Customer Reviews

Miracles - The Complete Series

5 star:		(73)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I'm so fed up with broadcast corporations cancelling shows that have even the slightest hint of cerebral value. FOX tops my list of stations that have an almost A.D.D. style of shoot and cancel -- they did the same thing to WONDERFALLS, another fine series that made you think.

MIRACLES was off to an excellent start: put a young man in the priesthood on a special Catholic task force who's sole purpose is to seek out reported miracles in the world, then report back to a cardinal as to if they were real, fake, or unknown. Paul Callan (Skeet Ulrich, Scream) is this one-man force who has science, religion, and a wobbling faith all tied up inside himself. MIRACLES starts out showing us this dark man visiting a cemetery being moved. When they dig up the coffins, a nun who was buried there falls out of the bottom of her casket. And she's in perfect condition, even though she's been dead for 160 years. Come to find out, the graveyard is sitting next to an apricot orchard, and apricots have a preservative effect. Paul realizes this immediately and kicks open a few other coffins to prove it -- inside those are perfectly preserved corpses, too. Thus we get to see that Paul isn't looking for miracles, but is simply trying to give credence to the unexplained.

Also in the first episode, we get to see Paul nearly killed in a train versus automobile crash. While lying in the crumpled car, he sees his blood on the windshield; and it forms a sentence (this is called Hemography) that reads "God is now here." And then a young boy (whom he'd been investigating because of claims that the boy healed with a touch of his hands, but then became ill after each "healing") comes to him and heals Paul ...then the boy dies. When Paul reports back to the cardinal about what he'd experienced, the cardinal dismisses his claim, so Paul up and quits the church. But in the wings is waiting a man who runs a special paranormal research agency. Alva Keel (Angus Macfadyen, Braveheart) becomes Paul's new boss, and the discoveries they make are terribly disturbing.

Apparently, most people who've seen the message that Paul saw in his blood didn't see "God is now here." They saw "God is nowhere." And so begins their spiritual, paranormal, and dark journey.

The thing that bugged me most about this series was its title, MIRACLES. I didn't see most of what they found to be miraculous as much as disturbingly dangerous. But even so, the series held together pretty well regardless of its name.

Paul has to try and overcome the fact that he was saved by a child who gave up his life for Paul's. This horrible event haunts Paul throughout the series as we repeatedly witness his visions and dreams of the boy, eyes bleeding, face gaunt, hair falling out.

It is worth noting, too, that this series has very little in the way of spiritual upliftingness. There are touches of it, but mostly the episodes hit on something dark coming, something terrible. The apocalypse maybe?

The viewer is never given any insight into what exactly is in store for Paul and his paranormal investigations. And, unfortunately, we'll never really know for sure since the show was cancelled (can I bare my b&tt so that FOX executives can kiss it!)

But I do have a theory of my own. Paul was an orphan and never knew his mother or father, and this plays a vital part of Paul's character and how we view him. He's a loner, but a good person at heart. He's just suffering over what to do with his questioning faith in ...everything. But everyone in the series wants to be near him and trusts him. He also goes through Hell on Earth; during his investigations he almost always gets the cr@p beat out of him, only to recover and move on to the next case. I think he was being set up for something large and important; perhaps to become an angel or a type of disciple for the next coming.

But, again, who knows. FOX's idiocy has ruined another great character show. Morons!

I didn't give the show 5 stars because some of the episodes were pretty pedestrian in nature and easy to figure out, but the acting, excellent filming, and haunting music all made this a very watchable series.

This show was one of the best shows that once again, was never given a chance. I watched most of its run on ABC, which was hard, since it was aired unevenly, and I often didn't know whether it was supposed to be on or not.

I was quite sad to find that it had been cancelled. My mom was sad as well, since I had gotten her hooked on it too :)

Anyway, I loved the show's most thought provoking quote "God is Now here." It's a big deal in the series, as you will find that it is the first time that those words had ever appeared (written in blood), because previously, anytime they had been written, it was "God is nowhere."

Very intense show that made you think. I especially loved the Airplane episode, where everyone gets their wish. It had a touching side story of true unconditional love.

This show, by Angel co-creator David Greenwalt, was a gem that wasn't allowed to see the light. Buy/pre-order this and treat yourself to some very smart ideas regarding religion mythos (even if you are not religious, it's a good character driven show.)

Just a little bit of trivia. In Angel's season 4, there is a shout-out to this show (it had already being cancelled) where they have a chuch with a sign saying "God is Nowhere."

A gem of a series that got canceled way too soon. As pointed out, this show was killed not because of any controversy, but because of the war in Iraq. After three airings, ABC pre-empted the Monday timeslot three out of four weeks. By the time the three remaining episodes saw the light of day, the only ones watching were the dedicated Angel fans who loved David Greenwalt's work. So despite critical praise, the show vanished. Like Wonderfalls, here was another character driven show in an age of only plot driven fodder like the CSI and Law & Order franchise. Like most networks over the last few years, they don't know what to do with shows that put character development over predictable action, sex and violence. So ABC stumbled and thusly had no faith in that viewers would find the show. Had they been smart -and had wanted to keep the show - they should've started reairing the show in April of 2003, but that opened a whole barrel of over issues. Still, they could've saved it for the summer or even held it back until late August. Whatever, I am glad this show is coming to DVD. It deserves to be seen, and while I'm sure only Buffy and Angel fans will buy this, maybe we can convince more people outside those two franchises to buy it. I mean, I showed a friend Wonderfalls, and he was so impressed with -at the time he first though this was an Ally McBeal rip-off - he went out an bought the set. I was happy. This show should've continued. Maybe, if enough people buy this, someone might be convinced to do a big screen version. It is that good.

Miracles-The Complete Series is now available on DVD. There is a chance that you might not remember this show. Only a handful of episodes aired before the show was canceled by ABC. It is hard to believe that such an intriguing show that is so well written met the fate of early cancellation. Skeet Ulrich stars as Paul Callan in this series as a young man whose job is to discover potential miracles. In the pilot episode his faith is seriously waning. At times he even questions whether God exists, of course he didn't utter such a phrase on network television, his exact words were , "I wonder sometimes if we are on our own down here." It is learned that Paul was a foster child and this explains his ties to the church. When he is assigned to visit a family with a young boy, he assumes it will be another false miracle. When he meets this young boy named Tommy, he is intrigued to find that the boy has healing powers. He also realizes that everything Tommy heals someone, he gets sicker himself. Tommy's father feels the boys should continue to heal others despite his own sickness, Tommy's mother wants her son to stop healing and to save his straight for himself. Paul promises to stay by Tommy's side.

Not wanting to be a spoiler, but Paul eventually leaves Tommy's family. The incident with the young boy renews Paul's faith and inspires him to continue on with his pursuit of miracles. When he returns to his job and tells the church his findings, he is shocked when the dispel the miracles that he has just witnessed. He quits his job, hooks up with a mysterious man (Angus Macfayden), and a former police officer (Maria Ramirez), they form their own operation in the pursuit of explorer strange occurrences that have a dark underside.

This is a very interesting show and if you like shows like X-Files and CSI, you will love this show and be hooked. You will want to watch the entire series. By the way, the DVD box set includes 7 episodes that never aired in the United States. This isn't a real religious show as some might think it is based on the title. It is more of a supernatural thriller type of show. Watch one episode and you will be hooked. Thanks to Shout Factory you can enjoy this show on DVD. The DVD set also includes interviews, commentaries, series promo and deleted scenes.

I must say that I purchased this dvd because it showed up on my recommended list. I had never seen the t.v. series and was not sure what it was all about. I must say that I could not be more pleased. The acting is terrific! The story lines, are outstanding! If you believe in God or not, this is a series you should see. I'm just sorry that this series never got pass its' first season. If you watch this dvd you will see why I felt this way. It is really T.V. at its' best! If you watch, you will enjoy!

This show was gunned down way too soon. I'm not too familiar with the reasons behind the executives canceling the show after just a short 1st season. Maybe it had to do with ratings or actor troubles, but from what I saw of only the first show's broadcast I knew that I was going to buy this TV show.
Sadly I joined the Army shortly after it started airing or else I would have gleefully watched the entire spellbinding season. "Miracles the Theatrical Movie" would be a BLAST and would be a much better film the either Johnny Depp's " Ninth Gate" or Heath Ledger's "The Order". Not to say that either of them was bad, they were both entertaining and well made.
I just think that with Miracles in your face tense shots (on some episodes) and quick acting (actor) and reacting (character) to the scene it would make for an excellent theatrical screen presence. If that is to say it could not be resurrected to a second season or series.

If you trust me then buy it. If you don't then rent it first, then buy it. Either way Buy it. :)
james.a.dawley@us.army.mil

This show, like Firefly, was cancelled early in and in my opinion, unfairly. Between an interview with Michael Jackson by "Bahbwah Wahwahs" and the announcement and updates on Bush declaring war in Iraq, the show lost it's momentum (because all this happened on nights it was supposed to air), the show got cancelled like after 5-6 episodes - out of 13 or 14.

I and many people I know and have read about were really bummed about it getting cancelled.

However, I was in Best Buy the other day and just happened to see this beauty of a box set sitting on the shelf and I immediately picked it up. I've been watching through the aired ones again and I still enjoy them just as much as I did when they were on TV. It's such a wonderful show and you'd really be missing out if you didn't get to see them. I mean, honestly, if you liked X-Files, you'll like Miracles, plain and simple.

The jet airliner episode is the first show, TV or movie, that actually managed to make me tear up. That says a lot.

Anyway, I just wanted to pass on my recommedation of a really good show. If word of mouth saved Firefly, I'd like to see if it can help Miracles, too.

When Miracles debuted on ABC I was so excited. How sad that the appearance of quality television is so rare as to cause excitement - but there we have it. Miracles (an unfortunate title that was too "PAX" for its own good) was interesting - arresting in fact. The tone, the scripts, the direction/acting and the stunning visuals all combined to promise a season of entertainment. But after the third week it got lost. If this program had come along after ABC experienced success with this season's hit "LOST" the network might have understood what they had in this series. As it is, I cannot imagine what programming they had at that time that they believed would be better than Miracles.

Yesterday I found the DVD of the series, purchased it with great anticipation and watched it immediately. It is just as unique and compelling as I had expected. All of the elements that made the show stand out from the ordinary are consistent throughout the 13 episodes included. The commentary is very useful, providing the usual background information and more.... additional discussions of the types of phenomena that Miracles portrayed.

I did recommend Miracles when it was running on ABC - and would have had an easier time of describing it had I thought to call it a spirital X-Files. Now, I do highly recommend the DVD especially for those who enjoy the less violent, more hopeful visions of Steven King or Dean Koontz.

This fantastic show was dropped because Michael Eisner of Disney didn't like it and Lloyd Braun, the president of ABC and Eisners lap dog, ordered that some lame show be put in its place after 6 episodes. Another reason for Eisners' ouster-his way be done, the audience be darned. The show premiered right after Superbowl XXXVI and grabbed a good sized audience. Now with Lloyd Braun and Eisner gone from ABC and Disney (parent company)
Now its your turn to watch and become entranced by the mystery of Miracles. The writing, subject matter and acting all combine to make a truly thoughtful and entertaining series killed in infancy by an uncaring and insensitive network. Purchase this DVD set-you'll wonder why we, the audience, tolerate the idiocy on network television when the true gems, like Miracles, get binned for no reason.

A higher reccomendation can't possibly be given. The show is simply astonishing in it's unusually high grade of quality, as the pilot episode alone almost has the same "look" as perhaps something you would see in a theater.

The acting of the core cast from Skeet Ulrich, Angus Macfayden and Marisa Ramirez (particularly Ulrich), along with the supporting players from each seperate episode, is among the best you'll find on television. Add in breathtaking photography, music and brilliant writing and you pull together a program that's very well near flawless.

Take note, however, that what you get is pretty intense. Not for the faint of heart, as "Miracles" is one of the most gripping rides you'll take stretched on your sofa. Scary? You bet (perhaps even terrifying). Emotionally moving? Keep the hankies close by. And for the big cliche (sigh), one could even say truly inspiring.

The extras availble (deleted scenes, commentaries and creator interview) prove to be thoughtful touches, and give some needed insight as the series met a painfully early demise.

If you've ever doubted television can have true artistic merit and relevance, "Miracles" will make you a staunch believer of the opposite. A knockout.