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Television
Dark Angel - The Complete First Season

Dark Angel - The Complete First Season

List Price: $39.98
Your Price: $29.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Flawed brilliance.
Review: One of Dark Angel's great gifts is that unlike Alias or La Femme Nikita, this show did not overuse and exploit the sexuality of its female lead. The other two shows craft their own action heroine, but often condescend towards her from a strictly male perspective. Dark Angel's Max is a far more interesting and truly strong character with strengths and flaws, and as a result makes a better female lead.

Jessica Alba isn't that experienced an actress and her performance in the first third of this season is good but flawed. She always excelled at the comedic moments, but she didn't nail the latent ferocity of the character until later in the season. By the time William Gregory Lee (Zack) enters the picture, happily, Alba is in control, and the show finds its narrative focus as well. John Savage is excellent as the ruthless but strangely vulnerable Lydecker, and the enormously charismatic Michael Weatherly is the perfect foil to Alba. The supporting regulars are perfect: Valarie Rae Miller, as Original CIndy, deserves applause for playing one of the first truly well-rounded lesbian characters I've seen on TV. This character is not defined or trapped by her lesbianism, but merely enriched. Alimi Ballard is a hoot and a half as ganja-smoking Herbal Thought; Richard Gunn is lovably bumbling as Sketchy; Jennifer Blanc plays sultry roommate Kendra; and J.C. Mackenzie's turn as obsessive Republican fanatic Normal is a comic delight.

I'm not too fond of Dark Angel's overt passes at post-modern techniques -- those video speed ramps got on my nerves after one episode, and the opening titles look strangely cheesy. However, the production values throughout are high, and the action scenes are terrific, making the martial-arts scenes in Buffy the Vampire Slayer look downright primitive. And the world of post-apocalyptic Seattle they created is intoxicating, a never-ending wasteland of hip-hop culture, old-New-York-style graffiti and technoscapes.

Some of these episodes are slow and ponderous -- the weakest being the dull, snail-paced serial-killer yarn "Pollo Loco" and "Shortie's in Love", which was hurt by an overtly preachy pro-lesbian tone and a weak, one-note performance by Tangelia Rouse, who is simply no match for Valarie Rae Miller and only serves to bog her down.

All in all, this was a very good show. Given its enormous production scope, I was hardly surprised that the show didn't survive. But even given its short lifespan, Dark Angel has already left an impressive legacy and will no doubt become one of the premier cult shows of the decade.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good, but FULL SCREEN???
Review: Season one was great, but why aren't the DVDs in widescreen??? Region 2's version has widescreen!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Still as Awesome as Ever!!!
Review: I loved the DA series! I mean LOVED it (and I still do!!)! I recorded every episode on VHS so I could watch them over and over.... I was SO disappointed when the show was cancelled. I was really looking forward to that third season. But when I saw the DVD at the store...I swear I almost made a scene and got tears in my eyes I was so excited!!! Dark Angel takes place in a future Seattle, WA, after an electromagnetic pulse has wiped out computer records and thrown everything into a major depression. Jessica Alba plays Max, a genetically engineered soldier who escaped from her home/prison of Manticore, and has since been searching for her siblings that also escaped. She meets Logan Cale (played by Michael Weatherly), a trust-fund baby who is actually the mysterious do-gooder cyber-journalist Eyes Only. Max helps Logan by getting additional information for his broadcasts or making sure the "bad guys" get their come-upances while still managing to avoid the military personnel who have been searching for her ever since her escape from Manticore. In exchange, Logan puts his resources to work to help Max find her lost siblings and to uncover answers to additional mysterious information about her past. One of the best shows ever! Can't wait for season 2 to be released on DVD!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best DVD set I have ever watched
Review: Since getting this set less than a month ago I've gotten tottaly hooked on DA. I've watched it at least 3 times over entirely since getting it. I can't wait till S2 comes out stateside, I'm sure I'll just eat that up to.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: The plot is lacking
Review: Now don't get me wrong Jessica Alba is really hot in this roll, and the action is pretty good. But man the plot has holes miles wide both from the science angle (no way would a single nuclear pulse destroy our goverment) and from the way everybody lock steps and does whatever the Dark Angel wants. In the pilot episode no self respecting mafia thug would have let her push him around the way she did, the first thing he'd have done is lock her up with some big mean men for a few days to teach her some mannors. Now I'm not saying she couldn't have taken them, but Buffy the Vampire Slayer is an order of magnitude better.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Better than the first time
Review: Although I enjoyed the series during its brief two-season run, watching the DVD release, without the commercials and the reruns, is truly amazing. There is more of a continuity than I had noticed the first time. I haven't yet finished watching the episodes in this set, and I haven't sampled any extras, but I thought I would dash out this quick note anyway. If, like I was, you are hesitating because you just aren't sure whether to buy this ... hesitate no more. I'm so glad I made the purchase, and I want others to buy it so they'll also release Season Two.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The great shows never last for long...
Review: I never watched 'Dark Angel' when it was on tv, and it was only with mild interest that I picked it up on a whim a couple of weeks ago. Now, I can honestly say that I am hooked. Its different-but that turns out to be a good thing. Jessica Alba does wonderful in her role as Max. She knows how to look tough, how to look vulnerable and isn't it just great when a female kicks butt looking good the whole time? The chemistry between Max and Logan heats up the screen- I don't know why they cancelled this show.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: [Booty]-kicking-girl-power-with-attitude at its best!
Review: It's such a crime that on English terrestrial TV, Dark Angel was only ever on Channel 5, because most of my friends didn't discover the series till like halfway through the first series, and so didn't get the storyline, so they gave up, and missed a beauty of a series. It brightened up my Saturday evenings and it is a disappointment of epic proportions that there is not to be another series. Women everywhere can so take an [booty]-kicking lesson from Jessica Alba, because she pulverises the guys, defeats the baddies with no trouble, looks out for her brothers and sisters, and still manages to look gorgeous! And yet there's still time for some of the most bittersweet romances of the century and some really tear-jerking moral stuff, as well as an insight into an amazingly well-developed America-of-tomorrow. I'd also recommend the books, because the ending of Series two could basically go either way, so they clear some stuff up. I think this is one of the best shows I have ever seen, and I'm glad that its out on DVD so I can watch it as many times as I like!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: best eva
Review: I own the NewZealand DVD box set series one and two love it alot go out and get it the best

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Show!!!
Review: This show was one of the best shows on TV! It really is a shame that it was cancelled. Obviously Fox ain't what it used to be. They USED to have good taste! Anyway, I can't wait for the second season to come out. It was just as good as the first one. The only thing is it leaves you hanging at the end and now we'll be hanging forever!


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