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30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great collection that contains some of my favorite FARSCAPE episodes, June 12, 2006
Although Season Four as a whole was something of a come down after the absolutely extraordinary Season Three (which was one of the greatest seasons of any TV series in the history of TV), there were a host of wonderful things to savor and enjoy in Season Four, and for my money much of that occurred in the episodes on this disc. From "Unrealized Realities" where John once again reencountered the race that has mastered worm hole technology (and got John in such trouble by implanting the knowledge in his unconscious, which caused him to become such a matter of interest to Scorpius in Season One) to the wonderful if somewhat obligatory time-travel-to-earth episode (STAR TREK had many of them in the franchise's various series, while STARGATE SG-1 has as well) "Kansas" (in which we learn that John lost his virginity to Chiana) to "Terra Firma," there is much here to enjoy. In fact, though I will acknowledge that there are better episodes of FARSCAPE due to their role within story arcs, there is no episode of FARSCAPE that I have watched as many times as "Terra Firma" and certainly none that I have enjoyed more. In "Kansas" the denizens of Moya find themselves on earth, albeit one where John Crichton was still a teenager. Let me just say that Aeryn Sun in her "Cher" outfit is one of the funniest bits in the series for me. When at the end of the episode they try to get back to their own time, John arrives on Moya to discover his father and a large number of people he does not know. It turns out to be a contingent brought up from earth on the space shuttle. The rest of the episode details the reaction of earth to John's return and the appearance there of Aeryn, Chiana, Ka D'Argo, Sikozu, Naranti, and Rygel. It is the kind of situation often imagined in fan fiction and definitely a lot of fun. And it contains a host of great moments in the John-Aeryn saga. One has to love the strained reaction of Aeryn when John's old girlfriend shows up on his front step with mistletoe and a bottle of champagne, or her tear-streaked face late in the episode when she asks John if he wants her to return to Moya, and the conversation that Aeryn and John's father have in her prowler about her and John's feelings for one another as they fly by Saturn.
It is no secret that while FARSCAPE is a great series for many reasons, the heart of the show is the romance between John and Aeryn. This may account for why the series is the only Sci-fi show that has had more female than male fans, that and the fact that the show's main action figure is a woman (as Ben Browder put it in a FARSCAPE special, "Little Miss Tough Chick of the Universe"). One reason the romance between John and Aeryn was so successful is that the show negotiated the difficult process of keeping the interest in their romance high while concocting a host of reasons for why they couldn't be together. In my opinion, no show of any genre has done a better job of this in the post-MOONLIGHTING era. That show is usually regarded as the template for what NOT to do between the romantic leads of a show. As long as the tension between David and Maddie was left unresolved, interest in the show both in terms of ratings and narrative was high, but as soon as the show had the two get together, interest in the show plummeted almost overnight. The same thing occurred on LOIS AND CLARK. As soon as Lois and Clark got together for good, ratings plummeted and the show was soon off the air. Since then, most shows have striven to find ways to keep romantic tension between characters alive while continuing to keep them apart. This is why we got the odd dance between Maggie and Joel on NORTHERN EXPOSURE, fate intervening to make it impossible for Buffy and Angel to stay together on BUFFY, and why Kate and Jack won't get together on LOST until perhaps the last episode or two, or if they get together torn apart. One thing is for certain: in the post David and Maddie era, when you see the romantic leads get together, get ready for bad things to happen. (One of the few exceptions to this rule is Summer and Seth on THE O.C., but that has largely been because they have been the second couple. It will be interesting to see if they can hold it together after Marissa's death. But even here it is important to notice that they have broken up and gotten back together more than once.) Though they will be physically separated again, John and Aeryn finally reconcile at the end of "Twice Shy," and will stay together for the rest of the series (though things get shaky once again in the miniseries).
One thing that has been very confusing with the Starburst Edition has been the special features, but now that we are reaching the end of this less expensive series, an answer may be emerging. For a while I was worried that the Starburst edition might not contain all of the extras that are found on the original DVD release. But as we have passed the three-quarters point, it is starting to look like the Starburst edition will indeed have all of the special features of the original. The difference is that they are packaged very differently. The original edition was one of the strangest DVD releases ever. Each release was laden with special features, but most releases were around $35 and contain only two episodes. The sets containing the entire seasons were cheaper, but still too expensive for me to own. That's what I have Netflix for. Each disc contained two episodes of the show and a huge number of extra features. The Starburst edition, on the other hand, typically has four discs, or two double-sided discs in the first two seasons, with the fourth being a special features disc. We'll have to see when the final part of Season Four is released, but it is beginning to look like the Starburst edition will contain all the things found in the original edition, only packaged very, very differently.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Some of my Favorite Episodes of the Best Series Ever Put on TV, September 8, 2006
The Best? I don't know, but it's up there. Season four of Farscape starts out a little unevenly and without the intensity of season three, but here in collection two something starts. It begins in "A Perfect Murder," continues in "Coup by Clam," then it goes into overdrive in "Unrealized Reality," and it never looks back. I'm not going to try to judge which episodes of Farscape are the best, but the second half of season four, begining with "Unrealized Reality," together with "The Peacekeeper Wars," are the episodes I watch over and over and over and I never get tired of them. That is why it was such a tragedy that there was never a season five. Yeah, there's only one commentary; I'll live. This is Farscape, and this collection has some of the best episodes Farscape produced.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Loved it!, August 19, 2009
DVD arrived quickly and in great condition. I searched high and low for Starburst Edition dvds at a reasonable price since they stopped making them, and this was a great find. I'd definitely do business with them again!
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