Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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34 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I love XWP, July 24, 2005
I have bought all six seasons separately from Best Buy. They are the only store to sell the "Exclusive Bonus Content" boxes for each season. The bonus is simply an extra 30-minute interview per season. Many of the episodes have their own commentaries by members of the cast and crew. The later seasons have more than the earlier ones. However, I don't know if they made additional interviews just for Best Buy or used some leftover stuff. I've seen too many to notice or care, but I always appreciate seeing each one and have not failed to watch any (maybe I'll skip the Ulysses bonus content though :). I've heard the ending is slightly different on the director's cut final episode available separately. If you have to have it all, go to Best Buy and get your discs there. They are priced at about $55 a pop, so you'll end up spending about the same.
It would sure be nice to get them all in a single box, book-style packaging like they did with a very-limited edition Buffy in the UK, but I would be kicking myself for not being able to wait if they did. It's taken over two years to eventually release them all.
The quality of packaging for each season is outstanding, to put it mildly. The seasons are fold-out over-and-over style, which is no problem if your DVD is next to the floor, as mine is, but you sure can't hold it while folding it all out. In the second half of the series, they went to putting two DVD's per fold-out page, instead of one disc per page like the earlier seasons. The small inconvenience is pulling out the front disc to get to the back one. You'll notice the later season's are slightly slimmer for this reason, but when you are up to nine or ten discs including the bonus CDs, they must have felt a need to do something.
As a guy, I must say that I like all the fine-looking ladies who grace the beautiful cast of this series (Aphrodite, Gabby, Xena, Callisto, Discord, Mavigan, Tara, the Furies, Valhalla chicks, etc.). Of course, the appeal of this series is the friendship of Xena and Gabby. I could have done without so much Joxer, who was the non-threatening, non-sexual comic relief featured in a few too many episodes. I'm not seeing as much Ares as I expected. The Gods spent a good deal of their time on the Hercules set, so I'll have to eventually get that series too. I wouldn't mind watching both together in broadcast order, since the gods often went back and forth between the shows. Too bad that Cupcake (not a god) never crossed over to the Xenaverse (bet you never saw a review mention that :).
I started watching it after flippin' channels and seeing Discord for the first time. Wonderfully, she pales in comparison to the quality of the series. There are very few episode(s) that are not excellent. The costumes are fantastic, the music is the best I've heard on a TV show, the locations are beautiful, the storytelling is always rich, and the casting and acting are what kept me coming back every week, and like every night in syndication. You need the DVDs. It's very nice to watch it on demand, without commercials, with a superior quality picture (when viewed in progressive scan 480p or better) and the knowledge that nothing's been cut. You should enjoy the whole thing, every season.
Maybe someday they will release a widescreen version. Starting with Xena Season 3, episode 3 (since the first two eps of season 3 were shot during the tail end of season 2 and held over), Xena was filmed in 16:9 widescreen. All editing and effects were added to the widescreen version prior to chopping it down to 4:3 for broadcast in the US and elsewhere. Do an Internet search and you'll find Michael Hurst's interviews on the subject.
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44 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
10 Yrs Ago The Phenomenon Began...Six Glorious Seasons, February 3, 2005
A Kid's Review
Xena Warrior Princess first aired in 1995. It would enjoy a successful 6 seasons concluding in early 2001. The entire 6 seasons is soon to be available on a special DVD package starting March 8. Australian actress (and yes she did her own stunts) Lucy Lawless starred as the larger than life, heroic and complex character of Xena. It began when Xena met Hercules who changed her way of life. Formerly, Xena had been a brutal, ruthless terrorist seeking revenge on the men who had raided her village. Hercules enlightened her and converted her into the side of good. Xena sets off to right the wrongs of the world and to protect the weak, heroically saving the Ancient World from all forms of evil. Sidekick Gabrielle (Renee O'Connor) is a bubbly, poetic and sensitive romantic whom Xena takes on as her protege. Trainig with Xena, Gabrielle undergoes a great change from shy poetess to confident and powerful warrior. Xena herself goes through much change, increasingly becoming more and more of the noble hero/martyr. The show may be unsuitable for very young children say kids under 8. There is definate adult material- battle scenes, violence, war, physical fighting and even some nudity. I would have to say that it's rated PG-13 or even R. It's best viewed by very mature kids or by teens 13-18. It was never excessively violent and at heart, it was human drama and quite spiritual. Essentially, it was the life-changing adventures of Xena and Gabrielle, who roam the world- Egypt, China, India, ancient Sweden, in search of truth and redemption. Along the way, Xena fully embraces her feminine side and lighter side, becomes a mother, loses a son, deals with heroic and even divine figures (Greek gods Ares, a diabolical god Dahok and the Hindi god Krishna) and becomes the stuff of legend as she passes on to the world of spiritual purity.
My favorite episodes (warning..some spoilers)..are: Xena saves Joseph and Mary the parents of baby Jesus from evil King Herod, Xena safeguards the Ark of the Covenant with the help of the Prince of Thieves (played by Bruce Campbell, king of B movies), Xena becomes a mother and loses him, Gabrielle gets "impregnated" a la Rosemary's Baby with an evil demon child she calls Hope and later has to deal with destroying her despite fighting her maternal instincts, the Bitter Suite a very well written musical in which Xena and Gabrielle are fighting against each other due to the death of their two kids and later reconcile, the more lighter musical Lyre Lyre in which a song contest is held, Xena goes to China and is trained by a wise female spiritual guide, Xena and Gabrielle in India where they meet Krishna and the spiritual healer Eli, Xena and Gabrielle in ancient Norway/Sweden where they encounter figures of the Norse saga "Ring of the Nibelung", among them the Rhinemaidens and Valkyries, the "Paradise Lost" theme episode in which Xena and the archangel Michael battle demons in Hell, and the very moving finale episode which I will not give away. LOL...
The show was very successful and drew millions of fans. Xena Conventions are still held even to the day. It has been 10 yrs now since the premiere of the series. In the 90's, it was easy to point out Xena and Gabrielle as lesbians. The 90's was a time of being proud individuals and openly gay or lesbian, and it is true that many lesbians did enjoy the show, but I never felt that the show contained lesbian themes or even subtext. Xena and Gabrielle were simply very close, intimate friends, even soulmates, but it was clear that their characters were written to be heterosexual. Both Xena and Gabrielle were engaged/married to other men at one time in the show- Gabrielle to her hometown boyfriend Perticus and Xena was involved with the following men- an ex warlord, a black warrior named Marcus and even at one point the war god Ares. Was it so hard to believe that two beautiful women were really close friends ? Does anyone know what true friendship is ? Xena and Gabrielle would have given their own lives for each other. There was also the mentor/apprentice, or student/teacher relationship between them. Even at the end of the show, Xena who passes on the mantle of hero status to Gabrielle. This is a good show for both men and women who openly embrace strong female heroes. This show is especailly appropriate for the new 21st century. Xena and Gabrielle never hated all men, they hated the evil some men could do. They had allies in men and women and not all the women on the show were "good". Who can forget the nightmarishly evil and sinister Callisto (played by Hudson Leick). Other people on the show were Ted Raimi as the funny and clumsy Joxur The Mighty, Bruce Campbell as the Prince of Thieves.
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18 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Set!, September 22, 2005
I've been a Xena Fan since season 1 and I am so glad I waited for the DVDs to come out. I was fortunate that I bought my set directly from Anchor Bay as part of their promotion after season 6 was released. The extras are not that different from what my GF has when she bought each set individually so if that's the only thing that's weighing your decision, it may not be worth it. The series was excellent and I'm glad that I can watch it whenever I want. Now it's on to buy the 10th Anniversay Set. Battle On!!
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