Sounding more and more like fact than fiction each season, Spooks has returned with this it’s 6th season DVD release. The show, known as MI5 to our American cousins is a television drama set around a group of people working for the British Security Services. Before season 6 each episode was of the standalone variety where only limited aspects carried on to the next episode. This time mimicking 24, Spooks uses the entire season to run just one storyline about a train bomb in Iran, then going to Iran’s attempts to gain nuclear weapons to challenge the west.

There are some nice character moments with a greater overall production quality to each episode than prior seasons. The story is gripping in places and just within in the realms of believability. There are a couple of slow episodes but that can be said of any show. Overall, Spooks season 6 on DVD is a really interesting piece of television, it will take repeat viewings and with an open ending that will be continued in the seventh season showing on the BBC this month it really is an essential watch for anyone planning on seeing the newest episodes on television. Season 5 made Spooks appear as though it was running out of story ideas, some stories were recycled from prior seasons and season 6 could have easily gone the same way. Happily the single story for a season idea has made it truly amazing once more. Spooks season 6 is out now on DVD in the UK.

Click continue to see more reviews including all the CSI’s, Street Kings, The Unit, Boston Legal and The Simpsons!

Street Kings managed to slip under the radar during it’s cinema run and now out on DVD it’s time to see if it’s a hidden jem or a best left forgotten flop. Kings was hyped as the next Training Day. This time it has Keanu Reeves as the lead, a cop who doesn’t fear getting dirty to do the job and make sure that the criminals pay in blood. As a man under investigation he is found in a compromising position at a crime scene with evidence pointing to his involvement even though on this occasion he’s innocent. A cover up comes around into the murder of a fellow cop and as the only man not leaving it to the powers that be, he hunts for the killers not knowing who to trust and who is involved.

Kings is an interesting story with some great appearances throughout by Hugh Laurie (Blackadder, House M.D.) and Forest Whitaker (Last King of Scotland, The Shield) but they are under used. It takes a huge amount of time before anything happens after an initial action scene and plenty of exposition. Even with a full telling of the characters and events it’s hard to understand why Keanu is taking the course he is on during the rest of the film. It’s like a part of the script which would show the internal struggle he goes through is missing from the final cut. If anything Street Kings has the feeling of a movie where the end was written first, resulting in it being the best scene of all and the rest is just an excuse to show it. Fans of The Shield will want to see Street Kings, as will fans of Forest Whitaker. There are a great number of extras included on the DVD all worth watching and surprisingly insightful.

Since Homer Simpson is a legend in his own right here really is no need to go through and explain what The Simpsons is, but if so, it’s a cartoon comedy from the States now airing it’s 20th season. Now finally with the DVD release of season 11 we get to watch whenever we want some of Homer’s greatest moments. There are highlights like Homer as a food critic, where he consults Mel Gibson on his newest movie and of course the Tomacco crop.

Also included in this season is the usual Treehouse of Horror episode. This time it’s I Know What You Diddily-Iddly-Did as the best of the three stories where a spoof version of the Jennifer Love Hewitt movie I Know What You Did Last Summer comes into play, only where Ned Flanders is the victim.

What real fans of the show will be interested in is the inclusion of deleted scenes, some a lot more violent than the broadcast version and others change the end result incredibly. Where the Mel Gibson episode is concerned there is an entire alternate ending reversing the outcome. There are also some other extras but by this point with all the prior seasons documentaries there is not much left to tell. The best recommendation to give is if you decide to buy season 11 it’s best to get another season also. The Simpsons can take repeat viewings but is a show where not having to watch episodes over again for a while is a benefit, so the more episodes you have the better. A classic season for a historic show. The UK DVD is out now.

Miami feeds on back story, so using character moments as a season progression is not a bad thing. As usual all character moments revolve around Horatio and his personal history so no surprise there. Most of the episodes are standalone murders over money or the usual so it keeps with tradition. The murders are a bit more imaginative than usual so it makes a nice change. Plus there seems to be more heavy gunplay than in the other CSI shows which should keep action fans happy.

This time around we have action around a truck hijacking, celebrity murder, drug dealers, car jackers and the list just goes on. At least there is some variety but there are the standard murders thrown in for good measure. Miami is perhaps the most glossy of the CSI shows but it does keep you interested throughout with film quality presentation and a crime a minute. There is the usual featurette included and this time it covers the characters wardrobe and look, perhaps not the best bit of hard science going or real-world accuracy but it’s a nice filler. For CSI Miami fans there is plenty to be enjoyed for the rest there is a nice sit down and enjoy attitude with a lot of replay value. DVD out now.

It’s been a long time coming with the cliffhanger ending to the last season. Season 8 of CSI continues with numerous ways of people being killed all while trying to come up with something new. The same characters are around as before, and at least in part, that’s the problem. Around the time of the television broadcast it was announced that Sarah Sidle wouldn’t be in the show any longer apart from a quick cameo to show the characters exit. It’s hard to comment on without spoiling but it can be said that the characters exit takes up way too much screen time and deflects from all other events. In any normal CSI half season it would be a standard affair to have one single killer storyline taking up the main focus while smaller single murders are used in standard episodes.

But this time it’s all a soap opera about Sidle. It’s like a Die Hard movie where John McClane is spending the entire movie talking about his home life and not blowing things up, it lacks interest after a bit.

To the episodes we go. Most are standalone with only those few character moments joining them together. The murders are unimaginative and typecast actors are used so you know exactly who did it before the episodes progress to the reveal. To freshen things up a crossover for Without a Trace is included but the story is a generic lost child so it doesn’t add anything and makes the Trace lead character Malone look like a jerk in the CSI episode. There is light at the end of the tunnel, right at the end though. The last episode is a murder game where the lab rats (techs) take the lead. This is the best episode of the set and for fans of comedy and the supporting cast a great thing to see. It’s like a sequel to last years episodes where the rats tried to solve the miniature killings, only this time they try to figure out who killed who in the lab in a number of difference scenarios. It’s funny and odd, the best and only really good episode of the season which makes the possibility of another rats episode next year the hope keeping the show alive.

The extras are numerous and perhaps an attempt to hide the fact that there are less episodes than normal due to the writers strike. There are a grand total of 8 CSI episodes plus the Without a Trace episode on the usual 3 discs so extras act as the filler. There is one featurette about writing Sidle’s exit, another about the Lab Rats fictional board game, one about the rats episode which makes essential viewing and finally an oddly placed featurette regarding a guest director. The guest director featurette really doesn’t belong in this set as it covers an episode not yet released to DVD, adding to that the running time which shows a lot of the episode it’s like a major spoiler if anything good does occur.

Overall it’s hard to come to a conclusion for this release. Most of the episodes are generic and for CSI fanatics only, then there is the lab rats episode which is perhaps in the top 5 best the show has ever produced. Something which needs heavy thought before a purchase, and it is out now.

With how many CSI incarnations there are an the many, many seasons there have been it’s hard to see how the newest releases can be kept feeling fresh. Happily though the release of New York season 4 part 2 is just that, a breath of fresh air. With a great use of location the show just keeps getting better and better. As usual there are several episodes in a giant arc spanning the whole of this release, this time about a NYC cab. If you get it, you won’t get out alive.

Even for those who are not fans of CSI as a whole the taxicab killer story makes up a full 3 hours of episodes so it’s as good as a mini-series all on it’s own. Then there are the usual standalone episodes about murdered teens and other generic CSI crime scenes. Then there is what New York does best, a killer (not literally) season ender. Last time it was a heist inside their office with a full-on Die Hard style confrontation, this time it’s a bank robbery where Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise) goes inside to investigate a shooting while the standoff is still taking place.

Overall New York is the great surprise, for those who have not seen earlier episodes there are very few references to prior events so it can be enjoyed as a single purchase and doesn’t have to lead to a purchase of every title. This release is out now and season 5 part 1 cannot come soon enough.

Denny Crane, Captain Kirk or William Shatner. It doesn’t matter which one you love if you like any watching season four of Boston Legal is essential for fans. With the usual swapping of half the main cast to make place for new actors fans of prior seasons will be happy to know that both Shatner and Spader are still around as Denny Crane and Alan Shore respectively. With how many odd situations the legal drama/comedy has gone through it’s hard to imagine that enough fresh material could have been gathered to make a fourth season but happily it brings back a quality not seen for some time.

William Shatner is fantastic as usual, this time some of his best antics are against the liberals, environmental activists and cops. Plus the Republicans look into making Denny Crane a possible Republican candidate for President instead of John McCain. His more liberal best friend Alan doesn’t get left behind as both sue the US National Guard for not protecting Denny’s favorite pizza place from a flood, then try to join the National Guard and finally due to age restrictions the US Coast Guard. There are some great stand alone episodes as with every season and unlike season 3 there are no bad episodes. If Denny Crane in the Supreme Court sounds like your kind of thing, then Boston Legal season four is great fun.

The extra included in this seasons release is rather strange in retrospective. It’s a featurette about the new main characters brought in with the 4th season. There are clips explaining who each character is, with an interview with the actors who play them. What makes it odd is the next season which is currently airing in the States has less than half those introduced in this featurette still in the show. So time is given to introduce actors who will only appear in this one season and then stop. It doesn’t really make sense for it to be included but then again it’s better to have extras than to not. The UK DVD is out now.

We reviewed season 2 of The Unit last year and found it a highly enjoyable show. There is one problem for action fans is the show is cut in two and the majority of the time is spent covering the wives and their daily lives. In the third season there is a lot more soap opera about even less military things and action than ever before.

As any viewer of The Unit’s earlier episodes would know soap opera comes with the territory. This time it’s the focus as the wives deal with money issues and generally make the show feel like a copy of Desperate Housewives only with a shorter season order. The action comes from the usual places with several excursions by Unit members to other countries to take out assassins and extract hostages and captives. There are some interesting episodes but the season is over in a flash with a total run less than half of any standard US television season. Take into account the soap opera sections and there is not nearly enough action or memorable episodes like season 2. The highlight of this season comes in the form of it’s two part beginning where Jonas, the teams leader is on the run with other members under interrogation. If you haven’t seen the prior season the storyline is difficult to follow but action needs no translation.

There are some extras in the form of a writers discussion and deleted scenes which will only appeal to those who like the wives side of the show. Overall The Unit is an 11 episode mixed bag of soap opera and tension but no action. The show had great potential so it’s understandable that with season 3’s direction it was expected to be cancelled, the season’s beginning is worthy of anyone’s time but the rest is for true fans only. The best example to those who haven’t seen the show is this season is like the Kim Bauer focused episodes of 24. The DVD is out now.