As a movie reviewer it is our job to watch everything that crosses our paths. For the most part the entire experience lasts somewhere between 2-6 hours (depending on features). This is the first time in a decade that I had to take weeks out of my reviewing time frame to complete a full review. Prime Suspect: The Complete Collection is a total of 1500 minutes of viewing time. That is roughly 25 hours (give or take) of an entire series all in one collection. That’s probably not counting the additional 2-3 hours of features that are included with the set.
Folks, that is an amazing amount of time for one set and all I have to say is…. it was worth every moment.
If you have never had the pleasure of watching Prime Suspect it’s a riveting mystery/drama surrounding the rise and fall of one Detective Jane Tennison. She’s a hard-nose detective that is doing her best to outsmart criminals, maintain a normal life and do her job amongst a sea of male peers.
Having only heard of the show, the first unique thing that I noticed is that the mysteries carry over sometimes an entire series. For example, the first series involves Tennison climbing the ranks of the force after an untimely death of one of the best detectives on the squad. The series all surrounds a string of murders of young ladies. Each episode contains clues that lead to different conclusions, but ultimately by the end of the series you’re as convinced as Tennison is of who committed the multiple crimes. Stretching one mystery into an entire series is certainly a bold move on the part of the filmmakers for Prime Suspect, but they do it in such a coherent and intelligent fashion that you can’t help but wanting the next episode to gather more clues. It’s like you’re there with Tennison and you’re ready to solve the mystery.
What’s even more impressive about such a time consuming mystery move is how well Helen Mirren’s character lasts. Stringing something along for that large amount of time tends to dull characters a bit. You’re asking your character to go through one door just so they can go through a dozen more. Each time you go through a door you have to act surprised that the room isn’t too far from being the same design as the last. She performs the ‘wow, that’s interesting’ each time with bullheadish grace and is very convincing. I can see why this show stopped when she didn’t want to be typed cast in that character and why it instantly began again in the mid 2000s when Mirren decided to reprise her role as Tennison. She’s good, she owns the screen and she makes you believe in her journey through different mysteries.
Speaking of mysteries, you get a wide variety of different stories with the Prime Suspect: The Complete Collection. It starts off with a serial killing freak (you’ll love this guy — creepy), horrid murders like the death of a 17-year old boy that was burned to death, and you get other topics of worldwide interest such as prejudice/racism. What’s amazing about these stories is that none of them are forced. In series two you have a well-formulated story about Tennison working with a former lover, who happens to be black. All the characters that you might have gotten close to in the first series show some prejudice and flaws, including Tennison, in this series. It speaks at a very real, human level of emotion; quite fascinating to say the least.
On top of great shows and a great leading lady, you also get a wide variety of young actors who have become major players in today’s Hollywood. Watch for a very young Ralph Fiennes, a certain Batman mobster in Tom Wilkinson and Sherlock Holmes’ main villain in Mark Strong. There are tons more, but those are the most recent that come to mind.
So outside of the show, why should you purchase this collection? That’s a very good question. In terms of quality the first few series are just about average, and they get better towards the end of it all. The early 90s didn’t do the visuals any kindness with grainy film and rough filmmaking. By midway through the series the graininess went away and the picture got better. That’s probably the only big knock. I’m not sure how they could have cleaned it up, because that mostly depends on the film quality and how well the BBC was keeping it, but it’s par to great as a collection.
As for the features, I really enjoyed what I saw. There are two major featurettes included:
– Prime Suspect behind-the-scenes special (50 minutes)
– Series 6 behind-the-scenes featurette (23 minutes)
These are the two main special features on the collection. The 50-minute special really dives into the series and the character of Jane Tennison. You get to see the creator’s influences and meet the DCI that Tennison was based off of. You get some great insight from Mirren on how she approached the role and why she almost never crosses her arms in the series (very interesting details). It’s like watching the Sixth Sense and getting to the ending just so you can go back and watch all the details you missed. The show is one of the more detailed, well-researched shows that I’ve seen.
The second featurette focuses completely around series six and gives some retrospect on how the character got to the point of heading towards a ‘final act’. You get some great interviews with cast and crew and enough info to keep the show fresh even after you finished the last series. You also get a neat view into how some of the scenes in series six were created and how the filmmakers dealt with unexpected elements, such as rain and injuries.
All in all, very fascinating stuff to watch and a wonderful compliment to an already beautiful collection.