"FALCON CREST: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON"
DVD Review
by Kevin Carr
| MOVIE: *** (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: * (out of 5 stars) STARRING Jane Wyman as ANGELA CHANNING Robert Foxworth as CHASE GIOBERTI Lorenzo Lamas as LANCE CUMSON Billy R. Moses as COLE GIOBERTI Jamie Rose as VICTORIA GIOBERTI Abby Dalton as JULIA CUMSON Susan Sullivan as MAGGIE GIOBERTI Not Rated Available on DVD April 20 FalconCrestDVD.com Studio: Warner Bros. Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
One of the classic 80s prime time soap operas starts with a bang... or rather a crash as the patriarch of a wealthy wine-making family is accidentally killed. This sets into motion a string of events in which two families battle for the ownership and power over a vineyard.
WHAT I LIKED
Unlike my wife, who informed me that “Falcon Crest” was one of her family’s must-see shows each week in the early 80s, I never really watched any of the prime time soap operas in their heyday. But that didn’t stop me from being aware of them. There’s a nostalgic cheese associated with these shows, and as mundane as the plots may be against lesbian doctors and discussion of pubic hair art on “Grey’s Anatomy” today, they were very titillating for 1981 and 1982.
“Falcon Crest” was one of the classics, following up hits like “Dallas” and “Dynasty.” Like the others, it had all the archetypes – from the cutthroat head of the family (this show’s Jane Wyman to J.R. Ewing on “Dallas”) to the eye candy for both the men and women.
Don’t let the high-class backdrop of a beautiful vineyard steer you wrong. This show got mixed up in plenty of skullduggery, whether it be standard affairs and blackmail or hints of the adult film industry. This was sexy stuff back in the early days of Ronald Reagan. And that’s part of its charm. If you love the 80s nostalgia for daring sexiness, then you can’t go wrong with “Falcon Crest.”
Oh, and although I know her best as the mother of both Richard Castle and Dharma’s Greg, Susan Sullivan was quite a looker back in the early 80s. It’s nice to see her in her prime.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
The biggest drawback to “Falcon Crest” is that television has become so daring that even the daringest moments of this show are tame compared to today’s shows. To fully appreciate this or any of the other classic prime time soaps, you have to watch it with an eye of the decade.
DVD FEATURES
There are no special features in the four discs of this set, which is somewhat disappointing considering this is the first season of nine. Something should have been able to have been mined from such a popular and iconic 80s television series.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Prime time soap opera fans.
