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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries-Complete Series 3 (Blu-ray) (2015)

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries-Complete Series 3 (Blu-ray) (2015)

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Due Out for Sale 12-Aug-2015

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Mystery Featurette-Behind The Scenes-X 5
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 2015
Running Time 440:00
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered
Dual Disc Set
Cast & Crew
Start Up Ads Then Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Tony Tilse
David Caesar
Kate Dennis
Emma Freeman
Studio
Distributor
ABC
Roadshow Home Entertainment
Starring Essie Davis
Nathan Page
Ashleigh Cummings
Hugo Johnstone-Burt
Case Standard Blu-ray
RPI ? Music Greg Walker


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 1080i
Original Aspect Ratio 1.78:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English for the Hearing Impaired Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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Plot Synopsis

     Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries has been a successful show for the ABC over the last couple of years with a third season of 8 episodes showing this year. This show is something a bit different for a local Australian production, more in the style of English period mystery series like Poirot or even more like Marple (although much sexier). This new series is currently airing on ABC1. The series is based on the books of Australian author, Kerry Greenwood, who created the main character, Phyrne Fisher (Essie Davis).

     Miss Fisher is an independently wealthy lady who returns from Europe to Melbourne in 1928. She is suave, sophisticated, saucy, witty, independent and hedonistic. She has returned to investigate the murder of her sister and to live and enjoy life in 1920s Melbourne. In each episode she investigates and tends to solve a murder mystery much to the chagrin of Det. Inspector Jack Robinson (Nathan Page). Over the first series their attraction grew and the sexual tension between them drives some of the plot. Their relationship continues to develop during this season.

     The other main characters are Miss Fisher's housemaid, Dot Williams (Ashleigh Cummings), a devout Catholic girl who also assists in the investigations, and Constable Hugh Collins (Hugo Johnstone-Burt) who assists Det. Robinson. They also start a relationship although theirs is much more tentative than that of Miss Fisher and Detective Robinson. Other recurring characters include two cab drivers who help Miss Fisher, Cec and Bert and Phyrne's Aunt (Miriam Margolyes).

     This is an entertaining light mystery series which should be enjoyed by those who like the murder mystery style of show such as those mentioned above. The period detail in sets, costumes, cars, trains, locations and other detail is very well done and creates an atmosphere that is believably 1920s Melbourne. The various stories are generally well done and provide various settings such as an Air Force base or a magic show. Those after a grittier style of television mystery such as Taggart or Cracker should probably look elsewhere. The cast are good in their roles with Essie Davis and Nathan Page working together well. I have not read the books but I believe some fans of the book were disappointed by some plot changes, however the author was heavily involved and has talked about how much she likes the series and that the stories she didn't write in the new series fit in well.

     This season is available either on two sets of 2 DVDs or this full season set on two Blu-rays. The Blu-rays contain four episodes each with the extras on the second disc. The extras are the same as those included on the first of the DVD sets.

     Recommended for murder mystery fans.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    The video quality is good but not significantly better than an upscaled DVD. It is 1080i.

     The series is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio.

     The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout and the shadow detail was very good.

     The colour was very good with no issues to report. A couple of darker scenes had some obvious grain.

     There are subtitles in English which were clear and easy to read.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The audio quality is good but disappointingly not lossless.

     The discs contain an English soundtrack in Dolby Digital 2.0.

     Dialogue was quite clear and easy to understand.

     The music such as the jazz theme sounded good on this transfer.

     The surround speakers and subwoofer were not used.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

     There are a collection of featurettes on the second disc.

Menu

     The menu included music and motion in the style of the opening credits.

Tony Tilse - Director (4:10)

     Featurette on the director of the first two episodes and his approach to the material.

Robert Perkins - Production Designer (4:13)

     Featurette about the production designer, the locations, set and script.

Greg T Walker - Music Composer (4:41)

     Featurette on the composer and his one man band approach to composing and recording.

Phyrne the Action Hero (4:09)

     Featurette on the main character and her more action focus in these episodes.

Anna Karpinski - Makeup & Hair (3:19)

     Short featurette about the makeup and hair designer and her approach to the characters.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    The show is only locally available at this point.

Summary

    A fun and light period murder mystery series from Australia continues the quality in Season 3.

    The video quality is good.

    The audio quality is good.

    The extras are OK but are all short featurettes.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Daniel Bruce (Do you need a bio break?)
Monday, July 27, 2015
Review Equipment
DVDPanasonic DMR-PWT500, using HDMI output
DisplaySharp LC52LE820X Quattron 52" Full HD LED-LCD TV . Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderBuilt into amplifier. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationMarantz SR5005
SpeakersMonitor Audio Bronze 2 (Front), Bronze Centre & Bronze FX (Rears) + Sony SAW2500M Subwoofer

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