Law & Order-Corruption Empire (1999)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	None
Rating
Year Of Production	1999
Running Time	88:17 (Case: 87)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Gwen Arner Paris Barclay Gabrielle Beaumont Steve Cohen
Studio Distributor	Warner Home Video	Starring	Dennis Farina Jesse L. Martin S. Epatha Merkerson Sam Waterston Annie Parisse Fred Dalton Thompson Elisabeth Röhm Jerry Orbach Angie Harmon Michael Moriarty Dianne Wiest Dann Florek Steven Hill
Case	?
RPI	$9.95	Music	Mike Post

    Here is an odd release. Although presented as one programme, this show is actually two episodes of Law & Order (completely unrelated ones) tacked together to form a "movie", with the end credits removed from the first and the opening credits removed from the second. The episodes are from 1996 and 1999 and at least feature the same detective pairing, Lenny Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Rey Curtis (Benjamin Bratt), although Bratt is obviously younger in the second episode. Both also feature ADA Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) as the prosecutor in charge of the case. These are good quality episodes of the show but why they have been released in this fashion is not something I can answer. The episodes are:

1. Empire - Series 9, Episode 20 (May '99) - A businessman and philanthropist dies of a heart attack in his city apartment after taking Viagra. Two people who seem to be involved are a business associate of his, Julian Spector and the professional fundraiser who organised the dinner he attended on the evening before. Her name is Miss Ludlow (Julia Roberts!) and the presence of a pair of her knickers in his apartment seems to point to her intimate involvement.
2. Corruption - Series 7, Episode 5 (Oct '96) - A cop shoots a drug dealer during an undercover operation while being backed up by Briscoe & Curtis. He says the guy went for his gun but Curtis is not convinced and starts to investigate despite threats and the objections of Briscoe.

    No prizes will be awarded for guessing how they came up with the title for this disc - Corruption Empire. These series have not been released locally, so if you must have these episodes this is currently the only way to get them.

Video

    The video quality is good.

    The feature is presented in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio non-16x9 enhanced which is the original aspect ratio.

    The picture is not overly clear and sharp but no worse than you would expect for 1990s television. There is no evidence of low level noise. Shadow detail is also fine considering the source. There is light grain throughout, especially noticeable in backgrounds.

    The colour is fine with no major issues to report.

    The only noticeable artefacts are some regular, but small, specks and spots of white.

    There are subtitles in English and English for the hearing impaired. The English subtitles are clear and easy to read but slightly small.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The audio quality is fine but unexciting.

    This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at 192 Kb/s.

    Dialogue is clear and easy to understand and there are no problems with audio sync.

    The surround speakers and subwoofer are not used.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    None.

Menu

    The menu is very simple including the ability to select scenes and subtitles.

    This disc does not seem to be available outside of Region 4 and the seasons these episodes come from have not been released yet in Region 1 either.

    Two good quality (but unrelated) episodes of Law & Order tacked together to form a "movie".

    The video quality is good.

    The audio quality is fine.

    There are no extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall