Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #87099 in DVD
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 472 minutes

Customer Reviews

An Amazing Journey
The premise of Life On Mars sounds strange - a modern day cop has an accident and wakes up in 1973 - and it could have misfired very badly. It doesn't, though! John Simm is perfect as DI Sam Tyler, the modern cop who's suddenly policing a very different Manchester. He brings the right mix of vulnerability, confusion and depth to the character. Is he mad, in a coma, or has he gone back in time? he doesn't know, and neither do we.

Philip Glenister plays DCI Gene Hunt, Sam's new boss in 1973. He's crass, foul-mouthed, sexist, bigotted, and has an insult for everyone. He's also corrupt, but he's not the bad guy...everything is shades of grey.

Life On Mars is a fascinating show. On one level it's a cop drama, but there are a lot more levels underneath it. Add to that a fantastic soundtrack, and it's a show you will watch over and over again.

Existentialist fish-out-of-water buddy cop show
One of the most unusual, subtle, and philosophically sophisticated series to grace the small screen!

Our first glimpse of DCI Sam Tyler isn't very promising. He's coolly efficient at his job, but doesn't seem to derive anything more than a grim satisfaction from it. He's dating a subordinate, which tells you everything you need to know about his social life.
Then he is thrust into a bizarre situation: after a near-fatal car accident, he finds himself in 1973. Why 1973? He doesn't know. Complicating Sam's already impossible situation is that some of his senses (especially sight and touch) indicate that he is in 1973, while others (especailly hearing) indicate that he is lying comatose in a 2006 hospital bed.
Lost, confused, and frightened, Sam attempts to work out what has happened to him... and how to get home to 2006. If he can't trust his memories or the evidence of his own senses, what can he trust?
Very slowly, Sam begins to change. He smiles. He rediscovers and reconnects with what he's lost--a family cat, football matches, then his mother and father. We see that 1973 Manchester is, economically, a much bleaker place than 2006 Manchester... but it's also warmer, more organic, all earth tones in contrast to sleekly modern 2006, which is filmed in cool blues and greys. Sam's 1973 bedsit is hideous, a garish riot of oranges and browns, but it's also more lived-in than his spotless white-and-chrome 2006 flat. But 1973 isn't a lost paradise, either; "Life on Mars" doesn't hide 1973's flaws or film it through a rose-coloured camera lens. It shows us what we have gained, and what we have lost along the way. We see that the reforms in policing that stifled Sam and his colleagues in 2006 are a direct reaction to the police abuses Sam sees in 1973.
Sam's 2006 knowledge and sensibilities are both boon and liability. He's had a thorough grounding in criminal psychology and modern forensics, and he's extremely well-acquainted with drug crime, which is only just beginning in 1973. But he never seems to realize the extent to which casual racism and sexism affect life in 1973. He treats WPC Annie Cartwright, the lone woman in the department, as an equal--which she appreciates--but doesn't understand why everyone else doesn't. He sees in her a talented cop being underused; he's right, of course, but he thinks that all he needs to do to further her integration into CID is to draw attention to her abilities. To no one's surprise except Sam's--certainly not Annie's--the men react with undisguised contempt.
It's this sort of subtle contrast between 1973 and 2006--the weaknesses inherent in being from the future, as well as the strengths--that really set "Life on Mars" apart.

Great Series
I have been watching this series for the past month and find it one of the best I have come across. The premise is You have a modern day cop, Sam Tyler, who after having an accident ends up in 1973. As he states in the opener, he is not sure if he is mad, in a coma, or back in time. The series would make you believe all three are the answer.

The gem here is Sam's interaction with DCI Gene Hunt as they come head to head over policing. Sam brings the modern analytical methods where as Gene bashes heads mainly and relies on his instincts. With a solid set of supporting characters the show has kept me well enteretained.

This DVD is the first of two seasons. The show is now continueing into a sequel called Ashes to Ashes, minus John Simm. And they are also in the works with an American version.

I would recommend this show anyone.