This review was originally published July 2004, and the Limited Edition Region 1 DVD set by UK-based Network Videos was expensive and hard to come by.

In Fall 2007, the series was finally released domestically by Acorn Media, split into two sets, Set 1 featuring Michael Praed’s Robin, and Set 2 featuring Jason Connery’s Robin. Both sets can be found at places like Best Buy and Amazon, and a complete series box set is scheduled for release in July 2008.

Robin of Sherwood (1983-85)
Limited Edition Complete Collection
release date: 7/14/2003

starring Michael Praed, Nickolas Grace, Jason Connery

“A hooded man shall come to the forest. There he will meet with Herne the Hunter, to become his Son, and do his bidding.”

This collection contains all 3 series, 26 full episodes clocking in at nearly 22 hours, not including extras. It’s also a numbered Limited Edition Region 1 set, produced exclusively by Network Videos, one of only 2500 produced, quite likely making this DVD set rarer than the the novelizations of the series.

Even after 20 years, this series still holds a special place in the hearts of many, including mine. Seeing these episodes in clearly remastered digital glory rekindled the magic, even though it’s been nearly 15 years since I’d seen them last, on worn and barely viewable VHS tapes made from the series’ brief run on Showtime from 1984-86.

Though the characters were written to feel a bit more contemporary than the real inhabitants of England circa 1120, the story-telling doesn’t feel dated. The passionate performances, especially in episodes from Series 1 and 2, still make you love the outlaws and hate the aristocracy.

The video quality is the same as I recall from the original broadcasts, but there is some noticeable artifacting during a few of the fast-moving close shots during some sword fights. The intentional softness of the picture remains, without detracting from overall image clarity, and maintaining the dreamlike quality throughout the series that the creators wanted.

The Dolby remastering of the audio has resulted in the sound being a bit uneven. While the dialogue volume varies from disc to disc, the Clannad themes and incidentals pop, enhancing the ethereal atmosphere of the series.

Two of the discs are incorrectly labeled: the bonus disc of extras isn’t labeled as such, and Disc 2 (Series 1, episodes 4-6) is labeled as being the bonus disc. The DVD case inserts also still contain the UK particulars describing the discs (Region 0, PAL encoding), which contradicts the information on the set box. Both are very minor nitpicks compared to the quality of the rest of the set.

Contents:
Disc 1: Series 1, Episodes 1-3
Robin Hood & The Sorcerer (parts 1 and 2), The Witch of Elsdon

Disc 2: Series 1, Episodes 4-6
Seven Poor Knights from Acre, Alan-A-Dale, The King’s Fool

Disc 3: Series 2, Episodes 1-4
The Prophecy, The Children of Israel, Lord of the Trees, The Enchantment

Disc 4: Series 2, Episodes 5-7
The Swords of Wayland (parts 1 and 2), The Greatest Enemy

Disc 5: Series 3, Episodes 1-3
Herne’s Son (parts 1 and 2), The Power of Albion

Disc 6: Series 3, Episodes 4-6
The Inheritance, The Sheriff of Nottingham, The Cross of St Ciricus

Disc 7: Series 3, Episodes 7-10
Cromm Cruac, The Betrayal, Adam Bell, The Pretender

Disc 8: Series 3, Episodes 11-13
Rutterkin, The Time of the Wolf (parts 1 and 2)

Disc 9: Bonus Extras
“Making of Robin of Sherwood” 5-part documentary; Clannad promo for “Robin the Hooded Man”; Outtakes from Series 1, Series 2 and Series 3; Swordplay short; Showtime network promo from 1985; footage from TV-am and Electric Theatre Show features; Still galleries and Photo Retrospective

Episodic extras include:
Separate tracks for new Dolby Surround, original mono, and music only audio tracks; Commentaries by creator Richard Carpenter, director Ian Sharp, stars Jason Connery, Mark Ryan, Clive Mantle, Nickolas Grace.

DVD review by Summer Brooks

This review was originally published July 2004, the DVD set having become scarce by then. Since then, the DVD set was rereleased by A&E Home Video in 2005, and can still be found at places like Best Buy and Amazon.

Sapphire and Steel (1979-82) (DVD)
Featuring Joanna Lumley, David McCallum
Directed by Shaun O’Riordan
Official DVD release date — November 18, 2003

“Sapphire and Steel have been assigned.”

The blurb on the back of the case reads: “The spiritual precursor to The X-Files, SAPPHIRE AND STEEL is one of the most atmospheric, mysterious, and compelling television programs ever made. Joanna Lumley and David McCallum star as alien investigators sent to Earth to monitor and police ruptures in time.”

Each adventure is a carefully crafted mystery, building the suspense more through imagination rather than cheap surprises, with Sapphire and Steel using their extrasensory and deductive powers to figure out not only what problem with time exists, but what the objective of changing time might be so they can set things right again. The adventures tend to start out very slowly, but the unfolding of the stories are worth the wait.

This definitive set, containing all 6 assignments, totaling 34 episodes and clocking in at over 15 hours, has been remastered for digital transfer. Both the video and audio are crisp, but sometimes the volume is uneven between the opening credits and the episode dialogue.

The set is also fairly hard to find. Despite originally being part of A&E’s “Cult TV” series, only one of the major online DVD retailers, DVD Planet, lists the set, and that may be because they’re the last ones with copies in stock. It’s not mentioned in any of A&E’s print brochures, nor is it available from their online shop, which is a shame. I believe this would be a pleasant discovery for a number of SF and mystery fans.

Contents:
Disc 1: Assignment 1: “Escape Through A Crack In Time” (6 episodes, running time 2:42)
Disc 2: Assignment 2: “The Railway Station” (8 episodes, running time 3:36)
Disc 3: Assignment 3: “The Creature’s Revenge” (6 episodes, running time 2:42)
Disc 4: Assignment 4: “The Man Without A Face” (4 episodes, running time 1:48)
Disc 5: Assignment 5: “Dr McDee Must Die” (6 episodes, running time 2:42)
Disc 6: Assignment 6: “The Trap” (4 episodes, running time 1:48)

Extras include:
partial audio commentary by either writer/creator P.J. Hammond or Producer Shaun O’Riordan, during either the intro or one episode of each adventure; star biographies, and a gallery of stills from P.J. Hammonds’ collection of series press clippings.

Personal recommendations: Start with Assignments 2, 4 and 5.

DVD review by Summer Brooks

There are a lot of books and movies and tv shows that we won’t get to, or at least not get to any time soon, so I don’t see any reason why we can’t post written reviews here, or include the occassional audio review in a KAMN episode. Same Ninjas rules apply… anything 10 years old or older is fair game.

If you want to submit some reviews, just send them to summer [at] kickassmysticninjas [dot] com or brian [at] kickassmysticninjas [dot] com. Submit written reviews as included plain text, not attached Word docs, and audio reviews should be kept to 3 minutes or less (MP3 format please, to conserve space). If you can’t email them, then use something like YouSendIt.com, or maybe we can arrange something else.

Also, the old reviews I had done for Fantastica Daily (a site that no longer exists) will be online here soon. I will most likely post them with their original post dates, from 2004, so keep an eye out.

The premise was interesting, but I was not entirely thrilled by the presentation.

Basic story: A female soldier exposed to a biological agent becomes impervious to physical damage, instead of dying a near-instant hemorraghic death like the rest of her squad. The Army wants to find out what agent infected her so they can duplicate the results (fully healing from bullet wounds in five days could be useful to them). Chaos ensues when she escapes the Army to figure out who caused the death of her team, and kill them in revenge. Oh, and there’s a mysterious biological warfare expert wandering the world trying to perfect a bioweapon, and he’s interested in the side effects his creation caused in Jane.

Sounds like it could have been a damn fine film, but it was so dry and lifeless that it didn’t hook me as it should have. I saw two of the surprise plot twists coming a mile away, so that was a disappointment that I figured them out so quickly.

It was based on a comic, and now I’m curious to find out more about that comic. I’m mostly curious to find out if anything was left out, because I can’t fathom any other reason why the movie was so dry and almost ploddingly boring.