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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.
Crownies-Complete Season One (Blu-ray) (2011)

Crownies-Complete Season One (Blu-ray) (2011)

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Released 15-Dec-2011

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Drama Main Menu Audio & Animation
Featurette-Making Of-Multiple
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 2011
Running Time 1189:29
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered
Multi Disc Set (4)
Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Lynn Hegarty
Garth Maxwell
Jet Wilkinson
Grant Brown
Studio
Distributor

Roadshow Home Entertainment
Starring None Given
Case ?
RPI ? Music Antony Partos
Antonio Mestres
Ann Fay


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English DTS HD Master Audio 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

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

     Legal dramas are pretty common on television, however this new Australian production has a couple of things which provide a point of difference. Most legal dramas are focused on the police or defence lawyers or judges but only a few are based on the prosecutors like Crownies is. At least according to the extras this is the first Australian production to be prosecutor focused. It is set in the NSW Department of Public Prosecutions and the name is based upon the title of some of the characters, Crown Prosecutor. Another difference from many legal drama series is that they have avoided the clichéd 'case of the week' approach which generally sees one or two cases focused on and resolved in each episode, such as in Law & Order. In this series, the cases run across multiple episodes and are interwoven with the lives of the prosecutors and how the cases affect them.

     The show is a joint production of the ABC and the Screentime company and was filmed in and around western Sydney, mostly in Parramatta and Auburn. It features a cast of young Australian actors and actresses, mostly fresh new faces with a couple of better known ones thrown in such as Marta Dusseldorp and Peter Kowitz as the more experienced members of the prosecution team. It is an ensemble cast approach with no characters being more in the forefront than others, with six or so young lawyers working across a number of cases. Major cast members include Todd Lasance, Hamish Michael, Ella Scott Lynch, Andrea Demetriades, Indiana Evans and Janette Cronin. Most of these play the young, energetic and impossibly good looking lawyers who make up the more junior members of the team.

     Despite avoiding the obvious cliché in terms of show structure I mentioned above, the individual cases do show some clichés with mentally disabled people being abused and racism towards Muslims. Additionally, I felt the show was a little too focused on the sexuality of the lawyers adding somewhat of a soap opera feel to proceedings. If you like it is a little more like All Saints for the prosecution rather than a very serious style such as Wildside. This is not to say that it is a bad show as it is quite entertaining and running the stories over multiple episodes encourages you to keep watching. Early on in the series perhaps too many cases are introduced at once and it can be a little confusing. The personal lives of the younger lawyers tend to lighten up proceedings, however, some of the cases are quite heavy in nature (mothers killing children, child abuse etc).

     Production quality is quite good, with some good sets and locations used along with some interesting camera work. This four disc Blu-ray set includes all 22 episodes of Series 1. I understand the show will not be going into a second series.

     Worth a look if you enjoy television drama and/or legal shows.

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Transfer Quality

Video

     The video quality is quite good but unfortunately only 1080i. The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. It is 1080i encoded using AVC.

     The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout although was somewhat affected by motion blur. The shadow detail was very good. The colour was quite good although never vibrant probably due to artistic choice.

     There were no noticeable artefacts other than the motion blur mentioned above.

     There are subtitles available in English for the hearing impaired which are clear and easy to read. They are in multiple colours to denote who is speaking.

     There are no obvious layer changes during playback.

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

Audio

     The audio quality is very good but quite front focused. This disc contains a English soundtrack in DTS-HD MA. My player does not recognise the track as having any particular number of channels which is odd, however based upon the sound field produced I would guess it is a 2.0 track.

     Dialogue was mostly clear and easy to hear and understand, although the subtitles proved useful. It is probably mostly a source related issue.

     The music sounds good and adds to the show's style.

     The surround speakers were not used. The subwoofer was used to support the music.

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

Extras

     The extras are quite similar to each other, all being talking head style EPK featurettes about various aspects of the production. All feature a variety of cast and crew.

Menu

     The menu was functional and included music and motion.

Disc 2

Design (4:44)

     Featurette on the sets used and their design.

Casting (6:27)

     Approach to choosing cast, wanting a relatively unknown ensemble.

Scripting (6:17)

     Producers and writers talking about approach and not wanting the 'case of the week' style.

Production Style (5:52)

     Discussion about the shooting style, trying for realism, the set being designed to allow for movement and their collaborative approach.

Disc 4

Actor's Perspective (4:49)

     The actors discuss their roles and the show.

The DPP (4:31)

     Discussion around collaboration with the actual DPP and how the various lawyers cope with their jobs.

Morality & the Law (5:23)

     Cast & crew discuss the grey nature of the cases involved and the challenges in getting a case to court.

Shooting Digitally (3:55)

     Technical featurette about the camera and lighting choices etc.

Locations (4:10)

     Talking about locations used including the actual Justice Precinct in Parramatta.

R4 vs R1

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

    This set is only available locally.

Summary

     A worthwhile and entertaining Australian legal drama series set in the prosecutor's office.

     The video quality is quite good but only 1080i. The audio quality is good.

     A decent set of extras.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Daniel Bruce (Do you need a bio break?)
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
Review Equipment
DVDSONY BDP-S760 Blu-ray, 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 BD player. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationPioneer VSX-511
SpeakersMonitor Audio Bronze 2 (Front), Bronze Centre & Bronze FX (Rears) + Sony SAW2500M Subwoofer

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