Ax Men – The Complete Third Season (2010/History Channel/A&E DVD Set)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: B-     Extras: C+     Episodes: B-

 

 

A reality TV show about four groups of loggers in the Pacific Northwest to Louisiana and Florida, may seem like an odd choice for a reality TV series, but Ax Men is exactly that and remarkably, it is enough of a moderate hit for The History Channel that A&E is now issuing its Complete Third Season on DVD.  The 13 hour-long shows here are more interesting than expected, though I never saw earlier seasons and wonder how long this show can go on.

 

When it does work, it is because it goes beyond the cliché of someone cutting a tree down, yelling “Timber!” and seeing the tree fall while hearing a big thud.  The makers have gone beyond that and even with all the latest technology, this is still dangerous work and offers more challenges than the general public might expect, so that explains its appeal.  The people are interesting, even when we get fake moments, but the show takes you places you may not have seen before and that makes the difference.

 

The letterboxed 1.78 X 1 image on each episode can be soft, with some good shots, but also more than a few location shooting flaws and motion blur.  This is to be expected under the circumstances, but why this is not anamorphically enhanced is odd.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is usually nicely recorded and edited with audio dropouts in a few places from location taping, but this decodes well with Pro Logic surround decoding better than expected, though the package does not mention this.  Extras include Additional Footage and featurettes: The Loggers, Dangers and Logging.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo