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| Foyle's War: Set 1 (4pc) |
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List Price: $59.99
Buy New: $36.99
You Save: $23.00 (38%)
Buy New/Used from $32.49
Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 41 reviews)
Sales Rank: 6263
Category: DVD
Publisher: Acorn Media
Studio: Acorn Media
Manufacturer: Acorn Media
Label: Acorn Media
Format: Anamorphic, Box Set, Closed-captioned, Color, Widescreen, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 412 minutes
Number Of Items: 4
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.5 x 2.4
ISBN: 1569386048
UPC: 054961604890
EAN: 0054961604890
ASIN: B00007KLE8
Release Date: March 11, 2003
Theatrical Release Date: February 2, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Foyle's War is the rare mystery series that does more than plop a good detective into the middle of a decorative and bygone era. Created by writer Anthony Horowitz, Foyle's War makes profoundly resonant use of British society in 1940, a terrifying time in which the threat of an Axis assault on England disrupted ordinary life in often horrible ways, from the resettlement of city children (into the care of rural strangers) to a spike in xenophobia to a loss of personal freedoms. Against this heady backdrop is the near-solitary figure of Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle (Michael Kitchen), a London investigator who would rather be fighting Hitler abroad but is stuck solving domestic homicides--generally sparked by wartime fervor--with the help of a plucky driver (Honeysuckle Weeks) and a steadfast assistant (Anthony Howell). Kitchen's magnificently measured performance and Horowitz's masterful grasp of the moral and dramatic issues of his battle-scarred milieu make Foyle's War a must. --Tom Keogh
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Customer Reviews: Read 36 more reviews...
Just the beginning -- it gets better June 16, 2006
I find most of PBS' second hand mysteries dull vehicles and some have ruined so superb book characters. This is one of the few exceptions, probably the best. There is some uneveness but nothing that would dull the enjoyment.
It goes against the grain. . The actress playing Sam with a highly improbable name. The over-the-top pilot son. A first rate police inspector working from backwater? The amputee war veteran detective. C'mon, the last big thing that happened in Hastings came in 1066.
BUT Honeysuckle Weeks seems a real name and an insiduoussly good actress. appears to be her real name and the quality of her performance is insiduously good and her looks grow on you as well. The rest of the cast grows on you and then there's Michael Kitchen who grabs his role by the throat while eschewing the curtain. This is in a sense one of the roles of his life because he defines the character and makes it look easy. Only the best do that. Then there's unspoiled beautiful Hastings which needs only a bit of cosmetics to cover a bit of modernity.
Happily for those who love it, Hastings faded into the background after the War. Until now.
The visuals are excellent and the rare special effects work is very good and puts to shame the cheesy work done on supposed war documentaries. The bucolic setting allows more of a period feel without a excess of overdone museum cars and the rest.
The series moves ahead in time with the war, from the early disasters. It's not rose-tinted glass, all heroism. The Nazi sympathizers were real and numerouss just as they were in the U.S. At the outset, there is the portent of things to come.
So, did anything actually happen at Hastings? There the show takes a few minor liberties, one about the Dunkirk evacuation. But a Hastings author, Victoria Seymour, writes of "a parade of `spies', aliens, pacifists, looters, wartime racketeers and small-time criminals. Added to these were hundreds of usually law-abiding people, who found themselves in court for flouting often not properly understood laws."
This is obviously not a documentary, but in many ways it does a better job of painting an era. While Britain struggles for existence, it must deal with their own version of our Isolationists and right wing Nazi sympathesizers -- and the usual array of scoundrels and fools. Foyle makes judgments as he must, sometimes to his own detriment. He is a man of integrity, not ideology.
There are now five seasons of four television movies each. Some are better than others, but I have not found one to be bad and while each stands on its own, all add to the whole. Despite not having been in Hastings in many years, the local site www.visithastings.com is excellent, enjoys the link the show. There are also good Foyle sites among the obsessive.
The fourth episode shows the level of care in all. Andrew is flying low altitude missions to test the highly-secret British coastal radar which used "curtain" antennas of wires strung between the towers. Known as Chain Low, it had a range of about 100 miles but its low alttitude weakness left a hole for low flying raiders. The secondary Chain Home Low was in fact tested on site by RAF pilots. There have been British "documentaries" that get this wrong.
Excellent mysteries set in Britain at the start of WWII, with Michael Kitchen May 28, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Detective Chief Inspector Christopher Foyle (Michael Kitchen) is a British cop based in the southern part of England. It's Spring, 1940. Britain, woefully unprepared, is at war with Germany. Foyle is a taciturn man, even sad. He has lost his wife and his only child has signed up with the Royal Air Force and is a fighter pilot. Foyle knows his son is going to be at high risk every time he takes off. Foyle desperately wants to join up, too, but is told by his superiors that his talents are far better utilized where he is. Foyle is a dedicated, no-nonsense cop. He's respectful to authority and the rich, but he isn't intimidated. If a person has committed a crime, especially one which could damage Britain's war effort, Foyle will never let up until the crime is solved and justice -- by the book -- is done.
This series is effective for several reasons. The production values are high. A great deal of effort has been placed in evoking the look and style of England at the start of WWII. The cast which backs up Kitchen is first rate. These include the ongoing characters of Samantha Stewart played by Honeysuckle Weeks (a great name) as Foyle's driver. Stewart is an energetic, curious young woman, brave when she needs to be, who gradually earns Foyle's respect. Paul Milner is played by Anthony Howell. Milner, who lost a leg in the Norway campaign, is assigned to Foyle as his detective sergeant. Milner has to build back his confidence and Foyle can't give him much time to do so. Showing up in one-time roles are such accomplished actors as Robert Hardy, Charles Dance, Edward Fox, Cheryl Campbell, John Shrapnel and Rosamund Pike.
Most of all, the series works so well because of Michael Kitchen and the mysteries themselves, all of which are drawn from issues of the early war period. Kitchen is an excellent, subtle, versatile actor whose long career includes the amusing and reprehensibly egoistic doctor in Reckless, the well-intentioned but naive king utterly outmaneuvered by Francis Urquhart in To Play the King and the unprincipled charlatan who finds himself facing Inspector Morse. Inspector Foyle is a serious, thoughtful man of high principles, who keeps most of his deepest feelings to himself but who is not without a sense of wry humor. Kitchen captures the man perfectly. As for the stories in season one, they range from the treatment of conscientious objectors and anti-German prejudice, theft in high places and a threat to his son, interned German prisoners-of-war and high-placed Nazi sympathizers. The series was conceived and is researched and written by Anthony Horowitz, who consistently turns out literate and complex scripts.
Also out are Seasons 2 and 3, with 4 on its way. Each story is approximately 1' 40" long. The four DVDs in the set have excellent pictures and audio. Extras include interviews with Horowitz and cast filmographies.
Best show ever May 20, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
this is the best show ever, and seasons 1-3 are available on netflix. I believe season 4 aired in the UK in late January/early February 06, so hopefully will be available soon.
I genuinely can't wait.
Ode to Michael Kitchen April 12, 2006
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I've been beguiled by pretty much everything Michael Kitchen has done and could only lament the paucity of his work. Along comes this wonderful series that puts him front and center and shows what a truly amazing actor he is (besides being sublimely attractive in that understated quiet manner of the British male; those of you who feel as I do must catch his supporting roles in Enchanted April and Mrs Dalloway)
The mystery is clearly secondary to the characters. The atmosphere created both by the actors and the production folks really makes you feel you are eavesdropping on WWII Britain. There's a sort of melancholy (I suppose war cannot be anything but) feeling to everything---the events, the characters, the design--which is mesmerizing.
Foyle's War is one of the few TV events I've programmed my time around, and I recommend it for anyone who wants both substantial and entertaining fare.
An Excellent Mystery Series April 4, 2006
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is by far one of the best Mystery "Who done it" series ever. A must see and a must have. The characters are great and the actors and actresses do a fantastic job portraying them. The series takes place in a very simple setting (Hastings), yet it is a very complex and trying time for the British during the war and these two worlds collide and intertwine in a amazing and riveting way. I have always been interested and fascinated by stories that came out of World War II. Those who fought it, the machines they used and the sacrifices they made. It was exactly that which enticed me to watch the very first episode on our local PBS channel and I've been hooked ever since then. However, the series does not revolve around the war and therefore should not scare off anyone from watching it. All those involved do a fantastic job of creating a true mystery. Not a war flick. I even got my Mother into the series. The British are amazing when it comes to creating great mysteries and they sure have lived up to it on this one. Purchase it and watch it. You won't be sorry. Thank you for your time.
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Copyright Runningonkarma.com 2006
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