CSI: Crime Scene Investigation-Season 3-Episodes 3.13-3.23 (2002)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Drama	None
Rating
Year Of Production	2002
Running Time	475:35
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Multi Disc Set (3)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Lou Antonio Rob Bailey Matt Earl Beesley Danny Cannon
Studio Distributor	Imagine Entertainment	Starring	William L. Petersen Marg Helgenberger Gary Dourdan George Eads Jorja Fox Eric Szmanda Robert David Hall Paul Guilfoyle
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	?	Music	Ian Astbury Billy Duffy John M. Keane

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	No Audio Data available for this title
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.75:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.75:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    This set is the second half of the third season of CSI from 2002/2003. Glen Randall did an excellent job of laying out the concept of the show in his review of the first half season of Season Three.

    To my mind, this half season (and possibly this program generally) lacks strong character arcs for the recurring characters and therefore each episode feels very freestanding. There is really only one such character arc in these episodes, one relating to Grissom's health problems, and even that is only mentioned sporadically. Although this is an excellent TV show from a technical perspective, I believe that the writing could be stronger, allowing the viewers to see more dimensionality within the recurring characters.

    11 episodes are included here (spread over three discs) as follows:

1. Random Acts of Violence (42:16) - A 9 year old black girl is shot and killed in a drive-by. The girl's family are well known to Warrick, but Grissom is concerned that he is too personally involved. Also, the boss of an internet company is found dead in the computer room, with a head wound. OK episode but nothing special.
2. One Hit Wonder (41:09) - The team investigate a serial stalker/rapist using forensics to track him down. Sara reopens an old case involving an ADA with a bullet lodged in her.
3. Lady Heather's Box (61:25) - This special extended episode is also of high quality. A guy winds up dead at a strange nightclub where the patrons dance in a pool of soap suds. This leads to the world of S&M and Lady Heather's establishment. Also, Catherine's daughter gets caught in a car in a drainage ditch after a car accident with her father. Elizabeth Berkeley guests.
4. Lucky Strike (39:23) - A car chase by the LVPD stops when a guy lurches from the driver's seat with a large piece of wood sticking out of his head. A pro basketball player's 5 year old son get kidnapped. Cameron Daddo guests.
5. Crash & Burn (41:47) - An old lady driving a Jaguar crashes straight into a restaurant window killing some people. Also, a residential gas leak reveals a woman's body, although all does not seem right.
6. Precious Metal (41:37) - Two trail bike riders find a dead body shut up in a metal drum in the mountains. Also, Grissom investigates a dead body which got lost in the system. This is an especially gross episode.
7. A Night At The Movies (41:18) - A dead body found at a classic movie theatre during the show. Another body is found in a warehouse, riddled with over 100 bullet holes.
8. Last Laugh (42:16) - An unloved but successful comedian dies during a stand up performance and Capt Brass decides to reopen a case he originally thought was an accident..
9. Forever (41:09) - A dead body is found in the horse box on a private jet. The horse is the major suspect. Also, a young man's well dressed body is found carefully laid out on a rug in the middle of a desert. When another well dressed body of a young girl is found nearby, the case seems like a double suicide.
10. Play With Fire (41:47) - A young couple find a woman's body in a stadium broadcast booth very shortly after she was killed. There is also a tragedy involving the CSI staff.
11. Inside The Box (41:28) - Detective Lockwood gets killed in a bank robbery and the trail of evidence leads to Sam Braun, Catherine's mentor who runs casinos. There is a big reveal about one of the main characters and Grissom's health problems come to a head.

    These are all quality episodes but only the extended episode really rose above the normal standard of this show.

Video

    The video quality is very good but not without issue.

    The feature is presented in a 1.75:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is probably the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout, however the sharpness was somewhat variable with some scenes being excellent and other a little soft. This seemed to vary with the bitrate. There was no evidence of low level noise. Shadow detail was excellent which is essential for a series with a dark colour palette such as this. Grain was surprisingly prevalent in this series considering how new it is, although it never got worse than light.

    The colour was very good although there was colour bleeding from light colours.

    Artefacts were generally mild including some edge enhancement and some bits and pieces of aliasing such as on the buildings during night shots of Las Vegas and some Venetians in the laboratory.

    There are subtitles in English. The English subtitles were clear and easy to read but included some minor changes from the spoken word.
    

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The audio quality is very good, especially for a television series.

    This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack encoded at 448 Kb/s.

    Dialogue was mostly clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync. Some occasional lines were muffled.

    The score of this film by John M Keane is quite good, however some of the music choices such as Radiohead and the theme by The Who are the real musical highlights.

    The surround speakers added significant atmosphere and surround effects such as rain, thunder, cars, gunshots and so forth. The sound field is quite immersive and sounds great.

    The subwoofer was regularly used for the music and for adding tension.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    There are extras spread across all three discs.

Menu

    The menu included an intro, music, and the ability to select episodes, scenes and subtitles. The sound is 5.1 and includes subwoofer activity. Very nice stuff.

Disc 1

Commentary - Episode 1 - Naren Shankar (Exec Producer / Writer) and Danny Cannon (Exec Producer / Director)

    Quite a good commentary which includes information about the technical aspects of production, the story idea, how the title was arrived at, locations and characters. There are some pauses but overall this is quite a decent commentary.

Commentary - Episode 3 - Anthony Zuiker, Richard J Lewis (Director) Naren Shankar (Exec Producer / Writer) and Josh Berman (Writer)

    Another decent commentary however this one has more pauses than the previous one where they are obviously just watching the show. They cover some minor controversies, locations, the idea, why it was an extended episode and how the writing for this episode was done plus some character backgrounds.

Disc 2

The CSI Shot : Making It Real (11:45)

    A quite interesting featurette about the special effects shots used throughout this series to show inside the human body and various wounds. These shots are one of the series' trademarks and this extra covers how they are done and includes significant technical detail. Worth watching. Presented 4x3.

Disc 3

The Writers Room (11:42)

    A featurette about the writers and the process that they use to write the scripts. They work closely together to workshop ideas to make sure the episodes make sense. Includes interviews with the writers and their leader Carol Mendelsohn. Specifically covers how they wrote Lady Heather's Box. Presented 4x3.

Crime Scene Field Kit

    This is a selection of short featurettes covering the various items found in a CSI's field kit, hosted by the show's technical adviser. Included are Alternate Light Source (0:48), Flashlight (0:25), Forceps (0:22), Gel Lifters (0:27), Gloves (0:22), Ground Penetrating Radar (0:36), Phenolphthalein (0:40), Scalpel (0:58) and Swab (0:33). They are quite interesting and will probably answer your questions about what the characters get up to at crime scenes.

    This series has been released in exactly the same format in Region 2 and is only available as a full season box set in Region 1 (including the exact same extras). If you want the whole season this is also available separately in Region 4.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is very good.

    The set has a good selection of quality extras

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall