Audience Rating: Parental Guidance
Binding: DVD
EAN: 5050582290585
Format: Box set, PAL
Label: Playback
Languages: EnglishSubtitledEnglishOriginal LanguageDolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Manufacturer: Playback
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Playback
Region Code: 2
Release Date: September 13, 2004
Running Time: 660 minutes
Studio: Playback

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Editorial Review:

Amazon.co.uk Review:
TV detective fans rejoice: Peter Falk's rumpled and infallible Lt. Columbo joins the DVD precinct with a five-disc set that features the detective's first nine appearances for NBC. Though Falk as Columbo (no first name) made his TV debut in 1967, the detective had actually first appeared on an episode of the 1960-61 Chevy Mystery Show (Bert Freed played the role) written by veteran TV scribes Richard Levinson and William Link (The Fugitive, Alfred Hitchcock Presents). The pair turned the episode into a stage play titled Prescription: Murder, which was adapted into a TV movie in 1967 with Falk in the lead. NBC greenlit a two-hour Columbo pilot (Ransom for a Dead Man) in 1971, and the series was launched that fall as part of the NBC Sunday Mystery Movie, a rotating 90-minute program that alternated Columbo with episodes of MacMillan and Wife and McCloud (another Levinson/Link creation). Viewers were quickly won over by Falk's shrewd performance as he matched wits with a host of exceptional guest stars (including Gene Barry, Patrick McGoohan, and others), all of whom assumed that the disheveled detective would never figure out their "perfect crimes"; the popularity and quality of the original series allows Falk to continue to don the trenchcoat some 30 years later for occasional Columbo TV movies.

All seven 90-minute episodes of the 1971-72 debut season are included here, along with Prescription: Murder and Ransom for a Dead Man; unfortunately, as the lieutenant himself would say, "Oh, just one more thing"--no extras are included in the set, but having these fine TV mysteries in one set should be reward enough for armchair sleuths. --Paul Gaita




Rating: - A timeless detective series
There are enough detective shows that even the most hardcore detective show fan could be forgiven for losing count of them, they really are ten a penny but none of them in my opinion will ever match the brilliance of this.

Although I like the odd one here and the odd one there, I have never been a massive fan of detective programmes and I can't think of one that I like more than Columbo, this is not me being in anyway nostalgic as this masterpiece of a detective programme began before ... Read More

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Rating: - We want extras!!
The episodes are all well and good, I wouldn't buy the DVD if I didn't like the series but why no extras? It surely can't be that difficult to get Peter Falk, some of the producers and other cast members to talk about the episodes. Universal are not making use of the possibilities that DVD offers in order to release the sets more quickly! I hope there will be some on the future releases, but I'm not holding my breath.

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Rating: - They don't make 'em like this any more
These early pilots and episodes of Columbo from the first series have a real quality about them. It's something to do with nostalgia, I guess, but really it's much more than that. All the ingredients are right: Peter Falk; big-name casts; superb Technicolor cinematography; intelligent scripts; humour; and drama.
Columbo never chases anybody in his car, never shoots anyone, never swears, just beats the criminals with the power of his mind, much like Poirot. Columbo is for fans of literate crime drama, ... Read More

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Rating: - World class entertainment
Fans of the enigmatic Lieutenant Columbo have every reason to celebrate the launch of this DVD, even if they already know every episode intimately.
A staple of weekend afternoon slots the world over, these are episodes you'll probably have seen a dozen times, but the crisp picture and sound quality of the DVD makes this an essential purchase for the serios Columbo fan.
Detractors of the crumpled detective will argue that every episode is the same. 'Seen one you've seen 'em all,' they moan, but the ... Read More

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Rating: - The best TV detective ever
What an outrageous yet brilliant idea, to have a detective series where you see who did the murder right at the beginning. The fascination comes from watching Columbo (Peter Falk), scruffy, vague and (apparently) absent-minded, gradually figure oiut how the murdered committed the crime, and relentlessly closing in on his suspect.

In every episode, you see the confident criminal dismiss Columbo as hopeless, then watch with satisfaction as it gradually dawns on them that he's much smarter than he looks. ... Read More

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