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C.S.I. Crime Scene Investigation - The Complete First Season

C.S.I. Crime Scene Investigation - The Complete First Season

List Price: $89.99
Your Price: $67.49
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Non-committal TV
Review: CSI fell into the trend of seasons full of stand-alone episodes. Now, people who don't feel committed to television love this, as they can watch an episode without having to worry about a "To Be Continued..." and they have the case solved for them within the episode. One doesn't have to think much when watching the show.

This is essentially why I no longer watch the show. Because each is a stand-alone episode, there is very little character developement. Sure, it is a stylish show, and watching one episode every six months is good fun. But the lack of character developement and the feeling that all the cases are inconsequential to the characters makes watching every episode less than fun. The stories tend to be the same when watched in close proximity to one another.

If you want a high-octane, stylish show that is ultimately much more satisfying, go with either 24 or Alias. Those shows make think and use your brain. If you want have everything explained for you and leave the TV set without thinking about what you just watched, then C.S.I. and it countless rip-offs is for you. Interesting to note that most people are like that, since the show is still #1 in the nation.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great show = Great DVD Package
Review: If you are a fan of the show, this DVD package is a must have! I have been a fan of the show from the beginning when it was initially run on Saturday night, and I had forgotten about quite a few of these episodes. Right from the beginning the stories and the characters draw you in, and it's kind of funny to look back on these early episodes and see Grissom's character change from a joking, almost comical lead to the stern, professor like Grissom in today's shows. You can also tell that they were working on a smaller budget as the special effects, the "gushy" parts, aren't as good as the ones on the show today. One of the best parts about this first season is that it sometimes takes several episodes for the CSI team to solve a crime, so the stories weave in and out of different epidsodes. I would highly recommend you pick up these season packages as the come available!!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Forensics for the common man....
Review: Forensics in crime shows has become the hot thing over the last few years, and CSI is the single show most responsible for that trend. Let's face it: imitation really is the sincerest form of flattery, even on television.

For the uninitiated, what is CSI? Well, it's a niche cop show that focuses on exactly what the title says "crime scene investigation". It's not the "exactly like it is" docudrama that you'll find in Law & Order. It's not the over-the-top, thrill-a-minute of 24. Rather, it's somewhere in between in terms of thematics. The stories feature realistic science (VERY realistic, trust me), but they spice it up by making every case a "hightlight of the career" kind of bust. In real life, cases like these are seen maybe every decade or so, not each week. But this is TV, after all, where TV lawyers routinely handle cases on a weekly basis that real lawyers are lucky to see once in a career, too. That kind of sensationalism just goes with the territory, and most other shows fall for the same trap (Law & Order being the only real exception).

So that's what CSI is. It's a TV version of what crime scene investigators do in real life, sexed up in the same way that doctors, lawyers and any other occupation might be for a TV treatment. You will be mightily entertained by this show unless you make the mistake of going in looking for a Discovery Channel documentary on the subject. Anyway, this is a lot more fun than the documentary....

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Big-Screen quality Television
Review: This show deserves to be called "must-see TV." This DVD provides an excellent way to revisit or view it for the first time. Intellegent and relevant story lines, realistic effects, and great casting all make for brilliant entertainment. I found the DVD's to have excellent quality in both sound and picture, and they contain plenty of material to justify the price. If you are a fan of the show, and/or someone who's tastes run to mystery/forensic type drama, this is a good choice. Enjoy.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I was surprised....
Review: It took me long time to purchase this DVD since that I didn't watch the Season on any TV Channel :-(

But I was and till amized by this wounderful CSI and juss what I've ordered CSI2 in less then a week...

If you like Crime and Detective feeling...Then you know what to purhcase :-)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: FANTASTIC Series
Review: I live overseas, and I bought this DVD series for my husband for Christmas, never having heard of it, but it sounded good on the internet. My husband normally likes action and police thrillers. I was the one who ended up LOVING this series, while he thought it was just OK. The reason is that there is not much "action," but instead the drama of forensic science. I am an amateur scientist, so this series turned out to be really fantastic for me.

The shows may be a bit unrealistic in that each episode is always resolved, but I find it gives a tremendous sense of SATISFACTION that the criminals are always caught, and by SCIENTIFIC METHODS. I can hardly wait to order the next DVD set in the series, but this time, for MYSELF!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Still don't get what all the hype is about.......
Review: I bought this DVD set in anticipation of watching what is considered one of the greatest shows on TV. The first episode was fantastic. After the third episode, it was like watching the same thing over and over again. All the stories have exactly the same plot skeleton. What I mean is the following rules have proven to be applicable in all 7 episodes I have now watched....

1 - There are always 2 crimes in every episode, neither of which have much to do with each other.

2 - The initial suspect is always innocent.

3 - The acting is decent at best.

4 - The script is poor. Some of the analogies and lines make me want to turn the whole thing off.

5 - There is always a ridiculously far fetched evidence seeking scene, when cheesy music is played and the characters happen to find the tiniest spec of evidence when glancing briefly at a massive area.

In 1 hour, there is a little time left to actually appreciate the efforts put into each show. It's entertaining at best, but don't expect it to live up to its expectations.......

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Intelligent, Well-Acted Television, Commercial Free!
Review: I don't watch much TV. Not only do a one-year old, a demanding job, and performing with two choral ensembles take up much of my time, but TV has not exactly been cranking out stellar material lately. Even shows I used to watch regularly, like NYPD Blue and ER, have largely gone to seed. In fact, if it weren't for televised sporting events, I would barely watch TV at all these days because of all of the "reality" shows that I utterly despise. But you're reading this to find out my opinion of CSI, not of television in general, so before I digress further, let's talk CSI.

CSI was a phenomenon that I somehow didn't catch on to until midway through the second season. My father-in-law turned on the show while we were visiting over Christmas 2002 and asked if we had ever watched it before. Neither my wife nor I had. The episode we caught happened to be a rerun from the first season, but we were nonetheless thoroughly impressed. Unfortunately, it airs on Thursday night, a rehearsal night for both of our choral groups, so we rarely get to see it and always forget to record it. Therefore, we have thoroughly enjoyed watching the first season on DVD.

Not only are the stories well-acted, thoughtful, unpredictable, and compelling (especially the episodes on Disc 6!) but you get them in digital quality and commercial-free. For someone who has not yet made the move to HDTV, this means a significant improvement in sound and video quality over cable quality. Although a few of the digital transfers were a bit fuzzy at times, the stories are so interesting that I was willing to overlook this minor glitch.

Perhaps the best thing about Season One is that you get to know the characters and their strengths and flaws intimately. Another strength of the series is that there are a number of subplots that are explored periodically throughout the first season (e.g., Warrick's gambling problem, Catherine's ex-husband, the funeral director who "recycles" coffins, and the young hit-and-run driver and his grandfather). The writers touch on these topics often enough to keep them interesting, but not so often that they become tiresome.

Although the episodes can become a bit graphic in some instances and may not be appropriate for children, the special effects used to recreate the crime scenes and occasionally the fatal injuries sustained by the victim are feature-film quality, probably thanks to Jerry Bruckheimer's involvement. The violence or gore is never gratuitous, and is always critical to the storyline, but if you are squeamish or uncomfortable with blood or discussion of forensic evidence, then this is probably not the show for you.

Although each episode explores a different set of crimes, the characters and their quirky interactions provide continuity between episodes. As such, the series benefits from more or less consecutive viewing. Without commercials, each episode lasts only 45 minutes or so, thereby meaning that the hour and a half one would normally commit to a feature film nets two excellent episodes of perhaps the best drama on TV today.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: More brains less brawn
Review: Brilliant, just brilliant. Science meets Law and Order. The writers thoroughly research every episode, making sure the characters use the proper equipment at the right time to collect the forensic evidence, and the cast do an excellent job at convincing us they ARE professional investigators. Love the way they show how the investigators think, by using flashbacks. The investigators work through the evidence collected and develop their theories throughout each episode, proving there is truth in the saying "there is more than one way to skin a cat". I can't wait till I get the second and third seasons. Smart is sexy.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: CSI Season One a Must!
Review: I usually get bored with a television series after 3 or 4 years, but CSI has continued to catch my interest. The characters remain interesting and the show never seems at a loss for excitement. It's interesting to see how the show and its characters have evolved over the years. Finally, when there is nothing else on television, I can watch CSI, again and again. The special effects are great, but if you have a weak stomach, you might want to look the other way during some of these scenes.
A definate must buy!


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