Profiler: Season One (1996)
A&E Home Video
Cast: Ally Walker, Robert Davi
Extras: Commentary Track, Documentary, Photo Gallery, Biographies
Rating:

One of NBC’s most acclaimed TV series is finally making it to DVD courtesy of A&E Home Video. ’Profiler, ’ the series revolving around a you woman with the ability to see clues at crime scenes that everyone else is overlooking, who is able to put herself into the mind of the killer and the victim, has been a TV highlight during its run from 1996 to 2000. Not only is the series very well written and acted, it also covers a great number of aspects involved with the work of a real-life profiler. The psychological stress and terror, the fear of being challenged or even becoming a target, the side effects it has on one’s personal life, and the way it shapes a profiler’s personality, are all subjects that are touched upon in the series.

A&E is releasing the first season of the show as a 6-disc DVD set here, though episode #4, ’I’ll Be Missing You’ is missing from the set, and I have not been able to conclusively find out, why. The transfer of the show is beautiful. Presented in a fullframe presentation, the image is free of defects and blemishes, and reveals a good level of detail. Edges are sharp and well-defined, and the vivid color reproduction, certainly helps to bring the show to life. Sometimes atmospherically warm, at others menacingly cold, the color palettes used during the production have been deliberately chosen and the DVD makes every effort to reproduce every nuance of them. No edge-enhancement is visible and the transfer is also free of compression artifacts.

The DVD features the show’s original Dolby Stereo audio track in English but sadly, the release features neither subtitles nor closed-captions, which I find seriously lacking at this stage of the DVD market penetration, where these features should be considered imperative.
The pilot episode of the series that is found on the first disc also features an interesting commentary track featuring the show’s principal cast members. An episode form A&E’s ’American Justice’ series is also included on the disc, covering the work of profilers. The release is rounded out by biographies and a photo gallery.

’Profiler’ is an absolutely solid release. It was a great TV series that has now found a great new home on DVD. No question that every fan should grab a copy of this box set. You’ll be getting over 1000 minutes of chilling and thrilling forensic investigation and psychological tribulations.