Moonlight - The Complete Series
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Alex O'Loughlin, Jason Dohring, Shannyn Sossamon, Sophia MylesBrand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Thai (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: AC-3, Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 692 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-01-20
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Warner Home Video
Movie Reviews of Moonlight - The Complete Series
Movie Review: An underappreciated gem, vampires and romance well done
Summary: 5 Stars
"When darkness falls, a hero will rise . . ."
Mick St. John (Alex O'Loughlin) is a private investigator in a town where there is little that surprises anyone - Los Angeles, California. But Mick has a secret that might surprise a few people - he's a vampire. Welcome to his world.
The death of a college co-ed brings BuzzWire internet reporter Beth Turner (Sophia Myles) into Mick's life - she's traipsing barefoot through a freezing fountain at 2 am in order to get a photo of the corpse. And on that corpse are what appear to be two bite marks. It seems to be the work of a vampire, assuming one believes in them. Mick's and Beth's paths keep crossing, as each tries to solve this mystery, for different reasons - what more logical than that they work together? Despite the fact that Mick tells her that he works alone. Why does Mick look familiar to Beth? She swears that she has seen him before.
It seems that Mick has a connection with Beth which goes back some 22 years, to the kidnapping of a 4 year old child. He protected her then from the very monster who was responsible for his being what he is - his ex wife Coraline (Shannyn Sossamon) - and he's protecting her now. He has a mentor named Josef (Jason Dohring), a 400 year old vampire who is a real wiz at business, although his people skills leave something to be desired, and Mick has a connection who works in the morgue, Guillermo (Jacob Vargas), one that supplies him with donated Red Cross blood. You see, Mick has principles, and one of them is that he will not drink human blood, voluntarily given or otherwise, directly from the source, and he will not kill humans, unless he has to.
The one season series revolves around Mick and Beth and their developing relationship. She struggles to remember where she knows him from, and when she thinks she recognizes him from the time of her abduction, he leads her off on other tangents. She has a relationship with a young man named Josh, who works in the DA's office. They've been together for a while. And yet it's obvious that she feels something for Mick, something that she cannot deny. And he would do anything for her.
Due to unexpected circumstances, Beth learns Mick's secret, and promises to keep it. The fact that she trusts him, and he trusts her with his secret, only serves to deepen their relationship. As the series progresses, this relationship sometimes puts her at odds with her assistant district attorney boyfriend, Josh, but she refuses to give up on Mick or their friendship, as they battle a crazed killer, a rogue vampire, a vicious ex and more. Tragedy nearly engulfs them - will what they have withstand it?
Commentary:
I was smitten with Moonlight from the first episode. With Mick, with him and Beth, and with their love story, not to mention with the entire series. Mick St. John is an anti-vampire vampire. He refuses to kill for the sake of killing, he is swift to protect humans and vamps alike. He does his job as a private investigator and he does it well - watching him follow the scent at any given crime scene is amazing, not to mention he moves with an elegant grace all his own - but he also holds himself aloof, away from most others, except for Josef. Mick is a very multi-layered character, and he has an intriguing story, not the least of which is his relationship with Beth Turner, whom he first rescued as a small child from a crazed kidnaper, whom we learn was his ex, Coraline. He watched her grow over the next 22 years, and protected her, and when he came face to face with her, he fell deeply in love, although he tries desperately to hide that fact. Beth is a bright, lovely ambitious young woman with a nose for news and a high sense of morality. Their mutual attraction is inevitable.
Josef is a great foil for Mick - he is several times Mick's age, he's been around quite a bit, and he's very wealthy, but he does have something of an attitude problem. As Mick reminds him when he says, "I'm the only friend you have that doesn't like you for your money," to which Josef replies, "Oh yeah." One of my favorite episodes actually centers around Josef, combining a threat on his life with a trip into his past, for a very character revealing story, showing a more compassionate side of the cynical vampire.
Mick's relationship with the morgue attendant, Guillermo, has definite moments of humor, as Guillermo not only supplies Mick with the blood he needs to survive, from the donor supply, but also gives him access to the bodies in the morgue, which becomes very helpful in the course of his investigations. Beth has the same relationship with him, and she and Mick meet a few times that way, by chance. During a brief respite in Mick's vampire status, Guillermo complains that he has no one to sell Mick's preferred blood to, since he isn't consuming any - and the compassionate Mick helps him out of his bind.
The situation in the desert which marked the watershed of their relationship occurs in the desert, where Mick almost dies and Beth must take drastic measures to keep that from happening (naturally the desert is anathema to a vampire) A tragedy in Beth's life forces her to reevaluate her priorities and she takes a step back from Mick, blaming him not for what happened but not doing what she felt he could do about it, but of course it doesn't last. A person from Mick's past is also a threat to their happiness. Another one of my favorite lines is when Josef explains to Beth that in another life, Coraline was a courtesan, and Beth exclaims, "Oh, a hooker!"
The writing is very good, and the acting is wonderful, it's an excellent cast. Although before the series began, when it was still in the talk stage, Bruce Willis had been considered for the lead. What a different show that would have been. I like Bruce and all, but he does not have the same sexy presence that Alex O'Loughlin does, not by a long shot.
Over the course of the series, the writers developed their own vampire mythology, which was pretty unique as such things go. Their vamps walked in daylight, but it weakened them. Fire and silver were their enemies. Silver is generally reserved for those of the lycan persuasion - or werewolves. Fire - well, that makes sense, goes along with the whole weakened by the sun thing and heat in general. Garlic, holy water and crucifixes are no more powerful against vamps than humans. Mick does not sleep in a coffin, but in a large freezer. In the very first episode, Mick is speaking with a reporter, as if he is being interviewed, as we are introduced to him, and he actually lays all of the myths to rest in this unique and candid interview.
It's a shame that there are only 16 episodes of this wonderful series, it had many places yet to go, but its death can be attributed to the writer's strike that year. It wasn't the only casualty. Hope remained that there would eventually be a revival of the series, but I think those are long extinguished, as Alex O'Loughlin is busy with his new series, Hawaii 5-0, on CBS, and doing well. But at least we have these 16 episodes to remember it by, and even if the 16th wasn't meant to be a last one, it possesses its own form of closure, as we bid Mick and Beth a fond farewell.
Summary of Moonlight - The Complete Series
Any private eye knows a lot about other people's secrets. L.A. private eye Mick St. John (Alex O'Loughlin) has a secret of his own. He?s a vampire, dwelling in a covert netherworld complicated by friendship with an undead finance honcho (Jason Dohring), memories of the alluring ex- wife (Shannyn Sossamon) who turned him into a vampire, and a relationship with a human (Sophia Myles) he feels drawn to protect ? and maybe to love. But no matter how tempting, Mick knows a vampire-human romance is eternally dangerous. This 16-episode, 4-disc set of the series voted the 2008 People's Choice Award for Favorite New TV Drama is a sure entertainment bet for all who like their vampire stories sleek, intense and passionate.A thoroughly entertaining series that lasted just one season, Moonlight tells the story of a sexy vampire who wants to do good. (Think along the lines of Angel from the Joss Whedon series of the same name.) Mick (Alex O'Loughlin, August Rush) became a vampire in the 1950s when his beautiful vamp bride Coraline (Shannyn Sossamon, A Knight's Tale) created his new incarnation. Shunning that lifestyle and turning against his wife when she attempts to add a little girl to their family, Mick creates a new identity for himself as a private detective. The job has its perks. Mick, who normally shuns fresh human blood, doesn't feel as badly partaking from the fluids of a criminal. Though Coraline would actually make a more intriguing ongoing love interest for Mick, he falls in love with Beth (Sophia Myles, Underworld). The two have a history together, too, though Beth doesn't remember it right away (Mick saved her from Coraline some 20 years ago); now, they're working together. O'Loughin and Myles make a handsome couple, but they don't share the type of chemistry that makes his scenes with Sossamon so intoxicating. Moonlight originally aired on CBS during the 2007-2008 television season. The season was truncated to just 16 episodes due to the Writers Guild Strike. Because of that, the series at times feels unresolved--especially in the finale. But Moonlight is well-crafted and has beautiful production value. Mick at times utters groaners like, ?Being a vampire sucks,? but the Aussie actor makes it work. The series in some ways is debating the age-old question of whether eternal life is a blessing or a curse. The answer depends on who--or what--you are. --Jae-Ha Kim
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