Product Details

• Actors: Jeremy Brett, David Burke, Rosalie Williams, Eric Porter
• Producers: John Hawkesworth
• Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Mpi Home Video
• DVD Release Date: August 28, 2001
• Run Time: 110 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005NFYI
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #112,919 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Vol. 2: The Crooked Man/ The Speckled Band" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES VOL. 2 - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Better quality than Volume One, but still problems..., August 29, 2001

By 

meiringen "meiringen" (the Midwest) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Vol. 2: The Crooked Man/ The Speckled Band (DVD)

Volume two contains THE CROOKED MAN and THE SPECKLED BAND, two of the very best adaptations in the series.

The quality of transfer from 16mm on this DVD is superior to the first volume (although still slightly grainy), but there are some problems.

THE CROOKED MAN does have some image stability problems, which causes the image to jump very slightly up and down at times (and actually roll on one of my DVD players). There is also a slight greenish tint to the fist few minutes of the episode. THE SPECKLED BAND also has some image stability problems, especially in chapter five (the train sequence) where the right side of the screen shifts slightly, causing the image to "float". There are also sound synchronicity issues in both episodes, very brief, but noticeable nonetheless. Both episodes do have lint (at the top of the frames), scratches and holes intermittently, which could have been cleaned up digitally. The sound is good throughout the DVD--none of the warbling that marred the first DVD in the series occurs here.

Jeremy Brett and David Burke are at their best in well-scripted adaptations of the original stories. The supporting players are wonderful as well.

There are also a photo gallery, biographies and filmographies, and a list of Sherlockian and Jeremy Brett Societies.

In all, a much better quality DVD than Volume One, and, despite the problems, I'd recommend this DVD, especially if your VHS tapes have started to degrade. One hopes that the quality will continue to improve, and I eagerly await the next volume.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jeremy Brett, September 28, 2001

By 

"kawwwwww" (Cranston, RI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Vol. 2: The Crooked Man/ The Speckled Band (DVD)

Our Well Studied and Deliberately Executed Holmes:

In reviewing this DVD, I'm actually examining the actor's performance as the character in the entire series, rather than those encapsulated within the specific titles. I have seen these episodes, and could do a separate review of each, but I think in this case that would actually be inappropriate. I can say, however, that these episodes are very good, and represent this outstanding series very well. The DVD itself is also of very high quality, as far as sound and picture are concerned. Granada did a first rate job, that has translated itself very handily to the new format.

Jeremy Brett's Holmes is something other than the various Holmes' we've been exposed to in the past. I was raised on Rathbone. But when I saw Brett's performances when they first aired on PBS, I slowly forgot Rathbone's influences. Brett immerses himself in such a way that must make it very personal to him, then displays the character of Holmes in a forceful and deliberate manner - and in a depth we may not see again.

The key thing to understanding Holmes, I think, is that he is unique as a genius as any genius would be. Exercising his talents to there fullest doesn't give him super-status as an overall human being by erasing other flaws. Instead, his talent takes precedence, accentuating his human flaws by casting them into a state of neglect that highlights them. Brett understands this, clearly because he himself is either a bona fide genius, or he has somehow deciphered the code that generates a genius' idiosyncratic behaviors. I can't say which. I can say that I really believe his Holmes. Brett may as well BE Holmes.

My second favorite aspect of Brett's Holmes is the level of humor. Great care was taken here to make each little "quip" more situationally true to the character. His humor is really more an expression of how he so uniquely relates to those around him - and is frequently not acknowledged by the other characters - being that they are fairly unaware. We, as the audience are in-on-the-joke, which is nice, and it's usually a pretty funny one.

I guess I just want to say that I think a great deal of this series. Jeremy Brett is the best, and here, has given us so much! He actually died while still "in service" to the roll. Not to sound too stupid about this, but I think there was something very appropriate in that. It's like he waited until he had gained perfection before moving on.

Bravo!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Vol 2., September 9, 2001

By 

JASON BECKETT (NORWICH, NORFOLK United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Vol. 2: The Crooked Man/ The Speckled Band (DVD)

As a big fan of Sherlock Holmes, and Jeremy Brett I was delighted to see the release of the first series on DVD by MPI.The overall quality of the DVD's has been good, the standard of the picture is high, and the sound quality is acceptable.The second DVD in the series is an improvement on the first, however the quality of the sound could be improved, as bad lip synchronization is distracting, particularly in the Speckled band.I have already placed an order for the 3 vol in the series, and I look forward to the future release of the second series.