Blood Ties - Complete Series 1

Customer Reviews:

Pedestrian series but good for fans of the books.......2008-03-11

My girlfriend bought this series having been a fan of the Tanya Huff books, and is thoroughly enjoying it, however having never read the books and therefore not knowing the backstory I am finding it pretty average at best.

Like a previous review pointed out, there is no real development of the characters, and so far(over half way through the series) there has been little filling out of the characters pasts in an effort to get viewers interested in them and make you care about what happens. The action is mediocre and the series lacks the style and attitude of a series like Supernatural.

The story lines are OK but nothing that has not been done better on other series like Angel. They also become very repetitive as the plots are very similar - same story, different creature - and there is little continuation of storyline between episodes, each one (with brief exceptions) seems to be created as a stand alone rather than as part of a progressive series. This is probably due to reducing an entire book down to a single episode, but has done nothing to get myself as the viewer feeling involved and wanting to see the next episode.

If, like my girlfriend and many of the other reviewers, you have already read some of the books and therefore know the history behind the characters, their relationships, vulnerabilities, etc, and therefore don't need it to become interested in the characters and drawn into the storylines, this could be a worthwhile series.

For those however, like myself, who have not read Tanya Huff, this is a really pedestrian series with nothing to recommend it above several other similarly styled supernatural TV series like Supernatural, Buffy, Angel, Hex, The Dresden Files, to name but a few, which are far more entertaining and a much more enjoyable watch.

Quite good (even thought the books are better).......2008-03-11

I bought the first season boxed set because of Tanya Huff's books that I love. The series are done slightly differently - I can undestand why they removed Tony, but the Goth girl does get on my nerves a lot. Also the books follow the development of characters beautifully, but the series are limited by the necessity to cram at least one full investigation in to every epizode.

Christina Cox is very good as Vicky, and Dylan Neal proved to be a great Celluci. I was very pleased to see Neal again after watching some old action movie with him. He is older, deeper and much more interesting as a personality - let's hope he gets more good roles.

Henry is quite different from the books Henry. Kyle Schmidt is handsome and interesting and actually quite a good actor but they totally missed the whole "trust and leadership" side that is very strong in the books. Also I was slightly peeved that they glamourized him by making him a graphic book's artist - instead of a romance writer. Sure it sounds cooler but there were several delightfully funny moments in the books connected to his romance writing. The series Henry is cute, cool and dangerous but I really missed Huff's honest and strong prince.

Still these are probably small issues and I thouroughly enjoyed the whole. Hope the show goes on and will definitely buy the next and the next seasons...

Totally Hooked .......2008-03-09

This Series is Brilliant, I'am totally hooked to it, I really hope that they will continue the Series ( I need more )
I saw a lot of comparison to Buffy and Angel in some other Reviews but for me this has not much to do with Buffy, this Series stands for itself.

Good show.......2008-03-06

I bought this on the strength that I like Buffy and it looked interesting. I am glad to say I wasn't disappointed. A good show, liked in particular the 3 main stars who bounced off each other well. Henry Fitzroy makes a sexy vampire! Will definitely buy the next season.

A poor man's Angel.......2008-03-04

I got this the other day and I was looking forward to watching it (its average score being 5 stars - got to be good!)

- What a disappointment! every episode is a badly done rip-off from another Fantasy show:- Doctor Who, Angel, Dresden, Buffy, Saphire and Steel etc. I don't mind watching recycled ideas - but only if they are done better or add something else to the episode, but it doesn't here.

The Lead charcters are 1 dimensional stereo types: a young eager secretary, a Broody mysterious Vampire, a tough but skeptical ex partner and a gutsy female ex cop with a chip on her shoulder. This has all been done much better in Angel (in fact most of the plot lines are taken directly from Angel just with worse acting and horrible predictable dilemas)

If your a fan of the books - fine you'll love it - but if your looking for a new angle of the vampire detective you wont find it here.

A special mention should be made for the title music which is really good and the special effects on the baddies are really, really terrible and look like they where taken from the 1960 episodes of Dr Who,they will make you laugh out loud.

Overall 2 stars for the show and 1 for the music, so call it 3 stars.

Oh and this version has NO subtitles or closed captions.

Stay away unless your a fan of soppy Vampire Stories and you liked the books.

UK DVD:

UK DVD List

UK DVD