Roswell - The Complete First Season
by Arvin Brown, Chris Long, David Nutter, David Semel, James Whitmore Jr.
List Price:
Our Price: $15.88
You Save: $24.10 (60%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.84 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Brendan Fehr, Jason Behr, Katherine Heigl, Majandra Delfino, Shiri ApplebyDirector: Arvin Brown, Chris Long, David Nutter, David Semel, James Whitmore Jr.
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 968 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-02-17
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: United Paramount Network (UPN)
Movie Reviews of Roswell - The Complete First Season
Movie Review: I started as a sceptic, but the show really won me over
Summary: 5 Stars
I did not watch this series at all when it was first broadcasting and until recently had no intention to watch it. Although it is obviously getting some good reviews here, it is not a television series that enjoys a good reputation. I suspect the poor reputation has been generated primarily by people who haven't seen it. The dislike of many of those who haven't seen it is based entirely on the premise: high school kids who are also aliens. I will grant that that is not necessarily a good premise, but it is more what someone does with a premise than anything. BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER is an equally unpromising premise, but if there has ever been a better show than BUFFY I'd like to see it. LOST, on the other hand, has a great premise and is doing a superb job of spinning out that premise. ROSWELL, I would suggest, especially in its first season, is another show that has done a great job with a not-necessarily-all-that-great premise.
The success of THE X-FILES and BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER created a demand for more shows along the same lines in the late 1990s. Just as FOX responded to BUFFY by developing DARK ANGEL, so the WB's immediate response to their own BUFFY was to develop two additional shows along the same line: CHARMED and ROSWELL. They even tried to tap into the BUFFY crowd by making the lead of ROSWELL Jason Behr, who had guest starred in an especially memorable Season Two episode of BUFFY, the super "Lie to Me," where he played a former boyfriend of Buffy who was dying from an incurable disease and hoped to become a vampire by betraying the Slayer. It could have been a silly episode, but it ended up a wonderful meditation on life, death, betrayal, and human nature. Behr was perfect for the role of Max (a role that Heath Ledger auditioned for). Although BUFFY created the demand for ROSWELL and shaped the form it would take on TV, the concept itself came from a series of novels directed at pre-teen girls. The novels clearly exploited the imaginative universe generated by THE X-FILES. If one tried to say what ROSWELL was like, one would not be wrong in saying it was part BUFFY, part THE X-FILES, and part ROMEO AND JULIET. The latter comes out in the seemingly impossible love between Max and Liz Parker. If the Capulets and Montagues created problems for Romeo and Juliet, that was nothing compared to Max's alien relations and Liz's human status.
One thing I love about the show is its approach to narrative. The 1980s saw the birth and development of the multi-thread television show, beginning with the groundbreaking HILL STREET BLUES. But what is rarely noted is the way the 1990s gave birth to a new form of series where there was not only multiple story arcs, but a master narrative that extended beyond the individual smaller arcs and gave them their context. The pioneering show for this genre was TWIN PEAKS and was extended by THE X-FILES and perfected by BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. ROSWELL is wonderful for having virtually no stand alone episodes. Each episode is intelligible only in the context of the narrative as a whole. Networks are leery of such formats. They are great at creating a passionate fan base, but the ongoing narratives makes it difficult for newcomers to catch up on what is happening. ROSWELL appeared immediately before the now standard practice of bringing out on DVD the previous season near the beginning of the new year, making it far easier for new fans to catch up. ROSWELL both benefited and was hurt by this format. It benefited in that the first season was superb narrative television as we got to know the characters, witness the interplay between them, get involved in a number of mysteries, and just speculate in general on what was going to happen. It was hurt as in subsequent seasons the narrative often became more than a tad silly. But regardless of what happened in Seasons 2 and 3, Season 1 is a very good season.
The narrative is driven by events that occurred one day in the Crashdown Café. Liz Parker, a waitress in the café her parents own, is shot in the stomach by a stray bullet from the gun of two customers who get in a fight. Her wound appears to be fatal until Max, a mysterious classmate of Liz's and someone who has nursed a crush on her for years, rushes up to her, places his hand over her stomach, and magically removes the bullet and heals the wound. Although she and Max try to make it seem that she hadn't really been shot, but that the bullet had broken a ketchup bottle that doused her, the event awakens the interest of a number of people, including the alien hunter section of the FBI as well as the local sheriff. From this event all the events of the next three years spins.
The show is graced by an excellent cast. Shiri Apppleby is adorable as Liz and Jason Behr is great as Max (as well as serving as a heartthrob for a host of adolescent girls during the show's run, despite his Clark Gable-like ears). The beautiful Katherine Heigl, well before her resurfacing on GREY'S ANATOMY, plays Max's sister Isabel. The third main alien Michael is played by Brendan Fehr. These three are later joined by a fourth alien played by the remarkably beautiful Australian actress Emilie de Ravin, who was barely able to disguise her accent. Like Heigl, she has gone on to fame on a highly successful TV show, playing Claire on LOST (and a much more likable character to boot). The main humans are rounded out by Majandra Delfino as Liz's best friend Maria and Colin Hanks as Alex. Ironically Liz's pretty vanilla dad is played by the great rocker John Doe, the front man for the important LA punk band X. For my money, the best performer on the show is William Sadler as Sheriff Valenti. Sadler, who has more recently been memorable as the less-than-ten-seconds virtuoso in KINSEY and as Jaye's dad in WONDERFALLS, is great as someone who is initially Max's enemy but eventually his friend and protector. As is typical of modern TV shows, virtually all of the high school students are portrayed by performers in their mid to late twenties.
This is not a perfect show. Near the end of the season it begins lapsing into slightly silly plotlines and at times it descends a bit too far into high school soap opera mode, but for the most part it manages to be a very well written and immersive extended narrative. Unless one is irremediably opposed to shows set in high school or shows dealing with Sci-fi or the supernatural, I can't imagine many TV fans being disappointed by this show. I certainly was not. I have also enjoyed the following two seasons, though I think neither as good as season one. I just found the interplanetary plot lines just a bit hard to swallow. The show remained worth watching to the end, but I regret that it didn't maintain the tone of Season One. Still, watch it.
Similar DVD Movies
Kyle XY: The Complete Third And Final SeasonBuena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2009-12-22; DVD
Best price: $17.19
Price in other shops:
What I Like About You: The Complete First SeasonWarner Brothers; Release date: 2007-05-01; DVD
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops:
Life Unexpected: The Complete First & Second SeasonsWarner Brothers; Release date: 2011-04-05; DVD
Best price: $17.00
Price in other shops:
Wildfire: Season 3Lions Gate; Release date: 2009-03-03; DVD
Best price: $10.52
Price in other shops:
Lois & Clark - The New Adventures of Superman - The Complete First SeasonWarner Brothers; Release date: 2005-06-07; DVD
Best price: $3.98
Price in other shops:
Angel - Season One (Slim Set)ANGEL; Release date: 2006-11-28; DVD
Best price: $9.25
Price in other shops:
Dark Angel: The Complete First SeasonALBA,JESSICA; Release date: 2007-06-05; DVD
Best price: $18.44
Price in other shops:
Roswell: Season 3FOX; Release date: 2008-04-29; DVD
Best price: $14.15
Price in other shops:
Roswell: Season 2FOX; Release date: 2008-04-29; DVD
Best price: $13.99
Price in other shops:
Roswell - Seasons 1-3Release date: 2008-04-29; DVD
Best price: $46.99
Price in other shops: