7.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Detective William Murdoch, a police investigator who employs emerging science to solve Toronto's most dreadful murders. He experiments with ballistics, psychological profiling, and other newly developed techniques, despite the doubts of his tradition-bound boss Thomas Brakenreid. Together with a beautiful pathologist Dr Julia Ogden and an able protege, Constable George Crabtree, Murdoch encounters some of the era's most famous--and infamous--figures, from Buffalo Bill Cody to Jack the Ripper.
Starring: Yannick Bisson, Hélène Joy, Thomas Craig, Jonny Harris, Mouna TraoréMystery | 100% |
Period | 46% |
Crime | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: Dolby Digital 2.0 (256 kbps)
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Three-disc set (3 BDs)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
By filling in the missing second season of Murdoch Mysteries on Blu-ray, Acorn Media has now made the initial five-year arc of Canada's 19th Century police procedural available in all its hi-def glory. As described in the review of Season 5, Murdoch was canceled after five seasons on its original broadcast home, Citytv, then resurrected on Canada's public broadcasting network, where a sixth season is currently airing. Only the early seasons have been shown in the U.S, and most American fans know it through DVD and Blu-ray. The Blu-ray releases have been out of order, commencing with Season 3, leaping back to Season 1, then forward again to Seasons 4 and 5. With the simultaneous release of Seasons 2 and 5, Acorn has issued a box set of Seasons 1-4, at a significant price advantage, for those making a fresh start. Although the crime in each episode of Murdoch is generally solved by the end of the hour, the series features continuing storylines involving the main characters and their relationships. Not much had happened by the end of Season 1, where the creative team and the actors were laying the basic groundwork, but Season 2 saw critical plot points develop that would inform the rest of the series. For that reason, I strongly urge the neophyte reader to quit here and not proceed past the first screenshot. For a spoiler-free introduction to the unique world of Murdoch Mysteries, see the Season 1 review.
The video quality on Acorn Media's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-rays for Season 2 is consistent with that of Season 4 and the simultaneously released Season 5, which is to say that it's excellent. The HD-originated picture has translated to Blu with superior detail, deep blacks, nicely saturated colors and an absence of video noise. Compression-related issues, filtering and other artifacts were not in evidence. The only downside of the hi-def image on Murdoch Mysteries is the fact that the rough quality of the CG work (relative to feature films) used to create long shots of 19th Century Toronto is sometimes distractingly evident.
With accurate labeling this time around, Murdoch Mysteries continues to be released by Acorn with Dolby Digital 2.0 at 256 kbps. Only the first-issued set of Murdoch Blu-rays, Season 3, used PCM. Having now watched all of the seasons on Blu-ray, I don't think viewers will notice the difference unless they convince themselves beforehand. Murdoch's stereo soundtrack is a serviceable one, with clearly rendered dialogue, effective underscoring by Robert Carli, essential sound effects for storytelling, and a few signature sounds to indicate scene transitions (notably a light bulb illuminating). Lossless encoding would be preferable, but I'm not sure how much the experience would change.
Circling back to Season 2 of Murdoch Mysteries after reviewing two subsequent seasons has given me a new appreciation for the artful care with which the show's creators mix their particular blend of crime, history, humor and romance. Any regular fan of series television can cite an example of a worthy show that strayed too far into its characters' personal lives and devolved into a soap opera, but Murdoch has never made that mistake (at least not so far). Season 2's developing relationship between Murdoch and Ogden is parceled out in tiny doses over a thirteen-episode arc that concerns itself primarily with the business of catching criminals. Especially in these early seasons, it's difficult for the detective and the doctor to get maudlin when they're studying a post mortem report or inspecting a crime scene where a victim has had his throat torn out or conferring over the stomach contents of an autopsy subject lying on the doctor's table nearby with his rib cage open. In later seasons, the writers find less ghoulish means to check excess sentiment, but their method was clear from the beginning. Clever stuff, highly recommended.
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(Still not reliable for this title)
2013
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Sherlock Holmes
1944
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Masterpiece Mystery
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20th Anniversary Uncut Director's Edition
2003
Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
1967
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1974
2018
Prelude to Murder / Sherlock Holmes
1946
Sherlock Holmes
1946
Sherlock Holmes
1945
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2012
1980