© 2010 Nick Zegarac
Sex and the City: The Movie, The World Is Not Enough, 2012, Dynasty TV series (first three seasons)
Over the last two decades
Hollywood has cannibalized the small screen for big screen movie
franchises to the point of utter absurdity. This trend began in the late
1980s with a string of cultish recreations of beloved television shows
from the 1960s and 1970s (The
Brady Bunch, The Addams Family, Starsky & Hutch)
then continued with the absorption of 1980s pop-u-tainment (Charlie's
Angels, Miami Vice, The Incredible Hulk)
and gradually mutated into TV tie-in movies of then current television
series (The
X-Files).
However, as a television-to-cinema hybrid, Michael Patrick King's
Sex
and The City: The Movie
(2008) is rather disappointing. Instead of playing as an extension
of the highly successful HBO series, the film tends to run on as though
it were five, half-hour episodes loosely strung together in an attempt
to maintain some sort of consistency and our interest.
When the series last left the airwaves, sex columnist Carrie Bradshaw
(Sarah Jessica Parker) had been rescued from a possessive relationship
on the banks of the Seine by the ever-elusive matrimonial hunk, John
James "Mr. Big" Preston (Chris Noth), a philandering cad who twice
before reduced the usually effervescent Carrie into a pile of sobbing
blubber. In
Sex and The City:
The Movie,
Big is at it again. After buying a lavishly appointed penthouse
apartment for him and Carrie - and redoing its closet to conform to
Carrie's ever-expanding obsessive/compulsive fashionista archive - Big
proposes marriage then chokes on his promise and bolts at the altar,
leaving Carrie looking bizarrely stylish in her atrociously expensive Traviata wedding gown (complete with a blue bird stuck in her veil and
-
you guessed it - reduced yet again to another blubbering pile).
It seems Big's cold feet stem from a comment made by Miranda Hobbes
(Cynthia Nixon) at the pre-wedding banquet after she has discovered that
her own mate, Steve (David Eigenberg) has cheated on her with another
woman. Ironically, given the title and premise of the movie, we never
get to see this sexual indiscretion that severs Miranda's and Steve's
matrimonial bond. Instead, the first hour of the film is devoted to an
endless and nauseating cavalcade of bizarrely unhinged and often
tasteless "fashion" costume changes as Carrie searches for the perfect
wedding gown.
So much for Carrie's dilemma. In another part of Manhattan the ever
optimistic, though obtusely frigid Charlotte York (Kristin Davis)
continues to live out a resplendently kosher Cinderella fantasy with
Harry Goldenblatt (Evan Handler) and their adopted Oriental daughter
Lily (Alexandra Fong).
If these narrative threads
in King's screenplay sound weak to begin with, they positively fall
apart with resident slut-factory, Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall)
forsaking her perfect relationship with the perfect pin-up underwear
model/turned movie actor, Smith Jerrod (Jason Lewis), simply for a
chance to pursue another dead-end relationship with her next-door
neighbor, Dante (Gilles Marini), in Malibu. He's a guy who prefers
to shower nude on a landing overlooking the beach. Honestly, who lives
like that?
What is rather alarming about
Sex and The City:
The Movie,
as opposed to the "Sex
and The City" TV series,
is how utterly joyless this excursion tends to be despite the fact that
it borrows heavily from the familiarity of the TV show with audiences.
Carrie's and Big's breakup this time around leaves our heroine
shellshocked and sleeping alone at a posh resort in Mexico. Even the
girls' conversations about bodily functions, various sexual positions
and other tawdry behaviors seem tinged with more than a hint of bitter
regret, bitchiness and ennui.
The film retains Carrie's voiceover narration, but only as book ends. In
the series, Carrie's reflections on life, love and great sex have been
the main staple that guides our perceptions of the action taking place.
We know the other characters through Carrie's external referencing of
them. In the film, Carrie's comments are neither external nor reflective
but merely a regurgitation of what we already know. Hence, they
are pointless. After Carrie suffers her humiliation with Big at the
altar the voiceovers stop abruptly then remain strangely absent from the
film until near its conclusion.
Jennifer Hudson makes a welcome - if all too brief - edition to the clan
as Louise from St. Louis: the friend and personal assistant that Carrie
could really have used elsewhere from her wellspring of gals if the
others in her self-absorbed set weren't so wrapped up with their own
navel-and-crotch gazing.
Arguably the strengths of the series are the film's greatest weaknesses
and, ironically, none are exploited to as good effect in the film as
they have been on television. For example, in the series nudity played
as humorous precursor to Carrie's voiceover narrations. The nudity was
not present merely to shock or titillate but rather to draw out the
obvious foibles and ridiculousness of the story being told.
In the film, sex is gratuitous. Steve ravages
Miranda; Samantha lies on a glass table in Smith Jerrod's beach house
covered in nothing but sushi; and - quite frankly - seeing Gilles
Marini's hooded snake in profile and widescreen is a sight this critic
could so easily have done without. Bottom line: we've seen all this
brainless badinage done before, but readily with more savoir faire
and lighthearted fun tacked on for good measure. The film, unlike the
series, treats sex like a vice rather than a virtue.
Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte
and Miranda, already riding the fringe "bimbo" element in the series -
but miraculously keeping things together long enough to amuse us with
their clever resolve and determination - are thrust into full blown
"stupid airhead" mode in the film. And then there is the rather
obvious imbalance in on screen time allotted each gal. One would think
that with a two-and-a-half-hour canvas to work with, that the film would
do as much girl bonding as possible. Not so. Not surprisingly, Parker's
Carrie gets the lion's share of running time. Still, it's rather
disheartening to see so little of Cattral's Samantha Jones. She's
relocated to a West Coast abode from which King's screenplay desperately
tries to find reasons to have her fly back into town for regular dishing
of the latest dirt.
The men of the series were never the series' strength, but they were an
integral part to its humor. Regrettably, there is all too little humor
to go around in this movie. As proof, the series' reoccurring gay
characters, Stanford Blatch (Willie Garson) and Anthony Marentino (Mario
Cantone), are barely glimpsed in the film. Yet, in the film, Mr. Big
gets a lot of play time. Too much in fact, thereby relegating the
other relationships and characters to tertiary cameos at best.
In the series Miranda was
given enough time so that her character (abrasive, though it is) could
come across as no-nonsense and somewhat sympathetic in all her harried
frustration. In the film, however, she is merely "the bitch" and the
catalyst for destroying Carrie's initial chance at marital bliss with
Mr. Big.
In the final analysis,
Sex and The City:
The Movie
is surface-sheen extravagance at best. King's screenplay relies too much
on audience identification with the series to sustain these old
acquaintances for two and a half hours. We are expected to remember all
of the series' memorable moments in order to relate to these characters
in the film. The trick doesn't quite work. After all, the gals are older
now and thus ought to be wiser as well. Inserting snippets from the
series when their struggles were fresher and funnier only serves to
reiterate just how far the series has come and how much further removed
the incidents in the film seem to be from what we best remember in the
series. In fact, the opening title sequence begins with snippets from
various episodes in the series: a sort of
"Sex
and the City,
the good years' travelogue"
- though nothing short of a solid plot (which the film desperately
lacks) can stop these recollections from sinking under the featherweight
ridiculousness of the movie's central theme. Experiencing a good movie
may very well be like having great sex, but this film is neither.
Alliance/New Line's Blu-Ray easily bests its standard DVD. Color
fidelity and fine details take a quantum leap forward. Contrast levels
are bang on. Blacks are deep and solid. Flesh tones appear quite natural
on the Blu-Ray while looking rather pasty on the DVD. The audio is an
aggressive 5.1 Dolby Digital with a very powerful sonic spread across
all channels, giving the pop music soundtrack its due wherever and
whenever possible. Extras include a brief "making of" and commentary
track that is self-congratulatory at best.
Director Roland Emmerich's 2012 is an exhilarating, often overwhelming experience. It's a film about the global cataclysm that will bring about the end of civilization as we know it. Long predicted by the Mayan calendar, the film's explanation for this catastrophic death of our planet is that solar storms have generated enough radiation to affect the meltdown of the earth's core, thereby triggering the utter collapse of most of its tectonic plates. Mass earthquakes and tsunamis ensue, wiping out three-fourths of the world's population.
On a more personal note, the film stars John Cusak as Jackson Curtis, a one-time, not terribly successful author who is determined to save his family, estranged wife Kate (Amanda Peet), son Noah (Liam James, and daughter Lily (Morgan Lily) from the pending disaster after accidentally learning from his employer, Yuri Karpov (Zlatko Buric), that the end of the world is imminent. Meanwhile, U.S. geologist, Dr. Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor), has been diligently working with a worldwide geophysical team on a timeline leading up to the end of days that will hopefully ensure at least part of the population is saved from annihilation. Adrian warns U.S. President Thomas Wilson (Danny Glover) of the looming carnage, and Wilson elects to put a plan of evacuation into action. He also chooses to stay behind with those doomed to extinction, sending his daughter Laura (Thandie Newton) on to safety in his stead.
The rest of the plot really boils down to brief interactions between the principal cast as they face one harrowing escape from doomsday to the next. Jackson, together with his wife's new boyfriend, Dr. Gordon Silberman (Tom McCarthy), manages to fly the family to safety after the entire California coastline plummets into the ocean. Escaping to Vegas, Jackson and his family meet up with Yuri and his girlfriend, Tamara (Beatrice Rosen). The group boards Yuri's private plane which is stockpiled with expensive cars and piloted by Tamara's true love, Sasha (Johann Urb). Intercontinental shift works in their favor and the plane crash-lands in the Himalayan mountains after running out of fuel with everyone except Sasha surviving to make the trek to a secret bunker where Chinese workers have been constructing three massive arks to save humanity for future generations. It's an unhappy circumstance that the ark containing Jackson and company has a failure in its hydraulic watertight door, which will cause the ark's lower levels to fill with gushing waters unless Jackson and Noah can dive into the bowels of the ship and manually release the mechanism.
2012 isn't perfect entertainment and it certainly is not Emmerich's best work. That designation belongs to Independence Day (1996). But it's solid entertainment, expertly crafted. One of the aspects of Emmerich's general filmmaking that this reviewer has always greatly admired is that the director does not go for the cheap, quick and jerky handheld camera movements to express a sense of panic. Rather, he sets up master shots as the old masters of yesteryear did. Emmerich holds his camera relatively stationary, allowing the viewer to take in and soak up the epic quality of the images put forth.
Overall, the acting in 2012 is competent, rescuing the film from becoming just another rank digital special-effects laden mishmash. John Cusak is a great actor. He's given precious little to do here except run like hell, but he's credible and that's half the battle. Looking as though he hasn't bathed in easily a decade, Woody Harrelson does crazy pretty well as Charlie Frost, a fringe kook ham-radio broadcaster who celebrates the final moments of decimation with almost ecclesiastical joy. Roland Emmerich is the Irwin Allen of his generation, and he proves it with this grand disaster epic. The script by him and Harold Kloser veers dangerously close to cliche, and frankly, this reviewer thought the whole last act rescue of Ark number three a bit overdone. But, on the whole, there is compelling cohesion to the narrative that moves the story along at breakneck speed.
Sony Home Entertainment's Blu-Ray disc delivers a superb visual presentation. The image retains its stylized color palette with steely gray blues and warm reds and oranges, depending on the scene. Contrast is bang-on. Digital effects are well-integrated into the live-action footage and plausibly rendered. Fine details are evident throughout for an image that will surely satisfy. The overall quality of the image is smooth and satisfying. The audio is 7.1 Tru HD, delivering an aggressive sonic experience that really rocks the house with deep base resonance. 2012 comes as both a single Blu-Ray and two-disc SE. Only the single disc is reviewed herein. It contains an audio commentary from Emmerich and alternate ending. Recommended.
If TV's Dallas (1978-91) was responsible for putting Texas on the television radar, then Dynasty (1981-1989) most certainly gave Denver, Colorado its glam-bam pizzazz. Originally named Oil by creators Richard and Esther Shapiro and unceremoniously dubbed a cheap Dallas knock-off by the critics when it first premiered as a three part mini-series, producer Aaron Spelling's golden touch and heavy revisionist undertaking to rid the series of its middle-class roots made the eventual rechristening of Dynasty a megawatt television industry, spawning clothing lines, fine wines and hairstyles.
Part of the enduring success of Dynasty must go to fashion designer Nolan Miller, whose weekly clothing allowance was enough to produce an entire episode of Dallas. In Miller's melange, the characters that inhabit this fictional Carrington/Colby world sport a cavalcade of stunning - occasionally bizarre - outfits that became iconic of 1980s haute couture. Who today can forget the endless parade of turbans that Alexis (Joan Collins) wore or Krystal's (Linda Evans) power-brokering shoulder pads that grew exponentially as her character became less demure and more assertive?
Viewing Dynasty Season One today, one is dumbstruck by how stilted the whole enterprise seemed, both in its storytelling and character development. The series opens with a union: the newly married Krystal Jennings to Blake Carrington (John Forsythe in a role originally slated for George Peppard) and Krystal's awkward assimilation from common secretary to matron of one of Denver's most influential families. It seems that everyone from the Carrington's Major Domo, Joseph Andres (Lee Bergere), to Blake's daughter, Fallon (Pamela Sue Martin), treat Krystal as though she were a poor relation rather than the new mistress of the house. Of course, it does not help matters much that (at least in the early episodes) Krystal is a placid doormat who allows everyone to dump on her. The one accepting heart belongs to Blake's son, Steven (Al Corley), a closet homosexual who is reunited with his former New York lover, Ted Dinard (Mark Withers), much to Blake's chagrin.
Ironically, it's Steven's sexuality that will dominate much of the plot development in Season One. Clearly concerned with introducing a gay character into prime-time television circa 1981, the Shapiros temper and defuse Ted's and Steven's relationship throughout most of the season. As for Blake, he refuses to accept Steven's lifestyle, creating constant friction that eventually forces Steven to move out on his own. Meanwhile, across town, Blake's overseer, Matthew Blaisdel (Bo Hopkins), has returned home with his wife, Claudia (Pamela Bellwood), after her lengthy stay at a retreat to recover from a nervous breakdown. Although there is little doubt that Matthew loves his wife, he deliberately leaves out the fact that during Claudia's absence he was having an affair with Krystal before she married Blake. The final lover's triangle that rounds out Season One belongs to Blake's daughter, Fallon, her new husband Jeff (John James), and his uncle, Cecil Colby (Lloyd Bochner). After dalliances with the family's chauffeur, Michael (Wayne Northrop), the rebellious Fallon makes a failed play for Cecil before agreeing to marry his nephew.
In all these relationships, Fallon is a malignant fraud (in retrospect, the Shapiros' first failed attempt at crafting a viper: a role that will eventually go to Joan Collin's Alexis), yet there is nothing to match Fallon's genuine love for her father. Blake repeatedly placates (though never takes seriously) his daughter's interests in assuming a stake in the family business. As Season One draws to a close, Fallon makes it clear to Jeff that she does not love him, which drives a wedge into their marriage that Jeff never quite recovers from. Matthew attempts to seduce Krystal while Fallon quietly falls in love with him. Having renounced Ted, Steven has a brief sexual affair with Claudia, whose mental condition begins to deteriorate.
Discovering Ted Dinard in Steven's room, Blake flies into a rage, pushing Ted, who falls and strikes his head on the fireplace grate. In the resulting murder trial, Claudia confesses her affair with Steven, leaving Matthew jilted at the courthouse. Meanwhile, Claudia's failed attempt to whisk Lindsay, their daughter, away, turns tragic when the two are involved in a near fatal car wreck. Back in court, a star witness with damning testimony for the prosecution emerges to round out the first of many season cliffhangers: Blake's first wife; Alexis Colby (Joan Collins). Thus ends Dynasty Season One on a somewhat lackluster and shockingly dull note. In retrospect, Season One's pitfalls becoming glaringly obvious. The Shapiros valiant - though inept - struggle to balance the worlds of wealth and prestige that the Carrington's share alongside the Blaisdel's middle-class existence and further, with a honky-tonk back story that involves Matthew and his wildcat friend, Walter Lankershim (Dale Robertson). This all fails to gel into one cohesive narrative. As such, those who recall Dynasty from its heady days of glitz and glam may wish to skip Season One. In many ways it plays like an entirely different series than the one most fondly remembered by fans.
Fox Home Video's DVD release of Season One leaves something to be desired. The image exhibits dated colors and a barrage of age related artifacts. Colors are often muted at best with the palette primarily adopting a greenish, bluish tint. Flesh tones are a pasty pink. Contrast levels appear a tad weaker than expected. Edge-enhancement and shimmering of fine details plague many episodes. The audio is mono as originally aired and adequate for this primarily dialogue driven series. Extras include two brief reflections by costars Pamela Sue Martin and Al Corley on the course of their characters as well as audio commentaries on select episodes.
The Carringtons and the Colbys: ah, me. For nine years these two feuding families dominated prime-time Wednesdays with their inimitable blend of venomous spite, intrigue and sinfully laissez faire sexuality. Such was the implausible beauty of television's night time soap operas, though few could match Dynasty (1981-89) for glitz, glam and gaudy excess. Season One's cliffhanger, the debut of Alexis Carrington (Joan Collins) begins Season Two on a high octane note of conniving intrigue.
In fact, it is in Season Two that Dynasty really hits its stride and develops its staying power as a pop icon. The storylines crafted by Richard and Esther Shapiro seem tighter. Character development is more linear and engaging. However, just as Dallas eventually proved to be Larry Hagman's gig as the unscrupulous J.R. Ewing, so does Dynasty quickly evolve into Alexis' grandstand platform. In Season One, the Shapiros' attempt at grafting the role of viper/vixen onto Blake Carrington's daughter, Fallon (Pamela Sue Martin) proved an ill fit for both the character and the actress. After all, how could television's original Nancy Drew willfully hurt anyone? But it's a role that Joan Collins - with all her culture and exacting precision as a performer - was destined to play. Alexis begins her tirade by lying on the witness stand at Blake's murder trial, claiming that he was a violent spouse who threatened her with physical harm if she ever came back to Denver to see her children again. This slander is partly responsible for Blake's conviction of Ted Dinard's murder. However, the verdict is distilled into a suspended sentence, affording Blake the opportunity to move on with his professional oil dealings.
Unfortunately for Blake, his homefront is anything but a calming influence. Blake's refusal to accept Steven's homosexual lifestyle only serves to widen the rift between father and son. Meanwhile, Fallon's and Jeff's marital relations continue to disintegrate, especially after Fallon begins to flirt with the family's psychiatric physician, Nick Toscanni (James Farantino). Nick harbors a deep though hidden resentment toward Blake after his brother was murdered while overseeing oil fields in the Middle East for Denver Carrington. As for Claudia, she attempts suicide before mobilizing her efforts to learn where Matthew has taken their daughter, Lindsay. Blake gives Claudia a job at Denver Carrington, a move that Cecil Colby (Lloyd Bochner) takes advantage of when he lies to Claudia about knowing the whereabouts of Matthew and Lindsay but refuses to tell her unless she spies on Blake's oil dealings first.
Alexis moves onto the Carrington estate and into the artist's cottage, which was originally a wedding present from Blake and for which she currently owns the deed, causing constant friction between Krystal (Linda Evans) and Blake. After learning that Krystal is pregnant, Alexis further compounds her interest in destroying their marriage by firing a gunshot into the air while Krystal is out riding her horse. The animal is spooked, throws its rider and Krystal loses the baby. Enter Sammy Jo (Heather Locklear), Krystal's scheming, poor niece who immediately sets her sights on becoming a Carrington to inherit her piece of the pie by seducing then marrying Steven, much to Alexis' chagrin. However, realizing that Steven has no tangible wealth other than what his father gives him, the greedy Sammy Jo quickly loses interest in her new husband and runs off to Hollywood to seek her own fame and fortune.
Meanwhile, Blake is taunted by a mysterious, seemingly omnipotent oil tsar named Logan Rhinewood (actually Cecil Colby) who threatens to take over Denver Carrington by buying up its stock. After a car bomb set by Rhinewood's henchmen temporarily blinds Blake, he shuns Krystal and the rest of his family, relying almost exclusively on Joseph (Lee Bergere) to guide him through his daily routine.
The last third of Season Two escalates into a powerhouse of dramatic tension. Fallon learns that she is pregnant with Jeff's baby and eventually gives birth to a son they name Blake Jr. After spying for Cecil and even sleeping with Jeff in order to steal his keys to some of Denver Carrington's secret files, Claudia learns that Cecil has been lying to her about Matthew's and Lindsay's whereabouts. Already mentally unhinged, Claudia plans to shoot Cecil, but Krystal discovers the gun first. The two struggle and Claudia is wounded in the head. On the eve that Alexis is set to marry Cecil Colby on the Carrington estate, Cecil suffers a massive heart attack and has to be hospitalized. Blake Jr. is kidnapped, and Claudia, having once more lost her grip on reality, disappears into the night without a trace, thus becoming the prime suspect. Unfortunately, Blake's time with Nick Toscanni has run out. In the first of many memorable season cliffhangers, Nick unsuccessfully attempting to seduce Krystal then decides to go after Blake and Krystal at the mountaintop retreat where they are vacationing. Nick confronts Blake on horseback. Blake is thrown down a steep ravine and left for dead just as a violent storm approaches. Thus ends Dynasty Season Two with just about all the high-stakes drama one could hope for from a prime-time soap.
Paramount Home Video assumes the distribution rights for Season Two of Dynasty, which is the last season to be released in its entirety as a single package. Image quality is vastly improved over the Fox presentation of Season One, though still not the best it could be. Color fidelity and contrast levels are superior. Flesh tones are quite naturally realized and there is a considerable amount of fine detail evident throughout. Edge enhancement is practically non-existent, but the image is marred by a considerable amount of age-related dirt and scratches. Also, various duplications within several episodes appear to have been sourced from less-than-original negatives, resulting in a few brief but distracting grainy inserts. The audio is mono as originally recorded but adequate for this presentation. The one extra feature that Paramount bestows on us is a pathetic "interactive" family tree that provides a sort of "six degrees of separation" who's-related-to-who chart with few details. Otherwise, Season Two comes recommended!
Before delving into the plot elements of Dynasty Season Three Volume One, this reviewer would like to stress the pointlessness of studio greed that has unceremoniously begun to chop up television seasons into two volumes simply to take advantage of the consumer and charge more money for their product. Television shows come to us in full seasons during their original aired broadcast. Hence, there is little to encourage the continuation of giving us only half a year's worth of that experience - particularly when we are dealing with soap operas that build their story lines to a crescendo throughout the year. Enough said.
Dynasty Season Three Volume One represents something of a step backwards, as it were, in plot construction. This narrative awkwardness begins with the very first episode and the complete obliteration of the Nick Toscanni character, who vanishes all too conveniently without a trace and to parts unknown, never to be heard from or seen again. Realizing that something is desperately wrong in Blake's failure to return to the mountain cabin, Krystal trudges on horseback through a perilous storm to rescue her husband. Claudia is tracked down by the police, Blake, Jeff, Krystal and Fallon to a rooftop, clutching what appears to be Baby Blake. Tossing the bundle over the side of the skyscraper, it is revealed that Claudia actually had a doll in her arms, not Blake Jr. Frantic, Jeff suddenly recalls that a groundskeeper he casually met only once while visiting his father's grave, exhibited a curious fascination with his baby. Together with Blake, the two successfully hunt this man down and recover Blake Jr.
Meanwhile in Billings Montana an old woman dies, but not before revealing to her adult son, Michael (Gordon Thomson), that she was responsible long ago for stealing a baby from its crib in Denver to claim as her own. That child was Adam Carrington, the youngest heir to Blake and Alexis. The woman now confesses to Michael that he is Adam. After the funeral, Adam is determined to return to Denver to claim his birthright. Family friend Dr. Jonas Edwards (Robert Symonds) makes a feeble attempt to discourage Adam from pursuing his destiny, revealing to Adam that the psychedelic drugs he experimented with in his youth might have permanently impeded his better judgment. Nevertheless, Adam arrives in Denver and after some initial apprehension, is accepted into the Colby fold by Alexis. After marrying Alexis, Cecil Colby dies, leaving her a very rich heiress whose controlling interest in ColbyCo. Oil pits her in direct opposition to Blake's Denver Carrington empire. At the reading of the will, Jeff also inherits half of ColbyCo., forcing him to quit Denver Carrington and go to work for Alexis. But Adam has other plans. He redecorates Jeff's office - presumably as a gesture of goodwill - but with paint tainted in mercurochrome oxide. The hallucinogenic properties of this compound eventually begin to weigh heavily on Jeff's ability to reason or even function properly. Meanwhile, Joseph's daughter, Kirby returns from her schooling in France to renew her childhood infatuation with Jeff. Unfortunately, Adam also takes an interest in Kirby, eventually raping her in Alexis' apartment.
The ever-scheming Alexis learns that Krystal's divorce from her first husband, tennis pro Mark Jennings (Geoffrey Scott) was never finalized in Mexico, thus rendering her present marriage to Blake null and void. Fallon, who has encouraged Blake to let her become the owner of one of his less popular hotels, La Mirage, now finds herself Alexis' unwitting accomplice when she hires Mark to be the new tennis pro at La Mirage. Shortly thereafter, Fallon falls in love with Mark but not before Alexis also seduces Mark while planning to use him to destroy Krystal's love for Blake. Steven, who has departed Denver to work on-and-off-shore oil rig is presumed dead after an explosion. Although Krystal and Blake pursue leads in Indonesia, they are unable to locate Steven, forcing an extremely reluctant Blake to accept that his son is dead. After an absence of some length, Sammy Jo arrives at Steven's memorial service, carrying Danny, Steven's son. Thus, ends Dynasty Season Three Volume One.
Although Paramount Home Video remains in control of distributing Dynasty on Home Video, the exemplary results achieved on Season Two are slightly less so on Season Three Volume One, with a considerable amount of edge enhancement and shimmering of fine details being the greatest distraction. Color fidelity is still excellent, as are contrast levels. However, background detail is a mess of digital distractions, not on all episodes but on enough to render the image quality inconsistent at best. The audio is mono as originally recorded and adequate for this presentation.
It can safely be said that during the end of Season Three, Dynasty makes a modest comeback; unique enough to be considered not the Dallas wannabe critics had initially dubbed it. Fashion designer Nolan Miller's glam-bam is on full display with Joan Collins and Linda Evans wearing some of the most extravagant and expensive ensembles ever associated with a major television series. But the fashion pales to the scintillating performances and storylines that take center stage in this compendium of episodes.
Having disorientated Jeff sufficiently with the mercurochrome oxide paint in his office to have him agree to sign all his ColbyCo. shares over to Alexis, Adam focuses on implicating Jeff in the Logan Rhinewood scandal, thus luring Blake's affections away. Meanwhile, Alexis learns a scandalous truth about Kirby's mother and threatens Joseph with the details. Sammy Jo returns to Denver and attempts to sell Blake Jr. to Krystal and Blake so that she can move on with both her shallow life and career as a New York model. Blake refuses to buy the child from her but agrees at a possible adoption. Alexis pursues her devious takeover campaign of Denver Carrington by forcing the banks to call in Blake's loans prematurely. She further attempts to blackmail Blake's Washington politico, Congressman Neal McVane (Paul Burke), by threatening to reveal his extramarital affairs. Next, Alexis forces Blake's Board of Directors to side with her plans for a merger, lest they be destroyed by her need for revenge. Having broken ties with Alexis earlier, Adam turns to Blake, quietly attempting to frame Alexis for Jeff's mercurochrome oxide poisoning.
Meanwhile, the unconscious body of the sole survivor from the oil rig explosion is pulled to safety. The mysterious stranger is sent to recuperate inside a hospital in Singapore. Assuming the identity of a dead rig coworker after having had major reconstructive surgery, Steven (played for the first time by Jack Coleman) is finally confronted by Blake in Singapore and told that Sammy Jo has born him a son. Reluctantly, Steven returns to Denver and is welcomed by the entire family who briefly rejoice. Meanwhile, Fallon pursues a romance with La Mirage's tennis pro, Mark Jennings until Alexis thwarts the seduction by sneaking into Mark's room just as he has stepped into the shower, pretending to have slept with him by crawling into his bed as Fallon arrives. Back at the Carrington mansion, Kirby becomes jealous of Jeff's friendly relations with Fallon. In the scorching season finale, Alexis lures Krystal to Steven's remote cabin to confront her with news that her marriage to Mark Jennings has never been annulled, offering Krystal a cool million if she will leave Blake for good. Insulted, Krystal attempts to leave the cabin, only to discover that someone has locked both she and Alexis in. The mysterious stranger now douses the cabin in kerosene, setting it ablaze. In the ensuing firestorm a beam comes loose from the ceiling, knocking Alexis unconscious and leaving Krystal alone and surrounded by deadly flames.
Paramount Home Video's Season Three Volume Two continues to suffer from edge enhancement and shimmering of fine details. Overall, color fidelity is solid, as are contrast levels. However, background detail suffers from digital distractions, not on all episodes but on enough to render the image quality inconsistent at best. The audio is mono as originally recorded and adequate for this presentation.
Season Four, Volume One picks up exactly where Season Three Volume Two ended: inside Steven's cabin that's aflame with Krystal and Alexis trapped inside. Unfortunately for the show's creators Richard and Esther Shapiro, Season Four begins on a rather sour note, fundamentally flawed with too many all too convenient narrative tie-ins that, in hindsight, do not make very much practical sense. We begin with screams for help. Krystal's cries are heard by Mark Jennings, who breaks down the door, allowing Krystal to pass, while carrying the unconscious Alexis to safety. However, Mark's arrival is never entirely explained. What was he doing at the cabin? How did he know anyone was inside it to even attempt a rescue? Unhappy circumstance for Mark that he becomes the police's prime suspect for setting the cabin on fire in the first place.
Meanwhile, Joseph loses his grip on reality: a plot entanglement even more feeble than Mark's presence at the cabin. In previous seasons, Joseph is the peerless Major Domo of the Carrington mansion, equally adept at managing the house staff as he is at drawing subtle innuendo out of Alexis. Presumably, because he could not bear to have Kirby learn the truth about her mother from Alexis, Joseph confesses to having set the blaze that trapped both she and Krystal, before taking his own life with a pistol. Meanwhile, Blake tries to gain custody of Blake Jr., using Steven's homosexuality as the chief reason for his being unfit to raise the boy himself. Sammy Jo lies on the witness stand to further ruin Steven's chances of keeping Blake Jr. But Claudia proposes that she and Steven wed in Reno, having once had a brief affair with Steven before she entered the sanitarium. Steven agrees and the judge declares the couple as Blake Jr.'s rightful parents.
Adam switches the original purchase sheets for the mercurochrome oxide with copies he has fooled Alexis into signing. Next, Adam confronts Blake with the forged copies and Blake, in turn, uses these to blackmail Alexis into giving Jeff back his shares of ColbyCo. stock. He also foils the merger between ColbyCo. and Denver Carrington. In an attempt to break out of the insular Carrington/Colby world, three new and devious (though largely forgettable) faces join the cast of Season Four: Deborah Adair as scheming Denver Carrington PR maven, Tracy Kendall, Helmut Berger as unscrupulous playboy, Peter DeVilbis, and Michael Nader as wealthy rival, Farnsworth "Dex" Dexter. Only the latter will have any staying power beyond this season. After Blake appoints Krystal the head of Denver Carrington's PR, Tracy attempts to submarine Krystal's chances for succeeding while gaining access to Denver Carrington's top secret files. Krystal agrees to marry Blake for the second time. At a horse race, Fallon meets the arrogant Peter DeVilbis and instantly becomes smitten with him. Peter introduces Fallon to the drug culture, then feebly attempts to blackmail Blake by having one of his prized race horses stolen from his barn. Neither narrative thread has any real meat to sustain it. Meanwhile, a mysterious stranger taunts Claudia by telephone with recordings of her late husband Matthew - nearly pushing Claudia over the edge. Blake learns that Adam raped Kirby and that it is his child - not Jeff's - that she is carrying. Separated from Jeff, Kirby agrees to Adam's rather sincere marriage proposal, though shortly thereafter her health takes a turn for the worst.
Season Four is a mess of plot entanglements, none of which seem to gel for more than two or three episodes at a time. Secondary characters come and go, having little or no impact on either the existing Carrington/Colby clan or the longevity of developing plausible narrative threads. After the exhilarating intrigues of Season Two and Three, Season Four Part One is decidedly a letdown.
Paramount Home Video's transfers are an improvement over their work on Season Three. Edge enhancement still exists, but it has been greatly reduced for an image that is overall smooth and satisfying. Color fidelity remains solid. However, colors seem less vibrant than on previous seasons. Contrast levels also seem slightly softer than before. The audio is mono as originally recorded and adequate for this presentation.
All reviews are copyrighted property of Nick Zegarac.