Customer Reviews

Agatha Christie's Poirot: The Definitive Collection

5 star:		(54)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Well for the benefit of the woman who asked me to explain the difference in the Poirot collections back when the Acorn sets of the "original series" came out, now she and others who waited can complete their collection and save space at the same time. This indeed is all 12 feature length episodes released to date that were shown here on A&E. For those of you bought them like me in either the smaller sets of 4 and/or individuals, their is nothing new here, but at least this set like the 2 Acorn sets (1 of the hour length shows, the other of the 2 hour ones both of which aired "here" on PBS and A&E later on) will take up less space on your shelf. Since nothing new was added, I will be content with what I have, if by now 7 years after they started you have not gotten any of the A&E ONLY aired stories now is your chance to get them all together. 12 for less than $100 is most definitely a bargain.

If you are considering purchasing this Definitive Collection, you are probably alread very familiar with the wonderful Poirot. So this review just addresses the DVD picture quality, which is excellant. In the past, some of A&Es collections have not been of the best transfer quality, but I was happily surprised by this one that it is every bit as good, perhaps even better, than the Acorn collection.

Great collection as always. However in the US version (Region 1) the format it 4:3 Full Screen, which means the picture has been cropped from the original European version (Region 2) which was shot in 16:9 Wide-screen. If you are into cinematography this is a big deal and sometimes the cropping is pretty awful. It still great TV though!

This was the first Poirot set that I purchased, and although I think all of these DVDs are overpriced, I think the quality of the episodes is excellent. The quality of the transfer of these episodes is better than those of the "Classic Collections". Thus, I recommend first Poirot DVD buyers get the Definitive Collection first, although it should be noted that the episodes selected for this set are not as highly rated as many of the other episodes (see below).

I have listed all of the Poirot episodes below. The first number is the season in the format Season #.Episode #, the next number is the IMDB rating (10 is highest) and the third number gives the collection (C1=Classic Collection (36 episodes), C2=Classic Collection vol. 2, D=Definitive Collection (The collection reviewed here)).

These three sets cover a significant fraction of the available episodes as shown below. What is nice is there is no overlap, provided you limit yourself to these three collections. However, there are a number of sets called "Classic Collections" which makes things difficult. The two referenced here do not have set numbers, but rather volume numbers. The best deal is volume 1, which has 36 episodes. However, the Classic Collection vol. 2 has the episodes with the highest ratings.

All of these DVDs are overpriced based on the quality of the DVD conversions. I love Poirot, so I have purchased two of these (definitive and C1), and am patiently waiting for C2 to drop in price.



S.# IMDB DVD Title
--- --- ----- ---------------------------
1.1 7.4 C1.01 The Adventure of the Clapham Cook
1.1 7.9 C1.02 The Dream
1.2 7.6 C1.03 Murder in the Mews
1.3 7.1 C1.04 The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly
1.4 7.2 C1.05 Four and Twenty Blackbirds
1.5 7.7 C1.06 The Third Floor Flat
1.6 7.3 C1.07 Triangle at Rhodes
1.7 7.4 C1.08 Problem at Sea
1.8 7.3 C1.09 The Incredible Theft
1.9 7.3 C1.10 The King of Clubs
2.1 7.7 C2.01 Peril at End House
2.2 7.4 C1.11 The Veiled Lady
2.3 7.6 C1.12 The Lost Mine
2.4 7.7 C1.13 The Cornish Mystery
2.5 7.9 C1.14 The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim
2.6 7.7 C1.15 Double Sin
2.7 7.6 C1.16 The Adventure of the Cheap Flat
2.8 7.6 C1.17 The Kidnapped Prime Minister
2.9 7.6 C1.18 The Adventure of the Western Star
3.1 7.4 C1.19 The Affair at the Victory Ball
3.1 7.7 C2.02 The Mysterious Affair at Styles
3.1 7.8 C1.20 The Mystery of Hunter's Lodge
3.2 8.0 C1.21 How Does Your Garden Grow?
3.3 7.8 C1.22 The Million Dollar Bond Robbery
3.4 7.8 C1.23 The Plymouth Express
3.5 7.9 C1.24 Wasps' Nest
3.6 8.0 C1.25 The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor
3.7 7.6 C1.26 The Double Clue
3.8 7.8 C1.27 The Mystery of the Spanish Chest
3.9 7.4 C1.28 The Theft of the Royal Ruby
4.1 8.3 C2.03 The ABC Murders
4.2 8.0 C2.04 Death in the Clouds
4.3 7.8 C2.05 One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
5.1 7.8 C1.29 The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb
5.2 7.6 C1.30 The Underdog
5.3 8.1 C1.31 Yellow Iris
5.4 7.7 C1.32 The Case of the Missing Will
5.5 7.7 C1.33 The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman
5.6 8.2 C1.34 The Chocolate Box
5.7 7.8 C1.35 Dead Man's Mirror
5.8 7.6 C1.36 The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan
6.1 7.8 C2.06 Hercule Poirot`s Christmas
6.2 7.4 C2.07 Hickory Dickory Dock
6.3 7.7 C2.08 Murder on the Links
6.4 7.5 C2.09 Dumb Witness

7.1 6.9 D.01 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
7.2 7.4 D.02 Lord Edgware Dies
8.1 7.5 D.03 Evil Under the Sun
8.2 7.0 D.04 Murder in Mesopotamia
9.1 7.7 D.05 Five Little Pigs
9.2 7.6 D.06 Sad Cypress
9.3 7.2 D.07 Death on the Nile
9.4 7.6 D.08 The Hollow
10.1 7.3 D.09 The Mystery of the Blue Train
10.2 7.4 D.10 Cards on the Table
10.3 7.7 D.11 After the Funeral
10.4 7.3 D.12 Taken at the Flood

11.1 8.0 Mrs McGinty's Dead
11.2 7.9 Cat Among the Pigeons
11.3 8.0 Third Girl
11.4 7.2 Appointment with Death
12.1 9.0 The Clocks
12.2 7.7 Three Act Tragedy
12.3 7.5 Hallowe'en Party
12.4 9.9 Murder on the Orient Express

The quality of this collection of Poirot mysteries is better than anything I have ever seen in the realm of television production transfer to DVD. To say that the video quality is magnificent is an understatement. When I began watching these DVD's I was immediately struck by the depth and richness of the color and the brilliant clarity of the images, right down to the finest detail. A&E deserves the highest praise for treating this collection like the masterpieces of cinematography they are. For people who are familiar with David Suchet's brilliant portrayal of Hercule Poirot and the fine acting of Hugh Frasier as Poirot's good natured friend and associate Captain Hastings and Pauline Moran as his dedicated secretary and friend Miss Lemon, it goes without saying that the quality of the acting is a mark of excellence throughout the world. Philip Jackson as Chief Inspector Japp of Scotland Yard rounds out the experience as these four great actors are like welcomed family members to the viewers who know the wonder of this fantastic series. This collection is something you will treasure forever. The only thing that I did not like is the way the DVD's were packaged in the box. The box they come in is designed to hold all twelve DVD's but in order to make the box reasonable in size the DVD's are overlapped, two on each leaf of the box, one DVD on a full spindle and the one overlapping it on a half spindle. It makes it awkward to remove the DVD's carefully from the leafs. I purchased 12 separate jewel cases for these DVD's and I am storing them in the jewel cases rather than the box. It is a small price to pay for maintaining these equisitely high quality productions. I find that each of the twelve productions runs approximately 95 minutes including credits and opening. Whether you are a mystery fan or not, these video productions are wonderful to behold. Absolutely worth the investment. There is one thing, however, that I must caution you about. These productions are NOT for young viewers. Some of the scenes in these films are brutal enough to earn an "R" rating if they were shown in theaters today. For example, in the very first DVD, The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd, there is a scene in which his murder is depicted and it is a horrific scene. A knife is clearly rammed into the victim's throat, firmly held there as blood pours out, and every agonizing twitch of his screaming death throes are displayed. It is enough to give even the most jaded person nightmares. So please exercise caution regarding allowing younger viewers to watch these films. I recommend no one younger than a teenager.


- Mike S.

This is somewhat of a transitional collection incorporating a few titles left out of Acorn's Classic 2 collection with the balance being those produced by A&E. How well you like them probably will depend on when you first encountered David Suchet's run as Hercule Poroit.

The original series was first seen in the US as a group of 36 one hour episodes on "PBS Mystery" and ran from 1989 to 1993. Subsequently, PBS followed those up with a series of 2 hour specials produced by the same production house (Granada). Those initial programs are available in Acorn Media's "Poroit: the Classic Collection" & "... Classic Collection 2". With a few exceptions the various episodes are tightly scripted and centered around the character ensemble of Hercule Poroit, Captain Hastings, Miss Lemon and Inspector Japp. In "Classic 2" that tight little group began to break up just a bit as the lengthier shows brought in more characters from afield yielding less screen time for the supporting cast members. At the same time, the shows seemed to develop a perpetual road trip syndrome as just about all of the later "Classic 2" episodes involved trips to distant locales while the earlier episodes were centered in and around 'tween war London. Petty criticism aside both "Classic Collections" are 5 star rated in my opinion.

The "Definitive Collection" (the series being reviewed here) contains an even dozen 100 minute episodes. The first 3 or 4 are shot by Granada and are characteristically similar to those in Acorn's Classic 2 collection. I would surmise that "Lord Edgware Dies", "Murder in Mesoptamia" and "Evil Under the Sun" were originally scheduled for PBS release and would have been included in the "Classic 2 Collection". I'm not sure why the PBS contract lapsed but at some point production was transferred to A&E with significant differences which you may or may not appreciate. Essentially, while David Suchet was always the star of the series, the A&E productions put him front and center without his companion Capt. Hastings, his long suffering secretary, Ms. Lemon and his foil/friend, Inspector Japp. Instead A&E brought in guest stars from British and American TV to populate the sets and provide flesh to the plot's characters. For the most part they're good, solid performances and not at all tasteless spots by over the hill has beens, though the David Soul and Elliot Gould inclusions might be questionable. However the central charm of the earlier episodes and the leveling effect Hastings, Lemon and Japp had on the egocentric Poirot are clearly missed, sort of like Sherlock without Dr. Watson. Additionally, the overall sense of the A&E productions have the grandiose feel of Edwardian melodramas with all sorts of spoiled cads and self important young ladies parading around aging manors. These are not the Christie penned village mysteries. There is a total absence of humor which was very prominent in the earlier episodes and Poroit becomes more of an oddity in investigating the crimes rather than merely an eccentric. To me his character is diminished rather than enhanced by the absence of his friends.

Having said all that, the stories and production values are very good and if you had not seen the original series you might well be inclined to enjoy these later productions. My preference is clearly for the earlier episodes, but given the $40 price I did come up with 3 (or 4 if you consider the Roger Ackroyd episode which briefly includes Insp. Japp) additional "ensemble" discs which to me are well worth the price of the entire set. If you like the recent A&E episodes this set is a no brainer, but to those who viewed the Suchet series commencing with the original PBS offerings I fear you'll find the viewing more of a chore than a pleasure. I gave it 3 stars due to the absence of the supporting cast which I dearly miss and hopefully as a warning to others that the Poirot they once knew is no more.

Excellent Video Collection. These were very well done, and David Suchet makes a very good Hercule Poirot. It is tough to take the amazing books of Agatha Christie and put them on film, but these do justice and then some. Highly entertaining, for a great value. Would definitely recommend.

Twelve movie length features in one keepcase. Keepcase has two discs on each side of a sturdy plastic sleeve. Less than ideal, but good for those with little room. Buy the sets of 4 movies at a time if you want the individual keep cases. Otherwise an excellent set. Too bad the sets are so confusingly labeled.Poirot is so good, and David Suchet is such a master actor, that you will want to own them all. Give your duplicates to the uninitiated and give them a treat.

This series by A & E does not have subtitles, does not have Miss Lemon, Hastings, (well I take that back, I think the one I fell asleep in, did!) and the usual cast as in the Classic Collection. However, it still is wonderful! Go, push the one click button! Buy it now as you will NOT regret it! "Death on the Nile" and "Evil under the Sun" are disappointing. I guess that is because I have the other movies of that title with Peter Ustinov, Bette Davis, David Niven, etc. I got this entire set, brand new on amazon for like 35 bucks! Some of the shows are slow moving and boring: "Murder in Mesopotamia" I fell asleep watching, could have left this one out completely! But on the other hand, standing ovation, Elliot Cowan, ELLIOT COWAN as Mr. David Hunter is ABSOLUTELY superb in "Taken at the Flood!" Buy the entire set just for this one episode! Why this actor is not a super star is beyond me? Equally engaging and worthwhile are: "After the Funeral", "Cards on the Table", and "The Mystery of The Blue Train". Of course, these are my favorites. Others may disagree. But buy this set regardless. I prefer it to the classic collection. Entirely different in the way it is presented, filmed, etc. Find it much more interesting, the scenes are fast moving, jumping from one to another! And, as usual, the sets, the backgrounds, the scenic beauty, Poirot's obsessive tidiness and attention to every little detail, all these things are there;making for great entertainment! The only reason I buy the Poirot and Miss Marple series, is that I want to watch them over and over and over! No other series, movies or shows, do this, for me! I hope this review was helpful in making others to make up their minds if this set is for them or not? Thank you for reading it!

Unlike the inanities that are inflicted by A&E television today, in the past the station used their budget for more reputable fare, including mysteries like Nero Wolfe and Miss Marple. In each case, the acting, script and sets were just spot on marvelous. The same applies to A&E's Hercule Poirot; David Sachet is perfect in lead role of the Belgian detective, the acting ensemble works as a fluent whole. As mentioned before, the scripts and production values of the shows are superlative; as fine an adaptation of the Dame of Mystery's books to television as one could get.