Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Picture***
Sound***
Film****

Michael Crichton seems to have the Midas touch when it comes to developing stories for films and television. Even his novels display his innate sense of cinematic structure and pacing. His feeling for the cinema separates ER from all the hospital-based series that came before it. Every episode of ER felt and looked like a miniature movie, not merely weekly television fare.

Along with stylishly quick-paced editing and sophisticated camera work, ER has superb character development. Because it was a weekly series, its stable of nine writers could explore each of the six main characters in depth. During the first season, John Carter (Noah Wyle) goes from being a wet-behind-the-ears medical student to an experienced intern, while the picture-perfect marriage of Dr. Mark Green (Anthony Edwards) slowly, inexorably disintegrates. ER marked the beginning of the ascent of George Clooney's career; the role of sensitive rogue Dr. Doug Ross so perfectly fit him that this character type has dominated his movie roles ever since. While Sherry Stringfield (Dr. Susan Lewis), Julianna Margulies (nurse Carol Hathaway), and Eriq La Salle (Dr. Peter Benton) have not gone on to Clooney's level of Hollywood bankability, they, too, were perfectly cast in their roles. Their appealing vulnerability ensures that you can't help but be involved and concerned for their welfare and happiness.

Based on my past experiences with DVD transfers of TV shows, such as Zena, Warrior Princess, I didn't have terribly high hopes for ER's video quality. Fortunately, this transfer makes ER look very good indeed. Although the DVD does exhibit a wee bit of video noise and occasional sharpness and focus problems, the subtleties of color and overall color purity make it a visual treat—that unique color, hospital green, comes through perfectly. The transfer is good enough that the blood and gore in the OR scenes occasionally aren't entirely convincing; also, slightly better makeup was needed in some close-ups. Several years later, ER was among the first TV shows to broadcast an episode in high-definition, which made the makeup and OR scenes look even less adequate.

The sound quality is another pleasant surprise. Not only is the dialog clear, but the background music and sound effects are superbly done. More than a few times, door slams and other offstage effects had me looking around my living room. Subtle changes in the actors' voices as they walk from room to room demonstrate a level of sound production values equal to that of many big-budget feature films.

Along with the first season's 25 episodes, this set of four DVDs includes audio commentary for three episodes, and two commentary tracks for the original pilot. Side 2 of disc 4 contains the requisite outtakes reel, along with several short films about ER's beginnings, post-production challenges, issues of medical realism, and a first-year intern handbook.

Since receiving this deluxe box, more than a few of my evenings have stretched into the wee hours as I watched one ER episode after another. I suspect you, too, will find ER: The Complete First Season to be the kind of therapeutic set that's worth losing sleep over.—SS