Buy This DVD Set Now By Clicking On The Icon Below!
Buy This DVD Set Now By Clicking On The
Icon Below!
Title:
Night Stalker: The Complete Series
Region:
One
Genre:
Supernatural Drama Thriller
Disc
One Episodes: “Pilot”, “The Five People You Meet In Hell”, “Three”,
“Burning Man”, “Malum”
Disc Two Episodes: “The Source – Part 1 Of 2”, “The Sea – Part 2 Of 2”, “Into Night”, “Timeless”, “What’s The Frequency Kolchak?”
Stars:
Stewart Townsend and Gabrielle Union
Consulting
Producer: Dan Curtis
Executive
Producer: Frank Spotnitz
Extras:
Four Episodes Never Seen On TV, A Conversation With Frank Spotnitz, Deleted
Scenes, Audio Commentary For Select Episodes
DVD
ROM Extra: Script Printer For Additional Unproduced Episodes
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Subtitles For The Deaf And Hearing Impaired
Packaging:
Single Size Two-Disc Keep Case
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Year
of Television Broadcast 2005/DVD Release: 2006
Home
Video Distributor: Buena Vista Home Entertainment
TV
Rating: TV 14 V
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
In
the fall of 2005, there was a large batch of new broadcast network genre
programs that included “Invasion”, “Surface”, “Supernatural” and a
reenvisioned “Night Stalker” inspired by the classic cult 1970s TV movies
and subsequent TV series, which starred Darren McGavin as Kolchak, an
investigative journalist with an uncanny knack for encountering and reporting
about the supernatural. The series was produced by Dan Curtis (Dark Shadows)
based on two television films, “The Night Stalker” (1972) and “The Night
Strangler” (1973). Under the title “Kolchak: The Night Stalker” a series
aired with twenty episodes during the 1974-1975 television season and paved the
way for the hit Fox network television series “The X-Files.” This new
interpretation of “Night Stalker” in some ways mirrors the shows Series
Writer and Executive Producer Frank Spotnitz has worked on in the past as a
Writer and Producer for “The X-Files”, “Millennium”, “The X-Files:
Fight The Future”, “Harsh Realm”, and “The Lone Gunman.” It is sort of
a case of one show inspiring another show and that inspiration being carried
over once again into a direct homage to the original cult classic including a
cameo by the original Kolchak through the miracle of computer effects that
enable has already enabled actors to appear in scenes with other people as if
they were both present at the same time as can be seen in films like “Forrest
Gump”, “Contact”, and “Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow.” Here
Kolchak is still an obsessive investigator covering strange stories regarding
the occult and so forth, but now he has a darker agenda other than getting the
scoop. His wife was murdered out in the desert while he was driving her one
stormy night and though he was not arrested and charged with her murder, he
remains a suspect to some and his investigations are more tied into finding out
what happened that strange night. Like “The X-Files” he has a skeptic in the
form of a female crime reporter (Perri Reed) that accompanies him on his search
to find links to the truth of what happened. Kolchak also bares a strange mark
upon his wrist that is the signature marking left behind for some of the victims
of the cases he covers. The meaning behind this mystery is something that makes
Kolchak enigmatic as both a journalist and the show’s lead character in
general. It makes him character interesting and contributes to the drama around
him.
Although
only six episodes aired on ABC before the series was cancelled, “Night
Stalker: The Complete Series” includes all ten produced episodes as well as
two printable drafts of unproduced teleplays that can be accessed by users with
a DVD ROM drive. Shot on location in and around Los Angeles using state of the
art high definition cameras, “Night Stalker: The Complete Series” looks
fantastic on DVD and definitely better than it ever did when it was broadcast on
ABC with 16 by 9 enhanced (1.78:1) aspect ratio. As Executive Producer and
Writer Frank Spotnitz states in the shared optional audio commentary with
Director Daniel Sackheim and Producer Michelle MacLaren for the Pilot episode,
watching the series on DVD is the way he would have liked the series to have
been presented to viewers when it aired since the clarity of the format delivers
the visuals beautifully without missing any fine details. Spotnitz also
participates in an audio commentary for the unaired conclusion for a two-part
episode entitled “The Sea – Part 2 Of 2” with the episode’s Producer
Daniel Sackheim and Producer John Peter Kousakis. Between the two episodes we
learn a lot about how the network wanted to have the supernatural elements
played down as much as possible as well as some of the series’ mythology that
would have developed and become clearer to the viewer had the show been allowed
to continue. I could go into greater detail with regard to the questions he
wanted the show to address, but I am cautious not to give out spoilers and in a
companion interview I recently had with Spotnitz regarding the series, some of
these questions are discussed so in addition to not wanting to spoil the
surprises to be learned from listening to the commentary on DVD, I also don’t
want to spoil the interview.
All
ten episodes are presented with English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound as well
as optional English Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. The 5.1 Surround
Soundtrack adds greatly to the show’s eerie atmospheric feel. The two
teleplays that can be printed out via DVD ROM are entitled “Ascendant” by
Joy Beth Blake and “The M Word” by Darin Morgan. Unfortunately due to the
space limitations of keeping the series on two dual layered DVDs, much of what
was shot, including additional bonus and extended scenes and bloopers are not
included in this two-disc set. What we have left is a bit of the edited CGI
footage featuring the hellhounds from the series pilot (1:03) and two scenes
that feature a character Kolchak often comes to for information related to the
cases he is investigating that run approximately two minutes and thirty five
seconds and one minute and forty nine seconds respectively. These deleted scenes
are presented an a 16 by 9 enhanced (1.78:1) aspect ratio with a picture quality
near the same level as the completed episodes with English Stereo Sound. A short
conversation with Frank Spotnitz and some behind the scenes footage (6:46) wraps
up the extra value materials in this two-disc set. The interactive menus are
well rendered and keep with the dark and spooky tone of the series and are easy
to navigate. An insert within the single size keep case detailing the contents
of the two discs features an advertisement on the back for Buena Vista Home
Entertainment’s “LOST: The Complete Second Season: Extended Edition” on
DVD, which will be released this fall.
“Night
Stalker: The Complete Series” will debut on DVD-Video on Tuesday, May 30, 2006
at retailers on and offline courtesy of Buena Vista Home Entertainment and it is
definitely worth checking out and or revisiting the series in a manner closer to
the way it was meant to be broadcast in the first place.
©
Copyright 2006 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
Click Here To Read The GENRE ONLINE.NET Interview With Writer And Producer Frank Spotnitz.
Buy This DVD Set Now By Clicking On The
Icon Below!