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Farscape Season 1, Vol. 4 - PK Tech Girl/That Old Black Magic

Farscape Season 1, Vol. 4 - PK Tech Girl/That Old Black Magic

List Price: $24.98
Your Price: $22.48
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Only Two Episodes?
Review: I love Farscape, and PK Tech Girl is a fantastic episode, so when I heard that they were releasing the episodes on DVD, I was ready to rush out and buy them. Until I realized they were charging [price] for two episodes, with no extras. Having bought the magnificent X-Files boxed sets for less than [price] each, I can't bring myself to justify the expense. I have the same problem with the old Star Trek episodes. Why would I spend that much when I can tape any of these episodes off the television? Give me a season boxed set, or at least some noteworthy outtakes or extras, and I would love to get these DVDs. Until then, I'll just stick with the my episode recordings.

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best Sci-Fi Show EVER!!!!
Review: I am 37 year old and have watched Sci-Fi all my life. Farscape is definitely the most creative, original, dynamic, intriguing, sophisticated, intelligent and exhilarating sci-fi show ever produced. YOU MUST SEE THE WHOLE THING!!!!! If you want to learn more about what Farscape is about visit www.savefarscape.com.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A pair of pivotal PeaceKeeper episodes (but no commentary?)
Review: Well, here I have been watching the Season 1 "Farscape" DVDs and praising the tag-team great commentaries I had been enjoying as the best in fan friendly extras (not to mentioning why Joss Whedon has been so skimpy with such commentaries on the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" DVDs). So I get to Volume 4, which is the best pair of episodes I have seen to date, and guess what: no commentaries. I was all ready to give this volume 5 stars but I have to subtract one in protest because I am so disappointed.

"PK Tech Girl" does offer the old chestnut about the prisoner who falls for the captor, in this case retelling the tale (quite self-consciously it must be admitted) with the titular character, Technician Gilina Renaez (Alyssa-Jane Cook), a PeaceKeeper technician found on an abandoned PK super cruiser, and John Crichton (Ben Browder) in the familiar roles. What makes this episode work a bit better than that is how this affair irks Aeryn (Claudia Black), plus the fact that this is not a one shot deal for Gilina, which makes this more than a brief but close encounter. There is also a nice little subplot with Rygel, who was once tortured aboard this Peace Keeper ship and needs to confront a rather significant ghost.

I had been wondering what had happened to PeaceKeeper Captain Bialar Crais (Lani John Tupu), who has vowed to hunt down Crichton in the pilot episode. Well, in "That Old Black Magic" Crais and Crichton are brought together by a warlock vampire type being who wants them to try and kill each other. Crichton has long wanted an opportunity to explain that the death of Crais' brother was an accident. This episode gives him a chance to reason with the PeaceKeeper, for all the good it is going to do him. Meanwhile, Crichton's crewmates are trying a way to rescue him, even though they do not know exactly what is going on. Again there is an interesting element to the story involving the difficulty Zhaan (Virginia Hey) is having in taking advantage of her long dormant dark side in being part of the rescue effort. Of the first eight episodes, this is the best of the bunch.

The reason that both of these episodes are above average is because they both have implications for several of the story and character arcs in "Farscape." Like all great science fiction shows, the characters and their relationships are the best part of the show. By this point in the first season we are starting to learn some interesting things and the characters and their relationships are starting to click. On to Volume 5, please.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Love the show, hate the DVDs
Review: Well, actually, to clarify, I hate DVDs that have just *two* episodes and nothing more. I didn't mind so much when the episodes had commentary tracks because I didn't feel quite so cheated. Paramount started the disgraceful practice of two-episodes per disk but I'm not particularly interested in helping that notion become an industry standard. The people at ADV could learn a thing or two from MGM (who have their own DVD problems when it comes to movie releases, I'll admit), who just released a reasonably priced five-disk set of the first season of Stargate SG-1, with each episode letterboxed and anamorphic. And there were extras on each disk, including the four or five episodes per.

But hey, ADV, start putting four or five Farscape episodes per disk, and releasing them in season box sets, and I am *so* there with you. Until then, rather than spending my money on the Farscape two-episode DVDs being released slower than snails move, I'll just save my dollars for season two of Stargate SG-1.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: great shows, really miss the commentaries
Review: I am a new viewer of the television series, as of the premier episode of season 3. I was hooked by the second episode, and while I appreciated the special "Farscape Undressed" that tried to bring new viewers up to speed, there is only so much that can be covered in one hour. So, I began to collect the Farscape DVDs, so I could find out for myself how the crew of Moya came to be where and who they are, and doing what they are doing. I enjoyed all the episodes, especially "Back and Back and Back to the Future" (episode 5 on DVD #3) and "PK Tech Girl" (episode 7 on this DVD), but what really made the DVDs great for me was the commentaries by the shows creators, actors, and a director. They let me know how scenes were shot, what decisions were made by the actors, director, camera man and puppeteers. They told me about funny and fun details I would never have known to look for, like the name of a Sydney suburb on the side of the space shuttle, the discussions and decisions about character made as the show progressed, or ad libbed on the spot. They even told us the mistakes that were made in early episodes with characters, make-up, and the scenes that embarrass them now. The commentaries were also interesting to me for showing something about the cast's relationships with each other as they talked to us and between themselves, commenting on an episode. To me, the commentaries were the extra that justified shelling out the money for only two episodes of this wonderful show on each DVD. I didn't realize until I stuck the 4th DVD in my player that this DVD doesn't have any commentaries, as the first 3 DVDs did. I was so disappointed, and I felt cheated. If we can't have the commentaries, we should definately get more episodes on each DVD, for the same price.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: great shows, really miss the commentaries
Review: I am a new viewer of the television series, as of the premier episode of season 3. I was hooked by the second episode, and while I appreciated the special "Farscape Undressed" that tried to bring new viewers up to speed, there is only so much that can be covered in one hour. So, I began to collect the Farscape DVDs, so I could find out for myself how the crew of Moya came to be where and who they are, and doing what they are doing. I enjoyed all the episodes, especially "Back and Back and Back to the Future" (episode 5 on DVD #3) and "PK Tech Girl" (episode 7 on this DVD), but what really made the DVDs great for me was the commentaries by the shows creators, actors, and a director. They let me know how scenes were shot, what decisions were made by the actors, director, camera man and puppeteers. They told me about funny and fun details I would never have known to look for, like the name of a Sydney suburb on the side of the space shuttle, the discussions and decisions about character made as the show progressed, or ad libbed on the spot. They even told us the mistakes that were made in early episodes with characters, make-up, and the scenes that embarrass them now. The commentaries were also interesting to me for showing something about the cast's relationships with each other as they talked to us and between themselves, commenting on an episode. To me, the commentaries were the extra that justified shelling out the money for only two episodes of this wonderful show on each DVD. I didn't realize until I stuck the 4th DVD in my player that this DVD doesn't have any commentaries, as the first 3 DVDs did. I was so disappointed, and I felt cheated. If we can't have the commentaries, we should definately get more episodes on each DVD, for the same price.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Farscape is the greatest show on TV.
Review: Anyone who does not understand why one would buy DVD's of this show is not a fan. The DVD's last forever and you can revisit the show when ever you want through them. I'm not getting these for right now. I'm getting these for ten years from now.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: 4th FARSCAPE DVD is a Good View
Review: Well, it was bound to happen. The fourth DVD based on the FARSCAPE series came out, but it was the first one without any real special features at all. While the DVDs are nice to have simply because of the quality of the graphics and the extra footage not seen in North America, is that really enough? I don't think so.

This one starts out with "PK Tech Girl", one of my favourite Season One episodes. When the crew of Moya find the wreckage of a legendary Peacekeeper ship, the Zelbininon, floating in space, they go aboard to see what they can find starchart-wise. But the Zelbinion is not deserted, as Crais left a tech team to go over the ship, and the only survivor, Gilina, hits it off with Crichton. Meanwhile, Rygel must come to grips with having been tortured on this infamous ship, and the fire-breathing scavengers, the Sheyangs, who arrive on the scene don't make the situation any easier. This is a lovely story with some good stuff in it, marred only by the Sheyang at times, but the extra footage here doesn't really make or break this episode. Still, it puts certain story elements into the forefront, provides some background on Rygel, and give Crichton a lust interest that he's not really been given a chance to have yet. Plus, it acts as the catalyst for several storyline developments down the road (notably in "Durka Returns").

The second episode, "That Old Black Magic", has the crew of Moya visiting a commerce planet searching for a remedy for Rygel's case of flu. An evil sorcerer, Maldis, rules the planet through fear and intimdiation, and when he captures both Crichton and Crais and pits them against one another, Zhaan is forced to bring her dark side to the surface to save her shipmate. This episode is a terrific story with some great acting by Lani Tupu as Crais and Chris Heywood as Maldis, and brings the Crichton/Crais relationship back into focus. The extra footage here is worth the price, simply because it adds significantly to the background of Crais and a whole new dimension to some of the morality and ethics of the story.

With no commentary versions or any other special features, other than the terrific D'Argo/Anthony Simcoe profile, this DVD is very light on extra features for the price. I don't know what the reasoning for this was, other than that it was a Henson Company decision, but having the episodes on DVD is the real bonus here. I gave the episode four stars, rather than three, simply because the Anthony Simcoe interview was illuminating and because the extra footage in "That Old Black Magic" made the DVD worth the price alone.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Farscape: The series
Review: Have watched Farscape from the beginning and many reruns. For a Sci-Fi addict, it is one of the better series to appear in recent history. I am only sad that it has ended.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Love that Farscape
Review: I did not get interested in Farscape until the last 5 episodes of the second season. I don't know why I didn't watch it before. I have been hooked ever since and have started collecting the DVD's as they come out. I would prefer more than two episodes per DVD but only if they were the same quality. "That Old Black Magic" is my favorite episode so far. My favorite character is Bialar Crais and TOBM really delves into what makes him tick. "PK Tech Girl" was also a good episode. It is interesting to see how John reacts to all the new things he is encountering in their travels. Buy 'em and watch 'em they are the best!!!!!!!!!


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