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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Vol. 1: (A Scandal in Bohemia/ The Dancing Men/ The Naval Treaty/ The Solitary Cyclist)

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Vol. 1: (A Scandal in Bohemia/ The Dancing Men/ The Naval Treaty/ The Solitary Cyclist)

List Price: $19.98
Your Price: $17.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A disappointment...
Review: Grainy transfer from 16 mm, bad sound on two of the four episodes, and an absolutely unviewable trailer really do ruin this DVD. I wanted this to be great, but with such obviously bad source material, and no attempt to clean it up, you can't expect much.

This is no way to treat such a beloved series. I am VERY disappointed.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Excellent
Review: I was impressed with how crystalline the picture on this DVD was. It was much clearer than the videos ever were. The sound leaves a little to be desired; as some others have noted, "The Naval Treaty" becomes a tad garbled at the end. The adaptations and acting are great in these films. I particularly enjoyed the "Sherlock Holmes Series Promo" and the "Photo Gallery" (stills of the actors in character set to violin music) included as bonus material.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: We want all the episodes!
Review: If you liked the PBS series you should buy this disc. The full-frame picture was a little better than my copies on VHS and you can't beat DVD convenience and form factor.

I took one star off my rating because "The Naval Treaty" seems to have a SEVERE sound-sync problem. I need to confirm that the problem is with the disc and not the player but the Naval Treaty episode is unwatchable on my Sony player - the sound is off by at least a second and very disconcerting. The other two episodes play fine. Jeremy Brett is the absolutely the best Sherlock although my wife and I prefer the later Watson.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Picture Great, Sound Not So
Review: While I am delighted to see the Granada Sherlock Holmes series on DVD, I wish that MPI had done something about the quality of the sound on the last act of NAVAL TREATY and on the music track of DANCING MEN. Another reviewer claims that there are problems with the picture; I found the image quality superb, but the sound very disappointing.

Here's hoping that additional releases in the series will have more attention paid to the soundtracks; Patrick Gowers' music is as outstanding as anything else in the production and deserves to be preserved as well.

And I'm delighted to say that there WILL be an additional release in the series. Here's hoping for more...

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Terrible Mastering Ruins Greatest Holmes Adaptations Ever
Review: The Granada TV adaptations -- featuring a spectacular acting job by Jeremy Brett as Holmes -- are the most faithful to Conan Doyle's works ever. Holmes is not the most likable man, with an outsized (but well deserved) ego, eccentric and unusual, arrogant, quick-tempered, but an intriguing genius. However, little attention has been paid to the transfer of the original source material to DVD. The Dancing Men, one of the best episodes of the series, and one of the best stories, suffers from warbling pitch variation in spoken dialogue and music. The image moves slightly up and down and from side to side at times, as though it had been transferred by playing the filmstock through a moviola to digitize it. The image quality is somewhat poor, sometimes very grainy, and sometimes marred by small reappearing spots and blots (as though they used a worn copy the filmstock for the transfer). The images are also somewhat fuzzy, like VHS, and I can honestly say that my VHS copies (taped from broadcast TV) are better. A very disappointing transfer of this wonderful material.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: GOOD, BUT STILL AWAITING CLASSIC HOLMES ON DVD
Review: Granada did an excellent job in bringing Holmes to a mass audience; however, these television productions simply cannot compare with the best of the Rathbone / Bruce features. It is rather a shame that the only DVD's available to date from that series have technical issues. It can only be hoped for that some company (like Key Video in the 80's) will step forward and do justice by the greatest Holmes of all. In the meantime, though, these television episodes will have to suffice.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: SHERLOCK HOLMES AT ITS' BEST!
Review: This is the best thing to happen to the Sherlock Holmes World since the Granada series was made and put on VHS. On the DVD besides the best quality ever, the added bonus' are a plus to a plus. You get beautiful photos with violin music in the background and biographies of Jeremy and Conan Doyle. If you are just getting in to Sherlock Holmes, Jeremy Brett is the best actor to play Sherlock Holmes. He actually becomes Sherlock Holmes. Hats off to Jeremy! Thanks Granada! Thanks MPI! Finally, we are on trial, and if sales are not good, I hear this could be the last! Buy It!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Exquisite
Review: These shows are excellent! More please! This dvd is an excellent bargain with four episodes on one disk running over three hours in all. The picture quality was merely adequate, however, good but not extraordinarily brilliant. You soon forgive and forget as the adventures unfold. And what adventures they are! Highly recommended for fans of the author, fans of mysteries and fans of Edwardian England. The best Holmes I've seen.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Get ready to meet he REAL Sherlock Holmes
Review: Readers of Conan Doyles Sherlock Holmes stories know a rather different Holmes then those who only know the charactor through his recurrent TV and film career. The original charactor was half philinthrope, half misanthrope. A virtually passion free (except momentarily when flattered) pure reasoning machine, whose humanity -- like his energy -- appears in flashes.

Compare that to the typical dramatized "Holmes," who is more policeman then detective, and who, inexplicably -- considering his lack of tolerance for human foolishness -- chooses as his one true friend, a bumbling dolt.

Granada Television's production, on the other hand, presents the real thing. And Jeremy Brett, -- at least in the first two thirds of the series (as is represented in the four episodes on this disc plusmany more) catches the Holmes character to perfection. The scripts are true to the original, too. Not only in story, but in spirit. The productions are nearly perfect.

If you have never actually read The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes then go over to Amazon's book section right after you have ordered this disc. In fact, read the stories FIRST, and then watch what you saw with your mind's eye become real on the screen. If this is to be your introduction to the 'real' Holmes, I'm jealous. Reading it and seeing it will be like enjoying some of life's other greater pleasures for the first time. Truly.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: buy another copy
Review: All right! Sales rank currently 102. Buy another copy to give as a gift. Let's push this DVD up into the double digit sales rank, or even into the top ten.

Rick Norwood


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