The latest Poirot Blu-ray set released from Acorn Media is Series 7 & 8. The two disc Blu-ray set contains two feature-length films per disc, taking Poirot from retirement in a seemingly peaceful British village to Iraq and even an island resort. It doesn’t take long to realize that this release is more about the quality content — the films — than anything else, as there are no extra features whatsoever and the image quality is only good, but not excellent as you might hope for a series that was already previously released on DVD (by A&E).
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd gets things started. Poirot, recently retired, is enjoying a quiet life in a small village known as King’s Abbott. He has a quaint residence and tends to his garden, but he doesn’t miss the darker side of life that he was so accustomed to studying and reconstructing. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Poirot mystery without a mystery. So before too long, there is a murder — that of Mr. Ackroyd, a good old friend of Poirots. Briefly shaken, but determined to solve the case, Poirot returns to form as the impeccable and peerless detective with excellent manners. In classic “whodunit” style, as Christie mysteries are so known for, the viewer is led in multiple directions, with literally a small roomful of potential suspects. Was it the butler? The son who needs money, of which Roger had a lot of? His wife? Another village resident? All possibilities are on the table until Poirot sifts through the facts and extrapolates what no one else can.
The captivating and challenging, yet fun, viewer experience of trying to match wits with Poirot continues in Lord Edgware Dies. A man of many enemies, Lord Edgware is violently murdered one night in his own study. Once again the scope of suspects is considerable — overwhelming for all but the astute Belgian. David Suchet (Poirot), along with series regulars Pauline Moran (Miss Lemon), Hugh Fraser (Captain Hastings), and Philip Jackson (Chief Inspector Japp) all star as Poirot must contend with the attractive and tempting Helen Grace (Jane Wilkinson) to solve not just one, but two murders.
In Murder in Mesopotamia, Poirot is summoned to Iraq. Not long after arriving, and shortly before his anticipated departure, a murder at an expedition has he and Captain Hastings sorting through the facts and the lies of the multitude of people and relationships that could have been responsible. It’s yet another entertaining brain-teaser, although I didn’t find it quite as great as the previous two mysteries. Finally, in Evil Under the Sun, Poirot takes a forced two week “vacation” at a sunny seaside resort when he suffers a minor heart attack at the opening of Hasting’s new Argentine-themed restaurant. Diagnosed as “medically obese,” to which Poirot vehemently disagrees, Miss Lemons books him to this resort for two weeks of relaxation and a strict diet. Joining him in an adjacent room is Captain Hastings, and together the two get wrapped up in a new murder mystery involving a successful, attractive young actress who was also at the opening of Hasting’s restaurant.
All four Poirot mysteries were originally filmed with Super16, a video technique I am not familiar with. Having not seen any of the previous six Poirot Blu-ray sets, I was curious how this one stacked up after noticing a good, but not outstanding, image quality. In reading online, it’s apparent that the effort that was put into the previous sets was not carried over into this one, resulting in what is only a good image quality, not a great one, nor one that matches the quality of the previous six sets. It’s far better than DVD quality — of which I have seen a couple of these Poirot mysteries on — but it’s not a big enough jump to warrant a new purchase. It’s highly unlikely, but perhaps when the inevitable giant complete series box set gets released, the image quality for series 7 and 8 will see more attention to detail.
On the other hand, the quality of the audio presentation is perfectly fine. Expect a DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo track which is well suited to catch all of the fantastic dialogue, including Poirot’s sometimes subtle humor and his wonderful explanations to a room full of suspects at the end of each mystery. Finally, English subtitles are included, too.
Not included, however, are any extra features. I prefer zero extras to “extras” that are just trailers for other shows, so that’s good, but the total lack of any features at all is a letdown. Even if they intend to pad the complete series set with extras down the road, it’s a shame nothing is included here.
With that, let’s get to the summary…
