I'd never heard of this until last night when I decided to rent the first two DVD's at Blockbuster. So, the user's comment about wanting to see it on DVD can have his/her wish ... a total of 5 DVD's.
I have not finished watching all of the mini series yet, but am glad for this website. After watching the 2nd episode and loving it, I feared that this was some series leaving me with some annoying cliffhanger, so now I know I can finish watching this to the ending due to this site's user comments.
Having only watched 2 episodes so far, I'm definitely hooked. Everything from casting, acting, camera angles, music, lighting, etc., is outstanding. My only ditty of negativity is regarding the few areas of subtitles that flash too quickly to read such as when translating a newspaper headline or tombstone epitaph, but, hey, I got the DVD's, so I can hit the reverse and pause (not so for viewers seeing it on HBO in real time unless they got some special cable service). On the flip side, though, at least the subtitles are in large enough lettering I can read them on my non-widescreen older & ordinary fullscreen television (I saw a trailer on a DVD for a new foreign movie the other day and the subtitle print was so tiny I gave up trying and determined I wouldn't be renting that movie).
It took me a little while at first to get familiar with the characters ... and, trying to salt my food whilst reading subtitles I tended to miss a few things, but I simply couldn't stop watching it. The introduction art and music is stylish and very well done which helped me more with the 2nd episode viewing, but I already know I can't rely on being sure if these characters are going to be in the remaining episodes since a lead character got toasted in the first episode, which makes this miniseries have more anticipated twists than one would expect ... and is refreshing. Knocking off a character like this wasn't like watching one of Stephen King's movies where he needlessly and irritatingly knocks off just about everyone you think you care about (King's downfall I think).
My local Blockbuster (hope it's okay to mention here), had a lot of good new releases this week, but no one had touched renting this miniseries, so I am going to have lots of fun viewing this weekend. The clerks at the store had no idea what this series was, but they do now, and one of them said she was going to rent it. I am glad to see my local BB is finally starting to have more TV series!
My title comment of "refreshingly unique with flavor" definitely applies. As the various actors and actresses of the cast lit up their cigarettes I felt nostalgia of days past when movies had smokers ... real people type actors and no government activistic or politically influenced campaigned censorship to alter the flavor intended. It was just WONDERFUL!!! When the first actor lit up a smoke, my jaw almost dropped! Then, my lips started to form a smile ... and then a big grin ... I loved it! I felt giddish! This made them all more real, and the episodes I've seen aren't full of staccato forensic jargon streaming out of their mouths (I have a tough time watching Bones! I'll have to wait for that on DVD to fully appreciate it.). And, it is nice as well that the language content is kept clean of cuss words ... most refreshing and pleasant (got really sick of that with Deadwood! I've not watched past the 2nd episode of that series.). Don't get me wrong, cussing is acceptable and applicable, but in Deadwood it seemed even the actors couldn't say so many of them without seeming forced and unnatural.
Perhaps my 10 rating is premature, but after reading other users comments here, I feel confident I will not be disappointed in viewing the rest of the DVD's. I recommend this for anyone wishing to view something uniquely different and refreshing with a stylish new flavor(and doesn't mind reading subtitles).
