WARNING: It appears this set has a manufacturing problem that has been confirmed by consumers on Amazon. This problem also occurs in the set I received for review. DISC 14, which is supposed to contain the Halloween Specials, is instead a duplicate of DISC 13, which is the latter half of the season five episodes. As of this review I have no clue if A&E plans to correct this issue, so BUYER BEWARE.

Criss Angel is an interesting character to say the least. In less than five years he's gone from an initially baffling addition to the A&E lineup, to a well-known pop culture figure with his own Vegas show in partnership with Cirque du Solei. Now, he's a household name, with his A&E show, "Mindfreak" debuting a sixth season later this year. In conjunction with the standalone release of the show's fifth season on DVD (titled "The Five Lives of Criss Angel") a 15-disc collectors set gathering all past DVD releases as well as a single disc exclusive to the box set hits shelves. Two questions stand out in my mind: who is this set for and is Criss Angel worth your time and money in the first place?

Until I made my way through the nearly 37 hours of content in this collectors set, term which should be used loosely, as it consists solely of past releases, with new disc art, my exposure to Angel's brand of magic was rather limited. The show follows a very consistent format which boils down to building the episode around a centerpiece performance, which Angel and the safety disclaimer at the beginning of each episode dub "stunts" or "illusions." To pad the time, Angel will perform smaller tricks on the spot using bystanders or the occasional celebrity guest. Often though, the show chooses to turn more reality based and sell the Criss Angel image.

I honestly applaud Angel for being able to market this show for as long as he has. He definitely understands what it takes to be a showman, sporting a unique (for conventional magic) image that appears to be targeted toward a younger demographic. Angel is all about pushing things to the edge and being an edgy character and in this aspect he succeeds immensely. I'm not the man's target audience though, I don't find wearing leather pants and having piercings and tattoos to be rebelling or edgy. So, for people like myself who don't by the Criss Angel image or the Criss Angel mindset, it all hinges on the stunts and illusions.

Unfortunately after sitting through well over 50 episodes of Angel's show, I'm not impressed. In the beginning many of his tricks impressed me, but early into the second season of episodes, when Angel did his "walking on water" trick, the notion that the majority of the show is a giant put-on was firmly cemented. I'm not the person who goes through his tricks looking for flaws, but the ones present in this one were glaringly obvious and resulted in jeopardizing any suspension of disbelief I had left. When Angel does his walking across a pool on the surface of the water, filled with supposed visitors to the hotel he's filming in, I noticed one woman who swam beneath him exhale bubbles which broke well below the water line, showing that Angel was merely walking on a sheet of Plexiglas or other clear material.

While that shouldn't be a huge shock, what I then realized was these supposed real bystanders were nothing more than extras on Angel's payroll, paid to sell the trick as more than it was. For me, using phony audience members kills the fun of magic. As Angel ups the ante in his tricks and they become more extreme, it becomes even more apparent through the use of flashy editing and numerous camera cuts that Angel's stunts are far less impressive that one might suspect. I don't think it's too much to ask for straightforward, plain-Jane camera shots of the illusion. When you turn the performance into a music video, it's just going to tell the audience that the illusion stems from dime-a-dozen editing tricks.

Although Angel does employ a "Continuous Shot Camera" in later episodes, too much damage had been done to redeem the show in my eyes. For instance, one of these continuous shot tricks, where Angel puts his arm through vending machine, is done in an isolated area with three or four bystanders. If Angel appeared to have employed extras (or 'stooges' as they are known in the magic trade) before, what's to say he won't do it again. The reactions of seeing a man pass his hand through solid glass without breaking it, should be far more astonishing than the bystanders let on. Angel again addresses such a backlash in a season four episode that culminates in Angel taking a supposed 50-50 shot of shoving a bystander to his death. For me, the episode only further highlights the extreme absurdity of the entire series.

While I would argue, Criss Angel is a less than stellar performer, especially when compared to someone like Derren Brown, the biggest strike against this set isn't Angel's hokey theatrics, it's the set itself. Any devoted Angel fan will likely own all the previous releases, so that leads me to the bonus disc. The final disc on the set is little more than six episodes that aired on A&E back in season three but were conveniently left off that season's standalone release. So A&E and Criss Angel have rewarded devoted fans with the opportunity to shell out big money to get a disc that should have been released long ago with the set it rightfully belonged in. A similar example was Fox making all bonus features for "MASH" exclusive to a complete series set, telling fans that bought all thirteen seasons of that show to shell out $200 for the behind-the-scenes stuff that was largely targeted toward them in the first place. Ultimately, Fox released the bonus disc as a standalone package with the series finale. Hopefully A&E does the same, and does it quickly for this situation. As it stands now, the set has very small justification for existence, save for new fans.

SET CONTENTS

DISCS 1 & 2: Season One (15 episodes)
DISCS 3, 4, & 5: Season Two (21 episodes)
DISCS 6,7 & 8: Season 3 (20 episodes)
DISCS 9, 10, & 11: Season 4 (18 episodes)
DISCS 12 & 13: The Five Lives of Criss Angel (aka Season 5) (5 episodes)
DISC 14: The Halloween Special (NOTE: production error on this disc repeats contents of disc 13)
DISC 15: Bonus Never-Released Episodes (6 episodes)

The set presents all the episodes in their original broadcast aspect ratio of 1.33:1. It very much looks like a television production with some light aliasing and compression artifacts. As the series is largely shot in Las Vegas, the transfer does catch the bright lights and flashy colors of the setting quite well.

The Audio

The English 2.0 audio does a solid job of capturing Angel's on screen dialogue as well as the audible reactions of the crowd. The "edgy" soundtrack is well reproduced here too, despite it acting as icing on the cake that is the over-the-top nature of the show.

The Extras

The bonus features are quite heavy when it comes to the first couple of seasons, but quickly disappear later on.

On Disc 1, Angel provides a pair of dull commentary tracks on two select episodes. Despite his animated nature as the star of the show, he is very down to business on these, slyly turning what should be informational into more promotion for the show.

Disc 2 contains a handful of "Interactive Illusions" that further highlight how Angel uses camera trickery to pull of successful illusions. "Inside the Mind of Criss Angel" is an all too brief interview piece where Angel opens up a little bit when it comes to how he got to have his own television program. "3 Mindfreaks" is a PDF file accessible via computer giving some detailed info on how to perform three basic tricks. Finally a photo gallery and text biography round out the bonus features on this disc.

Disc 3 contains another pair of lackluster commentary tracks that are fortunately the last to appear on the set.

Disc 5 houses a handful of featurettes, including a short segment of interviews and one of Angel pulling some jokes on crew members. "Teach a Trick" shows how to do some very basic tricks, with the final one actually being quite cool., but also a rehash of a similar trick from the PDF file. "Criss Angel's Special Gifts" is a brief segment showing Angel receiving various gifts, pointless showboating at its finest. Lastly is "Criss Uncensored" another very brief, baffling look at Angel goofing off during filming.

Disc 8 features two brief featurettes with "Behind the Scenes" coming across as promotional piece for the season it was attached to and "Criss' Celebrity Guests" giving an overview of the various celebrities who have made appearance on Criss' show. Last but not least are 25-minutes of deleted scenes and a text biography.

Disc 13 contains approximately eight minutes of deleted scenes.

Disc 14 is advertised to contain two best-of specials, but due to the previously mentioned manufacturing error, this cannot be confirmed.

Final Thoughts

Criss Angel deserves respect for managing to keep people coming back season after season with "Mindfreak." For me, as the series progressed the show got too flashy and the absurdity of the stunts became too great. While I can't say for certain that most of the show is completely manufactured fakery for television, there is some strong evidence to indicate it is. Still, amidst the showpiece illusions, Angel shows he's a talented street magician, but even that wears thin. This collection of all things Angel however, serves no specific purpose aside from bilking loyal fans out of cash to get episodes missing from the previous season three release. Couple that with a major manufacturing error and I can't, in good faith, recommend shelling out your cash for this set. If you have a passing interest in Angel it would make a great rental, but be warned, the more you watch of him over a short period of time, what suspension of disbelief there is quickly erodes. Everyone else, stick to the reruns or DVDs already in your collection. Skip It.