Life on Mars: The Complete Series DVD Review

Posted by Joseph Lee on 10.07.2009

A show that could have been great, but settled on being decent.




Starring:

*Jason O'Mara as Det. Sam Tyler
*Michael Imperioli as Det. Ray Carling
*Jonathan Murphy as Det Chris Skelton
*Harvey Keitel as Lt. Gene Hunt
*Gretchen Mol as Annie Norris

Story: A present-day car accident mysteriously sends a detective back to the 1970s. An American remake of the BBC series.

Trivia: In the episode, "Let All the Children Boogie" Rocket Girl's father says that he lost his daughter to music when his wife brought home a Beatles 45, noting, "'Love me do I think it was.'" This is a line taken from the song "Shooting Star" by Bad Company in which the main character becomes infatuated with music after hearing the exact same song.

I didn't watch Life on Mars during it's original run, because I found the concept a little too out there and quirky. It seemed like the plot was quirky for the sake of being so, and I didn't think it was something that could be stretched out for a television series, much less a multi-season one. As it turns out, this show only lasted for one season and seventeen episodes. The ratings plummeted from an 8.2 premiere to a 3.6 finale. That's a huge difference. Now that the show is out on DVD, it's time to give it a proper chance. Was it canceled before it's time or was the ratings drop for a reason?

For the most part, Life on Mars is a police procedural drama with some sci-fi aspects thrown in. In a lot of ways, it's like Quantum Leap in the sense that the premise is centered around something that's sci-fi, but the individual episodes are more or less normal stories. The fact that Sam Tyler has went back in time to the 1970's is still mentioned as he tries to figure out a way to get home, but for the most part he's solving crimes. The main story is hanging over his head like the Sword of Damacles as he attempts to get adjusted to a time before his time.

How does the show hold up? Well, as a police drama it's fine enough. The cases are nothing special, especially in a world where we have shows like CSI and Law & Order: SVU. It's how the stories are handled that would make this stand out. Unfortunately, the cases are "procedural" in every sense of the word. It's strictly by-the-numbers and not very interesting on it's own. If this didn't have the unique story arc overshadowing everything, it might not even have lasted as long as it did.

What about that premise? Well it's interesting, and I can admit that I was wrong about not being able to stretch it out. By adding the cop drama elements and letting Sam only see bits and pieces of what's really going on per episode, the producers were able to make it last a whole season. They should be commended for that. Sam will occasionally try to affect the future with little success, or he will have just glimpses of what he perceives to be the "real world". It's fun to try and guess what's really going on, but when stuck in between the uninspired cop drama scenarios it gets a little lost.

Outside of it's glaring flaws, this show does have some things going for it. It features an impressive cast featuring Jason O'Mara as the hero, who plays the role exactly how it should be played. Gretchen Mol is the female lead and I enjoy seeing her in whatever role she gets as she's both talented and easy on the eyes. Finally, we get a veteran actor in Harvey Keitel who steals the show as Lt. Gene Hunt. He usually shines in every scene he's in and a show like this really needs a veteran actor to carry things. Keitel is just that sort of man.

The cast tends to get along really well and they do have some good on-screen chemistry. The relationships feel real and not contrived, even if the story doesn't. The show also makes good use of the main character being from the future as he is able to make several references to future events and we get them and nod our heads, even if the people in 1973 are confused. There is also a great deal of levity in the scenes that require it and it makes it a little more entertaining.

I won't tell you how it ends, but I think it could have been a lot better. That's my complaint with this whole series. For a show with a premise that it has, it could have made for a more interesting show and this fails to live up to that potential. So it's a decent show, but it's not hard to see why most viewers tuned out. They could probably get far better programming elsewhere.

Film: 6.0

The show is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound with Spanish and French subtitles. As it's a new show on DVD, it sounds fine. No problems with hearing or audio changes.

Audio: 8.0

Just like the audio, I didn't have any problems watching this. The quality as if it was ripped directly from television. It's presented in widescreen with a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. Good, but not great.

Video: 8.0

ABC Studios is very good with their releases no matter what the show, and that's commendable. There are a number of special features here for those who purchase the show.

Audio Commentary: Selected episodes feature commentary from producers, actors and writers. The episodes with commentary are: "Out Here in the Fields", "Things To Do In New York When You Think You're Dead", "The Man Who Sold The World", and "Life is a Rock". The commentary is usually insightful about what went into making each episode, which is all you can really ask for.

To Mars And Back: This is a fifteen minute feature that interviews the cast and crew about the show. If you don't listen to the commentaries you can also learn some nice tidbits here.

Sunrise To Sunset With Jason O'Mara: In this ten minute feature, you get to spend an entire day with star Jason O'Mara as he goes on set to film. It's basically a "making-of" feature limited to following one guy around. It's interesting, at any rate.

Flashback: Lee Majors Goes To Mars: Lee Majors of The Six Million Dollar Man visits the set of Life on Mars. It is what you expect it to be.

Spaced Out: Bloopers From The Set: This is just your standard blooper reel. Nothing to see here.

Finally there are also some deleted scenes and previews for other ABC shows.

Special Feautres: 7.0

The 411: Life on Mars could have been something special if it had better individual stories and provided a little more emphasis on it's overreaching story arc than it did. As it stands, it's just an average cop show with an unusual premise and a great cast. The show had a lot of potential, but unfortunately does not live up to it. The DVD on the other hand is made for the fans and those same fans will most likely pick this show up regardless of my recommendation or not.

Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]