Nip/Tuck – The Complete Fourth Season (HD-DVD + DVD-Video Sets)
Picture: B+/B Sound: B Extras: B+ Episodes: B+
Sexy. Well written.
Addicting. And completely
ridiculous. The latest installment of a
series that continues to push the limits of television is now available on a 5
Disc set with Nip/Tuck: The Complete 4th
Season. For those unfamiliar with
the series, the series stars Dylan Walsh (Sean) and Julian McMahon (Christian)
as a team of Plastic Surgeons who have the most surreal lives that anyone could
ever imagine.
The
series takes place in warm and Sunny Miami, where vanity runs rampant like a
disease affecting everything regardless of age or sex. If the patients weren’t crazy enough, the
doctors seem to have even more issues themselves. Ranging from involvements with drug dealers,
serial killers, millionaires, and little people nothing is sacred. And the show also centers on sex, sex, sex,
and oh yea MORE SEX. The sexual of
nature of the series, however, is not distracting but rather a quite
excellently used plot element. It is not
overly pornographic or even a horny teen film, but rather a deep mental
exploration of human sexuality and what drives us to do things we do. Though sex is still admittedly used as a
shock factor.
The
series has digressed a bit over four seasons and turned into a convoluted soap
opera with amazingly huge story arches, but still the series is amazing and one
of this reviewer’s all time favorites.
With great acting and incredibly insane storylines that interconnect so
much that it could drive you insane, Nip/Tuck
is a pleasure every time it appears.
Also
throughout Season Four (as in previous seasons) barrages of guest stars appear
more than ever; such as Jacqueline Bisset, Alanis Morisette, Brooke Shields,
and most notably Rosie O’Donnell. Even
for as much as this reviewer dislikes Rosie O’Donnell, she is simply amazing on
this series and no one can doubt her acting ability. She will continue to be a reoccurring
character on Nip/Tuck into Season 5.
The
technical features on this High Definition recorded series, in both formats,
are pretty solid. The picture is once
again presented in a 1080p digital High Definition 1.78 X 1 widescreen presentation
that is one of the better we have seen for a TV series, up there with Warner’s Smallville HD-DVD reviewed on this
site. The colors are solid, shows good
depth of field and consistent image quality throughout. The anamorphically enhanced standard
DVD-video version is not as good and often noticeably so, but for the format is
still crystal clear and crisp, only have an occasional light/dark issue.
The sound
quality is nicely presented in its 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround format (dubbed
“Plus” in the HD edition) and makes a nice use of the series’ great music. The extras are equally impressive on this DVD
set offering over a half dozen features.
Features include Cutting Room
Floor Unaired Scenes, Clever Casting:
The Seasons Guest Stars, ‘Sizzle: The
Sexuality of Nip/Tuck,’ The Cutting
Edge: How Real Life Dramas are Incorporated into the show and finally Severed Parts Gag Reel (pretty
funny). All the Special Features are
interesting and highlight why the series is so great. That is what Special Features should do,
rather than the ‘slapped on’ last second features most television series offer.
If you
have never seen Nip/Tuck before this
is not the season to jump in at; you will be totally lost. In order to appreciate the complexity of the
series, a viewer must start from the beginning with Season One. Granted that is
a great deal to watch, but it will be one of the greatest television
experiences of your life. The series may
have delved into the realm of Soap Opera
in Season Four, but the conclusion
of Season Four is not an end but the
chance for new beginnings.
- Michael P Dougherty II
