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Xena Warrior Princess - Season One

Xena Warrior Princess - Season One

List Price: $69.98
Your Price: $69.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: great show
Review: Sins of The Past- 8/10

Chariots of War- don't remember

Dreamworker- 7/10

Cradle of Hope- 9/10



The Path Not Taken- 6/10

The Reckoning- 6/10

The Titans- 8/10

Prometheus- 9/10



Death in Chains- 8/10

Hooves & Harlots- 10/10

The Black Wolf- 3/10

Beware Greeks Bearing Gifts- 5/10



Athens City Academy of the Performing Bards- 6/10

A Fistful of Dinars- 4/10

Warrior... Princess- 6/10

Mortal Beloved- 8/10


The Royal Couple of Thieves- 9/10

The Prodigal- don't remember

Altared States- don't remember

Ties That Bind- 7/10



The Greater Good- don't remember

Callisto- 9/10

Death Mask- don't remember

Is There A Doctor in the House?- 7/10

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Xena fan
Review: I am a true die hard xena fan and was extremely sad to see it end in such a way as it did. But it was one of the best shows on TV. I also thankful to all the people who thought that they should start a sort of spin-off to Herc.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Xena
Review: This is the season that started it all. The quality of Season One isn't the best, but that's the camera's doing, not the DVD. The later seasons have better special features, but this season is still necessary if you are a big Xena fan!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Greatest Series of all time comes to dvd
Review: "In a time of ancient gods, warlords, and kings, a land in turmoil cried out for a hero. She was Xena, a mighty princess forged in the heat of battle. The power. The passion. The danger. Her courage will change the world."

If you don't recognize the above, you've been in a distant land since at least 1995, and this review isn't really for you. But you should buy this collection immediately, because you're in for an entirely novel treat.

Xena: Warrior Princess is a spin-off series from "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys", which followed 5 "Action Pack" (don't ask) Hercules movies. The Hercules and Xena stories are revisionist tales of antiquity. Most of the names are right ("Hercules" instead of "Herakles", and the Roman "Cupid" instead of Greek "Eros" are notable exceptions), but anachronisms abound. We first see Xena sitting on her horse, complete with stirrups (1000 years before their invention) and saddle horn (2000 years early). Xena's sword is bronze, but steel implements abound in an era when Indian Wootz steel was a commodity valued above gold. The wet countryside of New Zealand doubles for the dry Mediterranean clime of Greece. And barbarian warriors look suspiciously like Maori. Obviously the emphasis is on entertainment rather than historical accuracy. It's a good thing, too, because the entertainment value is outstanding.

The premise of the series is that Xena was a teenager living in the Greek village of Amphipolis when it was attacked. She rallied her neighbors to mount a successful defense. Then she took the surrounding towns to have a defensive perimeter. One thing led to another, and Xena was a warlord terrorizing the countryside. But, true to her original intent, she spared defenseless women and children. When her underlings thought that made her soft she broke from them, and began an epic quest for redemption. Soon after this she met Gabrielle, a young villager whose community is raided. With ambitions exceeding her small town's reach Gabrielle decides to follow Xena on her travels.

Xena is a mythic hero. Lacking the godly strength of Hercules, she nevertheless matches him in battle by virtue of superhuman agility. Plus, as she says, "I have many skills" -- including tactics, strategy, eastern martial arts, horsemanship, medicine, and singing. Xena is at the top of her form when we first see her. In sharp contrast to this we watch Gabrielle as she transforms from quick-witted but unsophisticated villager to wannabe bard to reluctant warrior.

Lucy Lawless got an early entry into the Hercules/Xena universe; she played Lysia in "Hercules and the Amazon Women", the very first of the movies that preceded the "Hercules" series. In fact this earlier role was a strike against her when trying out for the part of Xena in the "Hercules" series. But hair dye, boots with lifts, and skin bronzer transformed Lucy Lawless (5' 10 1/2", light brown hair, pale skin) to Xena (6' tall, brown-black hair, olive complexion). Add in a passable American accent, and this native New Zealander carried off the role of an Americanized Greek mythic hero with aplomb. When you see Xena riding at the gallop or trading blows with a foe that's really Lucy Lawless; when Xena is tumbling through the air it's a stunt performer.

Renee O'Connor also got an early start; she played an earlier version of Deianeira, Hercules' wife, in "Hercules and the Lost Kingdom", the second Hercules movie, before landing the role of Gabrielle. In the first season of X:WP O'Connor is listed as "also starring", after the title; only Lawless gets "starring" billing.

Various continuing characters from "Hercules" appear in Season One of X:WP:
- Kevin Smith as Ares, God of War
- Kevin Sorbo as Hercules
- Michael Hurst as Iolaus (Hercules' sidekick); also as Charon
- Robert Trebor as Salmoneus, mercurial merchant
- Bruce Campbell as Autolycus, King of Thieves
- Erik Thomson as Hades, God of the Underworld

Season One of Xena introduced a number of new faces that would become familiar:
- Danielle Cormack as Ephiny, Amazon warrior
- Paul Norell as Falafel, food stand vendor
- Karl Urban, who would appear again in seasons 2+ as Julius Caesar
- Hudson Leick as Callisto, nemesis extraordinaire
- Ted Raimi as Joxer, bumbling would-be warrior

More notable one-shot guest stars from Season One included:
- Kate Hodge as Celesta, Goddess of Death
- Galyn G"rg as Helen of Troy
- Tim Thomerson as Meleager the Mighty
- Peter McCauley as Talmodeus

Season One of X:WP was shot on 16mm film to keep production costs down, so the DVD video transfer is no better than you'd expect. The audio is quite a bit better, including outstanding music by Joseph LoDuca. The Xena theme, in particular, is a wonderful mix of bouzouki, french horns, and strings to mix traditional Greek sounds with the stirring European classical melodies we've come to associate with inspirational themes.

The 7-disc Season One collection is remarkable mostly for what it DOESN'T have. There are NO extras in the Season One DVDs AT ALL. Each of the 24 episodes is 44 minutes 15 seconds or less. There are no DVD or CC captions. There are no extra chapter stops; each episode has 5 or 6 chapters. The 7th disc is a CD-ROM, with rather unremarkable content. There are no printed guides in the set.

6 DVDs, with 4 episodes each; 24 total episodes
1 CD-ROM:
- Screensaver
- Cast & Director bios
- "Scrolls" - episode cast lists, guest stars ("mortals" and "gods"), search through the scrolls text
- Season One trivia game

Xena: Warrior Princess is a fun, butt-kicking action series. It's a shame that the DVD collection of Season One is both low on extra content and high on price.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Xena Warrior Princess
Review: Some shows it seems are worth looking over and some are not. Xena is an exception, the lady in leather is always fun and the show always poked fun at itself in a campy sort of way. I enjoyed the TV series and was disappointed when it was cancelled. I thought the show was far more superior to Hercules as a spin off show. The difference with Xena is that this show delivers all the right punches at the right time. Xena (and Hercules) both represented a new departure in television as well. So, if you enjoy camp, adventure or just want to escape from reality for awhile this is fun show and Xena shows always end up on a happy note. (Even with Callisto around!!)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: 1st Season Of Xena: Warrior Princess
Review: I Love This First Season Of Xena Warrior Princess! I got this for my 26th birthday two months ago. I Can't Wait UnTill Season 3 comes out Next Month. But If I Do Get This I'll Wait For Season's 4,5,and 6 to come out. U Know I Love Lucy Lawless Meg Too. Gotta Go.

Young Xena


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