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Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars [2005] (REGION 1) (NTSC)


Our Price: £5.19 (subject to change)

The galaxy is our playground
Review date: 2006-03-01 Rating: 8 out of 10

I bought this Region 1 DVD because I wasn’t prepared to pay the price for the Region 2 DVD, which despite being just over 3 hours in duration and concluding one of my all-time favourite Sci-Fi series, I believe is way over priced. So I have no way of telling you how this DVD compares to the Region 2 European version, but what I can tell you is that I definitely wasn’t disappointed by the content of this final Farscape offering. And even though I still believe the Region 2 DVD is over priced, I must admit that I’d probably now be willing to pay that price (or something close to it) now that I’ve completed this DVD, because I am more than satisfied by its contents and will certainly be watching it again in the future. I had no expectations for how all the events of the fantastic previous seasons of ‘Farscape’ might be wrapped-up convincingly and enjoyably in this one-off miniseries, but I'm really pleased to say that almost all my expectations have been fulfilled.

Bad Points:

(1) I have to be honest and admit that it’s now been years now since I last watched an episode of ‘Farscape’ and I’ve probably forgotten now more than I ever learned in regards to these characters and their stories and so for that reason I can definitely appreciate how my experience of this miniseries might have been slightly spoiled by my not remembering every crucial detail from the show. So if it’s within your means to watch each of the previous seasons of the programme before you begin this movie then I'd definitely recommend it- you'd probably get a lot more out of it that way.
(2) Some characters are missing and as the makers have clearly gone to a great deal of trouble to bring back so many characters, both the more and less prominent, it’s a shame that some are absent.
(3) The extras are pretty sparse- one documentary and some storyboards are the extent. I would have liked more.
(4) The English Subtitles are shockingly inaccurate throughout e.g. “We’ve been hit” instead of “We’ve been here too long”.

Good Points:

(1) The movie begins with a great deal of style, visual flare and dramatic tension, and gave me more than a couple of goose bumps- the opening credits and the accompanying voice-over have a real filmic quality and while this style isn’t really carried through into the rest of the movie, it does nonetheless act as a great hook.
(2) The score is superb.
(3) The make-up and set-designs are gorgeous.
(4) The ending is fitting (I’ll say no more).

Good/Bad Point:

During all Farscape's years on television I don’t think there were ever as many phase pistol shots and missile launches as there are in this movie. The entire miniseries is one long battle punctuated by touching/shocking moments. Depending on your point of view, I suppose this could be either a good or bad thing. Personally, I would have preferred it to have been more segmented, so that the quieter moments would have contrasted better with the various weapons firing, because there's very little time to absorb some often very consequential events. In that sense I would have appreciated a breather now and again, but you can’t have everything I guess.

In its four years on television ‘Farscape’ managed to provoke more discussion in Sci-Fi circles (and beyond) than most others manage in considerably longer runs- there was so much debate about each season, so much talk of how the various characters were developing over the years and much attention was paid to the increasingly complex and convoluted storylines. This is the magic of ‘Farscape’ for me…that it’s never been afraid to experiment, or stand out in the crowd, or mess with the sci-fi formula and the end result is something that in comparison to every other example of the genre is as ‘out there’ in the galaxy, as where John Crichton was accidentally transported more than a lifetime ago. For me personally, ‘Farscape’ was never a consistently outstanding series, but it was without doubt always enjoyable and the occasional flashes of brilliance it did provide were like opals on the seabed. ‘The Peacekeeper Wars’ is no exception.

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Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Wayne Pygram
Ben Browder
Claudia Black
Anthony Simcoe
Gigi Edgley

Creators:
Ben Browder (Primary Contributor)
Claudia Black (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Hallmark
Manufacturer: Hallmark
EAN: 0707729169406
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Closed-captioned, Colour, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC,
Release date: 2005-01-18
Universal product code (UPC): 707729169406
Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
Region code: 1
Running time: 182 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2004-10-17
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: Spanish (Subtitled)
Language: English (Original Language)

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