Topic 1549 Options

[Jayar Reddy]

Wow - have got the Dynasty DVD's, can't believe they are actually in my hand, 2 years and 4 months since season 1 was released !!! At work at the moment so haven't had a chance to check the picture and sound quality yet.

The packaging looks better than I expected, I particularly like the back cover art with a great picture of Alexis in her court room outfit, there are also small screen captures of the artist studio fight, a shirtless Jeff with Fallon, Steven and Sammy Jo together and a nice picture of the Mansion at the top.

Can't wait to get home and play them - I'll report back regarding picture quality etc

[Krystle]

YAY!!!

[Mrs. Carrington]

Wow, that's amazing! I pre-ordered from Amazon and have not received mine yet....

[agacs]

Where did you order it from?

[Jayar Reddy]

I got the DVD’s from a retail store in the West End in London, they specialize in region 1 DVD's, I was shocked when they told me it had come in, you wouldn't believe how quickly I dropped everything and dashed up there. Unfortunately I had to go to work after that, it was torture watching the clock at work as I was desperate to get home and check the DVD’s out.

Well I've had a chance to watch some of the discs; I’ve watched the first episode and have dipped in and out of various episodes across the entire season.

I have to say I was very disappointed with the picture quality as the titles were playing; they looked very grainy, with a fair amount of dirt and blemishes. Fortunately as soon as the titles ended the picture improved hugely and at times looked incredibly good. The picture was clear, sharp and very colorful. There is much more fine detail in the picture compared to the TV broadcast quality. I compared the picture on the DVD’s to home recorded DVD’s of the Soapnet broadcasts and the Paramount DVDs were far superior. In fact the colors look wonderful and flesh tones look more natural. There is far more details in the textures of fabrics and the details in the set dressing, the show didn't look as good as this when it was first broadcast in the UK by the BBC. Hopefully this is an indication of how good further seasons might look.

The extra - Dynasty Family Tree has a screen each for eight of the family, they are very basic and seem like an after thought extra that has been quickly tacked on - not terrible exciting I'm afraid. But the decent picture and sound quality more than makes up for it.

Got to find a spare 17hrs now !!! some serious Dynasty viewing coming up.

[agacs]

Did you notice any alterations as this review suggests? Are the episode recaps present?
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/dynasty...dvdreview.html

[Jayar Reddy]

No recaps on the episodes, I haven't notice any edits on the actual episodes



quote=agacs,Aug 2 2007, 10:45 PM]
Did you notice any alterations as this review suggests? Are the episode recaps present?
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/dynasty...dvdreview.html

[/quote]

[allegre]

The picture was clear, sharp and very colorful. There is much more fine detail in the picture compared to the TV broadcast quality. In fact the colors look wonderful and flesh tones look more natural. There is far more details in the textures of fabrics and the details in the set dressing, the show didn't look as good as this when it was first broadcast in the UK by the BBC. Hopefully this is an indication of how good further seasons might look.

Wow I am seriously excited,I've been viewing my old videos for so long the quality is really bad.And to think now the quality of these new discs is probably going to be better than I've actually ever seen before.

And it gets even better than that as Blake jnr bought us ( well himself really ) A new t.v earlier this year and I moan constantly at him for watching rubbish on it (He's a scifi/horror fan )

But now the thought of watching "the big man himself " on a 42" LCD HD READY
screen well words fail me!!!!
"I think I'm going to ........... faint "



WOULD YOU JUST LOOK AT THAT FACE

[komodor]

You got him at his best

[Dynasty83]

Where is this great store?

[Jayar Reddy]

The Cinema Store
Orion House
Upper St. Martin's Lane,
Covent Garden
London
WC2H 9NY

020 7379 7838

http://www.allinlondon.co.uk/directory/1226/7866.php

Great for region 1 titles but can be expensive, Dynasty Season 2 £39 much cheaper if ordered directly from Amazon, but occasionally if its a very special title and I can't wait I'll know I'll get it there early.

[Jayar Reddy]

The following review has appeared on the DVD file site.

Dynasty: The Second Season
Written by Mike Restaino
Thursday, 02 August 2007
Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment / 1981-1982 / 1058 Minutes / Unrated
Street Date: August 14, 2007

This second season of Dynasty is nasty and a welcome smarminess indeed. My first exposure to the series was my review of the first season; I thought it was more important as an indicator of the money-obsessed 1980s than a de facto good show. But with the series’ second go-round, things change. That change is Joan Collins.

As Alexis Carrington, ex-wife to Blake Carrington (John Forsythe), Collins is the kind of bling-wearing bitch one has no choice but to gleefully adore. She shows up toward the beginning of this second season as a witness in Blake’s murder trial – and man does she want him to head to the slammer. But once Blake is declared innocent of his crimes, Alexis takes the vigilante road and decides to go above the law to really make Blake’s life a living hell.

And she does. The way this second season of Dynasty progresses is nothing short of addictive; I was expecting to watch an episode or two a night until I’d finished, but ended up devouring all 17+hours in a weekend (yeah, I’m that kind of a shut-in sometimes). It almost completely makes the show’s first season incidental. Why on Earth would we care about anything Dynasty-related without Joan Collins on board?

The thing about her meanness that really makes her character shine is that she’s myopically intent on ruining Blake’s life, and this intensity is jubilantly contagious. I found myself not giving much care to Blake’s current wife, Kystle (Linda Evans, who was pretty much front and center last time around), nor to Blake himself, for that matter. In fact, the only character that has even a modicum of Collins’ power is her niece, Sammy Jo (played by a youthful and lovely Heather Locklear), who ends up marrying Blake’s gay son Steven (Al Corley – yeah, that’s gonna end well) and taking her auntie’s eye for revenge into the Carrington home yet again.

It’s been a long time since I’ve watched a second installment of an older TV show on DVD that has showcased this much of a marked increase in quality from its preceding season. Where Dynasty’s first season was more of a historical time capsule of the more astute benchmarks of 1980s greed and money-adoration, this second season both embodies that and absolutely kicks ass as a deliciously and compulsively watchable primetime soap opera.

If you enjoy watching a devious rich bitch make as much trouble as possible (as this writer does), I can’t recommend it enough.

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

These second-season Dynasty episodes look just as lovely as the episodes from its first DVD release. Presented in the show’s original 1.33:1 glory, the quality of the transfers continues to impress. Clarity is just about as thorough as TV of this age can get, and the show's opulent visual design is presented with excellent exploitation of chroma - especially in terms of cleanliness of flesh tones. Black levels are also consistent. Sure, there are the occasional examples of dirt and grime on the prints, but it's of little note. Dynasty looks great.

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

The Dolby Digital mono mixes are equivalent in quality to the show’s first season on DVD, and that means they are not as impressive as their corresponding video transfers. Dialogue has been cleaned up, but is still quite muddy and wobbly. And while the show's immediately recognizable music is bawdy and loud, it all but crackles within a truncated dynamic range. Looking at these episodes of Dynasty is a feast for the eyes, but the same can't be said of the audio tracks.

Included are Spanish and Portuguese mono tracks, English, Portuguese and Spanish subtitles, and English Closed Captions.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

The only bonus is a text-based Dynasty Family Tree that allows viewers to catch up on the soap-opera labyrinth of the characters and relationships that make up Dynasty’s nasty narrative.

Exclusive DVD-ROM Features: What happens when you pop the disc into your PC?

There are no DVD-ROM features on this DVD.

Final Thoughts

Take it from this stubborn mule of a critic: this second season of Dynasty is better than its first season older brother by leaps and bounds. It’s almost exclusively because of Joan Collins’ icy meanness, but a praying mantis needs prey (and the rest of the cast makes for great meat). Audio quality and this edition’s bonus features section both disappoint, but the show still looks great. Well worth a rental, at least. Viva Joan!

[Dynasty83]

Hit the nail on the head there I think. Joan made Dynasty and she took the character far beyond what was written on paper. I dare say I didn’t care much about Blake or Krystal unless they were in a scene with Alexis.

Can’t wait for my DVD to arrive.

[Jayar Reddy]

Dynasty Season 2 is moving up the sales rank at Amazon

Just posted a comment on the Amazon page how great the season 2 dvds are and what a fantastic job Paramount did with the picture quality.

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #80 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)
Popular in these categories:

#1 in DVD > Television > By Decade > 1980s
#1 in DVD > Drama > Television > Dynasty
#6 in DVD > Television > Fox TV

[DCR]

Good news! Especially since that edition is really poor (in comparison, season 1 looked like a collector version...)