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Poirot - Collector's Set 1
Acorn Media // Unrated // August 13, 2002
List Price: $29.95 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
In addition to being the subject of innumerable feature films, Agatha Christie's world-famous fictional detective Hercule Poirot also has a well-regarded British television series devoted to him. The series, starring David Suchet, ran for six seasons, producing a mix of fifty-minute episodes and a few feature-length movies, all based on works by Christie herself. Mystery lovers, and Agatha Christie fans in general, thus have a lot to enjoy and to look forward to on DVD.
The three mysteries included in the Poirot Set 1 DVD are "The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim," "The Veiled Lady," and "The Lost Mine," all from the second season of the series, originally aired in 1990. Incidentally, Set 2 contains three other episodes from the second season, which leaves currently uncollected three more episodes from the second season, along with the first season and seasons three through six. If Acorn Media's treatment of the episodes follows their track record with the release of the feature-length presentations, we can look forward to regular releases of further Poirot episodes in the future.
"The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim," the first episode in the set, is probably the strongest of the three. This one is a classic Poirot, in which he uses the strength of his "little gray cells" to solve a baffling mystery involving a presumed murder that is missing a body.. Furthermore, he does so in only seven days, and without leaving his apartment, to boot, all to win a bet with Inspector Japp. But who can doubt the famous Mr. Poirot? It's a very entertaining tale that kept me guessing right up to the end. "The Veiled Lady" and "The Lost Mine" are both based on particularly brief short stories, and it's fairly evident that the plot is stretched a bit thin even in 50 minutes. "The Veiled Lady" episode, for instance, is a more "action-oriented" than is typical for Poirot, with a breaking-and-entering operation and a police chase both given greater space in the narrative than Poirot's solution of the mystery.
There's no particular required order to watch the episodes in, as each is nicely self-contained. Inspector Japp, Captain Hastings, and Miss Lemon are recurring characters, but even if you haven't seen a single Poirot episode or feature-length movie, you'll pick up easily on who they are from the context of the story. David Suchet, as always, is perfect as the little Belgian detective, conveying both his ideosyncrasies and his keen intelligence.
Video
Viewers who have seen the feature-length Poirot DVDs already released by Acorn Media (such as Hickory Dickory Dock or Dumb Witness) will note that the video quality of these episodes is noticeably not as good as that of the feature-length DVDs. The overall image is blurry and moderately noisy, with a surprising number of large print flaws appearing in the image. Outdoor scenes tend to be grainy and a bit washed-out; in darker moments, the contrast is adequate but not great. In general, the image looks best in reasonably well-lit indoor scenes, which is fortunately where most of the action takes place. Considering that the series was produced in the early 1990s, I would have hoped for a better-quality image for the DVD. As it is, I'd put it at average for television shows; it's satisfactory to watch, but it could have been better.
Each of the episodes in Poirot Set 1 are presented in their original television aspect ratio of 1.33:1.
Audio
The Poirot Set 1 episodes come with a perfectly satisfactory Dolby 2.0 soundtrack. As the program is strongly dialogue-based, all we really need is good, clear dialogue, and the soundtrack covers that. The music, which is really quite catchy, is kept in good balance with other parts of the track.
Extras
There's nothing of exceptional interest in the special features section. We are given some text information on Agatha Christie, David Suchet, and the character of Hercule Poirot, along with filmographies and a bibliography.
Final thoughts
For any serious fan of the film adaptations of Agatha Christie's works, the Poirot Set 1 will be a must-buy to continue completing their sets. For mystery lovers in general, the episodes in Set 1 offer an entertaining viewing experience, but if you're not already hooked, I'd recommend starting with the feature-length Poirot DVDs before rounding out the collection by picking up this DVD.
The three mysteries included in the Poirot Set 1 DVD are "The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim," "The Veiled Lady," and "The Lost Mine," all from the second season of the series, originally aired in 1990. Incidentally, Set 2 contains three other episodes from the second season, which leaves currently uncollected three more episodes from the second season, along with the first season and seasons three through six. If Acorn Media's treatment of the episodes follows their track record with the release of the feature-length presentations, we can look forward to regular releases of further Poirot episodes in the future.
"The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim," the first episode in the set, is probably the strongest of the three. This one is a classic Poirot, in which he uses the strength of his "little gray cells" to solve a baffling mystery involving a presumed murder that is missing a body.. Furthermore, he does so in only seven days, and without leaving his apartment, to boot, all to win a bet with Inspector Japp. But who can doubt the famous Mr. Poirot? It's a very entertaining tale that kept me guessing right up to the end. "The Veiled Lady" and "The Lost Mine" are both based on particularly brief short stories, and it's fairly evident that the plot is stretched a bit thin even in 50 minutes. "The Veiled Lady" episode, for instance, is a more "action-oriented" than is typical for Poirot, with a breaking-and-entering operation and a police chase both given greater space in the narrative than Poirot's solution of the mystery.
There's no particular required order to watch the episodes in, as each is nicely self-contained. Inspector Japp, Captain Hastings, and Miss Lemon are recurring characters, but even if you haven't seen a single Poirot episode or feature-length movie, you'll pick up easily on who they are from the context of the story. David Suchet, as always, is perfect as the little Belgian detective, conveying both his ideosyncrasies and his keen intelligence.
Video
Viewers who have seen the feature-length Poirot DVDs already released by Acorn Media (such as Hickory Dickory Dock or Dumb Witness) will note that the video quality of these episodes is noticeably not as good as that of the feature-length DVDs. The overall image is blurry and moderately noisy, with a surprising number of large print flaws appearing in the image. Outdoor scenes tend to be grainy and a bit washed-out; in darker moments, the contrast is adequate but not great. In general, the image looks best in reasonably well-lit indoor scenes, which is fortunately where most of the action takes place. Considering that the series was produced in the early 1990s, I would have hoped for a better-quality image for the DVD. As it is, I'd put it at average for television shows; it's satisfactory to watch, but it could have been better.
Each of the episodes in Poirot Set 1 are presented in their original television aspect ratio of 1.33:1.
Audio
The Poirot Set 1 episodes come with a perfectly satisfactory Dolby 2.0 soundtrack. As the program is strongly dialogue-based, all we really need is good, clear dialogue, and the soundtrack covers that. The music, which is really quite catchy, is kept in good balance with other parts of the track.
Extras
There's nothing of exceptional interest in the special features section. We are given some text information on Agatha Christie, David Suchet, and the character of Hercule Poirot, along with filmographies and a bibliography.
Final thoughts
For any serious fan of the film adaptations of Agatha Christie's works, the Poirot Set 1 will be a must-buy to continue completing their sets. For mystery lovers in general, the episodes in Set 1 offer an entertaining viewing experience, but if you're not already hooked, I'd recommend starting with the feature-length Poirot DVDs before rounding out the collection by picking up this DVD.
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