Who's In It: William L. Petersen, Gary Dourdan, Marg Helgenberger, George Eads, Paul Guilfoyle, Robert David Hall, David Berman, Zeljko Ivanek, Louise Lombard, Aisha Tyler, Lee Tergesen, Stephen Baldwin, Larry Sullivan, Alec Carter, Aimee Graham
Who Directed It: Assorted

When Can I Buy It: NOW (Region 2)

CSI Season 5 Part 2 (Crime Scene Investigation) - Reviewed by: Paul Heath

• 'Spark of Life' commentary
  
• '4 x 4' commentary
  
• 'Committed' commentary
  
• 'Weeping Willows' commentary
  
• CSI: Tarantino-Style
  
• CSI: Producers on the Scene and in the Lab
  
• Season 5: a Postmortem

CSI: SEASON 5, PART 2, is the second DVD in as many weeks that I've reviewed that is based around the Crime Scene Investigation phenomenon. The first release, and indeed the very first CSI that I had ever seen, was the wonderful CSI: MIAMI, which I instantly fell in love with. This however, is the original series where it all started. CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION, starring William Petersen (he of MANHUNTER fame).

We're entering the fifth series of this wonderful show, and in this one, we are treated to one of the best series climaxes of all time, the superb double-episode CO-created and directed by everyone's favourite film geek, Quentin Tarantino. I had to stop myself from immediately jumping straight to this double episode, which is entitled "Grave Danger". I succeeded, and watched a couple of other shows in this, the second half of the fifth season. Stand-outs for me would be the "4 x 4" and "Hollywood Brass", a gritty little episode that takes the action out of Vegas and into the seedier side of LA.

I want to spend a little time on the Tarantino helmed Grave Danger, as this is obviously the best and biggest selling point of this three disc DVD. The setup is simple. Part of a person's intestine is found in downtown Las Vegas, just off the strip and CSI man, Nick Stokes (George Eads) is sent to investigate. Once there, Stokes is attacked, drugged and transported to a different part of the city where he is buried alive in a glass coffin. With him is a loaded gun, tape recorder and a limited supply of oxygen. Lights light up his hidden burial chamber, which are eventually controlled by remote, after a web address is given to his CSI team, who can see Stokes through an online webcam. It's up to the CSI team to find their colleague before his time, and indeed his underground oxygen supply run out.

It's a great little story, and the episode is littered with Tarantino's culture themed dialogue, witty one-liners and a kick ass pace to boot. We also have a couple of old screen veterans popping up in cameo roles, again, a now well known trademark of the RESERVOIR DOGS helmer. Plot points also highlight Tarantino's strong points, and all round coolness, like the way that Stokes is buried underground, but is given a pistol, a fact that hints at the violence that we kind of expect from him. I just really loved the episode, and viewers of this DVD will find themselves having to watch these two episodes back-to-back (trust me, the suspense will kill you).

I had a great time with this CSI release, and after watching two sets from two different series of the franchise, I'm hooked. The episodes are wonderfully pacy, the dialogue and storylines inventive and the performances consistently well above par. All I would say is that I'd like to see more guest directors working on the show. I'd love to see Sam Raimi come up with something, or even someone like James Cameron, the Coen's or even Kevin Smith.I After all, TV is the hottest thing in Hollywood at the moment, and boy, I can't get enough.

Extras. Well, with TV shows we don't usually get all that much in the way of extras, but the producers of this particular DVD have put together a little selection to give us our money's worth. We get commentaries on four of the episodes, "Spark of Life", "Commited", "Weeping Willows" and "4 x 4" (sadly no Tarantino commentary for "Grave Danger, oh well).

There is a couple of featurettes included on the discs too. The first is called "CSI: Tarantino-Style", which features the man himself delivering his usual machine-gun patter, along with some of the CSI cast. Great to see a little insight behind the stand-out episode(s) of this series. We also get "CSI: Producers on the Scene and in the Lab", which details the CSI even more and lastly, we're treated to "CSI Season 5: A Post-Mortem," which outlines the decisions made by the writers and producers while making the series.

I'm really torn at to what CSI I like the best. I've not seen CSI: NEW YORK (yet, though a DVD arrived on my door mat this morning), but I think that this, the original has the edge over CSI: MIAMI. Both work well in their own right, and I know other people in my circle of friends love David Caruso in 'Miami'. Either way, the CSI franchise continues to kick it.

A superb little package too.

Grade: B-

More Movie Reviews || Movie News || Coming Soon