"DALLAS: THE COMPLETE TWELFTH SEASON"
DVD Review
by Kevin Carr
| MOVIE: **1/2 (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: * (out of 5 stars) STARRING Larry Hagman as J.R. EWING Patrick Duffy as BOBBY EWING Linda Gray as SUE ELLEN EWING Barbara Bel Geddes as MISS ELLIE EWING Charlene Tilton as LUCY EWING COOPER Sheree J. Wilson as APRIL STEVENS Not Rated Available on DVD January 19 DallasOnDVD.com Studio: Warner Bros. Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
The twelfth season of the mega-popular prime time soap opera “Dallas” opens with a distinct answer to a familiar question: Who shot J.R. This time, there is no mystery, but that doesn’t stop J.R. from coming back and trying to regain control of Ewing Oil. However, the Ewing family sees more drama with a new neighbor trying to ruin their business, foreign interests manipulating the market, J.R. getting put in jail then landing into a shotgun wedding and a subplot about a tell-all movie about the Ewings.
WHAT I LIKED
I spent my childhood years in the 70s and 80s, so “Dallas” was a staple of Friday nights. Even though I was far too young in its early inception to understand the nuances of the prime time soap opera, I was fully aware of the series and even as a child remembered the hype around the “Who Shot J.R.” campaign and the infamous dream season.
Looking back on the series, even in its shark-jumping years of the twelfth season, there is a certain degree of nostalgia that goes along with a torrid high-end soap opera. The enjoyment I had watching this season wasn’t necessarily for the brilliant writing or the great acting, but rather because it was steeped in the 80s with big hair and uncomfortable fashion.
The actors were well into their later years, but there was still plenty of jabs at each other and enough backstabbing in the storylines to have fun watching. Plus, as an adult, I fully appreciated some of the fetching female members of the cast like Sheree J. Wilson and Charlene Tilton.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
Let’s face it... by the time any series reaches the twelfth season, it has either become something totally unlike its original inception, become a caricature of itself or lost its spark entirely. While there’s still the essence of “Dallas” that made it a hit, the show had become a bit long in the tooth. Spending a dozen years on television was not kind to Linda Gray, and she went from being a fiery siren to being a somewhat wacky old lady. Likewise with Larry Hagman, whose gray hair really was noticeable in the flashbacks to previous seasons.
Also, because it was the 80s, the prime time drama was in its adolescence. It hadn’t been refined to a cinematic level like how series evolved in the late 1990s. So most of its charm is, in fact, nostalgic.
Using some recycled storylines (like shooting J.R.) and some creative but otherwise silly ones (like the season cliffhanger), the show wasn’t like it was in its glory days.
DVD FEATURES
There are no special features to speak of as it is the twelfth season, and those had been gobbled up by now.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Fans of the glorious 80s prime time soap opera
