Product Details

• Actors: Fernando Allende, Bill Bailey, Ed Bishop, Barry Morse
• Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Paramount
• DVD Release Date: March 24, 2009
• Run Time: 413 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001PKHS6S
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #27,061 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Master of the Game" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Sidney Sheldon’s sudsy, sprawling miniseries Master of the Game arrives on DVD in time to celebrate its 25th anniversary and please fans who have pined for the lusty adventures of diamond heiress Kate Blackwell (Dyan Cannon) since its network debut in 1984. The eight-hour production, which is spread over two discs, covers three generations of a family steeped in the South African diamond trade. Ian Charleson (Chariots of Fire) dominates part one as Jamie McGregor, who carves an empire out of the wilds of South Africa; Cannon takes over in part two, which follows her control of her father’s business while meddling in the affair of her son (Harry Hamlin); the final part follows her twin granddaughters (Liane Langland) as their personal machinations threaten to destroy the company. A talented supported cast, including Leslie Caron, Donald Pleasance, Barry Morse and Cliff De Young lend believability to the larger-than-life characters and plotting, but it’s Cannon who shines brightest, and in a difficult role that requires her to play from youthful ingénue to elderly matron. Technical aspects are typically top-notch; the DVD includes no extras. --Paul Gaita

Product Description

Based on Sidney Sheldon’s bestselling novel, the miniseries Master of the Game debuts on DVD in a 2-disc set 25 years after its network premiere. The lavish, international saga spans a century and focuses on the Blackwell family’s rise to wealth from 1890s South Africa where the family’s fortune is made in diamonds to the primary story of iron-willed Kate Blackwell, the driven, power-hungry head of the family's embattled corporate empire.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Every bit as entertaining as you remember -- and you do!, April 11, 2009

By 

Mark Allen (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Master of the Game (DVD)

If you loved the sudsy world of 1980s prime-time TV, February 1984 will forever stand out in your mind. With "Dallas," "Dynasty," "Falcon Crest" and "Knots Landing" all in the weekly Top 10, for three consecutive weeks viewers were also treated to epic, melodramatic mini-series. First was NBC's "Celebrity," followed by "Master of the Game" on CBS and then ABC's "Lace." Each posted bigger ratings than the previous.

"Master of the Game" was a nine-hour, three-night smash. Based on Sidney Sheldon's compulsively-readable novel, the saga told the 100-year story of the Blackwell family. At the center, Dyan Cannon wore innumerable preposterous gowns (don't get me started on the hats!), and guided her family's business empire to ever more dizzying heights. The plot moves at light speed, the diverse cast (everyone from Jean Marsh and Leslie Caron to Harry Hamlin and David Birney) was typical of the genre, and the sets were sumptuous.

Without providing any spoliers (not that they are needed for fans), this book-turned-mini advances the devilishly-addictive plot at breakneck speed. For newer fans of the book, this dramatization is well worth watching.

The collection would have earned five stars were it not for the *horrible* transfer. Produced at a then jaw-dropping cost of $3-million per hour, the series had a lush, gorgeous look. Unfortunately, the picture is often horribly grainy and the colors are inconsistent. But who cares? It's the story that makes "Master of the Game" the winner that it is.

Sit back and savor the sudsy goodness!

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Master of 1980s mini-series, January 14, 2010

By 

Darren "An avid reader" (Canberra, Australia) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Master of the Game (DVD)

After watching this mini-series for the 20th time last week, I have to say that Master of the Game is a good example of how some great television miniseries were produced in the 1980s.

The production values in this series are excellent, with a great musical score and fantastic scenery shots. The costumes were well designed and suitable to the various eras. Where the script/book demanded that the scenes be set in Africa or Paris, the producers took this series to those locations (although I believe that the South African scenes were shot in Kenya, and the New York mansion is the interior of an English manor home). The script was very well written, and the casting/acting was spot on (where has Liane Langland gone??).

Although some television miniseries produced in the 1980s have dated (eg, Rage Of Angels and If Tomorrow Comes), Master of the Game stands the test of time, and should be mentioned alongside Lonesome Dove, Shaka Zulu and North and South. I have to agree with a previous review of this item that CBS has not done this series the treatment it deserves with the poor transfer to DVD. As an anniversary edition, surely CBS could have given us the entire, unedited series that originally aired in 1984.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sidney Sheldon's "Master ( of the Game ) Piece!", November 5, 2009

By 

PAUL A. RACIOPPIJR "Dr. Paul Racioppi, Jr" (BROOKLYN, NEW YORK United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Master of the Game (DVD)

I had first seen "Master Of The Game" upon its February 1984 premiere. As an avid fan of everything Sidney Sheldon has written from "I Dream Of Jeannie" to "Rage Of Angels", "Windmills Of The Gods" and "The Other Side Of Midnight", I had actually taped this on betamax (remember those!) to watch on that Saturday in winter 1984. I was a Sophomore dental school student at the time, which leaves you no time to watch anything during the week. Thank God I had taped this. I slept late ( until the afternoon ) that Saturday, transcribed two different school lectures from my little tape recorder ( didn't those days seem so simple compared to today? ), ran out for some dinner with my best friend from school, and he came over to watch this with me - all nine hours straight through. We had hot coffee and a great night of television. This was Sheldon's masterpiece, sprawling decades and world geography from South Africa and Maine, to New York, Paris and Vermont. I totally agree with the previous reviewer's comments about Dyan Cannon's hats! But that was the time, and money was nothing to these people. Dyan is dynamic as the matriarch inheritor of a diamond empire named Kruger-Brent ( named for two vicious dogs who almost finish her father off in South Africa, as he is about to discover diamonds in the sand on the beach, becoming one of the richest men in the world. Fortunately, the dogs do not win! But Harry Hamlin is worth his weight in gold as Kate Blackwell's ( Dyan Cannon's ) son, who is naturally gifted to become one of the greatest artists in the world, only to upset his mother to the point of trying to control every aspect of his destiny to the max. You'll find out what this could cause him to do to his mother ( I won't ruin it for those who haven't seen it ). One of my favorite scenes, if not my favorite in the miniseries, though, schmaltzy as it may seem ( I am a New York City native ), is the scene where Hamlin is flying to New York to meet the woman he "truly" loves, with the Statue of Liberty's head shown, lit at night, with an absolutely beautiful musical backdrop, as he is arriving in an older taxicab to a Park Avenue apartment building. Sidney Sheldon always knew how to make you feel rich, successful, and in love - even if you weren't! Truth be told, this is my fourth favorite miniseries of all time, with the first three being ( favorite first ): 1) Harold Robbin's 79 Park Avenue, 2) Irwin Shaw's "Rich Man Poor Man", and 3) Colleen McCullough's "The Thorn Birds". Don't get me wrong, "Master Of The Game" is five-star all the way. The other three were simply more favoritive to me. But if you haven't seen "Master" yet, get ready! Plan to spend a rainy day or night at home because you won't want to stop watching it. Trust me on that! And enjoy Sidney Sheldon at his miniseries best! One other add - if you haven't seen "Rage of Angels" and "Rage of Angels: The Story Continues" ( both Sidney Sheldon as well - the first was the novel both were based on ), see them as well. They will definitely warm some cold winter nights ahead. I'm a pathetic romantic, in case you haven't figured that out yet!


Dr. Paul A. Racioppi, Jr. Brooklyn, New York.