Plot: What’s it about?
You want to some gorgeous girls take charge and kick some tail in serious fashion? Then you need to check out the television smash success, Charlie’s Angels. I’m sure you’ve heard of the television show and of course the feature film update, but have you ever taken the time to discover just what this show so popular? On this disc you’ll find two classic episodes plus a featurette that displays some of the show’s more devoted fans. The two episodes chosen are both a lot of fun, but let’s find out what happens in them. In “To Kill An Angel,” we watch as Kelly (Jaclyn Smith) is caught in the crossfire between a small autistic child and some hired killers. She manages to save the young child, but she is wounded in the process. The youngster has no idea what has happened and why, which means Kelly has to recall the events and figure out how to track down both the killers & the runaway child. In “Night Of The Strangler,” we see the angels go undercover as fashion models, which means lots of skin and lots of danger. This mission isn’t just for fun either, as the angels must uncover the truth behind a brutal murder. Can the angels assemble the facts before they become the next victims?
This disc gives you the chance to pick up two classic Charlie’s Angels episodes, plus a couple of nice bonus features. While I am pleased to see this television show get a release on this format, I don’t like this disc too much. I want at least four episodes per disc and in a perfect world, I’d want a season box, with all the episodes inside. So I hope Columbia/Tristar will issue more of this series soon, but I hope it is done in a different fashion. As for the show itself, I’ve never watched it too much, but the few episodes I have seen were more than entertaining. At the time, this was among the most popular shows on television and I can see why that was. Of course the girls look good, but this is a television show, so no nudity is involved, just some teases and such. This is more of an action/suspense style show and while not all the writing works, I was surprised at how involving these two episodes were. I think they’ve chosen good representative episodes for this disc, but again I just don’t think the price tag is reasonable for two episodes. Let’s hope Columbia/Tristar can get on the right track here and give Charlie’s Angels the treatment it deserves.
Video: How does it look?
The episodes are presented full frame, which preserves the intended aspect ratio of the series. This looks about as good as a ’70s television show can and aside from some slight grain, I think this looks as good as it does in reruns. The colors look solid and suffer from minimal fading, while contrast is sharp and shows no age related troubles. I do think the image is a little soft thanks to the years behind this series, but the image still looks very good in this transfer.
Audio: How does it sound?
The included mono track ensures these episodes sound much like they would have on television, which is about all you can ask from this release. The sound effects & music come through well here, no age related issues surface and I was pleased with the overall clarity involved. If you’ve never seen the show, the music is very ’70s and sounds cool, which is why I am so glad it sounds good in this mix. I had no problems with the dialogue either, vocals were smooth & crisp at all times. This disc also houses a Spanish mono option, as well as subtitles in English, Spanish, and French.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc includes talent files and a featurette, which runs about twenty minutes and combines shot from the series with fans & their comments. This was a nice addition, but I would have rather had more episodes. The disc also contains a theatrical trailer for the big screen version of Charlie’s Angels, which is a welcome touch.
