Three Complete Seasons of the Hit Comedy Series! — Due South is a lightning-paced action / comedy in which a quintessential, polite, by-the-book Canadian Mountie from the frozen North is teamed up with a wise-cracking Arman... more »i-clad Chicago cop with a flexible sense of morality. Brought together in the Windy City by a mysterious murder which has personal ramifications for both men, these unlikely buddies must find a common ground amidst overwhelming differences.« less
Amanda C. (Panda1971) from MOORE, OK Reviewed on 6/28/2011...
I fell in love with this series when I was a kid, it is worth giving it a shot.
1 of 2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Movie Reviews
Whats in the box? 5 stars worth!
RaiderOfTheLostArk | Canada | 06/04/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"You're getting all 68 episodes (Including Pilot and Finale) spread out across 11 single sided discs. Unlike the Canadian releases, there are no flipper discs to be found in this complete set. Each disc has 6 episodes on it (Instead of the usual 4) Which brings me to my only complaint.
These discs are the same as the US releases seen here on Amazon. (Priced at 20 apiece) The 1st and 3rd season are each spread out across 4 discs, and the 2nd season across 3 discs. (11 total) While picture quality is not up to our standards of say... Lost. Due South wasn't a high profile, big budget show to begin with. I'm not going to lie. The show could look better with re-mastering. But as long as you have a decent TV, it certainly looks better then when it was broadcasted. Certainly better then VHS, thats for sure.
The quality complaint is mostly aimed at the first season though. Season 2 and 3 look much cleaner and clearer. At a price of $33, I'd expect much worse. Quality's no more worse then the first few seasons of the X-files. It's a semi successful 90's TV show, what does one expect?
All 11 discs are housed in what is essentially a fat DVD case. It takes up very little space on the shelf. (See customer photo's) If the case was dropped though, expect a pile of plastic. Though the discs won't get harmed.
So again, you're getting the complete series, all 4 seasons in there American release. Meaning season 3 and 4 were combined to make a single 3rd season. Whether it's the Canadian listing, or the American listing, it's always going to be 68 episodes in total. The box set has no special features. Most importantly though, no flipper discs. I got this for $33 on Amazon.ca, which is very cheap for a complete show with 68 episodes.
It doesn't look like Due South is getting a re-mastered Blu-ray treatment anytime soon (Though it obviously should) With all the confusing DVD's releases, the split up seasons, and flipper disc/quality issues, this is the most affordable and easiest way to get the complete show on DVD. Unless you want to spend the extra cash on the UK season sets, this is a must buy for fans who do not own the show.
Did I mention how great the show is?"
Great set... if you don't mind VCD quality.
Marlowe7 | Syracuse, NY United States | 09/13/2008
(1 out of 5 stars)
"DUE SOUTH: THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION has got to be the worst quality commercially available DVD I've ever seen. I was really looking forward to watching this series for the first time. 68 episodes for $30 didn't seem suspicious since I figured it's a little-known show that probably underperformed for the DVD studio in season sets, so they decided to burn off their investment in one affordable mega-set. When I saw the first disc my blood ran ice cold: 6 TV hours on one DVD? Okay, most TV sets won't break a 4-episode per disc limit or risk some serious image compression issues. Fancy sets will do 2 or 3 per disc which in my opinion generates a reference quality picture. I thumbed through the rest of the discs and would have laughed had I not broke the manufacturer's shrinkwrap, thereby making a refund impossible: Some discs in this set contain a whopping 7 episodes!!! I skimmed through some of the episodes on disc 1: Despite the fact that this is an older show (pre-HD), and the image is naturally soft, there is expectedly HEAVY PIXELATION. Whenever someone or something moves, they turn into a blob of compression. Cars, people... in this shameful presentation, the show can't even fade out or in from black without turning into a videophile's nightmare. No kidding. Cursing, I inserted a disc with 7 episodes. Morbid curiosity at this point. Alright, the cast can't even walk down a hall without the picture turning into a substandard digital cable parody. I suppose the math of the issue should have occurred to me: 68 episodes divided by 11 discs = VCD quality. Too late. So tell me, Echo Bridge Home Entertainment: What's the point of putting a show on DVD if it would look better on VHS? Thanks for disrespecting what I understand is a truly great show, and thanks for ripping me off. Have a nice day."
Includes Call of the Wild Parts 1 & 2
Elizabeth Fiske | Lodi, CA USA | 06/02/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"FYI - Since the listing doesn't let you know specifically, Season 3 in Due South: The Ultimate Collection INCLUDES Call of the Wild Parts 1 & 2 so you don't need to purchase the separate DVD.
FANTASTIC series! If you like Paul Gross, be sure to check out Slings & Arrows, a mini-series available on DVD!"
You get what you pay for...
Ronald G. Helfrich Jnr | 12/16/2008
(2 out of 5 stars)
"I think it was my grandfather who always used to tell me that you get what you pay for. That pithy proverb was never more true than when it comes to Echo Bridge Home Entertainment's Due South DVD collection.
I want to echo what others have said here. Yes, the price for the complete collection is right but with the price comes poor packaging (I have received two of the complete collections--a set and a replacement for the damaged set--and in both the first disc in set came off the spindle), scratched DVDs (in the two sets about 1/4 of the discs were scratched and looked used), poor picture quality (too many episodes squeezed on to too few discs still it could be far worse), video stops and starts, audio dropouts, and horizontal lines in the picture frame at one point.
If you like this series as I do and you have an all-region DVD player and the money go for the Network box set from the UK. The picture quality is far superior and so is the packaging. I have also heard excellent things about the French TF1 releases that have come out thus far.
By the way I bought one of the multi volume sets at a local grocery store that will remain nameless (season one, volume 1). It contained two discs and both were in much better physical shape than the discs in the complete collection. They also cost more ($5.95)."
I love this show.
N. McCoy | Seattle | 01/24/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"1. Due South is in fact awesome. It's pretty odd, but totally worth it. Fraser and the two Rays are made of awesome. Canadians and Americans are pretty much equally stereotyped, and it brings the joy.
2. Yes, the picture quality isn't as great as, say, the Homicide: LOTS DVDs that are out there, but it isn't a ripoff. I watched these on a big widescreen HD TV and the video looked fine, great even; there were one or two points where, yeah, there was a little video interference, but it never interrupted the show, and again--it's a great show, and this is a great price. The video on my TV was, to be honest, much better quality than I expected.
Now, as a side note, playing on a portable DVD player? The image got a little pixelated on and off, but I think that's just that player and the way it reads discs.
This set is totally worth it; or at least, it was to me. I can't not smile when watching this show.
3. I was a little confused when I bought this, since to my knowledge there had been four seasons. This set IS all four of the seasons, there's just odd labeling.
Also -- up above, you might see this set being offered with the "Call of the Wild" set? Yeah, don't click that. This set has the Call of the Wild episodes on it. So. Yeah.