Sherlock: Season 1

I run BluntReview's website and there's a full review there as well:The BBC's three-movie resurrection of Sherlock Holmes has made a sort of thunder across the Atlantic. This brilliant update of Holmes will please aficionados, and, perhaps, make the Victorian-phobe electronics culture dip in.Sherlock has a website, Watson a blog. Yet, Sir Conan Doyle's lads - and stories - have everything they need. There are even nods through out the films to the original stories. You can tell (feel) the creators love Holmes as much as his followers.This DVD has the three films in what one hopes is a first season to be followed by many more. With the films, you get the pilot that got the producers the high-production-value nod from BBC, and a doc on how they went about updating Holmes and Watson for the 21st Century. They've properly de-fogged him, but added a bit of mystery, as you watch in wonder (if you know the works), how they've adapted the tales, and characters.Study in Pink is the first film. The pilot on the DVD is Study in Pink as well - with uncanny Dr. Who music...hmm.TIP: Watch the pilot after the high-end production. In fact, I suggest viewing the three films then the doc, then the pilot. Layer the tastes!As I was typing...SIP introduces us to Watson, and Holmes. Holmes is asked by Lestrade to help on an odd bit of suicides that have gripped Londontown. Folks without a worry (it seems) are committing suicide, in random places, in the very same manner - and they do not have any connections, that the police can find.Enter Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch). He's a tall, eccentric fellow who like to store severed heads, and whip cadavers in his spare time to further his deductive skills. This is just the sort of thing that gets him going.Just as he's to jump into the investigation, an acquaintance has introduced him to Watson (Martin Freeman). They may share a central London flat - over at 221B Baker.Faster then you can say "How are they gonna work in a deerstalker?" the duo take on a clever killer and Sherlock and Watson appear to have always been here - now. You may well read their web-thingies daily via RSS.Next, comes The Blinded Banker. The way they've spun the tale - I think - of The Dancing Men to fit into the current era is magical. If it's not that update, it's still freakin' brilliant; all ciphers and foreign drug smugglers. Watson gets a gal pal, and Sherlock manipulates another.This one's very much going to thrill mystery viewers of any sorts. There's just a mélange of parts that puff up into a hearty stew of viewing; rich and robust.Finally there is The Great Game. Ah, missing treaty papers do smoothly reshape into missile plans, sadly. War is the same in any century.We get to meet Mycroft (Mark "co-creator" Gatiss) and Moriaty (whose name I confess I couldn't catch within the speeding credits - sorry sir. It's the season's cliff hanger and it should leave you sufficiently stunned - and praying there's another season to come!The reason Sherlock works is two-fold really. The casting of Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch is spot on. It need to be. This is a bromance people take very seriously. The players need to be quite spectacular to work. They do, it does...Freeman is known (here in USA at least) for comedy delivered with that subtle British "thing" they do...Freeman's got that everyman look that director's love. But, he works his face like a concert pianist (immediately order the under-loved, absolutely hilarious, "The Robinsons" for a visual lecture on acting with the face). Little remarks wash across, and the watcher can read his character's soul. The man's amazing frankly.Not too shabby is the lad beside him either. Benedict Cumberbatch, for all his manly looks, can not escape his deep DNA. He looks as though he's walked off a fox hunt, bullied the stable keeper and could do those fancy ball dances so "in" back in 1890. Hell, even his name is a tad pompous. That said, he is scruffed up a bit here (really just the hair) and is perfect for the eccentric genius.The two have a chemistry that is rarely found proper these days. And, they are both swell on the eyes. Not Guy Ritchie's ass-biting version, which had the beautiful Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr., swell, but the man-loving among us will get it...Then there's the two who bring us the update themselves....Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat. They are clever Dr. Who sorts to begin with. But, honestly, they've pulled off a remarkable feat here. Sherlock is like a sacred character to many of us. There's an assumed brilliance, mixed with a bit of arrogance. Mix the two improperly, and you've got a jerk. The team behind this project mixed like mixologists at a contest for the best bar tenders of the world. The result is a cocktail of awe.Then there's the London they've placed Watson and Sherlock in. It's 100% now. And they use the now in everyway. At each moment you know, this Sherlock is part of the modern city, and the modern technology. He uses the apps on his phone to assist him, the way a consulting detective would...Even the theme and ambience music is worthy!Snack recommendation: Chinese Take Away; to be including, lotus scented rice, and tea from 500 year old clay pots please. Splurge a bit.

I love this Holmes series. I needed a regular dvd for the portable dvd player I bought. It is a very good dvd!

Let me begin with a confession: I was not entirely "okay" with the idea of a modern version of one of the most beloved literary characters of all time...until I saw the first episode of Series 3 on whro several weeks ago.Of course, like any rational Sherlockian I immediately purchased Series/Season 1 and waited anxiously for its arrival.There have been by far too many plot summaries, and delightful as they are, they do get tedious and repetitive after a time so instead i'll do a 'Character Portrayal' thing. Starting with The Master—BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH AS SHERLOCK HOLMES: I was quite impressed. He is a brilliant actor; quite handsome in that interesting, original way that—I feel—is nessecary to pull off Sherlock, and he does—pull it off. Brilliantly! His Sherlock is wonderful, a self described "High-Functioning Sociopath" with a rapier-sharp mind and an even faster tongue; the man delivers the famous Sherlock monologues in a rapid, lyrical staccato—VERY fast! He also is quite in touch with the quirks and vices of Sherlock: randomly firing his pistol at the wall because he's bored, plucking despondently at the strings of his violin whenever the mood strikes him, abusing drugs, silently staring blankly into space while he thinks, dashing off in the middle of a sentence with no explanation, not eating for days on end, not sleeping—all of Sherlock's classic habits. I highly commend both Benedict and the writers for bringing Sherlock Holmes to life again in the modern world. Bravo!MARTIN FREEMAN AS DR. JOHN WATSON: An intriguing interpretation. Watson is a war veteran who misses the danger of combat and the thrill of the chase. He is the only man who could possibly be Sherlock's flatmate—simply because no one else could tolerate him. But Watson thrills in the excitement, even if Sherlock sometimes drives him to his breaking point. When they meet, Watson is recovering from an injury—there are a few fun nods to the original stories where Watson never can seem to decide where his wound actually was!—and looking for a flatmate. Martin Freeman is an excellent Watson; his acting is top-notch and his portrayal wonderful. His Watson is both amazed by Sherlock's extraordinary mental powers and at the same time bewildered by Sherlock's lack of common knowledge and social skills. He can't help being frustrated with Sherlock at times, for all the obvious reasons, but Martin Freeman treads the fine line between nagging and extreme tolerance with grace. Wonderful.MRS. HUDSON: Mrs. Hudson has perhaps undergone the greatest change from the original stories, usually a rarely seen character with seemingly no past, future, or family; this Mrs. Hudson is introduced as a woman whose past relationship with Sherlock is that of a former client. He ensured her husband was executed, and so owes him a favor. This Mrs. Hudson is rather spacy, is always popping in and out with a tea tray and despairing at the mess 'her boys' have made. She is less of a landlady and housekeeper and more of a mother-figure for Sherlock and Watson.DETECTIVE INSPECTOR LESTRADE: Classic Lestrade. Basically competent; resents the fact that he needs Sherlock's help, while at the same time admiring him—though he'd die before admitting it. It's interesting to see the relationship between Sherlock and Lestrade; they bicker like two pageant girls most of the time, but it is evident there's something akin to grudging mutual respect between them.MYCROFT HOLMES: Excellent job. Mycroft is the very mysterious elder—and smarter—brother of Sherlock. He practically is the British government, and seems to have a hand in every secret agency you've ever heard of, and no doubt some you haven't. He's a delightfully odd, never-leaves-the-office-but-happy-to-do-the-brainwork type and the sibling rivalry between him and Sherlock is hysterical; they're always trying to outdo one another, while at the same time pretending the other doesn't exist. It's quite funny. The repeated jokes about Mycroft's weight are an amusing throwback to the original stories where Mycroft is quite rotund.MORIARTY: He scares me. He really does. Others have said he yells and carries on too much...but I find him terrifying. It's bone-chilling, and his picture should be in the dictionary under: criminally insane, demented, manipulative, psychopath with serious problems that absolutely no psychiatrist in the world could solve. An absolutely wonderful portrayal of Moriarty for which the actor deserves great applause(though it won't be coming from me, because I'd be too scared to be in the same room with him, even though i'm sure he's a lovely person in real life).All in all a wonderful show that masterfully transports the greatest detective of all time to our time. I am a fan.

Runs on my dvd fine