Product Details

• Actors: James Van Der Beek, Katie Holmes, Michelle Williams, Joshua Jackson, Kerr Smith
• Directors: Arlene Sanford, Bethany Rooney, David Petrarca, David Straiton, Gregory Prange
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
• Subtitles: Spanish, Portuguese
• Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
  PLEASE NOTE: Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on RCE, click here.
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rating: Unrated
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• DVD Release Date: June 29, 2004
• Run Time: 997 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (222 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0002234R2
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #14,041 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  Movies & TV > Drama > Television > Dawson's Creek

• For more information about "Dawson's Creek - The Complete Third Season" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

• This is item 3 in The Dawson's Creek Series.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

"Jen is a cheerleader and Jack's on the football team. I got sane and everyone else went crazy?" That's how Andie (Meredith Monroe) sums up the topsy-turvy beginning to the third season of Dawson's Creek, in which nothing seems to be as it should and the series takes a major turn. It's junior year at Capeside High, and Jack (Kerr Smith), the town's resident gay teen, is indeed on the football team, and Jen (Michelle Williams) finds herself the object of unexpected and unwelcome popularity among her fellow students, especially the freshman quarterback (Michael Pitt). Pacey (Joshua Jackson) finds that his relationship with Andie can't be restored, and Dawson (James Van Der Beek) and Joey (Katie Holmes), after the events of last year, both think it's for the best that they're no longer together--they just never think it at the same time. Significant events include the friends starting to date outside their circle, Dawson's giving up some of his aspirations, a crisis for the school's new principal, a college tour, and the openings of the Potter Bed & Breakfast and Leery's Fresh Fish. But the Dawson-Joey relationship is still the heart of the Creek, and it comes to a head in one of the series' most memorable episodes, "The Longest Day," and then the season finale. Even in its first season without series creator Kevin Williamson, Dawson's Creek still had plenty of punch.

On the DVDs, executive producer Paul Stupin does his usual commentary track for two episodes, and he's joined by Kerr Smith. They discuss the series itself, Smith's character, and Smith's subsequent career more than the events of the episodes. The second-season DVD set disappointed many fans by replacing a large portion of the music, and that trend continues in the third season, most surprisingly in the loss of Paula Cole's theme song. Instead, the opening credits feature Jann Arden's "Run Like Mad," which was used briefly in the international broadcast. Stupin explains the switch as an attempt to do something different and creative, but then admits there was also "a bit of an economic reality." Fortunately, the DVDs do have John Lennon's "Imagine" and Mary Beth Maziarz's "Daydream Believers"--songs that in dramatic context simply could not have been replaced--and it could be argued that a veteran viewer might skip the opening credits anyway. Still, for many fans, the music made Dawson's Creek what it was, and without all of it--especially the theme song--the DVDs seem like a compromise rather than a permanent keepsake. --David Horiuchi

Product Description

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 12/20/2005

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Off track until the Dawson/Joey/Pacey triangle explodes, July 24, 2004

By	Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

The first episode I ever saw of "Dawson's Creek" was when the gang graduated from Cape Side High School, at which point I learned that Dawson Leery (James Van Der Beek) was still a virgin, which certainly took a lot of the suspense out of "The Complete Third Season." This is the season that convinces us that Pacey (Joshua Jackson) is serious competition for Dawson in the Joey (Katie Holmes) sweepstakes, not only because Dawson and Joey run hot and cold for each other on alternate timetables but also because Pacey can be awfully darn cute when he wants to be. Consequently his earnest pursuit of the clueless Joey remains the bright spot in a series where most of the characters get seriously sidetracked.

Season Three begins with a series of oblique turns in the first episode, "Like a Virgin." Joey is interested in Dawson, which should be a good thing, but he is fascinated by the mysterious Eve, a new bad girl in town and end up crashing his dad's boat and trying the whole "Risky Business" approach to making the money he needs to get the boat fixed. Jen (Michelle Williams) does a wonderful job of demolishing the school's head cheerleader, in a telling speech about what life will be like 25 years down the road, and in a twist of fate that defies logic in the high school I remember is made Head Cheerleader. Apparently now once Kevin Williamson was gone, the idea was to jerk the chains of the characters as often as possible.

Eve continues to titillate and embarrass Dawson in turn, Jen gets to experience the joys of Homecoming Queen along with being Head Cheerleader ("Secrets and Lies"), Jack (Kerr Smith) joins the football team as the gay wide receiver ("Homecoming"), and Andie (Meredith Monroe) comes back from the sanitarium only to cheat on the PSAT ("None of the Above") and then slowly but surely melt down again as the guilt eats away at her. When Jen decides to respond to the advances of the freshman quarterback that just has to be the most unbelievable thing she did in the entire run of the show, while Pacey having to deal with troubled little kid Buzz (Jonathan Lipnicki) just screams "blatant attempt to increase the ratings." Only when the cast gets out of Capeside and goes off to Boston in "First Encounters of the Close Kind" to see what college life could be like do we remember why we like these characters or were rooting for them.

Okay, so there is large downside to the third season of "Dawson's Creek," but it is not like you should skip over the season and move on to the fourth because some things do happen here that you are going to want to remember later on. When Pacey gets the lead in the school play " Northern Lights," that at least makes sense and when Joey's mural is defaced ("Crime and Punishment") and the principal's job ends up in jeopardy because of his response ("To Green, With Love") there is at least some idea Capeside is in the real world. But when Pacey actually kisses Joey ("Cinderella Story"), we are back on track big time, because each is so busy being concerned with what Dawson will think ("Neverland") that they sort of forget to deal with what they think about what just happened. Of course they are immediately thrown together in intimate circumstances ("Stolen Kisses"), so that they can suffer for their unexpressed feelings, and we get to the season's best episode, "The Longest Day," in which the triangle explodes and we can safely say that nothing will ever be the same again.

Of course even if Dawson has not been interested in Joey all year that is no reason for him not to be interested now that Pacey wants her and the next thing we know Dawson and Pacey are having a macho grudge match during the Capeside Regatta ("Show Me Love"), where you just know that who wins the race will lose the girl. When you get to the point where Dawson and Pacey might start beating up on each other over Joey then things are getting promising. Never mind that Jen is still dealing with the kid quarterback, that Dawson is supposedly giving up his film-making career, and that we are still worried about the Potter Bed & Breakfast.

This show comes down to Dawson, Joey, and Pacey, where any combination of the two is usually a good thing and having all three involved turns this into a twisted teenage version of the most famous love triangle of Arthur, Guenivere, and Lancelot. Even though this is the third of the show's six seasons, what happens at this point not only sets up the final episode with Joey's final choice, but retroactively recasts everything that happened previously so that it bears on how this triangle plays out. So three stars on the first half, five on the second, and we will split the difference overall.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dawson's Creek Season 3, April 30, 2004

By A Customer

If you only are able to buy one season of Dawson's Creek, this should be it. The show really grew up and it took risks. It was nice to see the show truly go beyond the Dawson/Joey relationship and for the first time explore the possibility that they may be happy with other people. The Pacey/Joey relationship is magical just like Dawson/Joey. Deep down you knew there was a reason those two were fight constantly. I really love the Jack/Jen relationship too. They become better friends and Jen gets a boyfriend from almost out of nowhere. Still it's a really sweet love story. Jack deals with a lot this season and he will always be one of my favorites. So, I highly recommend this DVD. It's a must for the Creek fan.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Season Ever !!!, April 23, 2004

By	"cassandracasey" (NYC) - See all my reviews

Okay, here it is! The season that redefined Dawson's Creek and truly made it must-see-TV.

There has never been more heartbreaking angst and pure emotional drama packed into a single story on this show than the relationship of Pacey and Joey, and this is where it all begins. From the tentative first realization of feelings to one of the all-time greatest season finales ever, THIS is the season you MUST own.

The Pacey and Joey pairing had every element of a truly great love story, and I have to believe there is a reason those in charge of the show decided to wait a few seasons to let these two characters explore the sparks that were always under the surface between them. The chemistry between these two actors is amazing - truly electric - and undeniable as it carries over onto the screen. There's a little bit of influence from modern day romances like "When Harry Met Sally..." or "Say Anything..." thrown into this story, as well as that wonderful sort of humorous banter that you usually only got to see in the old Hepburn-Tracy classics. Sweetness and sarcasm abounds...and Pacey and Joey are also sizzling HOT together.

It's certainly no wonder that the Dawson and Joey relationship on the show was never able to rebound after this season with the majority of the fans. Of course, painting Dawson as the guy coming between TRUE LOVE in this season didn't do his character any favors, but he certainly became the character we loved to disparage, and every TV show needs one of those. We all knew Dawson was going to throw a hissy fit when he found out his best friend and his best girl had fallen in love when he wasn't looking, and he did not disappoint us in all his drama queen glory.

Such great entertainment this season! You get absolute heart-melting moments from Josh Jackson as Pacey (the year he secured the title as everybody's favorite TV boyfriend), terrific acting from Katie Holmes as Joey and even James Van Der Beek steps up to the plate this season and comes through, whether you love or hate Dawson.

Jen and Jack even have good storylines this season, with Jen (like Joey) finding love in an unexpected place and Jack coming to terms a little more with his homosexuality, and his family's acceptance of that.

THIS is the season of Dawson's Creek that addicted so many of us to the show, and really did change it forever.