Xena: Warrior Princess, Season One (1995)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Produced by Sam Raimi and R.J. Stewart
Created by John Schulian
Starring Lucy Lawless and Renee O’Connor

Features:

• Director and Actor Bios
  
• Series Trivia Game
  
• Xena Chronicles
  
• Photo Gallery
  
• Screensaver
  

Released by: Anchor Bay
Region: 1
Rating: NR, safe for most ages
Anamorphic: N/A; episodes appear in their original 1.33:1 format.

My Advice: Get it, fool.

If you don’t know the glory that is Xena yet, then shame on you and read on; if you have seen the show before, then you must already have this set, because who could watch this show and not want to have it forever?

The basic idea is that Xena (Lawless) has turned her back on her bloodthirsty, warmongering ways, given up her army and set herself on the path of the righteous. Along the way, she picks up a sidekick, a fast-talking village girl named Gabrielle (O'Connor), who, as it turns out, has a gift for the gab and comes in handy more than once.

Some of the episodes are better than others, but all of them are a rollicking good time. One of my personal favorites brings Bruce Campbell’s character Autolycus to the show; I’m not sure why the show never mentions that mythologically Autolycus was the son of Hermes. But regardless, the character is so perfectly played by Campbell that one cannot complain--and the connection with the god of tricksters is almost implicit, if not stated.

Lucy Lawless as Xena and Renee O’Connor as Gabrielle are truly just amazing. Even though their characters grow and change a bit over the first season, the actresses are right there and ready to give their go. If the show does not appeal to you for some reason, perhaps you just don’t like tales of Cyclopes or wicked kings, it won’t be because the acting is bad.

The audio and video quality of this set is really quite high. The television show looked beautiful, and here even the lush New Zealand landscapes are brilliantly green, splendidly detailed, and just flawless. Maybe it doesn’t look a lot like ancient Greece, but that’s not the only point, now is it?

The only thing I don’t like about the physical layout of the set is more of a quibble than a real complaint: the fold-out wallet makes it clumsy to get to the latter discs, sometimes causing the whole caboodle to slip out of the hands of the unwary.

Basically, if you’re a myth-lover like me, then there might be a place here or there where you’ll wince at the "inaccuracies," but just give the show a chance. Usually Stewart knows that he has "changed" a myth, but he remembers what you may not: that myths were ever living, breathing things and varied by generation. We only see them now as set in stone because they "died" with the fall of Rome and the end of the glory that was Greece, to change no more.

This is a show full of real heroism, the kind you don’t see much anymore, adventure, fantastic special-effects and wonderful scenery. The characters are real and interesting, and you cannot help but be charmed by the fun plots. Give this one a view today, and you’ll be hooked.