Prime Suspect 3

Rating:
Summary: Better acting than television usually offers
Review: Happy day! All of the Prime Suspect movies have made it to DVD.

I saw these in the early 90s on A&E and was astounded by how good Helen Mirren was, working inside an organization that did not always want her to succeed (apparently she is too good a detective to ignore, but as a woman - and her own woman - her flaws get her in trouble with her superiors).

All the flaws of society and of the police in her part of the UK visit her. Like the rest of us, she tries the best she can to do her job, in this case, to lead a team of detectives and ordinary police to solve the violent crimes she faces in post-Thatcher England.

Riveting stuff. Incredibly well written, but occasional strong language may put some off. (Older DVDs released by PBS had the expletives dubbed over, badly done. I've reordered these in DVD and am hoping it's the original UK version, bad language and all. Hardly gratuitous, though)

For TV, only the Sopranos comes close to the level of these five mini-series (ok, maybe some other Masterpiece Theatre productions are this good, but this one's contemporary).

Some of Mirren's best work is here. See them if you can!

Thank you for doing the right thing, media moguls, and getting these to DVD!

Rating:
Summary: The only one to buy after the first.
Review: I enjoyed this series very much when first televised on PBS. I found revisiting a very unpleasant experience. First, the quality of the PBS tapes was very marginal, very dark with significant volume control problems (volume running from a silent feature to deafening when left to run).

The subject matter (case) will prove highly objectionable to anyone other than sophisticated adults. The cast is excellent, Helen Mirren always gives excellent performances.

It is now gathering dust on my shelf.

Rating:
Summary: Not That Good The Second Time Around
Review: I enjoyed this series very much when first televised on PBS. I found revisiting a very unpleasant experience. First, the quality of the PBS tapes was very marginal, very dark with significant volume control problems (volume running from a silent feature to deafening when left to run).

The subject matter (case) will prove highly objectionable to anyone other than sophisticated adults. The cast is excellent, Helen Mirren always gives excellent performances.

It is now gathering dust on my shelf.

Rating:
Summary: Better acting than television usually offers
Review: One of these days all of the Prime Suspect movies will make it to DVD. In the meantime we have to rely on old-style VHS and cleaned-up versions of the original series on DVD (PBS couldn't handle the profanity of the characters at the time)

I saw these in the early 90s on A&E and was astounded by how good Helen Mirren was, working inside an organization that did not always want her to succeed (apparently she is too good a detective to ignore, but as a woman - and her own woman - her flaws get her in trouble with her superiors).

All the flaws of society and of the police in her part of the UK visit her. Like the rest of us, she tries the best she can to do her job, in this case, to lead a team of detectives and ordinary police to solve the violent crimes she faces in post-Thatcher England.

Riveting stuff. Incredibly well written, but occasional strong language may put some off. (Hardly gratuitous, though)

For TV, only the Sopranos comes close to the level of these five mini-series (ok, maybe some other Masterpiece Theatre productions are this good, but this one's contemporary).

Some of Mirren's best work is here. See them if you can!

Do the right thing, media moguls, and get these to DVD!

Rating:
Summary: Prime Suspect 3 is Fantastic!
Review: Prime Suspect 3 is a movie that will keep you on the edge of your seat! Helen Mirren is so realistic in this movie. Anyone that enjoys the Cracker series starring Robbie Coltrane will definitely want to see this movie as well! Mystery, murder and intrigue are all in this movie!

Rating:
Summary: The only one to buy after the first.
Review: The only Prime Suspect installment (other than the original) to be authored by Lynda La Plante, Prime Suspect 3 once again displays the hallmarks of La Plante's journalistic research base for creating fictional characters. In this case, "rent boys" are the fuel: young male prostitutes/street kids, and in particular one heartbreaking interview where a rent boy had told La Plante that he couldn't have AIDS, because he was only 15.

Tennison finds herself investigating the burned body of a murdered rent boy found in a drag queen's flat, and begins to discover criminal ties from a community center that lead up into the highest ranks of the police, and she doesn't know whom to trust. Also, her old nemesis from PS1, Bill Otley, is part of her new team. With the amazing Helen Mirren, and an extraordinary support cast including Tom Bell, Ciaran Hinds, David Thewlis, and Peter Capaldi, this is, after the original, the strongest installment in the series.

Rating:
Summary: only got part 1 of prime suspect 3 no part 2
Review: the tape would have been great if i had gotten all
of it
nothing worse than only 1/2 of a story