Rating: 
Summary: As always, Xena doesn't fail to please
Review: Season 3 - the introduction of betrayal into the relationship between Gabrielle and Xena; the birth of Hope; the re-introduction of Callisto after her seeming demise in season 2 in a quicksand pit.. all this and much more - a must have for any fan of Xena.
While continuing on from the setups in the previous 2 seasons, it is possible for anyone new to the (affectionately coined name) Xenaverse to pick up plot lines and immerse themselves in the myth that is Xena.
The season itself is jam packed of adventure; some laughs, some tears and guaranteed to suck you into their world.
As for the dvd box set itself, it is filled with extras on almost every episode - whether it be a 5 minute interview with writers or producers, or a full blown video commentary with Lucy Lawless, Renee O'Connor, Ted Raimi, Rob Tapert et al and even down to an almost 20minute long bloopers reel that is set to leave you in stitches of laughter - this is truly a wonderful gift for anyone, or a necessity for any Xena fan.
You won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Best Season
Review: In my opinion, this is the best season for Xena. Every episode is season three is good. In some other seasons, there are episodes that aren't good and you want to skip them, but not in the Third Season!
Rating:
Summary: Season of Fire... and then some!
Review: One of the most heartbreaking, amazing, unforgetable seasons in Xena: Warrior Princess gets an extra touch of fire with this amazing DVD set. The interviews give you more insight on the story, and on some plot and script details that even I missed on the first 300 times watching the episodes. I even got some confirmation through those interviews about some plot ideas I had during watching... I wasn't too far from the original sub-plot idea...
But I think the best feature in this set is watching Sacrifice 2 with the video commentary of Hudson Leick. We all know this episode to be a heartbreaking, and for me, a very difficult one to hold the tears through it... And then you have Hudson watching it, and you just can't stop laughing through it!!! And I believe more words on that will just reck a good watch through. Now you will have to see it for yourself!
This is sure one set you want in your DVD collection!!!
Rating:
Summary: Eternal Archetypes and Xena?!!
Review: Free advice to any and all. Look at the astrological symbolism in the "Bitter Suite" and compare it to the archetypal reversals of the series ender. The more esoteric stuff's not your thing I know religionandmedia but I see a tantric unity here too!!!!!
--Lesbian Wheel of Fortune
Illusia, Anywhere & Eveywhere ('specially in the media)
Rating:
Summary: Media, Philosophical Depth and XENA?!!
Review: Mediaandreligion's insights and passion have drawn me to these questions of media and ethics even though my own area of interest is a lot more formal (by the way, who is it that's really afraid of Virginia Woolf?). See those reviews of Moulin Rouge. Brava!!! Hmm, it seems that I am not alone in thinking these reviews of one movie, Moulin Rouge, are first rate. An intelligent and mindful discussion of what we consume. A lovely rarity for sure.
Christian's growth from platonic poet to embodied lover and Satine's growth from materially enslaved to materially liberated GODDESS are not new stories at all. They play themselves over and over again. It occurs to me that the show Xena plays on the same idea that a union of seeming opposites is actually a philosophically preexistent unity from a far off perspective beyond human scope (by the way, mister, I should be studying you know!!!!). Xena, a warrior enslaved by her darkside and her past, achieves transcendence in the series finale. She's at her most poetic and philosophical once she has crossed over. Gabrielle, the romantic bard, learns to deal with life's complexities, enters shadowlands and emerges as a formidable warrior. She does not "fly away" but like Christian must learn to be embodied. Xena, who has been too embodied and so entrapped by the dark things of this world, must "fly away"...They are flip sides of the same coin (or soul). Compare and contrast the first episode to the "Bitter Suite" (from three) and the series ender and see what I mean.
(inside point: since you still have me employed for dream analysis given your last week check this out--tp://www.screamingxenas.com/xwp-reviews/grabbag/tarot-reading.htm I know you do not believe in astrology or tarot but even from a Jungian perspective I would start writing images from dreams down so that you can analyze them symbolically later. LISTEN even to the silly things as you damn know well you should because you are very adept at doing this.
--The Lesbian Wheel of Fortune (sans Vanna White)
This free advice is good for any and for all............
Rating:
Summary: Warrior Princess Love from New Jersey
Review: This is perhaps one of the best seasons of 'Xena:Warrior Princess.' for it's awesome use of connecting story plots, fan favorite villians and allies, as well as the escalating choreography for the fight scenes. Kudos, for the amazing work in "The Bitter Suite," season 3 musical episode. What an imaginative way to tackle the heavy issues which surrounded Xena and Gabrielle in the middle of the season. There are other episodes which stand out as amazing but you will discover them yourself. Bottomline, if this is a shade of things to come then I cannot wait for the next 3 seasons. Battle on, Xena!
Rating:
Summary: Oodles of DVD Extras!
Review: [Summary: 5 stars for terrific content & GREAT extras]Note: This review contains NO SPOILERS; it's all about the DVD extras. Xena: Warrior Princess Season Three DVD collection summary:
- 8 DVDs, with 3 episodes each except 1 in disc 8; 22 total episodes.
- Video: Very good throughout; less compression than 4 episodes/disc.
- Audio: 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround throughout.
- DVD Extras: Stills, audio and video commentary on 8 episodes (1/disc), an "interview" (featurette) on every episode, bloopers, plus much extra on "Sacrifice", the season ender. Season Two included 3 commentaries only. MUCH better! Season Two was worth a bit over 4.5 stars; Season Three is nearly perfect (5 stars). Disc 1: Picture of Xena on label
- "The Furies"
o Interview with:
R.J. Stewart, Co-Executive Producer
Lucy Lawless ("Xena")
Robert Gillies, Production Designer
Liz Friedman, Producer
Steven L. Sears, Supervising Producer
Robert Tapert, Executive Producer & Lucy Lawless & Renee O'Connor ("Gabrielle")
o Audio Commentary by Liz Friedman & Robert Tapert
o Video Commentary by Liz Friedman & Robert Tapert and R.J. Stewart (shot separately)
- "Been There, Done That"
o Interview with:
Lucy Lawless
Andrew Merrifield, Director
Ted Raimi ("Joxer")
Lucy Lawless & Renee O'Connor
Bernie Joyce, Post-Production Supervisor
- "The Dirty Half Dozen"
o Interview with:
Steven L. Sears
Robert Gillies
Disc Extras:
- Photo Gallery
- Weblink to www.xena.tv
- Credits Disc 2: Picture of Gabrielle on label
- "The Deliverer"
o Interview with:
Oley Sassone, Director
R.J. Stewart
Steven L. Sears
Liz Friedman
Renee O'Connor
- "Gabrielle's Hope"
o Interview with:
R.J. Stewart
Steven L. Sears
Andrew Merrifield
- "The Debt" (part I)
o Interview with:
Oley Sassone
R.J. Stewart
Eric Gruendemann, Producer
Robert Tapert
John Cavill, Cinematographer
Robert Gillies
Lucy Lawless
Renee O'Connor & Lucy Lawless
o Audio Commentary by Robert Tapert & Lucy Lawless
o Video Commentary by Robert Tapert & Lucy Lawless Disc 3: Picture of Autolycus on label
- "The Debt II"
o Interview with:
Robert Tapert
Eric Gruendemann
Oley Sassone
John Cavill
Robert Gillies
Lucy Lawless & Renee O'Connor
R.J. Stewart
- "The King of Assassins"
o Interview with:
Ted Raimi ("Joxer" & "Jett")
Robert Tapert & Lucy Lawless & Renee O'Connor
John Cavill
Donald Duncan, Cinematographer
Kay Foster & Adam Armus, Writers
o Audio Commentary by Ted Raimi
o Video Commentary by Ted Raimi
- "Warrior... Priestess... Tramp"
o Interview with:
Kay Foster & Adam Armus
Liz Friedman
Ted Raimi Disc 4: Picture of Callisto on label
- "The Quill is Mightier..."
o Interview with:
Renee O'Connor
Ted Raimi
Andrew Merrifield
Alexandra Tydings ("Aphrodite")
- "Maternal Instincts"
o Interview with:
Steven L. Sears
Liz Friedman
Eric Gruendemann
Renee O'Connor
Hudson Leick ("Callisto")
Lucy Lawless
- "The Bitter Suite" (a musical!)
o Interview with:
Steven L. Sears
Robert Tapert
R.J. Stewart
Liz Friedman
Eric Gruendemann
Donald Duncan
Bernie Joyce
Lucy Lawless & Renee O'Connor
Robert Gillies
Hudson Leick
o Audio Commentary by Lucy Lawless & Renee O'Connor
o Video Commentary by Lucy Lawless & Renee O'Connor Disc 5: Picture of Xena on label
- "One Against an Army"
o Interview with:
Steven L. Sears
Renee O'Connor
Eric Gruendemann
Lucy Lawless & Renee O'Connor
R.J. Stewart
o Audio Commentary by Lucy Lawless & Renee O'Connor
o Video Commentary by Lucy Lawless & Renee O'Connor
- "Forgiven"
o Interview with:
R.J. Stewart
Renee O'Connor
Liz Friedman
- "King Con"
o Interview with:
Donald Duncan
Ted Raimi
Liz Friedman Disc 6: Picture of Joxer on label
- "When in Rome..."
o Interview with:
John Laing, Director
R.J. Stewart
Renee O'Connor
o Audio Commentary by Steven L. Sears, the writer
o Video Commentary by Steven L. Sears, the writer
- "Forget Me Not"
o Interview with:
Steven L. Sears
Renee O'Connor
Ted Raimi
- "Fins, Femmes & Gems"
o Interview with:
Lucy Lawless & Renee O'Connor
Robert Tapert
Kay Foster & Adam Armus
Liz Friedman
Alexandra Tydings Disc 7: Picture of Xena on label
- "Tsunami"
o Interview with:
Donald Duncan
Robert Gillies
John Laing
Renee O'Connor & Lucy Lawless
- "Vanishing Act"
o Interview with:
Robert Tapert
Lucy Lawless & Renee O'Connor
Andrew Merrifield
- "Sacrifice" (part I)
o Interview with:
Steven L. Sears
Liz Friedman
Hudson Leick
Lucy Lawless
o Audio Commentary by Hudson Leick (only on some scenes; watch the video commentary instead)
o Video Commentary by Hudson Leick Disc 8: Picture of Gabrielle on label
- "Sacrifice II"
o Interview with:
Liz Friedman
Steven L. Sears
Renee O'Connor
Ted Raimi
Robert Tapert
Hudson Leick
Lucy Lawless
o Audio Commentary by Hudson Leick (some scenes only)
o Video Commentary by Hudson Leick
Disc Extras:
- "Sacrifice II" Alternate Cuts
- "Sacrifice I & II: A Retrospective" featuring
Steven L. Sears
Paul Robert Coyle, Writer
Kym Taburn, Retrospective Producer/Interviewer
Rick Jacobson, Director
Hudson Leick
Rod Field, Editor
Jason Schmid, Sound Designer
- Bloopers
- Credits Each video commentary contains a subset (about 40% typically) of the audio commentary, with shots of the commentator(s) watching the episode. The typical "interview" segment is around seven minutes long, isn't actually an interview because there are no questions posed, and includes an intro from the episode plus bits of the video commentary where present. The "Retrospective" is an actual interview. X:WP Season Three contains performances by the following recurring characters from the Hercules/Xena world:
- Ted Raimi as Joxer, bumbling would-be warrior; also as brother Jett
- Hudson Leick as Callisto, nemesis extraordinaire
- Kevin Smith as Ares, God of War
- Bruce Campbell as Autolycus, King of Thieves
- Alexandra Tydings as Aphrodite, Goddess of Love
- Karl Urban as Julius Caesar
- Danielle Cormack as Ephiny, Amazon warrior
- Marton Csokas as Borias, warlord; also as Khrafstar, acolyte of Dahak Notable one-shot guest stars from Season Three included:
- Shiri Appleby as Tara, wannabe sidekick
- Jacqueline Kim as Lao Ma, creator of Taoism
- Jennifer Ward-Lealand as Boadicea
- The first pairing of Angela Dotchin and Bruce Campbell (in "Tsunami"), before they co-starred in "Jack of All Trades" A great Xena collection, with truly outstanding extras. Get your copy now!
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