Product Description

Movie DVD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7128 in DVD
• Brand: WARNER HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2008-10-14
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 187 minutes

Features

• Just call him Lovejoy. Ian McShane (Deadwood) stars as the irresistible rogue with a keen eye for antiques and intrigue. This antiques dealer and part-time detective scours the murky salesrooms, auction halls and stately homes of Britain, always on the lookout for a find. And if the antiques business isnt exciting enough, Lovejoy has a particular weakness for a good sob story or a pretty face, eit

Amazon.com
Lovejoy, played by Ian McShane of Deadwood, is the epitome of a lovable rogue. Even over Christmas he remains his irascible, greedy, lustful self, eyeing attractive women and contemplating how much money he can get for a questionable antique. In The Prague Sun, Lovejoy, his flunky Eric Catchpole (Chris Jury), and the lovely Lady Felsham (Phyllis Logan) travel eastward to solve the mystery of hidden diamond--a story that features Nazis, a secret policewoman in a leopardskin hat, and a Communist dealer in "acquired" art (played by Donald Pleasance, Halloween). The direction is unusually evocative, getting a lot of atmospheric mileage from a moth in a lighting fixture and other images. The Lost Colony takes Lovejoy in the opposite direction as he travels to North Carolina, where he discovers distant relatives and a host of Deep South cliches (including a yokel policeman and someone getting eaten by an alligator). Despite some overacting and bad Southern accents, McShane carries things along with a wry glance to the camera and a sly turn of phrase. This second special features the series' later supporting players, including Diane Parish as young protégé Beth and Caroline Langrishe as love interest Charlotte, but Dudley Sutton remains as Lovejoy's tippling friend Tinker and Sir John Gielgud (Arthur) adds a touch of class with a guest appearance. To sum up: Two strong episodes that no fan of the series should be without. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

To Buy or Not to Buy. That Is The Question.
I have enjoyed the Lovejoy series since it originally aired in the early 90's. I and the family were stationed in East Anglia in England where most of the Lovejoy episodes were filmed; it was fun to watch the show on BBC then to spend the weekends visiting the historic villages and other places we had seen on Lovejoy. So as a Lovejoy fan and being homesick for the beauties and wonders of East Anglia the Lovejoy DVD's are a treat loved by the entire family.
Now for the Cons: (Not criticizing the series just the quality and manner it is being released.)
The DVD is not worth the $17.00 + S&H. Come on... It should not have been released as a standalone DVD? The two special episodes should have been left as part of the normal DVD series box sets. It makes no sense to break the timeline of the series in this way.
Now I find that the Complete Season 4 DVD is set to release 4 months from now. Why so long? The Lovejoy series ended over 10 years ago. The entire series has been available for sale in the UK for years. Why stretch out the US release dates to over two years? Is it a marketing ploy to test the waters? If season 3 doesn't sell well will season 4 never be released? And another thing, for the price of each season ($50.00 +) the sound and video should have been re-mastered to modern standards. The people releasing the DVD's are Visigoths with no feel for a classic bit of BBC television.

2 Special Episodes
Since most British TV series only produce 6-12 episodes a year, popular TV shows produce special Christmas episodes. Lovejoy had two special double length episodes.

The Prague Sun (1992) - Lovejoy is alone for Christmas. But when a friend is attacked, Lovejoy and Eric are off to Prague on a treasure hunt. And Lady Jane shows up to help out. Guest Donald Pleasance and Peter Vaughn.

The Lost Colony (1993) - Lovejoy has relatives from America visit. But when some Sir Walter Raliegh antiques disappear, Lovejoy has to go to Carolina. But when he gets into trouble, his new love interest Caroline comes to his rescue. Guests Barbara Barrie, Ken Kercheval and John Gielguld.

Lovejoy was an iconoclastic series in England and had a strong following in America. The show was uniformly excellent. The Prague Sun is definitely the better of the two episodes.

The one thing to be careful is that these episodes do not appear on another series DVD set. (i.e. the As Time Goes By retrospect special was released seperately, then released with the Series 7 dvd!)

Preaching to the choir!
I would assume that most buying this DVD are fans of Lovejoy, and that they were on pins and needles waiting for the Christmas Special release along with upcoming season 4. This was an extrodinary show, that needs no vamping by me. If you are a true fan of the Lovejoy series, just be happy that they continue to release the episodes and seasons that made us happy. Enjoy