Product Description

Having grown up in Roswell with only a few close friends aware of their alien origins, Max, Isabel, and Michael have finally come of age. Uncertain about what lies ahead of them after graduation, they are suddenly forced into action when it becomes clear that the incidents in which they have used their alien powers to help others have finally caught up with them. As the Air Force and FBI close in, the trio realizes that Roswell is no longer the safe haven it once was. As they prepare to leave their friends and families behind, Liz has a shocking vision which makes everyone realize that it is not only the aliens who are in danger but their human friends as well.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2905 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-08-09
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 5
• Running time: 792 minutes

Amazon.com
The sci-fi-themed teen drama Roswell begins its third and final season with Max (Jason Behr) and Liz (Shiri Appleby) back together and taking a desperate chance to find Max's son. After the many cosmic concepts of the previous season, the series dialed back the mythology to focus on the more--excuse the expression--human aspects of the characters. Roswell was often described as Dawson's Creek meets The X-Files, and accordingly Isabel (Katherine Heigl) finds romance with a lawyer (Adam Rodriguez), but struggles both with her mixed feelings about revealing her alien identity and with the aftermath of the tragedy in season 2. (The romance is later spoofed in a Bewitched-style episode.) At the same time, Max and Michael (Brendan Fehr) travel to Los Angeles in search of an alien bounty hunter that might be able to help them find Max's son. (They also find Roswell executive producer Jonathan Frakes making a guest appearance as himself.) Michael takes a night job that at first is played for laughs (in "Michael, the Gang, and the Great Snapple Caper"), then takes on threatening implications in a rousing two-parter that eventually leaves all parties not too much different from how they started. Michael also struggles in his relationship with Maria (Majandra Delfino), first when he makes new friends and later when she meets a figure from her past (Clayne Crawford) who revives a longtime music dream that might lead to bigger things. All the while, the alien trio faces the constant struggle of keeping their identities secret, even as the net seems to be tightening around them. When a key character returns in the series' penultimate episode, both the aliens and the humans they love face a critical decision.

The Dawson's Creek comparison is also valid in an undesirable way: many of the background songs that characterized the series have been replaced for DVD due to licensing expenses. Newcomers to the series, of course, probably won't notice. Four episodes have commentary tracks, two by Frakes, who has some interesting information but leaves dead air and introduces characters we already know. Better are the tracks by executive producer/writer Ronald D. Moore on the Bewitched spoof and by creator Jason Katims on the series finale. Other features are a 13-minute summary of the season and Shiri Appleby's appearance on Japanese TV to publicize the DVD release of the first season in 2004. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews

A Lot of Heart
"Roswell" has a lot to prove to me in its third season. I was utterly unimpressed with Season One, but still entertained enough to give the show another chance. And when I saw the second season, I was blown away by the increase in quality. However, I was let down by the finale of the second season, which felt like a contrived way to get rid of a character that fans didn't like (Tess). So going into this season, the third and final, I had high hopes that show-runners Jason Katims and Ronald D. Moore would bounce back with another great season.

And they did. Against all odds, even. Creative decisions were made that I couldn't have imagined would work for the better, but in the end, they did. While the core of the first season was the romance between Max and Liz (played by Jason Behr and Shiri Appleby, the two weakest members of the cast) and the second season focused on the sci-fi aspect, the third creates a sort of balance between those two aspects. By this time, both Liz and Max have developed as characters and Behr and Appleby have drastically matured as actors. Both of these factors come together, finally making the Liz/Max pairing a believable relationship.

Another decision that I couldn't have imagined working was the introduction of Jesse Ramirez (played by Adam Rodriguez) as a member of the main cast. At first, I was weary, and then when Isabel and Jesse got married six episodes into the season, I was still iffy about it but also blown away by the ballsiness of that decision. In the end, it certainly was worth it, thanks in part to Adam Rodriguez's brilliant performance. However, some of the decisions didn't work as well. For the first half of the season, Max had a drastic wardrobe change, which reeked of the crew trying desperately to make us believe that Max was troubled and tormented. Instead of actually selling that aspect of his character in a story, they threw a leather jacket on him, tousled his hair, and put a bit of eye-liner on him to make his eyes look sunken. Also, there was an episode where Michael "goes bad" which felt very contrived to me. To work up to such a dramatic shift in a character (even if it's just for one episode), it has to be earned, and I felt that it wasn't earned in this case.

Overall, the risks taken by the "Roswell" team in the final season paid off. It's not as good as the second season, but it's still way better than the first. Here is a list of episodes that I thought stood out the most.

5. Michael, the Guys, and the Great Snapple-Caper: Very funny Michael-centric episode.
4. Four Aliens and a Baby: Tess comes back, the fit hits the shan, and the character assassination of Tess in the second season is partly made up for.
3. A Tale of Two Parties: Explores character very nicely, centering on the relationships between aliens and humans who we don't normally see interact that much in regular episodes
2. Graduation: A fitting finale. The season was cut by a few episodes, so it's amazing to see what the writers did in such a short period of time. Tearjerker.
1. Panacea: Roswell at its dangerous best. Emotions are high as the characters we've come to care dearly about are thrown into mortal danger.

All in all, this season was really about maturity. All of the actors improved drastically in this season, and though those who have stood out still stand out the most (William Saddler as Jim Valenti, Nick Wechsler as Kyle Valenti, Majandra Delfino as Maria DeLuca, and Brendan Fehr as Michael Guerin), Shiri Appleby and Jason Behr really start to show their acting chops in this season as well. The characters take on new directions, some good and some not-so-much, but the heart of the show is always there. And--get ready for this review to end on a cheesy, but true, note--the heart has always been what makes "Roswell" a good show. A show that I certainly won't forget.

8/10

OK, but not as good as first two seasons!
A must have if you are a fan, but the third season just does not stack up to the first two.

Roswell Season 3- Excellent
Roswell Season 3 DVD- Excellent Condition

This awesome series delves into the world of space on Earth with action-packed supernatural drama. Explore Isabel's and Jesse's relationship journey as it compares to that of average couples these days (subtract the alien powers at play, though), and watch Max and Liz's relationship grow stronger than ever as she starts to become like him. This series teaches us that no matter what choices we make in life, we should ultimately follow our hearts.