Customer Reviews

The New Detectives: Case Studies in Forensic Science - Seasons 1 & 2

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a great series. The current trend in Discovery/History Channel shows is ridiculous: some bombastic narrator is walking briskly down the street, blabbering away, as jump-cuts and overblown sound effects drown out the content. Or the other kind: shaky-camera, Blair-Witch-Project style, as usually idiotic people try to sound incredibly excited or scared of the material they are trying to tell viewers about, trying to jack up the mood and tension level, obscuring the source material, whether that source material is actually interesting or not. In both of these approaches, crazed sound effects, an altogether inappropriate level of false excitement and frequent commercial interruptions touting other, similar, series are all key ingredients.

The New Detectives is the opposite: a mellow narrator, moody yet very light musical score, and a focused, methodical development of the subject matter. Episodes go in depth, showing forensic methods used to solve actual crimes, many of which are well known cases. There is lots of science, and plenty of interviews with serious professionals. That being said, there is a mood and tone set here- and it is a creepy one, as this series deals mostly with terrible crimes. The music, narration, and some reenactments add to the atmosphere of quiet dread.

The steady pace and lack of grating sound effects and other nonsense fits the grim and frequently gruesome subject matter. This series is not for the squeamish or easily frightened, as it goes into pretty serious details of murders, serial killings, abductions, rapes, etc.

I love this series- the serious treatment of the subject, the mellow, yet still moody style, and the very in-depth documentation of real cases in which forensic science was employed to solve crimes, plus the great price point, make this an excellent DVD set.

I used to watch this show on the Discovery Channel all the time. I personally think it's the best forensic science/detective show ever on TV, even better than Forensic Files on Court TV (narrated by Peter Thomas). The New Detectives is narrated by the late Gene Galusha. His low key voice is perfect for the show. This show focuses on the techniques that are used by detectives and forensic scientists to solve murder cases. Crimes are reenacted. File footage is used occasionally. Interviews are conducted with detectives and forensic scientists. The acting is pretty good. The background music is pretty subtle and rather eerie.

If you're into solving mysteries and chasing down clues, then this show will give you your fix. Overall, a great show that I highly recommend. Not all nine seasons have been released on DVD yet, but any season will satisfy you.

The New Dectectives is a tool that teaches a person about the ways that inspire law enforcement. Whether that means something new, like DNZ (touch DNA as well as the older styles of DNA testing), blood spatter, insects and their impacts, things on fire and other forces that can be manmade or "acts of god, or old cases that teach lessons to be applied, this utilizes them. It reminds me of being in Science Class and learning lessons from the labs there, only these labs are not about the ways that butterflies morph. These are about people and the things that horrifically apply to some human conditions, and the things that apprehend them.

Instead of feeling forced or made for a quick buck, these lessons have a quality to them. I personally like the way it is filmed and the way the episodes flow, giving it a quality that you normally wouldn't find. Even if you see it on TV you don't SEE it either, because TV bleeps out the horrific stuff. Here you have case files come on, and some of those are really gruesome illustrations that teach you what they want you to see. It doesn't pull punches - it truly tells a story of life and death.

I boughtt his and I thought it would be good. I learned it was better, much better, and said a lot. It shows the way that people falla nd the way that technology can catch people and find a way to bring them in, even if the file seems really out-of-ddate. Its worth having, worth seeing, and worth revisiting.
5/5

Thank you.

My favourite true crime and forensic tv shows are 'The Real CSI: The New Detectives', 'The FBI Files', and 'Arrest & Trial'.

The Real CSI is a hell of a lot less dramatized than 'The FBI Files', but ironically, the lack of dramatic acting, the narrator, the background music, and atmosphere actually make it a more hitting, stunning, and real. Most of the shows involve local police and sheriff's office, and very rarely the FBI. This seems to make the crimes feel more real and understandable in laymens terms.

I am now of the opinion that this is actually a superior program to all it's competitors. My idea of fun is to watch this late at night, lights dimmed or off, on a huge Philips LCD tv (42-52 inch), with a logitech z-5500 surround sound system, and scare the living crap out of myself. Forget horror movies, there is nothing more scary than real life, real stories, and the psychology between human beings hurting each other.

'Man is the cruelest animal'.

This DVD set is well worth the money. I had seen some of the episodes on TV, but many I had not seen were on here. The episodes cover an array of events, from young to old, and how the crimes were solved. Don't miss out on this set!

I needed this CD to take to South America and it came in just under the wire.