Writer: Various
Director: Various
Cast: William L. Petersen, Marg Helgenberger, Gary Dourdan, George Eads, Jorja Fox
Rating: M
Studio: CBS and Paramount Studios
Release Date: November 20, 2007

During my first year of college, I was a Criminal Justice major with dreams of being a profiler. That year I learned to hate CSI even though I had never watched it on television. Nearly everyone in the class that wanted to be a profiler cited CSI as their reason for stepping into the profiling game. Despite my insistence that the show was not realistic enough and there were likely many differences between real life and the CSI cases, these people held on to the love of their show and their dreams of somehow making the show their career, in a sense. Meanwhile, I left CSI behind me and ended up pursuing a new degree, leaving Criminal Justice and my dream of profiling to become just a hobby.

I really haven’t thought about the show much in all these years. In fact, I have really remained free of crime dramas save for The Wire, for years. When I started reviewing movies on a regular basis I received a slew of crime dramas. We have had a chance to review two other CSI’s (New York and Miami) and Criminal Minds to name a few. For me, the top of the line has always been Criminal Minds, but as a William Petersen fan, way back from his days in Long Gone, I went into this one with an open mind. I have to say, when it comes down to it, I wasn’t all that disappointed.

Release Information:
CSI: The Complete Seventh Season was released on November 20, 2007 by Paramount Home Video. Airing on CBS, CSI: The Complete Seventh Season is currently in its eighth season. The show began airing in 2000 and has been a hit ever since. Generally topping the ratings or coming in a close second, people love CSI . This set offers plenty of special features and all of the episodes from the seventh season. Available in stores and at online retailers, you can purchase CSI: The Complete Seventh Season on Amazon for $66.99.

The CSI: The Complete Seventh Season Plot
Entering this review, I literally had no other CSI knowledge or background to compare it with, except my own personal experience with Crime Scene Investigation. That being said I recognize that most shows do not regain a sense of strength, clarity, and excellence in their seventh season. This is the point where things start winding down, if they haven’t already. Well, unless you’re The Simpsons, in which case you may go on forever with good results. CSI: The Complete Seventh Season was an exceptional season that offers great writing, excellent acting, and storylines that you can sink your teeth into. Being new to the show will not hinder your immediate interest or at least it didn’t in my case.

In the beginning of the season, one of the standing themes that move through the first few episodes is the hidden romance between Grissom (William Petersen) and Sara (Jorja Fox). One of the first crimes involves a serial killer who leaves miniature crime replicas at the scenes of his crimes. Obviously, this got my attention right off the bat. It was interesting enough to hold my attention. The extensive autopsy scenes and the crime scene gore make things worth watching for drama fans.

As the season moves on, there were some issues that Greg (Eric Szmanda) had to deal with that end up blindsiding him and Catherine (Marg Helgenberger) ends up playing an excellent victim even though that’s clearly not her usual role. An excellent addition to the cast, even if it was only for four episodes, was Liev Schreiber, who played Michael Keppler, part of the CSI team.

One of the things that I liked the most about CSI was that each case is not solved in one episode. Instead of rushing the progression of the storyline, CSI nurtures the development of the plot. I don’t know about other seasons, because this was my first season watching, but the killer was with the show and being hunted the entire season. I really found that to be one of the most interesting parts of the show and it made me that much more interested in it. I found I had to watch every episode because I needed to know what was going to happen as the season progressed.

It’s definitely one of the better crime dramas on television today. That being said, my biggest problem with CSI is the franchise element. I am not denying that CSI is good. CSI Miami and CSI New York have their endearing qualities, as well. NCIS is also great. However, the show is essentially the same. While the characters are different and there are slight changes made throughout each show, there is really no need to have several incarnations of the same idea. However, on a positive note I will say that it is impressive to see how well each show has done, considering the fact that they are so similar.

Storyline/Plot:
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:

Audio/Visual:
The audio and visual quality of CSI: The Complete Seventh Season are both high. The video comes in a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen format. On CBS, the show appears in HD format and this transfer really shows that loud and clear. Visually, the show is gorgeous with absolutely no problems at all to report. Like the video, the audio is flawless. The audio is available in Dolby Digital 5.1 and is perfect. There isn’t much else to say as there aren’t any complaints to be found with either the audio or video quality.

Visual:
Audio:

Bonus Features:
There are plenty of bonus features available with CSI: The Complete Seventh Season . While I am not a big fan of special features, many of these were pretty good. CBS and Paramount certainly don’t let down fans of CSI with this list. Bonus features include “Inside ‘Built to Kill’”, “Miniature Murders”, “Who are You”, “Inside ‘Living Legend’”, “Las Vegas: The Real Crime Solver”, “The Evolution of CSI: Season 7”, “Smoke and Mirrors: Directing Feature Television”, and a Bonus game demo that can be used in your computer.

Bonus Features:

Bottom Line:
CSI: The Complete Seventh Season is something I wasn’t looking forward to watching, yet it turned out to be pretty amazing. The show offers great acting and directing, solid storylines, and progression of the criminals that is unmatched in most crime dramas. Fans of television dramas will simply love CSI: The Complete Seventh Season . While I remain loyal to Criminal Minds, and it is my favorite crime drama currently on television, I have to say that CSI: The Complete Seventh Season has made a fan out of me, as well.

Overall Rating:

Technorati Tags: CSI, The Complete Seventh Season, Drama, CBS, Television Show, DVD Box Set, DVD Review, Crime Scene Investigation

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