Product Details

• Actors: Jack Lord, James MacArthur, Harry Endo
• Directors: Gene Nelson
• Format: Box set, Color, Full Screen, NTSC, Closed-captioned
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Subtitles: Spanish, Portuguese
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 7
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Paramount
• DVD Release Date: March 6, 2007
• Run Time: 1271 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (173 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000LE16VC
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,680 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Hawaii Five-O - The Complete First Season" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

There's plenty to like about Hawaii Five-0, the late '60s cop show debuting on DVD by way of this seven-disc set including all episodes from the first season, along with the two-hour pilot that preceded it. Like the music, featuring Morton Stevens' popular theme song. Or the lovely Hawaiian scenery. And let's not forget "Book 'em, Danno," the signature line delivered (although not nearly as frequently as one might expect) by star Jack Lord's Steve McGarrett, not to mention Lord's perfect hair and wrinkle-free slacks. As for everything else, let's just say that Hawaii Five-0 has not aged well. Some of that is inevitably due to the infinitely more sophisticated production values of the series that have followed in its wake; Five-0's technology, sets, and other practical elements are laughably primitive by current standards. Problem is, the cheese factor extends to pretty much every other aspect of the show as well. Most of the action sequences are utterly tension-free, and the pace is frequently glacial, with interminable scenes bogged down by talky exposition. The dialogue is risible: McGarrett refers to one adversary as "a dirty, double-dealing fink," while the so-called hippies who populate the islands utter the kind of idiocies that could only have been written by cubes whose closest contact with the counterculture came from TV commercials for Hai Karate men's cologne ("Looks like splittin' the scene was real cool, baby" is but one egregious example). Lord does a decent job as the stiff-but-heroic McGarrett, variously described as "a hardhead," "an organizational misfit," "a brilliant operator," and "a rebel," but by and large the acting (including guest shots by Sal Mineo, Ricardo Montalban, Gavin MacLeod, and Yaphet Kotto) is wooden. Story-wise, "Cocoon," the pilot, features an intriguing premise wherein U.S. intelligence agents undergo sensory-deprivation torture before spilling their secrets; elsewhere, the elite Five-0 team deals with jewel thieves, gold smugglers, kidnappers, gamblers, murderers, mobsters, all-purpose "criminal masterminds," and even "Red agents" spreading the bubonic plague. In sum: with its light (if not quite frothy) tone, Hawaii Five-0 will offer harmless escapism to some viewers, especially those with a nostalgic bent. Others, however, will long for more substantial fare--you know, like Deal or No Deal. The DVD set includes a single bonus feature: "Emme's Island Moments: Memories of Hawaii Five-O," a retrospective with James "Danno" MacArthur and other cast and crew members. --Sam Graham

Beyond Hawaii Five-0

Virtual Hawaii DVD List

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Stills from Hawaii Five-0: The Complete First Season (click for larger image)

Product Description

Filmed entirely on location in Hawaii the show followed Jack Lord as he played Steve McGarrett head of an elite state police unit investigating "organized crime murder assassination attempts foreign agents felonies of every type." James MacArthur played his second-in-command Danny ("Danno") Williams with local actors Kam Fong Zulu Al Harrington and Herman Wedemeyer among others playing members of the Five-O team. Guest stars included Helen Hayes Ricardo Montalban Leslie Nielsen Herbert Lom Hume Cronyn among others. McGarrett's nemesis is the evil Wo Fat "a Red Chinese agent in charge of the entire Pacific Asiatic theatre. System Requirements:Run Time: 1270 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 097368891647 Manufacturer No: 889164

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb Rendition of a Great Series, March 9, 2007

By 

D. Darienzo "45_record_collector" (Louisville, KY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hawaii Five-O - The Complete First Season (DVD)

I have long been waiting for H5O to come out on dvd. (I mean, come on we have 6 seasons of Magnum P.I. now...) After watching my almost 20 year old VHS tapes made from tv I can say these dvd's blow me away with the clean crisp prints and excellent sound. This show was groundbreaking in that it was shot comepletely on location in Hawaii, something that was very expensive to do, and who can ever forget that theme music.

Season 1 has several great episodes and the pilot episode a 96 minute one called "Cocoon" is very chilling. Some of the standout episodes from this season are the pilot one, And They Painted Daisies On His Coffin, By The Numbers, Yesterday Died and Tomorrow Won't Be Born, King Of The Hill, and The Box. Two of these have Gavin McLeod playing the role of drug kingpin "Big Chicken" and he does it very well.

The only extra is a nice one. It is a special from 1996 filmed in Hawaii with James MacArthur as co-host. Sadly most of the stars of H5O have passed on since this was taped but it is a very interesting and informative special with a nice tribute to Jack Lord. My biggest wish is that James MacArthur had done some commentary for a few episodes, mostly King Of The Hill and And They Painted Daisies On His Coffin, as these were very piviotal episodes based on his character Danno.

If you are a fan of this show (or 1960's cop shows in general) be sure to pick it up you will not be dissapointed. Hopefully we won't have to wait twelve years to have all twelve seasons on dvd. Last note, all the epidoes apprear unedited and run approximately 51 minutes and all music seems to be intact including sevreal night club numbers sung by various guest stars on the show. Kudos to CBS for clearing the music rights for this show.

69 of 77 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Welcome to the Aloha State, January 15, 2007

By 

James Ferguson (Vilnius, Lithuania) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hawaii Five-O - The Complete First Season (DVD)

With one of the most recognizable theme songs in television history, Hawaii Five-O literally burst onto the television screen with its rapid fire montage of opening credits and a brisk pace to its action that was unusual at the time. It served as a counter punch to the lazy images of Hawaiians basking in the sun, by revealing a complex world of crime that swirled around Honolulu like a cyclone. It was up to Steve McGarrett and his boys to rid the island of these unwanted elements, with Wo Fat being his most memorable nemesis. The show may not have been the first to showcase local talent, but it had a strong cast made up of Americans and Asians that presaged the multi-ethnic crime dramas of the late 70s and 80s. It goes without saying that it was the inspiration for Miami Vice, but this was no pastel color version of Honolulu. You can forget Don Ho singing Tiny Bubbles. McGarret looked more like a hardnosed FBI agent than he did the chief detective, running his crew like drill sergeant. James MacArthur may have seemed a little soft but he provided the necessary relief to Lord's hardboiled command. Kam Fong played the memorable Chin Ho through most of the series, which lasted 12 years. An incredible run!

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Classic series finally surfaces on DVD., March 4, 2007

By 

WTDK "If at first the idea is not absurd, the... (My Little Blue Window, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hawaii Five-O - The Complete First Season (DVD)

Jack Lord's classic series finally arrives on DVD. It looks great! Colors are bright and vibrant and we actually get a solid extra. "Hawaii Five-O" ran from 1968 to 1980 and was a fixture on CBS' schedule pulling in solid ratings throughout that time. Lord played former Navy officer Steve McGarrett who dealt with all manner of scum in the 50th State. As someone else pointed out, this is the granddaddy of the modern procedural show (along with some of Jack Webb's series)and, no doubt, inspired such shows as the "CSI" franchise.

This set has the original uncut 90+ minute pilot (which was cut into two episodes during syndication)as well as the entire uncut first season of the series. We also get "Emme's Island Moments: Memories of "Hawaii Five-O" a locally but professionally produced behind-the-scenes glimpse into the making of the show which features interviews with cast and crew members.

Paramount has done a terrific job with this set. I say "Buy 'em Danno!"