Xena: Warrior Princess-Season 1 Volume 1 (1995)

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General		Extras
Category	Action	Menu Animation & Audio Gallery-Photo
Rating
Year Of Production	1995
Running Time	510:13
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (87:00) Multi Disc Set (3)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Jace Alexander Bruce Seth Green Michael Levine T.J. Scott
Studio Distributor	Universal Pictures Home Video	Starring	Lucy Lawless Renee O'Connor
Case	Slip Case
RPI	$69.95	Music	Joseph Lo Duca

    Certainly, Xena was never going to win any awards for its artistic merit, but even that had a far wider ranging impact than any would have suspected when the series first started. For many, the proud, independent Xena (Lucy Lawless) who travels with the woman she loves (although never explicitly in that way) became a symbol of expressive freedom for lesbian relationships. This is not so obvious during the first series (in fact, during this series, Gabrielle - Reneé O'Connor - falls in love with at least three different men, and Xena declares her love for, and even sleeps with, a man), but became a larger component of later series. For now what we have is the first series, and it contains the following episodes:

• Sins Of The Past (42:33) - Xena considers giving up her warrior ways, but is thwarted when her ex - Draco (a strong appearance from Jay Laga'aia) - show up with an army to try and take the local village. Xena can't help herself, and gets involved in trying to stop the tyrant. She also has a larger than expected effect on a village girl named Gabrielle, who decides to tag along with Xena when she leaves. Unfortunately for Gabrielle, Xena is headed home, still attempting to give up fighting, but again Draco gets in the way. It is just the kind of situation Gabrielle needs to convince Xena that she should have a travelling companion.
• Chariots Of War (42:22) - Xena leaves Gabrielle at the local village in order to scout ahead, but runs into trouble from the son of the local warlord. She is taken in by a local farmer who has sworn his life to peace. Meanwhile, Gabrielle, in attempt to avoid the unwanted attentions of a drunken bar customer, lands in the arms of the son of the local warlord...
• Dreamworker (42:33) - Gabrielle is captured by the mystics of Morpheus, the god of dreams. She is to be sacrificed the moment she loses her blood innocence (by killing). It is up to Xena to travel the dream-passage to save her.
• Cradle Of Hope (42:33) - A king is told a prophesy that a baby born recently in his castle will one day take his throne. Driven by his advisor, the king orders the death of the child, but a kindly nursemaid takes the baby away from the castle and sends it downriver, where it is found by Xena and Gabrielle. On the way to find who the baby belongs to, the two heroes run into a woman named Pandora who is carrying a certain box.
• The Path Not Taken (42:27) - Whilst in a tavern, Xena is approached by a young man who is desperate to find his fiancée who has recently been kidnapped. It seems that the marriage was to unite two kingdoms and stop an ancient war. After a little investigation, Xena discovers that the arms dealer Mezentius has the most to lose from such a union and heads to his base of operations to find out more. Matters are complicated, however, when the man she loves, Marcus (Bobby Hosea), turns out to be Mezentius' henchman.
• The Reckoning (42:34) - Xena fights a hooded warrior who has just butchered unarmed villagers. However, mid-battle, the warrior disappears. Unfortunately for Xena, more villagers arrive as she is tending the wounds of the fallen and see only her, and her bloodied hands over the bodies of their friends and family - and call for her death. This episode features the first appearance of the late Kevin Smith as Ares, god of war.
• The Titans (42:30) - Gabrielle happens to be in the right place at the right time to free three titans from an eternal stone prison, who instantly fall to worship her as a goddess, and do her bidding. Trouble ensues however, when Gabrielle is exposed as not being a god, and the titans take an instant dislike to being told what to do by simple humans. It is up to Gabrielle to save the day, but only a virgin can turn the titans back to stone, and Gabrielle has just spent the night with a young priest - was she able to save her virtue?
• Prometheus (42:35) - Prometheus has been captured by Hera, the Queen of the Gods, and the gifts he gave mankind are slowly being taken away. Xena and Gabrielle meet up with Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) and Iolaus (Michael Hurst) in the quest to free him. Along the way, Gabrielle finds that she has a lot in common with Iolaus, and the two become firm friends.
• Death In Chains (42:32) - An arrogant king has captured Celesta, god of death, and this has prevented all people from dying. While this may sound like a good thing, Xena and Gabrielle are introduced to the negative aspects of eternal life when they visit a hospital. Xena sets out to free Celesta, while Gabrielle meets a man she thinks may just be the one for her. Unfortunately, he has a secret that he has not told to Gabrielle.
• Hooves And Harlots (42:36) - The Amazons and the Centaurs are at war. Xena and Gabrielle arrive on the scene as a Centaur arrow kills the Amazon princess, who grants her rights and place in Amazon society to Gabrielle after she tries to save her life. This presents a dilemma for Gabrielle when the apparent culprit of the murder is captured. Xena is not so certain however, but has only a day to find the real murderer before an execution that may be unjust is carried out.
• The Black Wolf (42:27) - Xerxes is a harsh and unforgiving king who taxes his people until they cannot afford to put food on their table. In response to this, a local champion of the people, the "Black Wolf" has arisen. Xerxes has the answer however, as he threatens to destroy the village unless the Black Wolf surrenders - this only leads to half the village claiming to be the Black Wolf. One of the jailed happens to be a woman who grew up with Xena - and she sets about freeing her, as well as trying to aid the Black Wolf in bringing down Xerxes.
• Beware Greeks Bearing Gifts (42:31) - Everyone knows the tale of the downfall of Troy, however what most people don't know is that Xena and Gabrielle were there when Troy fell to the Greeks and their Trojan horse. This episode is an interesting take on an historical event that almost everyone knows about.

    As Xena was a spin-off series that very closely followed the formula set out by its older sibling, it hit its straps very early on, and produced a cracking first series that was plagued with a lot less of the "feet-finding" that many first series exhibit. The actors were well-and-truly falling into their characters by about half way through this first volume, and becoming ever more comfortable with them. While the second volume contains the stronger episodes of this series, there are still some very good episodes in this half. It should also be mentioned that this series is now a monument to Kevin Smith, who sadly passed away following an accident in China only a few weeks ago - he was certainly the best recurring character in this series, and gave good strong performances whenever he appeared.

Video

    As this is a 1995 low budget television show, it is no surprise to find it presented in 1.33:1 (and hence not 16x9 enhanced).

    The level of sharpness in the transfer varies greatly, not only between episodes, but within episodes as well. When the image is free of grain, and free of any other source likely to cause problems (such as smoke), it can appear very sharp and extremely clear. For the vast majority of the episodes, however, there is a very high level of grain that is barely kept under control, and results in many shots that are extremely soft. To make matters worse, there are numerous occasions when the grain level becomes so high as to almost blur the image (such as at 33:05 during Episode 8 - Prometheus). Shadow detail is, conversely, quite good. During dark scenes, the grain often becomes more of a problem than during well-lit scenes, however when grain is not causing too many problems, the detail present is surprisingly good. This has comparatively little effect either way, as few scenes play out in anything resembling darkness.

    Colours are rendered very well throughout the series. From Gabrielle's oft-changing outfit, to the lush greens of the New Zealand forest, the colours always present a consistent and believable image.

    Probably the most common artefact in this set is pixelization. This is not particularly surprising given the high level of grain present, and that is usually the cause, although effect smoke is also a common culprit (such as at 0:17-0:35 during the first episode). Throughout Volume 1, at least a small amount of pixelization occurred during most episodes, and many had quite noticeable instances. Due to the overall softness of the image, aliasing did not make an appearance during the first half of the series. At 18:28 during Episode 2, there was an instance of quite severe wobble, however whether or not this was a deliberate move I could not ascertain - regardless, it was certainly not easy to watch. Relatively few film artefacts appeared during the first volume of the series, with only a small fleck during the opening credits of the first Episode, and another during Episode 6. Additionally, two vertical lines appear down the image throughout the entire shot at 25:19-25:42.

    There were no subtitles present on these discs.

    Discs 1 and 2 did not exhibit any visible layer changes, which suggests that the change was placed between episodes, however disc three is RSDL formatted with the layer change occurring at 1:52 into Episode 11 (The Black Wolf). The change is not well placed, being right as Xena is riding across a field, and hence disrupts the flow of her movement. It is also questionable as to why the third disc was arranged in this manner. It was likely in order to fit on the photo gallery extra, however it would have been nice if that static extra had been broken across layers (or not included at all), such that no episode was afflicted with a layer change.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    There is only a single audio track present on this disc, being an English Dolby Digital 2.0 track recorded at 224 Kbps that is not surround encoded - although there is considerable benefit to be had from enabling surround decoding on the track.

    Dialogue is clear and easy to understand at all times. All war cries, all effects noises, and all music come through without a problem. One source never muffles the other, even during the most heated battles. There are a two instances of "pops" in the soundtrack. There are a series of minor pops around 30:00 during Episode 7, and a loud, sharp pop from the right channel at 21:13 during Episode 12.

    Audio sync is generally good, although there are a few instances where it slips out momentarily, such as at 28:31 of the first episode, and at 0:38 during Episode 9.

    The music is provided by Joseph Lo Duca, and is extremely well suited to the genre. From the stirring opening theme (which I now have embedded in my head after watching all 24 episodes in quick succession), to the more subtle themes worked throughout each episode, the music is far more engrossing and interesting than what is typical for most television shows. This is not all that surprising, as Joseph Lo Duca has scored for executive producer Sam Raimi on many occasions, including the entire Evil Dead series.

    While the soundtrack present on this disc is not actually recorded in Dolby ProLogic, turning on surround decoding works to very good effect. Even as a straight stereo soundtrack, the level of separation and locality across the front soundstage is brilliant. When surround decoding is turned on, an extremely active surround mix is presented, with the surround carrying not only score, but ambient noise, and even some semi-directional surround effects. It is most impressive during battle scenes, when the soundscape places the listener right in the middle of the battle.

    While there is not a specific track for the subwoofer, the re-directed sound from the main channels is quite impressive, and backs up both the score, and the bigger effects noises very adequately.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

Photo Gallery

    The video quality is average, although severely hampered by the source material.

    The audio quality is extremely good, and very much belies the low-budget TV origins of the material.

    The extras are, well, pathetic. Not only that, but they cause the final disc to have a layer change. They are not even a token effort, and should have been left off.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall