Customer Reviews

Due South : Season 1

5 star:		(61)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Like so many others, I was ecstatic when my Due South DVDs arrived in the mail. However, I see I'm not the only person who was slightly disappointed by the presentation. The flaws in presentation are why I only gave the set 4 stars instead of 5. In my opinion, Alliance Atlantis didn't put a lot of effort into this set. I was hoping that they would put more effort into future sets, since this one sold so well, but it wasn't apparent in the second set. I hold out hope that the third season will be more polished.

First of all, the 2-hour Pilot was NOT included in the "Complete First Season." Mindboggling, especially since there was room on the DVDs - the third DVD had 6 episodes instead of 8. The inclusion of the Pilot would have also meant that both parts of "Victoria's Secret" would have been on the same side of Disc 3. As it stands, you have to flip the disc to see part 2, which interrupts the flow of that episode.

I was also disappointed to find that the DVDs contain absolutely nothing in the way of bonus features. The ability to choose from either English or French subtitles and audio tracks just doesn't cut it. Sorry. Other TV series sets have set the bar for this one, and the Due South DVDs, sorry to say, don't achieve those high expectations.

The third & last flaw in the set is the truly abysmal design of the case. I've never seen another set that crammed 3 discs into one case, requiring that two discs overlap each other and that the third disc is more or less hidden under the insert. The overlapping discs are very hard to remove, and I'm sure I'm not the only person who worries about breaking or scratching the discs. I bought extra DVD cases just for these discs, to avoid the overlapping case.

I will say, though, that other than those flaws, I'm very happy with this set and the second set. Finally getting to see the episodes without commercials or interference is heaven. The sound and picture quality are very good. I sincerely hope that the complete series (including the Pilot!!) is available on DVD soon.

This is an amazing deal - there are no extras, just a very basic menu with chapter selections, and very occasionally the picture quality is not so great, but to get the whole 24 episodes for this price is fantastic!

Nicely packaged in a card box, on 4 discs. Fullscreen.

Disc One:
- Pilot Parts 1 & 2
- Free Willie
- Diffenbaker's Day Off
- Manhunt
- They Eat Horses, Don't They?

Disc Two:
- Pizzas and Promises
- Chinatown
- Chicago Holiday, part 1
- Chicago Holiday, part 2
- A Cop, a Mountie, and a Baby
- Gift of the Wheelman

Disc Three:
- You must remember this
- Hawk and Handsaw
- An Eye for an Eye
- The Man Who Knew Too Little
- The Wild Bunch
- THe Blue Line

Disc Four:
- The Deal
- An Invitation to Romance
- Heaven and Earth
- Victoria's Secret - Part 1
- Victoria's Secret - Part 2
- Letting Go

I'm so glad I learned about this Television Series. I never caught it when it was on the air, but I'm loving the first season of episodes. I like unique shows that combine comedy, drama and quirky characters (like Northern Exposure, Gilmore Girls and Monk). Due South fits very well into this category. It's a cop show (complete with car chases.) It has wonderful characters you instantly like. The themes about friendship are strong. And the comedy is deadpan and hilarious. The set-up for the show is that a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police ends up working in Chicago as the unofficial partner of a Chicago Detective. The Canadian is perfect: polite, proper, sweet, gorgeous, brilliant, loyal, proficient and ever-so-serious. The Chicago cop is cynical, bumbling, uncool, intuitive, and a loyal friend. They're the perfect pair, and it's the dynamic between the two of them that makes for great comedy. I highly recommend it anyone looking for a new show that's well written, well directed, well acted & well filmed.

I am a huge fan of Due South and I have been ever since I watched it on television years ago, but over the years I forgot about it, but when I started internet shopping I saw the season 1 dvds listed and it was an instant purchase for me.

When the dvds arrived I watched the first few episodes with no problem, but as I got to the second disc I found that the first episode was corrupted, the playback would stop and start and then just freeze altogether making the episode unwatchable. I looked through the rest of the episodes and found that two others had the same problem and most of them did not play back smoothly all the way through. Even the episodes that I could watch were made less enjoyable because of the jerky playback.

I was very much looking forward to having a marathon after so many years but now I've just lost all enthusiasm because the set has been so badly butchered.

Having read some other reviews I do not share the greivance over the double sided discs, the packaging or the lack of extras provided because I only wanted the episodes, but these are perfectly valid complaints.

I think that any true fan could probably look past these things, but to be sold a set this basic at an unfairly high price that is actually unwatchable is truly unbelievable to me, and I am disgusted with Alliance Atlantis for doing this to fans of the show.

Condsidering that they are involved in the 'CSI' shows which have been given perfectly good dvd trasnfers and most likely bought them large finacial success I cannot understand how they can treat Due South with so little respect that they cannot correctly encode or write the episodes to discs.

If you're a fan and are thinking of buying this then don't bother, save your money and hope that one day they issue a re-release that has been treated properly.

Oh, and if you're thinking I must have been unlucky and bought a dodgy set, then you'd be wrong, I've bought this set three times from three different sources and each one has suffered the same, in one set a disc came scratched from being loose in the box - another thing wrong with this set.

I love this show, but Alliance Atlantis owe me an apology and my money back before I buy anything from them again.

"Due South" comes in two releases for the first season. There is a high priced release missing the two-part series premier and then there is this cheaper release.

What is the difference? This release was mastered from the original broadcast tapes. As such it isn't perfect, but it does contain the pilot episodes. I feel that saving the money in order to get those pilot episodes gives those viewers a chance to see an important background into the main characters.

This set does not contain, and you aren't paying for, closed captioning, languages other than English, or an extensive menu structure. I can live with that to save a lot of money.

This same DVD sells for $53 CDN at Amazon's Canadian store. Even adding $12 for international shipping, that comes to about $50 in US dollars, whereas Amazon here is selling it for $111. I ordered mine from Amazon.ca and it arrived in 3 days...such a bargain!

I watched this show when it was on television, on reruns, and in syndication. I purchased all the products from the website. I use the "Pizzas and Promises" episode for instruction in my high school television production unit. I listen to the music from the shows while dirving. Now I can watch the shows over and over.

The scripts are tight. The characterization reflects consideration of personal experiences. The stories keep the viewer watching. The visuals are strategically placed. Nothing is taken for granted -- once the viewer knows what to look for, in rewind or second viewing, one can actually see what Benton Fraser observes and reports. The humor is clever. Fraser's "life lessons" are delightful ("Duck means duck" or "Don't follow a man over a cliff" or "When the Inuit go fishing..."). The wolf's "dialogue" with Fraser cracks me up.

Paul Gross curls my toes. Benton Fraser does it for me also.

(...)I definitely do not like the packaging, two discs are overlapping a little on their sides. They should have done it where each disc has their own folder .. folding out, that would not compromise on the size/width of the boxset either if that was an issue. When I received the DVDs from the courier, two discs in each boxset were loose and not in their holders. Although I don't think one can damage the discs too much .. unless you're really really careless. Not sure how it'll be down the line in a couple of years ..

For the price, I expected something better. For example, SG1 boxsets which are almost half the price have much better packaging - single boxes for each disc (5 discs total for whole season, like Due South). Or like 24 where it's a fold out box with each disc having their own holder.

As for the show, there are definitely no complaints there. It's all wonderfully crisp and clear, and no commercials! One gripe, as other reviewers have mentioned is that the pilot isn't released as well. Although I've heard that they now will include it in Season 3 boxset which will be forthcoming later this year. (...)

Always loved this show (especially the first two seasons) but held off buying it on dvd till now, having read less than complimentary reviews of the versions released. Was amazed to see this item at such a price. A whole season, including the feature length pilot where it should be, single sided discs, with neat packaging. There are downsides, no extras or subtitles (perhaps they think everybody can lip read like Dief), and the picture/sound only seem slightly better than video at times, but at last I can throw out that crateful of videos and enjoy the World's Nicest Man, his frequently embarrassed new friend Vecchio, and the scene stealing wolf, to my heart's content.
Oh, and the music's great too; this series introduced me to Sarah McLachlan and Loreena McKennitt, for which, 'Thank you kindly'...

If you're a fan of the tv series and want only that, this is definitely the way to go. All of season one and the pilot is included! No fancy extras or animated menu screens, but who cares, you get DUE SOUTH ON DVD!! You can select an episode and a scene within that episode, and that's about it. My only complaint is that the visual and sound quality were lacking at times. If you're a fan and really get into the shows you probably won't notice. If the other seasons (when they're released) are of the same quality, I'll be happy.