Lorenzo Lamas is slightly tolerable in this series (I hated him on "The Bold and the Beautiful" and last I heard, he had an abysmal reality show with his family).
Unfortunately, there's no extras on the DVDs, not even the unaired pilot ("The Vintage Years", with several different actors & characters). The video quality is subpar (Warner Bros. says it's too expensive to digitalize/restore many of their catalogue TV-on-DVD releases, and it's apparent here), but fortunately, I heard the R2 sets for Season 2 has much better transfers, so when that comes stateside, it'll be better visually. The soundtrack is mono, a pity, as I'd love to hear the theme song in stereo or in 5.1 surround.
If you like serialized drama and "Dallas" and "Dynasty" are too extreme for you, then "Falcon Crest" is a recommended purchase.
albert
But of course, pretty much everything's about money. 
