For The Term Of His Natural Life (1983/Australian TV Mini-Series/Umbrella
Entertainment/PAL Region Zero/0 DVD Import Set)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: D
Episodes: B-
PLEASE NOTE: This DVD set can only be operated
on machines capable of playing back DVDs that can handle Region Zero/0/Free PAL
format software and can be ordered from our friends at Umbrella Entertainment
at the website address provided at the end of the review.
Based on
the book by Marcus Clarke, For The Term
Of His Natural Life has been adapted on film back in the silent era, but
this 1983 TV Mini-Series is a
decent, if a little overly melodramatic as the son of a rich woman (Colin
Friels) is cast away by her husband who he thought was always his father, but
is not. The rest of the story is about
his survival, endless attacks on his person and his constantly being a target
of military and financial elites in the 18th Century.
As good
as its many U.S.
counterparts, sure it drags certain points out to keep viewers watching and
ratings high, but like the better mini-series, offers well cast stars in
interesting roles. Patrick Macnee (The Avengers) is the captain of a ship
for which our protagonist is a prisoner being delivered to an island for slave
labor in much of the first half of the production, while Anthony Perkins (Psycho) is in an authoritarian role
over him in the latter half and has some compassion for him. Samantha Eggar, Diane Cilento and many solid
Aussie actors make for a very good supporting cast and if you like mini-series,
you’ll want to see this one.
It wants
to be an epic and though it is not that sweeping, it tries and that is better
than most TV in any country of late.
The 1.33
X 1 image was shot in 35mm film and holds up nicely, even though this transfer is
comes from older masters and has more aliasing errors than expected, but the
picture is good otherwise. The Dolby
Digital 2.0 Mono also shows its age and has some distortion and compression one
would expect, but it is better than more than a few TV programs we have
encountered from the time. There are no
extras.
As noted
above, you can order this PAL DVD import set exclusively from Umbrella at:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
-
Nicholas Sheffo
