Product Description

Travel to the spectacular undersea world of seaQuest DSV as all 23 groundbreaking episodes from the epic first season surface on DVD. The amazing adventure begins in the mid-21st century, as humankind expands its undersea colonization efforts and a tenuous world peace is enforced by the United Earth Oceans (UEO). In order to protect the fledgling underwater colonies from unknown dangers and hostile invaders lurking in the depths of Earth’s last frontier, the UEO recruits Captain Nathan Bridger (Roy Scheider) to command the high-tech battle submarine seaQuest and its diverse and eclectic crew. Along for the ride are a roster of stellar guest stars, including Charlton Heston, William Shatner, Seth Green, Kellie Martin and Kent McCord. Now on DVD for the first time ever, with exclusive never-before-seen footage, the Emmy® Award-winning seaQuest DSV is sure to make waves with thrill-seekers everywhere!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8961 in DVD
• Brand: Universal Studios
• Released on: 2005-12-26
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 1096 minutes

Amazon.com
An enormously ambitious television series from executive producer Steven Spielberg and series creator Rockne S. O'Bannon (Farscape, Alien Nation), seaQuest DSV made a valiant attempt to present a thoughtful and socially conscious science-fiction series on par with Star Trek to a '90s audience (which had already latched onto Star Trek: The Next Generation), but struggled with mediocre scripts and special effects for most of its three seasons (1993-96). The first season, however, embodies much of the ambition and scope its producers envisioned, starting with the two-hour television movie to introduces retired officer Cmdr. Nathan Bridger (a grim-faced Roy Scheider) to the crew of the underwater vessel seaQuest DSV. The pilot feature is well helmed by Scheider, and offers an agreeable mix of fiction and fact (oceanographer Dr. Robert Ballard served as technical advisor for the series), as well as considerable action and excitement for an expensive network series. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of the cast (which included Stephanie Beacham as the ship's fetching doctor and the late Jonathan Brandis as a teen science whiz), the show's momentum faltered under the weight of corny embellishments such as its talking dolphin, Darwin (a genetically engineered human with gills would join the fray in the show's second season) and episodes like "Knight of Shadows," which offered a hoary possession storyline, or "Photon Bullet," which hinges on underwater computer hackers. The series would alternate between intriguing stories (like the suspenseful "Games") and ill-advised ones for much of its remaining seasons, which also saw cast changes (most notably, the departure of Scheider) in an attempt to revive audiences' flagging interest. All 23 episodes of the first season are included on this four-disc set, as well as a decent selection of deleted scenes from nine episodes, including the pilot. -- Paul Gaita

Customer Reviews

5 Stars for the first season but watch out for the rest
I loved this show. It was NBC's only decent sci-fi show since they canned Star Trek: TOS in the late 1960s. What we have is a show that parallels Star Trek in many ways yet instead of space travel this takes place underwater. Roy Scheider is Capt. Nathan Bridger who take command of Seaquest DSV an experimental vessel of UEO, which stands for United Earth Oceans. The show draws on many Star Trek principles such as exploration, science, and technology.

Season 2 introduced new characters to the crew and this is when the show's steady decline began. You had a character with gills, an empathtic doctor and a mentally difficient clone called Dagwood joining the crew. The storylines continued to get sillier as the crew battled aliens on other planets. I guess the writers ran out of ideas.

Finally season 3 saw the departure of Schieder as Capt. and the introduction of Micheal Ironside as the new CO. Dont get me wrong, I like Mr. Ironside but after the departure of so many key characters and then the subsequent departure of Scheider made me want to say goodbye to the show as well. Seaquest DSV was cancelled during the middle of its 3rd season.

Once again, a great show that had potential which was ruined by poor writing, frequent cast changes, and an audience that failed to embrace it.

Warning, In-Depth Review
I have to admit, I was a bit frustrated when reading posted reviews. All of the reviews I read were for the show, not this release. In fact, loads of them had been posted before the DVDs were even released. I wanted to read a review someone had written having actually watched these DVDs. So, when I got the DVD as a gift, I watched all the episodes, and decided to write my own. Here goes.

I, like the other reviewers, really enjoyed this series. It was my favorite show when it was on, and I still watch VHS copies I made of it when it was on. In fact, I probably enjoyed it more than many of the other reviewers here. Let me 'splain. I watched this show. I enjoyed it. I went to college and studied Marine Biology and Oceanography. I started keeping reef aquaria. I learned how to use computer-aided design software and designed my own undersea habitats and minisubs. I became a certified SCUBA diver. I'm a big fan of Bob Ballard. See what I mean?

Anyway, for those of you who don't know the series, it's set in the near future when mankind has colonized the oceans. There are farms, power plants, resorts, even prisons in, on and under the oceans. And with all this expansion comes some strife. The SeaQuest was built as a deterrent for those who might seek to wreak havok in the seas. Over time, the ship has taken on scientific research responsibilities as well. Nice plot. One thing I always liked is that the characters were 'fleshed out' well. They seemed like real people. You got to know them, and that's something I really like. Something else I found about this show is that the characters always do 'the right thing'. Even when it's not popular, or could get them killed. Like not counter-attacking an aggressor sub, but instead evacuating injured people from a damaged power station.

As far as this DVD set goes, there are four of disks that contain a total of 23 episodes. I'd have to say that these first season episodes are excellent, although after getting the box set, I started trying to find a couple of my favorite episodes, only to find that they were from the second season. I guess I'll have to wait to watch them again.

The reason that I didn't give this set 5 stars is that the bonus features are very sparse. There are really only a few deleted scenes from about a third of the episodes, which don't really add anything to them. I had hoped for something cool, like crew bios, schematic layouts of the ship, something. Anything! I was told by a studio insider that originally, this set was slated for release sometime in 2006, but that they were pushed to try and make the 2005 holiday season. I guess they decided to leave out any additional bonus features in order to try their best to make it. They ended up missing it by one day, releasing on Dec. 26.

Another reason I didn't give it 5 stars is that it seemed a bit, well, cheap. The disks are double-sided, and have two or three episodes per side. I'm a big fan of pictures and stuff being printed on the top of my DVDs. You know, pictures of the ship, the crew, the dolphin named Darwin, anything. I just think it's the details that make it seem 'classy'. Call me weird. I accept that.

The DVD transfer is as good as can be expected from a show that aired in 1993. The video quality is far better than those bootlegs that have been available on auction sites for several years. It's much better than the VHS recordings I've been holding onto for the last twelve years. The audio is also quite good. It's even in Dolby Digital 2.0, which was a pleasant surprise. I would have loved if they'd reworked it and done it in 5.1, but hey, you can't have everything.

One other thing that I wished they would have done was a dedication to the memory of Jonathan Brandis who played the character of Lucas, the ship's teenage genius. I could have overlooked everything else and given 5 stars had they done that. That, to me, would have shown a great deal of compassion and class.

This is a great show, and a very good addition to anyone's DVD library.

Darwin love Bridger!
Come on. The show had a talking dolphin with his own scuba gear. It should have been released onto DVD much sooner than this!

I, for one, am overjoyed that I will soon be able to enjoy the wonders of Darwin, Bridger, and the late Jonathan Brandis in the comfort of my living room. If entire seasons of The Bachelor are out already on DVD, Seaquest was way overdue. I'm glad this oversight has finally been remedied.

UEO forever!