Miami Vice: Season 4 DVD set

Whilst the episodes are often thrilling, though apparently the show was starting to lose a little of it's popularity at this point, the Miami Vice: Season 4 DVD set (UK - Regions 2, 4 & 5) is not really up to the standard fans would hope for.

On the plus side all the music is intact, which is very rare for a show that used a lot of contemporary music because often the cost of clearing that music for a DVD release just makes it unviable economically. This results in either no release at all or a replacement of some tracks with 'stock library music' which, I'm sure any fan of Miami Vice would agree, just wouldn't work for this series being as the music was so integral. The other good thing is that they've gone to the trouble and expense of creating a 5.1 Dolby sound mix for the series, as well as leaving on the 2.0 Dolby stereo mix for 'purists'.

However, that's where the good news ends; obviously (OK, I'm assuming) this chewed up the budget for the release and the cost of doing more, given the expected sales, just wasn't possible. Sadly this means the picture quality is not so good with the blacks turning into shades of murky grey (probably exacerbated by the overlit screen of the laptop on which I watched them!) and the picture itself very soft. At least it's presented in its original 4:3 aspect ratio and there doesn't seem to be much dirt/sparkle on the picture, but when you compare it to 80s TV material which has undergone a proper clean-up and film regrading (step forward the classic Doctor Who releases made to look incredible by the Restoration Team) it really grates that it could be so much better, espescially given the effort they went into when it was originally made. Still, it's far from being alone in that respect.

Extras? You want extras? You're going to be disappointed. Season 1 got five nice little featurettes, which I personally found quite interesting (a small example; did you know they actually checked the colours of the background walls and buildings before they chose Don Johnson's wardrobe for the episode so he would stand out but never clash?) but all the season sets after that, including this one, have nothing... shame, but I can understand why.

Overall they did the best they could and put the money where they thought it would be most important (and they pretty much got it right, I think, especially making sure of the music rights clearances) but if you buy this set you really are buying it for the episodes themselves ... luckily they are pretty damn good.