Customer Reviews

Philip Marlowe, Private Eye Collection

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Powers Boothe is perhaps the best Marlowe ever, and that's saying a lot. He's smart, world-weary, and sardonic, tossing off Chandler's scintillating lines with aplomb. Talking about an upwardly mobile lowlife, Marlowe remarks, "The guy had a mansion in Bel Air and all the old-world charm of a cop beating up a drunk."

This DVD set includes all 11 episodes of the HBO series: the five from 1983 and the six from 1986. The 1986 episodes have cheesy opening titles and closing credits, but possess a much stronger noir sensibility than the earlier eps (fine as those are). Classic noir chiaroscuro is much in evidence in the later installments, while the first five eps are slightly marred by conventional studio lighting. Throughout the series, attention to detail is excellent. The darker shades of 1938 Los Angeles are vividly brought to life.

One oddity: the sound is weirdly unbalanced in a few episodes. However, two versions of the soundtrack are provided (Dolby 5.1 and 2.0), and at least one of the two is always fine.

Enthusiastically recommended in any case.

I was watching my old tapes of this series last night. I taped it off HBO, and loved it. The tapes are worn and stretched, so I thought I'd check to see if the series was available on DVD. God bless Goldhl!!

Powers Boothe is, without a doubt, the best Marlowe ever. Bogart was good, but he's more of a Sam Spade than a Philip Marlowe. Powers Boothe managed to take an icon, and not exactly breathe new life into it, but breathe Chandler's vision of Marlowe into it. I had a difficult time at first with Kathryn Leigh Scott, since I kept seeing her as Maggie Evans in Dark Shadows. But once I got past that, she was actually quite good. The sets and costumes are certainly authentic, the cars are fabulous, and the music, with it's wonderful jazz bass line, sets the tone magnificently.

I just wish they had the funds to do all of Chandler's short stories.

Very very very highly recommended. I only gave this five stars because Amazon doesn't give the option to give six.

Powers Boothe is perhaps the best Marlowe ever, and that's saying a lot. He's smart, world-weary, and sardonic, tossing off Chandler's scintillating lines with aplomb. Talking about an upwardly mobile lowlife, Marlowe remarks, "The guy had a mansion in Bel Air and all the old-world charm of a cop beating up a drunk."

This DVD set includes all 11 episodes of the HBO series: the five from 1983 and the six from 1986. The 1986 episodes have cheesy opening titles and closing credits, but possess a much stronger noir sensibility than the earlier eps (fine as those are). Classic noir chiaroscuro is much in evidence in the later installments, while the first five eps are slightly marred by conventional studio lighting. Throughout the series, attention to detail is excellent. The darker shades of 1938 Los Angeles are vividly brought to life.

Note that this item is *not* "Vol 3" as listed; it's a "3 Vol Set" containing three DVDs. Also, the sound is weirdly unbalanced in a few episodes, but since two versions of the soundtrack are provided (Dolby 5.1 and 2.0), one or the other is usually fine.

Enthusiastically recommended in any case.

I agree that Powers Boothe is perhaps the best Philip Marlowe ever, and HBO obviously paid attention to detail in ensuring period-accurate sets, costumes, and props, but Goldhil (the manufacturer of the DVDs) has no business selling a product (that cost over $50, mind you) they did not even bother to pass through a quality assurance step.

In stereo mode (I can't vouch for the multichannel mix, because I haven't listened to it, although I imagine most people will listen to it in stereo), a couple of the episodes have objectionable sound. In one episode, the audio is panned more to one side than the other, which can be remedied by listening in mono. On another episode, there are serious audio phasing and delay problems (perhaps due to incorrect use of the software used to create the DVD data stream), which makes the episode completely unwatchable (again, the multichannel mix might not exhibit this). Unfortunately, both these episodes are from the earlier set of HBO productions, which are my favorites.

Apparently Goldhil needs a quality assurance department. Shame on them.

Without doubt, Powers Boothe is Philip Marlowe! The stories are good, the dialogue is snappy, the productions not bad at all. But...for the price, the sound is awful. Buyer beware. These discs should be recalled and replaced. In this digital age, for a DVD to get by with such sound means someone is out to rip you off. Do not buy this set. What a shame!

This series, originally produced for Showtime, is far and away the best and most faithful adaptation of Raymond Chandler's writing. Powers Boothe shines as the cynical, world-weary Philip Marlowe, with excellent support from the rest of the cast. If you are a fan of Chandler or hard-boiled detective stories, you owe it to yourself to see these shows. My only complaint is that they aren't also offered on DVD!

Raymond Chandler practically invented the detective noire genre with his Phillip Marlowe novels and stories. The trench coat. The fedora. The monotone first-person narration and the cynical outlook on life. They all started with Raymond Chandler's Phillip Marlowe.

So it's only appropriate that several actors have brought Phillip Marlowe to life over the years, most notably James Garner and Humphrey Bogart.

It's hard not to keep Humphrey Bogart's portrayal in mind when watching a Phillip Marlowe mystery, and most actors understandably pale by comparison. That said, Powers Boothe still does a worthy job. He perfectly portrays Phillip Marlowe as a cynical private investigator with a tough exterior but a heart of gold.

The episodes of "Phillip Marlowe: Private Eye" are filled with clever twist and turns, exciting gun fights, and plenty of tough-talking wise guys. If nothing else, it will inspire you to seek out the writings of Raymond Chandler.

HBO's Philip Marlowe series is an accurate and enjoyable adaptation of Raymond Chandler's short stories. Some people consider it the most accurate screen adaptation of Marlowe available.

That said, the digital transfer on this edition is mediocre at best, and this should be considered "For hardcore fans only".

The problem with this set is that it was a made-for-TV production and they just didn't have the money to do it right. The sets are mostly dull, the actors drive back and forth over the same stretch of road and in the early episodes the night scenes are obviously shot during the day. Noir experts will note that many props are not from the correct era. The later episodes are a bit better than the earlier ones, however.

If you're looking for modern/retro noir there is some. Farewell My Lovely with Robert Mitchum is wonderful, as are Cast A Deadly Spell and Witchunt. Modern semi-noir films for those weary of happy endings include The Two Jakes and The Hot Spot.

But why not just get a copy of Out Of The Past and see the real thing?

Powers Boothe makes a good Marlowe, and the productions are true to the source material, well written and entertaining.