Dallas: The Complete Third Season
by Linda Day
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Barbara Bel Geddes, Jim Davis, Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy, Victoria PrincipalDirector: Linda Day
Brand: WEA
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: Academy Ratio, 1.33:1
Running Time: 1176 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-08-09
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Model: 71408
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product features:
- The series that invented the season cliffhanger and left the world guessing "Who Shot JR?", is now available in this special 5-disc collector's set. Relive the drama, intrigue and deception of TV's most watched event of the 80's, complete with all 25 season three episodes and never-before-seen special features.Dallas recounts the tale of Texas sons and daughters whose lives revolve around oil, fam
Movie Reviews of Dallas: The Complete Third Season
Movie Review: Who Could Forget March 21, 1980 -- The Day J.R. "Got His"?!
Summary: 5 Stars
The fine folks at Warner Home Video released "Dallas: The Complete Third Season", a 5-Disc collection of DVDs, on August 9th, 2005. This set contains all 25 "Dallas" episodes from the 1979-1980 season (which marked the second full season for the series, following the 5-episode "Mini-Series" that aired in April of 1978).
Disc 5 of this very pleasant DVD boxed set contains THE biggest cliffhanger in television history, which is episode #25 of this third season ("A House Divided"). J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) crumples to the floor in his office building after being struck with multiple bullets that were fired by an unknown assailant. But....who pulled that trigger? Who shot J.R.? That was the big question during the summer of 1980 after J.R. got plugged. We'd have to wait until November 21, 1980, to find out the answer to that inquiry which took the nation by storm that summer and fall. The wait for the cliffhanger's resolution was even longer than normal, extending the suspense still more, when an actors' strike in Hollywood delayed the beginning of the 1980-'81 TV season.
A/V TALK --- Video and audio quality for this collection of Dallas episodes would rank in the "above average" range, IMHO. These shows look and sound darn good to me, in fact. Colors look quite natural, while the audio comes through clean and clear.
There's a bit of grain and fuzziness during some parts of some episodes (especially during the opening and closing credits), but overall I'm very happy with the way these shows look here. .... The screen ratio is the original TV ratio of 1.33:1 (Full Frame); while the audio has been encoded with care in Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono (English only).
These 25 episodes appear to me to be the full-length versions, except for the end-of-episode "Coming Up Next Week" trailer clips, which have been omitted here, just like they were on the 'Seasons 1 & 2' set. But the "previews" shown before each show are intact here. Running time per episode = approx. 48 to 49 minutes.
Chapter breaks are included for all episodes. There are 6 Chapter Stops per show, divided up just perfectly in all the appropriate locations. A break just after the Main Titles is included, so you can skip directly to Act One of each program.
THE PACKAGING --- I just love the image we find on the front cover of this set. It's a copy-and-paste job, sure -- but it looks great IMO -- with J.R. beaming with sinister glee (like he always does before pulling the rug out from under some poor, unsuspecting sucker in a fixed business deal). And then we've got a dandy pic of Sue Ellen, whose expression here conveys perfectly what her character was all about. Her smile here exhibits just the right blend of sleaziness and contempt, which were two of the oft-seen parts within the mixed bag of emotions that Linda Gray brought to the role of Sue Ellen throughout the long run of "Dallas". And she did it with such style and grace too. Gotta love that "S'Ellen"! Fantastic cover design!
This "Dallas Season 3" set comes in a slimmer package than the first (Seasons 1 & 2) set. Same number of discs in each of those sets (5), but the S.3 package contains fewer flaps and panels within the nicely-done Digipak case. This due to the fact that four of the five discs are arranged in "overlapping" disc trays. A lot of collectors hate this overlapping design with a passion; but I think it looks pretty good actually, and reduces the amount of space required to completely unfold this type of packaging.
These hubs/trays are fairly nice -- not holding the discs too tightly. So the discs can be freed without too much risk of physical pain and/or disc-bending resulting.
When all Dallas #3 discs are removed, a nice picture of the Dallas skyline is revealed on the case underneath (similar to the previous 'Dallas 1 & 2' set).
Four of the five discs are double-sided, with episodes on both sides of Discs #1 through 4, while Disc 5 contains just the last episode of the season ("A House Divided") plus a bonus "Dallas" documentary.
Normally, dual-sided discs are kind of hard to read, because there's no labels on them (only tiny writing on the inner ring of the discs to identify the side numbers). But with this DVD set, Warner Bros. has done a clever thing IMO (some people might disagree, but I think it's a much better way of labelling double-sided DVDs) -- they've placed writing on just Side A of each dual-sided disc, with the "B" side left totally void of printing/labelling.
In my opinion, this one-sided labelling is much nicer and user-friendly, because it's obvious which side is Side A or B by just glancing to see if there's any writing on the disc. There's no need to read the writing at all -- if you see any writing, it's Side A. No writing = Side B. Good idea. No eye strain to read the itty-bitty "A" and "B".
I'd much prefer single-sided DVDs for all releases. But if we have to have double-sided ones, the ONE-sided labelling procedure is a good method of identifying the side numbers, in my view.
Since Disc #5 of this set is only single-sided, it would have been nice (IMHO) to have included some disc artwork for that platter, but none is included (I guess in an effort to make all five discs look the same). And since that disc contains just one episode, which is the big hullabaloo-creating cliffhanger, it would have been a nifty touch by Warner Bros. if perhaps they had put on that disc a picture of J.R. lying wounded on the floor after receiving his "just deserts". But, oh well, ya can't have every little trivial thing I guess. :-)
EXTRAS --- As far as bonus DVD materials, there's a 20-minute "Who Shot J.R.?" documentary on Disc 5 of this third-season set, which was quite good (although I wish it was a bit lengthier; precise run time is 19:53). Copyright date for this bonus is 2005.
Cast members Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy, Charlene Tilton, Linda Gray, plus series creator David Jacobs give new filmed interviews and talk about the unbelievable "Who Shot J.R.?" phenomenon that swept America (and the world) in 1980. Various "Dallas" episode clips are seen throughout this piece.
The featurette opens with a clever "Main Title" sequence, which inserts present-day pictures of those participating in this program into actual "Dallas" opening-credits footage.
I would have enjoyed seeing some of the behind-the-camera stuff that was filmed (which I assume still exists in some Hollywood vault someplace) showing various outtakes and goings-on on the Dallas set during the making of the classic cliffhanger episode ("A House Divided"). I recall seeing that behind-the-scenes footage on some "magazine"-type program in 1980 prior to the opening of the '80-'81 TV season. Unfortunately, though, none of that footage is included in this DVD documentary.
"Who Shot J.R.?" Documentary DVD Specs ---- Video is 1.33:1 Full Frame. .... Audio is in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo. .... No subtitles. .... No Chapter Breaks.
Plus, there are Audio Commentaries provided by stars Linda Gray and Patrick Duffy for two episodes ("Sue Ellen's Choice" and "A House Divided"). Some fun and interesting tidbits of info can be gleaned by listening to the two Commentary Tracks. I also like the way these audio tracks were recorded -- in 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo, with Linda's voice dominating one speaker, while Patrick's comments predominantly fill up the other front speaker. Nice stereo effect.
BOOKLET --- Unlike Dallas 1 & 2, the third-season package includes a multi-page (fold-out style) booklet with episode information for the twenty-five programs included in the set. This booklet includes some nice photos too, including a really outstanding publicity still of Sue Ellen and sister Kristin in front of the Southfork main house. The cover of the booklet has a picture of a wounded and crumpling J.R. Ewing after he's been filled with hot lead. Nicely done.
MENUS --- The "Dallas Season 3" Menu design is the same as the first Dallas DVD release. Upon initial disc load-up, the familiar and rousing opening theme music is played (and will repeat until a Menu selection is made).
All Menus feature "static" (non-animated) images, with the Main Menu offering up a good-looking group photo of the Ewing clan, which is the same picture that can be found on two of the fold-out panels of the inner packaging for this boxed set.
These Menus are "anamorphic" in nature. I can't quite understand, though, why Menus for a Full-Frame (1.33:1 ratio) TV show like this would be anamorphically-encoded when the programming contained on the discs is not in anamorphic widescreen? Many Full-Frame DVDs are like this however; certainly not just this one. Oh, well. Just another trivial matter that's of little consequence in the long run. It's just something that doesn't seem to be necessary, IMO.
"PLAY ALL"? --- Yes. A "Play All Episodes" option is located on all discs in this set. It's labelled simply "Play" on the Main Menu screen. It cannot be accessed via the "Episodes" Sub-Menu however.
SUBTITLES? --- Yes indeed. English, French, and Spanish subtitles can be accessed for all episodes.
Closing Props.......
Dallas fans, as it says on the back cover of this DVD box -- "This is the one". .... That, indeed, it is. A very good collection of top-notch "Dallas" dramas, complete with large doses of backstabbing, boozing, and bickering. Plus, of course, that whale of a season finale, when J.R. finally "gets his" (in the shape of a couple of well-placed bullets). What more could anybody want?
Summary of Dallas: The Complete Third Season
The story of a Texas family headed by oil magnate J.R. Ewing whose lives revolve around money, family, and the pursuit of power.Item Type: DVD Movie
Item Rating: NR
Street Date: 08/09/05
Wide Screen: no
Director Cut: no
Special Edition: no
Language: ENGLISH
Foreign Film: noSubtitles: no
Dubbed: no
Full Frame: yes
Re-Release: no
Packaging: Sleeve
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