Millennium - Season 1 To 3 [1996]

Customer Reviews:

Big Box Set for Collectors only?.......2007-12-14

I dont think its worth buying sixty episodes for anyone who didnt like Season 2 or 3. In this boxset you get over 60 episodes of Millennium and also some very decent Documentries. Many people think Season 1 was the best and I couldnt disagree, having owneed this box set for over a year I wouldnt sell it ever, the series meant to much to me and the episodes whatever season can delve into the deepest meaning of life like no series Ive seen before even more than Sar Trek at times. There are 2 commentaries for each season 2 episodes each ,I really wish there was more, but also you get the very nice box itself if you buy all 3 seasons together, so I would recommend for big fans only of Millennium. Also on season 3 s last disc is an x files episode which has the the X-Files characters meeting Franck Black in the episode. Not a great episode but I will re visit these episodes for years to come. If only Chris Carter didnt leave Season 2 to other people to choose what way the series would go, but your still getting many hours of Millenium, much more than the longest film.

Very classy Box set.......2007-11-29

Very classy Box set

please note that ' Season 1 ' has the Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

but

Season 2 and Season 3 use the better Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1

Bring it Back NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.......2006-03-08

Having bought this box set on the back of only seeinig two episodes back in the nineties on terrestrial tv before it moved to sky I knew I'd love it as much as I loved the X files, this however is a much more thought provoking show and it tends to get under your skin and into your head, after watching the episode Wide Open I always lock my back door when I'm in the living room, watch it and you'll get the idea. The first season was brilliant, however it went a wayward from season two but its still compulsive viewing. Lance Henrikson is excellent as the tormented Black and the supporting characters all fit in well with his tortured soul. All in all you won't be disappointed and on the evidence of todays world events it may make you think deeper. I wish Chris Carter would reprise it even for just one season more. Brilliant!!!!

MIDNIGHT OF THE CENTURY.......2005-02-12

MILLENNIUM is at first a product of its times, a manifestation of the mid to late nineties fear of what Y2K could bring. Its easy to look back now in hindsight and dismiss millennial tension, but there were a great many who had serious thoughts of what could happen and looked for answers. It's also easy to dismiss its innovative mature and sombre tone when it has been copied to lesser effect in the last five or six years with other procedural shows like CSI and COLD CASE.

Chris Carter concieved MILLENNIUM to be like the feature films SILENCE OF THE LAMBS or SEVEN but on a weekly format. No aliens or govermental conspiracies like his X-FILES, but a psychological exploration of the nature of evil, of one man's ability to see into the thought processes of the worst of humanity. Frank Black's gift was not psychic in nature but an accute understanding of the heart of darkness: "I become capability. I become the horror -- what we know we can become only in our heart of darkness. It's my gift. It's my curse. That's why I retired."

Lance Henrikson plays ex-FBI agent Frank Black perfectly, a man who was driven to a nervous breakdown when he realized he could no longer keep his family safe from the evil he was helping to fight. He only returns to work with the help of the Millennium Group and the support of his wife, who realises he can't just sit back and wait for a happy ending. Their symbolic yellow house becomes not just a sanctuary but a fragile treasure in Franks mind, one that is threatened as his investigations continue. Evil takes a personal interest in him, tempting him to join it, and we see the toll his resistence to that evil has on his life.

The psychological aspect is what I believe Chris Carter was more interested in, however when Season two began and X-Files script writers/producers Morgan and Wong took over, they changed the focus away from that aspect and more on the supernatural, and mythological nature of the Millennium Group itself. Over that one season (instead of five whch would have been more believable as a narrative) the Group turned from a noble company of ex-law enforcement agents (like the real life Academy Group) into a fractured quasi-religious cult, founded at the time of Christ's crucifixtion, with an agenda to not just wait for an apocalypse but to pre-empt it. At the end of the second season, the writers introduced a deadly ebola-type virus, supposedly manufactured by the group itself, that apparently wipes out half the world, including claiming the life of Franks wife. At the end of that season, the world has ended, and the writers effectively ruined concept of the show.

Season three, back now in the hands of Chris Carter, starts off without making any real reference to the virus outbreak, with Frank back atthe FBI, until a few episodes in when its revealed it was only a media panic over a few isolated cases rather than the real apocalypse. The SOUND OF SNOW is particulary a heart-wrenching episode where Frank finally deals with his wifes death. Try as they might, despite some exceptional work, the show never recovers from the loss of the Catherine Black character, the loss of the symbolism of the yellow house, or the change of Millennium Group to religious conspiracy cult. After the Group begin to execute those members deemed too dangerous to their agenda, Frank goes on the run with his daughter Jordan. And the less said about the X-Files crossover episode the better.

These DVD's are still a must buy for any fan of dramatic storytelling, because even the worst episodes are better than 90% of current tv. If you like CSI, 24 and all of the other procedural shows, you'll like this. They're excellently put together with commentaries and documentaries, which especially give you a palpable sense of the frustration felt by the actors and Chris Carter of how great the show could have been if allowed to grow at its own pace. Regardless of its faults, MILLENNIUM is a special show, the level of acting and production elevating it over any inconsistancies of series narrative.

As Lance Henrikson says in the documentary, about missed opportunities, MILLENNIUM still haunts him.

So will this, but for all the right reasons.

Why this show failed.......2005-01-26

It is easy to see after viewing the 3 seasons why this show was then cancelled even if was done by Chris Carter of X-Files and 9 seasons fame. Do not get me wrong the show is quite good and addictive but it turns to too much different things in 3 seasons. The atmosphere is X-Files (no wonder with Chris Carter directing and Mark Snow doing the musical score) so if you like X-Files you are going to like this. However as said too many changes from season to season more than likely lost the audience on the road.
The first season is probably the best (Chris Carter left after...) as it is a dark murder mystery investigation show. Character well defined and well acted. Also the problem Frank Black has reconciling family life with a wife and daughter with his work investigating serial killers and the very evil of humanity is well shown. The millenium group at this point is nothing out of the ordinary only ex-law enforcement agents consulting on particular crimes.
The second season after Chris Carter leaves takes definitely a total different twist. The murder investigations take backseat to the mystery of the millenium group. A lot of mystical and religious elemnts are introduced and also "funky" episodes like 'Jose Chung's Doomsday Defense' or 'Satan Got Behind Me' that do not quite fit with the nature of the show and are to say the least distracting. All in all not as good as the first season but still enjoyable. One more thing the last episode is not very believable and is not really explained well in the third season. Warning spoiler----> Frank's Wife dies in this episode.
The third season then it turns to 'X-Files Mulder & Sculley wannabe". Frank is back to FBI is paired with another female agent Emma Hollis but no chemistry like Mulder and Sculley, the episodes turn also to look X-Filish but without capturing the spirit of X-Files. So the show albeit it gains in suspense it goes down the drain at this point for lack of originality and too many twists and turns.

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