Customer Reviews

NCIS Naval Criminal Investigative Service - The Complete Seasons 1-3

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Television is an medium which cannibilizes its own successes, where one hit show inspires more variations on the same formula every pilot season. Those shows that invariably succeed do so because they take a formula and make it unique to their show. This is the case with NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service. It first appeared to be a combination of CSI and JAG, not shocking considering JAG producer Bellisario's involvement as creator and executive producer and CSI's overwhelming success. What it showed throughout its first season is that NCIS stands out in its own right through clever writing and great acting, making for solid, entertaining TV drawing a devoted fan base.

NCIS is the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, responsible for crimes by and against members of the United States Navy and US Marine Corps. The team of NCIS agents introduced in Season 1 is led by former Marine Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon), a tough no-nonsense leader and interrogator. The team also includes ex-homicide detective Special Agent Anthony DiNozzi (Michael Weatherly), former Secret Service Special Agent Kate Todd (Sasha Alexander), goth forensics expert Abby Sciuto (Pauley Perrette), computer specialist and rookie Agent Tim McGee (Sean Murray),(McGee appears in a cameo role 6 episodes in and quickly becomes a reoccuring character. By season 2 he is a full timer) and quirky coroner Doctor Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum). Cote de Pablo joins the cast in season three as Mossad agent Ziva David, replacing Sasha Alexander as the female lead on the show. Each actor does an exceptional job developing their character, especially Perrette who makes Abby one of the best and most intriguing characters on TV.

In Season One, the team investigates a broad range of crimes from the apparent parachute death of a Marine, sniper attacks against a Marine recruiter, the disappearance of a service member, and the infiltration of a Navy base by a suspected terrorist. Pilot episode "Yankee White" is especially good. The twists and turns in Season One are frequent and the tension is kept high, but this is a show clearly developing its feel and pace. Season Two gets us more involved in the characters and the show by putting them in harm's way, creating a lasting emotional buy-in. Tony goes undercover and goes missing in "Chained", while Ducky is hunted by a killer in "The Meat Puzzle", and Kate and Tony are stuck in a biohazard room after exposure to a bio agent in "SWAK". Other standout episodes include "An Eye for an Eye", "Conspiracy Theory", and "Lt. Jane Doe". The season ending episode "Twilight" sees the return of the Mossad-trained diabolical agent Ari, who held Ducky and Kate captive in Season One.

Season three began with the two part episode Kill Ari 1 and 2, which examined the aftermath of Kate's death and the hunt for Ari. The introduction of Ziva and Director Jenny Shephard (Lauren Holly) seemed out of place and awkward considering the emotional tone, and it took five or six episodes for Ziva to be less of a cardboard character and more a part of the team. Her first really impressive episode came with Tony in the solid "Under Covers". Some of the better episodes include "Probie", when McGee shoots a man who turns out to be an undercover cop, "Mind Games", where Gibbs goes head-to-head with a serial killer, "Bait" which showcases a great performance by Weatherley. The season-ending Hiatus Parts 1 and 2 are decent episodes up to the last five minutes, which are incredibly rushed in order to get to the cliffhanger of Gibbs quitting NCIS.

The DVD box sets contains all 70 episodes in widescreen. Because of the quick turn-around times on the releases, the extras are somewhat limited to episode commentaries and some cast and crew discussions on the individual seasons. Picture and sound quality is good, but not exceptional. At the current prices, buying all three sets will save you $15 total, so you may want to consider buying them separate if you can find a better deal. Fans of the show will quickly snap this up. For those who have never watched the show before, if you liked JAG, CSI, or Bones, you will like this show. NCIS demonstrates exactly why this show is such a big hit for CBS and why it consistently places in the top 10. The DVD set is on shelves in April. Highly Recommended.

A.G. Corwin
St.Louis, MO

A brilliant box set, right from the first episode to the last. Excellent value, neat presentation and a great keep-sake.

I can't remember the name of the main Nazi in Schindler's List who had a thing for Embeth Davidtz. We've endured and been embarassed by the Love Thine Enemy (who Murders your ENTIRE FAMILY) theme for many years in Holocaust on television and the big screen. Surprisingly, I caught Bete Noire in Season 1, Twilight in Season 2 and Kill Ari in Season 3 on television. And I appreciate the palate cleanser. I'm not a regular watcher of this program. The ending of Twilight says it all. That's the truth. That's the fact.

After the Memorial Day marathon (the strategy works), I find that the series was more entertaining with the introduction of the Ziva character but I still find the show bizarrely written. Mark Harmon doesn't do anything and sometimes his lines don't make any sense. The show is really the three supporting cast members who work under Mark Harmon's character. I'm not that entertained by Abby and Duck.

Most spin offs do not take off as well as NCIS has and it is a huge success in its own right. Mark Harmon is real, natural, and a great leader with wonderful co-workers as Michael Weatherly, David McCallum, and Abby, Zavi, McGee, and all of the other support cast. NCIS is a MUST OWN series.

I am very pleased with my purchase. It was easy to order and the product came as promised. I will certainly use Amazon again for future orders.

I love the show but started watching it on CBS during season four. This gives me a chance to watch the development of the show from the begining. Only negative is that disk 2 of season one is damaged and won't play.

My family and friends love this show because it takes the overplayed crime drama, adds in some humor, and places it in a military context (though, sadly, they chose to deemphasize the military side of it, opting to rarely base episodes on naval sites like ships after the first season). The characters are well-developed, and I enjoy watching them over and over again even though I already know whodunnit since the dialogue and writing is so marvelous!

When buying this from Amazon, compare the prices between the different NCIS products. Some days it's cheaper to buy them as one set, sometimes it's cheaper to buy a partial set and a season or two individually (which is what I found when I ordered this; it was cheaper to buy 1-3 as a set and then 4 on its own than it would have been to buy all the seasons individually or to buy the 1-4 set), and sometimes it's cheaper to just buy them all as individual seasons ... so compare before you order!

I really enjoy this show. The end up this season was disapointing. I like Mark Harmon.

I love the NCIS series. I had not seen the earlier seasons before. Watching them just reinforced my feelings about the series. The characters are intelligent and funny, as well. The plots are believable. The acting is excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed them.

This order was perfect. However, my previous order of 6 seasons of Judging Amy was terrible. Some discs are out of order (like disc 5 showed things that happened after disc 6) Some shows are duplicated.
The worst part is that it freezes up in the middle of a program and nothing else can be seen on that disc. Plus you have TNT commercials during the programs, not separate but over the scene. I would suggest that you discontinue selling for the company that made this.