The Collection is a very well made UK production featuring some great performances, Richard Coyle especially, and some excellent and award-worthy production/costume designs.
The Collection
(2017)
Genre(s): Drama, Suspense
PBS | TVMA – 390 min. – $59.99 | October 17, 2017
Date Published: 10/18/2017 | Author: The Movieman
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THE SEASON — 4.0/5 |
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Season Synopsis: Paris, 1947. A fashion empire rises from the ashes of this war-torn city. Run by the breathtakingly charming and thoroughly ruthless Paul Sabine (RICHARD COYLE), the House of Sabine is pushing new boundaries in the post-war fashion world.
But behind the glamour and elegance lies a devastating secret that threatens to destroy the company’s delicately built success. It is actually Paul’s reckless, hedonistic younger brother Claude (TOM RILEY) whose fresh vision is responsible for this new era in haute couture. Paul and Claude had survived one war – but at what cost? Another battle is looming that threatens to tear this family apart. This time it’s brother against brother, husband against wife, protégé against menor. Quick Hit Review: Wasn’t sure what I was getting into with The Collection but watching this for the first time, and at only 8 episodes it is an easy binge-watch, I found it rather engrossing even though it is, at least secondarily to the family drama, about the fashion industry of the 1940s. First, from a technical standpoint, the production value is top-notch from the wardrobe to the set pieces, though likely some CGI was used. From the acting side of things, stars Richard Coyle and, especially, Tom Riley are the highlights considering their characters, being brothers, butt heads.
Although, in its time, Downton Abbey received plenty of praise throughout its six season run, I can only hope The Collection gets some recognition, though the drama and turbulence within in castle might be more enticing than the one within the fashion world, but I thought it was rather well done. Now, if there was one downside, this is a slow moving series and the first episode takes a bit of patience but to me the wait was worth it. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.0/5 |
| This 3-disc set comes housed in a standard Blu-ray case and comes with a semi-glossy slip cover. Features are on the lighter side but comes with Rags to Riches (4:41; HD), Designing the Times (4:42; HD) and Behind the Masks (4:47; HD) featurettes. |
VIDEO – 4.0/5 |
| PBS releases The Collection onto Blu-ray presented with a 1.78 widescreen aspect ratio and a 1080p high-definition transfer. The picture looks rather good with splashes of colors particularly on the dresses which contrast against the more dreary gray backdrops at times. Detail is fairly sharp and outside of some minor banding, free of any major flaws like artifacts, aliasing, etc. |
AUDIO – 3.75/5 |
| Each episode comes with a DTS-HD Master Audio Stereo track which I found functional but unremarkable, though considering the vast bulk of this series is dialogue, it’s not necessary to have an overly dynamic lossless track. As such, the dialogue does come through with relative clarity and the music/score does provide some modest depth. |
OVERALL – 3.5/5 |
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Overall, The Collection is a very well made UK production featuring some great performances, Richard Coyle especially, and some excellent and award-worthy production/costume designs. The Blu-ray released by PBS has good video and audio transfers however the features are limited. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.