THE MOVIE

Xena: The Warrior Princess. An anomaly in television history. The mutant offspring of the altogether similar Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, this offering by Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert of Evil Dead fame is a largely overlooked genre piece that has finally found a home on DVD. And rightly so. Homoerotic sword-and-sorcery action has never been this entertaining, and the series is so cinematic in scope that it is a prime candidate for DVD release. But, who is Xena? Xena is, well, in a word – a badass chick. She wanders the earth with her travelling companion and lesbian plaything Gabrielle. Actually, I just made up that part about the lesbian plaything. But, you know – speculation is rife that I may just be right, so don’t send me any hate mail just yet. The show is very much plotted in the tradition of films such as Clash Of The Titans – pseudo-mythological figures, rugged men, and swords being swung with wild abandon. This is, however, the Nineties – so, we have a distinctly feminist slant on the genre. But, is it any good? Well, yes. At least, sort of. What we have here is the first half of the first season of Xena: The Warrior Princess, and while the characters are only just getting their groove on, we are treated to a cavalcade of sword swingin’ fun. It’s not high art, by any means – but why should it be? High art has been something that has never really existed on television, with the exception of Twin Peaks – and why should it here? The episodes collected on this three disc set are:

Sins Of The Past: Xena decides that she has had quite enough sword-slashin’ and disc-throwin’ for one lifetime, and feels the need to settle down and live the quiet life. This being both a debut episode, and a debut episode about a fierce, savage warrior queen, Xena ends up generating corpse after corpse when she encounters a group of fiends tormenting a local village. Gabrielle, a girl from said village wants to join Xena on her Andrea Dworkin-inspired adventures, and does so.

Chariots Of War: Defending a group of villagers from a fiendish warlord, Xena is wounded – after having left Gabrielle waiting for her nearby. When Xena does not return, Gabrielle fears for her friend’s life. Golly!

Dreamworker: After being kidnapped by Morbius, a naughty god from another world, Gabrielle must face challenges to ascertain whether she is fit to be his wife. Xena, knowing that Gabrielle is fit to become her wife goes on a rescue mission.

Cradle Of Hope: Discovering an abandoned baby, Xena and Gabrielle attempt to return it to a local town – not knowing that it is being hunted by the soldiers of an evil king in order to thwart an ancient prophecy. Adding to the fun is the granddaughter of Pandora (Of “Pandora’s Box” fame).

The Path Not Taken: Xena and Gabrielle meet a prince who’s girlfriend has been kidnapped. Having known this pain herself a mere two episodes ago, Xena sets out to rescue her. She discovers that a local arms dealer is responsible, and she is reunited with an old boyfriend.

The Reckoning: A case of mistaken identities erupts after Xena stops a group of swordsmen from eviscerating a group of peasants – the families of whom find Xena covered in blood, and assume that she is responsible for the injured men. This has, however, been orchestrated by Ares – the god of war – in an attempt to force Xena to return to her warlike ways.

The Titans: Gabrielle unwittingly unlocks a group of titans, who do her bidding. Eventually, they begin to follow their own orders – orders that involve the destruction of a local village. Xena must take charge and try to stop a member of the village – Hyperion – from executing his plan that will awaken hundreds of the sleeping giants.

Prometheus: Prometheus has been captured by the Gods, and Xena meets with Hercules and Iolaus in a quest to find the magic sword that can free him.

Death In Chains: Celesta, God Of Death, has been captured – and whilst in captivity, nobody can die. Xena thinks this is a good thing, and ignores requests for help – until she begins meeting people who are injured, and when she visits a hospital, finally agrees to free Celesta. Gabrielle, and a man she has met who has knowledge of Celesta’s whereabouts, set off with Xena on a rescue mission.

Hooves and Harlots: Xena and Gabrielle enter the territory of the Amazons and are captured and taken before the Amazon Queen. After Gabrielle tries to save the life of one Amazon, she is granted a position of rank and status in the Amazon society. After finding out that the Amazons are at war with the Centaurs, this results in Xena realising that things are far more complex than they seem…

The Black Wolf: A warlord has captured a childhood friend of Xena’s, and Xena attempts to infiltrate his dungeon to rescue her. It seems that revolution against the warlord is being conducted by a mysterious figure called the “Black Wolf” and as Xena attempts to discover his identity, a complex series of problems emerge – with Gabrielle, as usual, finding herself caught in the middle.

Beware Greeks Bearing Gifts: An amusing “early Dr. Who-esque” take on the fall of Troy, with Xena being caught in the middle of the fall of Troy, instigated by the Greeks and their “Trojan Horse”.

Xena is a highly entertaining action-adventure series that should appeal to all genre fans. Building on the blueprint presented in Hercules, Xena’s world is far more complex and dramatic – making it the superior of the twin series’.

THE TRANSFER

Video:

The series is presented in full frame, and exhibits many of the problems commonly associated with transfers of television shows. The series was apparently shot on 16mm film and was, unarguably, a low budget production – leading to a noticeable level of grain. Image sharpness was also a problem, with a number of instances of excessive softness. The colors, however, score a big plus – with the verdant greens of the New Zealand countryside being rendered appropriately. The image pixellates at various points, which is annoying – but is not excessive. The prints are relatively clean, with only a few instances of film artefact. All in all, a passable – if uninspiring – transfer of the series, which, while not being as good as it could have been, is not the tragedy that was the Worldwide reissues of Twin Peaks in the early 1990’s – surely the hallmark for substandard television reissues.

Audio:

The soundtrack of these disc is something that truly shines. Naturally, all dialogue is clear and in sync, and background noise is audible when necessary, and muted when necessary. The audio track is crisp and punchy, with considerably impressive use of the surround sound function, which envelops the listener in the sounds of combat. It is, then, far better than we might have expected – and is extremely impressive to listen to.

THE EXTRAS

Photo Gallery – Yep, it’s a photo gallery. Are you excited? Extremely disappointing lack of extras mars what is, otherwise, an excellent package.

SUMMARY

This is part one of a two part set. Please see the review for part two for details. This is a very good package which should please genre fans - others should try before they buy, which they can do by tuning into Foxtel. Excitement, adventure, and sword-swingin' hilarity for all.