Customer Reviews

Agatha Christie's Poirot: Collector's Set Volume 10

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The excitement mounts (and shelf space decreases for collectors) as the 10th entry in the Hercule Poirot series appears! <Poirot 10> has, of course, all the superb production values of the other sets (both the short episodes on VHS and the longer ones on VHS and DVD) with the nearly perfect incarnation of Poirot in actor David Suchet. However even the most rabid fan must admit that two of the three plots are not top drawer.

"Murder in the Mews" is the strongest entry with its twist on "the murder set up to look like a suicide" element. Toss into the salad the caddish Major (James Faulkner), the pompous politician (David Yelland) engaged to the victim, and the best friend (Juliette Mole), and you have all the ingredients for a solid whodunit with a good red herring.

"The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly" telegraphs its solution too early in the proceedings for any interest to build up except for the question of How rather than Who. Also the precautions taken to prevent the crime are too unrealistic for credibility.

"Four and Twenty Blackbirds" again uses a bearded character, which in series such as this one too often means someone in disguise. I am not revealing too much, since Poirot knows this halfway through, but the criminal in this case was simply too careless and there are "too many clues." A nude artist's model with a sense of humor, however, does not hurt.

But mind you, these are still fun to watch as Suchet penguinwalks circles around Chief Inspector Japp (Philip Jackson).

These mysteries are excellent. I actually like them better than the original books. David Suchet makes the character of Poirot much more understandable, and likeable.

David Suchet brings Agatha Christie's Poirot to life as no other actor has. The stories are marvelous; the supporting cast is wonderful, and the picture quality is good. However, there are problems with the sound. I am hearing impaired and the sound on these DVDs is unusually low and indistinct which makes the accents very difficult to understand. Amazon states on their web site that the DVDs are close captioned, but they are not. The poorer quality of the sound and the absence of close captioning are problems for anyone with hearing difficulties.

Dear Friends of Poirot:

Of the three stories on this DVD the above mentioned story is not too good from my standpoint. Johnnie Waverly is lacking in the usual indepth focus these great stories normally have.
See it once and you seen it enough ! Had I recognized this item by its name, etc. I would not have purchased this DVD.

The other two stories are First Class!

This is advertised as closed-captioned which is why we selected it for my mother-in-law who is hard of hearing. However, it is not closed-captioned.

The Poirot series are very good entertainment BUT I bought this and two other videos of the Poirot series (N°1-10-12) especifically because they were either subtitled or close captioned, as it is specified in the product. They are not, so beware for those for whom this is an important feature.

Three more for the case book, with David Suchet (Poirot) the dandy.
Love the cars, cloths,location and sets. Hastings gets what he asked for in Murder in the Mews. All of the cases are good on this set and my wife and I have collected all but one case, I'm not sure it's on DVD.

If you want this, and the other eleven Collector's sets, then you want: Agatha Christie's Poirot - The Classic Collection. These sets are the same as the Classic Collection sets Agatha Christie's Poirot: The Classic Collection - Set 1 through Poirot: Classic Collection Set 4. Don't be fooled into buying duplicate DVDs.

Usually before buying a product I check the reviews. Guess my enthusiasm, since i am a big Agatha Christie fan, this time played me because when I saw that this product was close captioned I bought it right away without checking the reviews. Its not close captioned, and that bothers me since I needed a product with those specifications and it fooled me into thinking that it was. That's why I gave it 3 star. The rest is fine. I think David Suchet plays a wonderful role as Hercules Poirot.

I'm getting the entire series - bit by bit. That's how much I like Suchet and Poirot.