THE MOVIE

Xena: Warrior Princess is a hard series to classify, spun off from Hercules: The Legendary Journeys the series mixes a very liberal interpretation of Greek and Roman mythology with just about anything the writers felt open to "re-interpretation" (eg Dicken's "A Christmas Carol", the Indiana Jones movies) all with a feminist slant. Over the six seasons that Xena was on the air the show has developed a large fan base and has become part of pop culture. Although not a show everyone will enjoy, and not one of my favourites, Xena is a action-adventure series that should appeal to most genre fans. Included on this release is the first half of season two spread over three discs.

Disc 1
Orphan of War
Xena's secret son is revealed when she and Gabrielle join forces with the Centaurs to battle the evil warlord, Dagnine.

Remember Nothing
The three Fates give Xena the chance to recreate her life when she agrees to give up her warrior ways.

Giant Killer
Xena must help David face her old friend Goliath in battle when the giant refuses to turn his back on the ruthless Philistines.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Xena and Gabrielle join forces with Joxer and Orpheus to defeat the evil god Bacchus, who is transforming innocent girls into deadly vampire-like monsters.

Disc 2
Return of Callisto
Gabrielle's ex-fiance Perdicus returns and they marry. Callisto escapes from prison and seeks her revenge on Xena through Gabrielle.

Warrior, Princess, Tramp
Xena must foil an attempt to dethrone her friend and lookalike, Princess Diana, by the unscrupulous Meg, who bears a startling resemblance to them both.

Intimate Stranger
With the help of Ares in the Underworld and Xena's guilt, Callisto switches bodies with Xena and returns to the land of the living where the two women warriors battle once more, this time disguised as each other.

Ten Little Warlords
Still trapped in Callisto's body Xena helps finds herself in the midst of a deadly competition among warlords for the vacant seat of Ares, the newly deposed god of war.

Disc 3
A Solstice Carol
Xena and Gabrielle stage an elaborate ruse to force a Scrooge like king to mend his ways in time for the Winter Solstice celebration.

Xena Scrolls
When the Xena Scrolls are unearthed in 1940 by descendants of Gabrielle and Xena, Xena's spirit returns and possesses her descendant to prevent Ares' escape from his ancient tomb.

Here She Comes..Miss Amphipolis
Xena poses as a beauty contestant in Salmoneus' Miss Known World Pageant to keep the contest from being sabotaged and provoking a war.

THE TRANSFER

Video:

The show is presented in the original broadcast aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The image is sharp and well defined, although there is some grain it is limited and doesn’t distract. Blacks are strong, and shadow details are good. Colours do vary across the 11 episodes from strong to muted, however I don't believe that this is due to any problems with the transfer itself. Overall a good visual transfer that is proberly above broadcast standard.

Audio:

As with most TV series on DVD we have an English Dolby Digital 2.0 track. The subwoofer is used well and is used mainly for the many fight scenes. All of the dialogue and sounds are clear and easy to hear. Lip sync is good (for the most part). A good audio track for a TV series DVD but nothing amazing.

THE EXTRAS

The only extra included on the release is a photo gallery featuring pictures of the cast on the third disc. Very disappointing considering the large number of extras included on other TV series DVDs.

SUMMARY

Overall a nice package which is definitely a must-have buy for fans of the show. Those who have never seen the show before will be able to watch the episodes contained in this boxset without too many problems as the episodes themselves do not require much background knowledge of previous events.