Cities Of The Underworld – The Complete Season One (History Channel DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Episodes: B+
In the
1973 TV movie The Night Strangler
(reviewed elsewhere on this site), Kolchak (Darren McGavin) is in Seattle and
when he has to stop a super-powerful killer, finds himself going into the
underground city of Old Seattle from a century ago. It makes for some great suspense. However, it turns out many current major
cities are built over older ones, enough to make a hit series out of Cities Of The Underworld – The Complete
Season One. This surprisingly good
series produced by The History Channel stars Eric Geller (shows 1 - 8) and Don
Wildman (shows 9 – 13) as the men who dare to go underground.
The shows
include trips to Scotland, Hitler’s underground lair in Germany, old Rome,
catacombs in Paris, caves in Budapest, secret areas of New York, underground
the Underground of London, beneath Vesuvius in Greece, the secrets of the
Freemason’s America, the genocidal sites in Romania of Vlad the Impaler (who
inspired Dracula), secret pagan cities buried in Turkey, the prohibition in
Portland, Oregon and more subterranean looks at the Roman Empire.
Despite
some complaints, the shows are compelling viewing, one of the best such shows
the channel has produced lately and this DVD release could set off a while new
interest on the subjects covered. If you
like any of the shows you may have caught on cable, you should really get this
set. Don’t be surprised if it becomes a
favorite.
The
letterboxed 1.78 X 1 image includes what looks like early HD shooting, but all
is consistent despite some motion blur.
The digital graphics constantly showing how the various ancient
structures once looked have dated quickly, but are at least informative. A repetitious editing style does not help
either. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is
good and clean, especially for location shooting, though the used of the same
few pieces of music over and over again is annoying and works against the show. The pilot from Ancient Marvels from Istanbul and outtakes from shows from this
season are good extras.
- Nicholas Sheffo