Product Description

Set in 1960 New York City Mad Men explores the glamorous and ego-driven "Golden Age" of advertising where everyone is selling something and nothing is ever what it seems. And no one plays the game better than Don Draper (Golden Globe - winner Jon Hamm) Madison Avenue's biggest ad man - and ladies man - in the business.System Requirements:Running Time: 600 minutesFormat: BLU-RAY DISC Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 031398240761 Manufacturer No: 24076

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #690 in DVD
• Brand: LION'S GATE ENTERTAINMENT
• Released on: 2008-07-01
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 3
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 616 minutes

Features

• Set in 1960 New York City, Mad Men explores the glamorous and ego-driven "Golden Age" of advertising, where everyone is selling something and nothing is ever what it seems. And no one plays the game better than Don Draper (Golden Globe - winner Jon Hamm), Madison Avenue's biggest ad man - and ladies man - in the business. Format: BLU-RAY DISC Genre: TELEVISION Rating: 

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Stills from Mad Men (click for larger image)

Customer Reviews

One of the finest series on television
MAD MEN is one of those series that is almost impossible to praise too highly. It is also one of those series that puts on display the inherent superiority of television to the movies. That is a sentiment that I find offends many, but one that more and more thinking men and women are coming to embrace as television gradually turns out one amazingly intelligent series after another. Cinema is inherently limited on how much an individual movie can achieve in developing a complex narrative just as it is limited in how deeply it can explore character. The reason is obvious: a lack of time. Delving deeply into the lives of a group of characters is a luxury movies simply can't afford. The clock is ticking.

MAD MEN will, when it is finished, be a narrative of the sixties. Season One begins in 1960k, shortly before the Kennedy-Nixon election. Season Two moves almost two years ahead of that. Subsequent seasons will move the story ahead by a couple of years each time, before coming to an end at the end of the decade. The sixties was clearly the most remarkable decade of the twentieth century. The world of 1970 has more in common with today in many ways than it did to 1960. The changes in our attitudes can scarcely be assessed. At the beginning of the series women all have their place in the office as servants to the men, accept passively their roles as eye candy and objects of sexual innuendo, and aspire to no more than moving up the secretarial rank. A gay man in the office is so completely in the office that he seems oblivious to his homosexuality. But by the end of decade would come the Stonewall riots and the Second Wave of the women's movement would be in full bloom.

One of the dominant themes of the show is the contrast between the world of today and the world of "then." One of the most striking moments in Season One comes when Betty Draper's daughter runs into the living room wearing a body length plastic launderer's bag. Betty sharply upbraids her, hoping that this doesn't mean that her laundry is laying on the floor. To modern sensibility a child wearly a deadly plastic bad is shocking. Or in a late season episode Don Draper allows his completely drunk boss to leave his house with a drink "for the road." He merely smiles when he shouts, "That's my car!" as Roger drunkenly tries to find his own. A pregnant woman at a party can be seen smoking while holding a martini glass. One of my favorite MAD MEN scenes comes in Season Two, when after a picnic with his wife and kids, Don shakes the blanket they have all been sitting on, leaving the paper and trash on the ground. It all highlights some of the progress we have made in discipling some of our more indefensible behavior.

As others have noted, the show centers on several ad executives at the Sterling-Cooper advertising firm. In particular, the film focuses on Don Draper, a brilliantly creative ad exec who has been just as inventive in recreating himself as he has been in promoting the products of the firm's clients. A serial adulterer, the child of a prostitute who died giving birth to him, and the son of an abusive father, he has had to pull himself from his humble origins to the top of his profession. All this while protecting his own dark secrets. Don Draper is a great character, perhaps the most archetypal character to have arisen since Tony Soprano. And it provided the opportunity for overnight stardom for Jon Hamm, a previously only marginally successful actor who had mainly been distinguished by a string of very small parts on various TV series and small budget movies. But it is impossible to imagine anyone more perfect for this role than Hamm and series creator Matthew Weiner agreed after seeing his audition tapes. When the network insisted that Hamm be passed over for a more established actor, Weiner declared that without Hamm he was not willing to move forward with the series. Weiner won and Hamm went on to win a Golden Globe and an Emmy nomination (which he should have won). As portrayed by Hamm, Don Draper is the complete embodiment of Thoreau's individual who lives a life of quiet desperation. Draper is a world of contraditions. At times unscrupulous, he is also capable of great magnanimity and moral rectitude. A womanizer, he yearns for the ideal home.

The cast is stuffed with great characters and wonderful performances. I absolutely detested Vincent Kartheiser as Connor on the series ANGEL, though even then I suspected it was more the way he was written than his performance. Though he isn't asked to perform acts of daring do on MAD MEN, he is exceptional as Peter Campbell. Like Don Draper he alternates from petty, self-serving moments to acts of kindness and loyalty. He is capable of being wonderfully protective of Peggy Olson, a woman with whom he has had a couple of moments of physical intimacy, though he can also behave viciously towards her. John Slattery is outstanding as Roger Sterling, the number two man in the firm and the son of the Sterling-Cooper cofounder. Robert Morse, the great Broadway musical star of the sixties (including HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING), plays Betram Cooper, the head of the firm. The almost unbearably beautiful January Jones (at one point in the season much is made of her resemblence to Grace Kelly, and she is gorgeous enough to make it not a silly compliment). Not to jump ahead to Season Two, Jones performance over the two seasons as Don Draper's trophy wife Betty is noting short of brilliant. Betty is someone who detests her life as a beautiful manikin, but isn't able to achieve happiness because she doesn't know who she wants to become. She also provides many of Season One's great moments, none better than when she starts killing the carrier pigeons of her next door neighbor with an air rifle (with cigarette dangling from her mouth) after he tells her children that he will kill their dog if they don't keep him out of his yard. The gorgeous Christina Hendricks (who wears some padding to make her figure more Rubenesque and who was wonderful in the recurring role of Saffron on the Sci-fi series FIREFLY) plays Joan Holloway, the office manager.

After Don Draper, however, my favorite character on the show is Peggy Olson (Elizabeth Moss). The series actually begins with Peggy's first day as a Sterling-Cooper employee. Starting off as Don Draper's secretary, she soon shows that she has skills as a writer, and soon becomes valued as a copy writer with a sensitivity for products that appeal to women. I've told friends that I believe that by the end of the series Peggy will actually be the head of Sterling-Cooper. I think the centrality of Peggy to the show was shown partly by the show commencing with her first day there and with her unprecedented penetration of the all male hierarchy of the corporation. Viewers may notice that she gains weight over the course of the year, especially during the last half. In fact Elizabeth Moss gained no weight. All changes were the result of very sophisticated make up art and padded clothing.

MAD MEN is one of the most beautifully designed shows you'll ever hope to see. It may be surpassed by BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and PUSHING DAISIES in art design, but no show on television rivals it in clothing. The look of the show is impeccable. If you don't remember the sixties, you can relive them by watching this show.

This is a show that anyone serious about quality TV has to know well. I've watched Season One twice and plan on rewatching Season One and Two as soon as the latter has finished. MAD MEN is also an example of a new trend in television, a series that tells more or less a unified story over the course of its life. LOST and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA both are doing this as well. All are must-see shows.

Perfect in every way imaginable
Mad Men is one of the best shows I have ever had the pleasure of watching.

Watching this show on blu-ray has been something I will remember for quite some time. I missed the original airing of the show when it came on, and I was looking forward to watching the blu-ray. Once I watched it I feel in love.

As far as a blu-ray goes, this is perfect. The video is amazing, same with the audio, and it is stuffed with extras, including over 18 hours in audio commentary. There is another extra that is 1 hour long that is VERY good, and I recommend checking it out after you finish watching the series.

Overall Rating - 5/5 Stars
Video - 5/5
Audio - 5/5
Bonus - 5/5
Story - 5/5

Bottom line? Buy now!

Best drama I have watched in years
After missing season 1 in its entirety when it originally aired, I had to see what all the hype was about. I picked up this blu-ray edition of season 1 and all of the hype was well deserved.

Simply put, Mad Men is one of the best shows I have ever watched and without a doubt the best season of television I have seen since the first few seasons of The Sopranos.

The story arc is enthralling, and the talented group of actors do a tremendous job of giving life to every character in the show. For anyone looking for a show that is at times dramatic, funny, shocking, and endearing, but always excellent, look no further. I highly recommend not only this show, but this blu-ray version as it is a tremendous deal for 13, 1-hour episodes.

Speaking of blu-ray, the picture quality is fantastic. Colors bounce off the screen, and those with 1080p sets will be constantly surprised with the level of detail givin to even specs of facial hair, or the weavings of cloth on clothing. This is without a doubt the best 30 bucks I have spend on Amazon. Buy it now!