Columbo: The Complete Series might not be a homerun as a complete set with the lackluster selection of bonus features, but the transfer is fantastic to go along with the solid audio track, not to mention the show itself which is incredibly entertaining.
Columbo: The 1970s
Seasons 1-7
(1971-1978)
Genre(s): Drama, Crime
Kino Lorber| NR – 3800 min. – $149.95 | December 19, 2023
Date Published: 01/13/2024 | Author: The Movieman
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Kino Lorber provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 4/5 |
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Synopsis: “Columbo” isn’t the typical detective whodunit TV show. On most detective shows, viewers don’t know who committed the crime until the detective pieces the clues together and figures it out. On this show viewers see the crime unfold at the beginning of most episodes, including who the perpetrator is. The mystery and fun for viewers is trying to spot the clues that will lead Lt. Columbo (PETER FALK) to discover the culprit and watching the tricks he uses to get a confession. Quick Hit Review: Columbo is a series I’ve watched over the years, it’s kind of comfort viewing, one of the very few (if perhaps only) within the crime-mystery genre as I generally find little comfort watching something any of the Law & Order shows, SVU especially for obvious reasons. But beyond the murder aspects and some great acting by the murderer-of-the-week actor (which includes Martin Landau, Dick Van Dyke, Robert Culp and Leslie Nielsen), Peter Falk is just a blast in the lead and his sparring with the suspect is wonderful, and seems more often than not, by episode’s end, there seemed to be some respect on the part of the killer which was fun in of itself. I’ve probably seen every episode at least twice and revisiting once again, it’s still amazingly entertaining and I really hope Hollywood resists the urge to reboot the series. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 1¾/5 |
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Each of the five seasons are housed in their own HD keep cases, though the last episodes of a season will be the first disc of the next, so I do wish every episode of the season will be in their respective case. That said, in terms of the features we only get Movie-of-the-Week “Prescription: Murder” and the 1971 Pilot “Ransom for a Dead Man”, as well as the shorter 71-minute Cut of “Etude in Black”. And that’s it. Sadly there were grander plans by Kino Lorber with numerous episode commentaries but those were scrapped probably due to issues with the rights so while those were recorded, they’ll never see the light of day unless they can be uploaded to the internet for download… |
VIDEO – 4¾/5 |
| Columbo: The Complete Series debuts on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber and each episode is presented in the originally televised 1.33 full frame aspect ratio. The series has been remastered in 4K by NBCUniversal and it does look pretty fantastic through and through. While I can’t make a direct comparison to the old DVDs, I will say it has to be a solid upgrade with bright colors and sharp detail. I do wonder if this is the same transfer as NBCUniversal used when airing the show via their Peacock streaming service. Whatever the case, it’s a excellent transfer. |
AUDIO – 4/5 |
| Each episode comes accompanied with a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track which was good but there were some issues with it topping out at times and dialogue, probably due to how it was recorded on set, could be a tad muffled yet still discernible. There’s not a whole of action so you’re not going to get great depth but still this is probably a mild upgrade to the old Dolby Digital track. |
OVERALL – 4/5 |
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Columbo: The Complete Series might not be a homerun as a complete set with the lackluster selection of bonus features, but the transfer is fantastic to go along with the solid audio track, not to mention the show itself which is incredibly entertaining. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.