8.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
All 13 Season One episodes, newly restored in 4K! He’s ingenious, he’s phobic, he’s obsessive-compulsive. Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Tony Shalhoub (Barton Fink, TV’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) is sublimely hysterical in Monk, the show that critics call “fresh, exciting and utterly original” (Chicago Tribune). Adrian Monk’s offbeat antics have made him unfit for duty but he’s back as a San Francisco police consultant to help out on their most baffling cases. The brilliant but neurotic Monk is now fighting crime as well as his abnormal fears of germs, heights, crowds, and virtually everything else known to man in “the best detective show to come along in decades” (New York Post). Co-starring Bitty Schram (A League of Their Own), Jason Gray-Stanford (A Beautiful Mind), and Ted Levine (The Silence of the Lambs) with guest stars Brooke Adams, Gail O’Grady, Adam Arkin, Tim Daly, Garry Marshall, Kevin Nealon, Willie Nelson, Amy Sedaris, Stephen McHattie, and many more.
Starring: Tony Shalhoub, Ted Levine, Jason Gray-Stanford, Traylor Howard, Stanley KamelComedy | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Crime | Insignificant |
Mystery | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1, 1.33:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Four-disc set (4 BDs)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
“He does this zen Sherlock Holmes thing," Adrian Monk's (Tony Shalhoub) longtime nurse Sharona Flemming (Bitty Schram) says in one early episode of Monk, the story of a crack detective with a remarkable power of perception and nearly superhuman observational skills. But he's more than just this generation's top sleuth; he's also a hopeless, and at many times helpless and therefore hapless, obsessive-compulsive. His proclivities often get in the way of police procedure, but never do they stand in the way of his ability to ultimately crack the case, or even discover a case where nobody else even sees one. In season one of Monk, the title character both solves committed crimes, such as murders, but he also deduces when, why, and where crimes have happened beyond anyone's notice, such as in the season's final episode when he realizes that two passengers on a plane with him are guilty of a heinous killing. Crime solving is in Monk's DNA, but his peculiarities are his DNA: it's who he is, and it's why the show works so well, blending together police procedural with Monk's infectiously fun (but frustrating to the characters in the show) proclivities that make this a show with a two-pronged attack of crime drama and side-splitting comedy that is one of the best shows its kind and one of the best of its time.
Kino states that all thirteen season one episodes have received new 4K restorations, and the result is a very pleasant 1080p presentation. The season is consistently impressive in terms of holding to the show's natural filmic roots, boasting a very nice grain structure that accentuates the film characteristics and helping to amplify the natural detail in every frame. Indeed, viewers will see and appreciate the pinpoint definition and detail that is in evidence across the full season run, with close-ups offering exceptional detail to facial hair and stubble, Sharona's makeup, and other qualities and characteristics that bring tangible and tactile life to characters. Environments are crisp and nicely defined across a full spectrum of various interiors and San Francisco city, suburban, and surrounding exteriors, and the clarity only seems to amplify Monk's various environmental phobias, all but capturing the germs on various surfaces. Colors are pleasing, offering very impressive depth and accuracy throughout the season, like natural greens at the crime scene near the beginning of episode three, in various outdoor shots outside Monica Waters' garage in episode eight, or an orange wall in an apartment partway through the 11th episode. Color yield is wonderful, and even as Monk himself always wears various shades of brown and beige, the world around him is immensely colorful and looks great on Blu-ray. White balance is fine and black levels are deep. There are no obvious compression anomalies or source damages. There are some very low-quality SD insert and establishing shots scattered throughout the season. They are jarring, but the show proper looks great apart from a few other main content SD shots interspersed throughout (look at the 18:43 mark of episode two, which seems due to the false background out the window). Overall, Kino has done a wonderful job with this release.
Kino releases Monk: The Complete First Season to Blu-ray with a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack. Dialogue can be a weak spot in the first episode. There are times of inability to really present the spoken word in a grounded front-center location, sounding as if it's lost somewhere out to the sides of center. There is also something of a mild tinniness and hollowness to many elements in the episode, like footfalls, but things gain some stability in episode two and beyond. Dialogue becomes crisper and more naturally centered. Effects present with more authoritative depth and more refined clarity. While the content is, of course, limited to the front left and right channels, the track takes good advantage of its available real estate to bring flourishing effects and pleasing spacing to the proceedings, stretching music, environmental cues, and the odd larger effect to prominence with nice balance and clarity. This is not a track to stretch sound systems by any stretch of the imagination, but fans will find it to be in good working order, especially after the first pilot episode.
This Blu-ray release of Monk: The Complete First Season contains all of its supplemental content on disc four. Note that on disc one viewers
can choose to watch the pilot episode as a double-length feature or split into two distinct episodes. No DVD or digital copies are
included with purchase. This release does ship with a non-embossed slipcover.
Monk's first season manages to set the groundwork for the show while also diving headfirst into the life and times of its title character. From the first shots Monk is manifested with a fullness of character depth that really sets the tone for the show. While holding to a procedural core, the title character opens a whole new world for how things work and why in the detective world, and the result is one of the most infinitely watchable and enjoyable shows of the 21st century to date. Fans are in for a treat with Kino's first season release. It's a little thin on extras, but the video presentation is magnificent and the 2.0 lossless audio track is solid, too. Very highly recommended!
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