The Dresden Files: Complete Season 1 [2007]

Customer Reviews:

Not much like the books.......2008-03-04

Firstly, this series has little in common with the books (apart from the episode storm front) and Harry really doesn't do much magic.

Secondly, if your NOT a fan of the books many of the characters and harrys equiptment wont make sense as your not introduced to anyone or anything.

Thirdly, its all over the place and the episodes dont seem to run in the correct order (storm front should really be the first show but its episode 8)

And lastly, its a really good show! the stories are interesting and sometimes witty, Harry is vunerable yet powerful, murphy is strong and idependent and bob is just brilliant!

If you love The Dresden files (like me) and your a fan of the books - switch off your brain and give it a go, if your not a fan you might like it even more! this really is a great show (Shame its been cancelled). Enjoy! (I did)

Excellent first series! But no second series.......2008-02-15

This is a great show. It won me over very quickly and I was very disappointed that there would be no second series. I never read the books but the TV show stands on its own merits. loved it! loved it! loved it!

Brilliant. .......2008-01-27

Forget some of the over-analysed low star rated reviews. I watched this with my daughter (I am 42, she is 13) and we both loved it. Having watched Buffy, Angel, Charmed and Hex it was a relief to watch something that wasn't aimed totally at teens (though Angel avoided this to an extent). Obviously those who read the books will feel slightly negative to the screen version. However, having not read the books and accepting Jim Butchers happy analysis of the show as a 'parallel version', I did not have any preconcieved ideas. It is a real shame that this show was not commisioned for a second series. There is a whole generation of original Buffy and Charmed fans who would appreciate the more mature, slightly world weary and crumpled Harry Dresden.

So what if it nots faithful - its fun........2008-01-19

Yes this isn't a very faithful adaptation of a series of books which are rather good if very similair to a lot of the other supernatural crime fighting books around.

And the effects aren't great and the dialogue occasionally lacks polish, but it is fun. The acting is par for the course, except for the excellent Mr Mann as Bob (Bob alone is worth the cost of the DVD).

The plotting is good, and the characters are believable and with more depth than the early episodes lead you to believe. Yes, harry will never have quite the same intricacy as a character in a forty minute tv show when compared with a charcter in a 250 page novel, but he does have more depth than the Supernatural boys.

This is a good, solid supernatural crime show, with a few stand out episodes and sadly no second series. Jim Buthcher has said he views it as more of a parallel world than an adaptation of the books and this seems fair, to berate it for what it can't be doesn't. If you like things like Supernatural, Buffy and Hex then give it a go. If you want a series using the books as a script write one yourself.

Extremely unreliable.......2008-01-11

After reading a few of the books, I was intrigued enough to borrow my friend's copy of "The Dresden Files". The character of Harry Dresden rings true with a modern audience in the way that most fantasy characters don't, even when the world they inhabit is a close approximation of our own. I was pretty excited to see what they could do with a visual medium. I still can't decide how to rate it, hence the average score.

My overall impression of "The Dresden Files" is one of wasted potential. The first episode is dreadful, and nearly prevented me from watching the rest. Which would have been a shame because the second and third episodes are wonderful, with confident writing and excellent performances by nearly every member of the cast. From there, the quality varies wildly. While some aspects, particularly the performances of the core cast and their interactions continue to improve throughout the series, this show can never seem to realise when it's done something right.

A few minutes of online research quickly revealed an explanation. There has been no unifying vision or guiding hand behind this show at any point. Writers, directors and producers (and sometimes even actors!) swapped roles and credits on a nearly scene-by-scene basis, with some names making brief but significant contributions. It's clear that the episodes were filmed in an order drastically different than that in which they were shown. For instance, Episode 8 ("Storm Front"), based on Jim Butcher's first Dresden novel, was obviously filmed first and takes place on different sets from the rest of the series. Even worse, it reintroduces you to all of the characters again, ignoring established continuity.

By the last few episodes, the cast are comfortable with each other and their roles, resulting in some wonderful performances marred by consistently inconsistent dialogue. As a fan of Firefly, Joss Whedon's masterpiece of subtle characterisation, there ARE a couple of episodes which I truly believe compare favourably to this cult hit. However, directorial control over this series was so schizophrenic as to be nonexistent.

I'm reliably informed that there will be no second season of "The Dresden Files". While the fan in me is a little aggrieved, the part of me that lives in the real world can admit the inevitability of this decision. While there were some shining moments, they were too rare. I couldn't fault you for purchasing this boxset, perhaps in a sale, but I'll be hanging on to my own money.

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