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| Criminal Minds - The First Season | 
 enlarge | Directors: Adam Davidson, Andy Wolk, Charles Haid, Chris Long, Edward Allen Bernero
Actors: Mandy Patinkin, Thomas Gibson, Lola Glaudini, Shemar Moore, Matthew Gray Gubler
Studio: CBS DVD/Paramount
Category: DVD
List Price: $38.99
Buy New: $26.14
You Save: $12.85 (33%)
New (34) Used (13) Collectible (1) from $19.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  58 reviews
Sales Rank: 1304
Format: Box Set, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Published)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 6
Running Time: 955
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.9
MPN: PARD871604D
UPC: 097368716049
EAN: 0097368716049
ASIN: B000ION72Q
Theatrical Release Date: September 22, 2005
Release Date: November 28, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Five Star Seller!!! New, factory sealed US Region 1 DVD. Item is 100% guaranteed not to be a bootleg or import. Item is shipped directly from our warehouse. Easy exchange if item defective or damaged in shipped.
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Product Description
Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 04/10/2007 Run time: 960 minutes Rating: Nr
Amazon.com
Viewers who feel they may have been C.S.I.'d, S.V.U.'d, or NCIS'd to death, should really keep an open mind concerning Criminal Minds, because this compelling procedural crime series brings fascinating new facets to this crowded genre. The always galvanizing Mandy Patinkin (Chicago Hope) makes a welcome return to the small screen as Jason Gideon, head of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, and sage mentor to his elite team of profilers, including compassionate Aaron Hotchner (Thomas Gibson, of Dharma & Greg), Lola Gladini as sex-crimes expert Elle Greenway (since departed from the series), live-wire hunk Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore), and genius-geek Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler), who actually looks creepier than many of the perpetrators that the team races against time to apprehend. Before they can do that, they must establish psychological profiles of the criminals and think as they do. Given they have handles such as the "Seattle Strangler" and the "Keystone Killer," this can be psychologically taxing (in one episode, Spencer confides to Derek that the job is giving him nightmares). While cliffhangers frame this inaugural season, each episode (except the season finale) wraps up its cases in the allotted hour. In addition to serial killers, the series unleashes a gallery of twisted and depraved specimens. "Trust me," Derek comments early on, "we cover the whole spectrum of psychos." This includes arsonists, rapists, child abductors, and even a cannibalistic killer. Anchoring the proceedings is Patinkin, who exudes authoritative gravitas, and who is always good for scenery feasting. He really comes to life when killers have Gideon at gunpoint and he taunts them into losing their already unsteady grip. Most episodes feature the voiceover of a team member reciting a pertinent quote from such varied sources as W.H. Auden ("Evil is always human") to actor Peter Ustinov, a literary conceit that could stand to be retired. Stylistic flourishes in the editing and camerawork are likewise more of a distraction when the cases themselves are so gripping, given that the victims are primarily women and children. "There's nothing I would rather do than put the bastards away," Greenway states at one point. And there's nothing we'd rather do than watch them do it, which has made Criminal Minds, initially Lost opposite that ratings juggernaut, one of television's solid hits. --Donald Liebenson
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| Customer Reviews: Read 53 more reviews...
 Pure gold! September 27, 2006
93 out of 97 found this review helpful
There are a handful of very very popular topics around TV shows... medical dramas, sci-fi dramas and police/criminal dramas. "Criminal Minds" stands out in this last category. The cast is wonerful. Stating with Many Patinkin, whom is always a pleasure to watch, as Jason Gideon, the head of the team. Thomas Gibson as Aaron Hotchner, the very handsome Shemar Moore as Derek Morgan and Matthew Grey Gubler as the always geeky and know-it-all Dr. Spencer Reid. Of course the team includes the sexy-smart female side, in which we have Lola Glaudini as Ellen Greenaway, AJ Cook as Jennifer JJ Jareau and the super tech savvy Kirsten Vangsness as Penelope Garcia.
The purpose of this FBI team is to solve cases of all natures... missing people, homicides, psychopaths, sociopaths, pedofiles, etc.. but from a common perspective. They are criminal profilers and as the evidence gathers and their knowledge converges the profile os the UNSUB (unknown subject) leads them, hopefully to a resolution. Most of the times its a race against time itself, to help prevent the unsub for attacking again.
From the very first episode of Criminal Minds, "Extreme Agressor" I've been totally hooked up. The acting is superb, the dialogues and the stories are believable and well thought.
This DVD set includes the 22 episodes of the first season:
1 Extreme Aggressor
2 Compulsion
3 Won't Get Fooled Again
4 Plain Sight
5 Broken Mirror
6 L.D.S.K.
7 The Fox
8 Natural Born Killer
9 Derailed
10 The Popular Kids
11 Blood Hungry
12 What Fresh Hell?
13 Poison
14 Riding the Lightning
15 Unfinished Business
16 The Tribe
17 A Real Rain
18 Somebody's Watching
19 Machismo
20 Charm and Harm
21 Secrets and Lies
22 The Fisher King: Part 1
I have been eagerly waiting for this DVD to come out as it is one of my favorite series ever. Every episode you learn something, as silly as it may sem, this show open your minds and your eyes a little bit every time.
Finally, I really really hope this show is here for the long run. It is pure quality and it's very nice to watch Mandy Patinkin again after Dead Like Me was unfairly cancelled
Pushing the TV envelope November 30, 2006
47 out of 49 found this review helpful
Criminal Minds is different. It's not another CSI. Instead of examining forensic evidence after a crime has been committed, this group of agents uses behavioral analysis techniques to prevent serial crimes. Great cast headed by Mandy Patinkin and Thomas Gibson. The depiction of violent serial criminals is complex and disturbing. The crimes are presented in a dark, realistic manner that is unusual for television. Highly recommended.
 Just TV May 4, 2007
21 out of 41 found this review helpful
This is network TV, closer to "Mission Impossible" and "Charlie's Angels" than, say, "Hill Street Blues", or more to the point, "The Shield" or "The Sopranos". Why? It adopts the traditional format of one mystery to solve per episode; subtracting precious minutes for commercials, that leaves 40-45 minutes to open with a killing, move on to the investigation and resolution, and squeeze in a little epilogue. The characters have little space to breathe, and virtually none to evolve from one episode to the next. That's not to say the actors are bad, far from it. The team's moral leader, professorial/fatherly Jason Gideon projects humanity, concern and commitment. The others make credible personas out of only the flimsiest material: Hotch (my favorite) is so repressed it's almost painful to watch, and Elle is both fun to watch and a believable being.
But there are serious structural problems. One is that "Dr." Reid, the resident genius, is kind of a fifth wheel since basically everyone on the team seems to know everything. Weakness two is the "tossing the ball around" scenes (that's what they're called in the audio commentaries), where plot exposition is dealt out in equal shares to the whole team -- Gideon will ask, as if leading a graduate seminar, "So what do we know about (icepick murderers)?", and team member A will pipe up, "Well, there are four main types, the first is the (repressed avenger), who ..."; member B continues, "The second type is the ...", etc. These people spend an inordinate amount of time telling each other things they seem to already know. Press conferences work the same way -- Hotch (standing stiffly before the flipchart): "Our killer is a white male with a broken arm"; Derek (one buttock on a cop's desk): "He collects bottle caps or lives with his mother"; Elle (near the window): "He probably flunked out of 8th grade, maybe 9th" ... but never interrupting each other, never stepping on anyone's toes, just fluidly segueing from one voice to the next like interchangeable extensions of a hive mind. In some episodes, everything clicks, or the writers made an extra effort to complexify the basic premise, and you buy it: "Won't get fooled again", "Poison" and "Ride the lightning" are episodes that really worked for me. Others are unconvincing, going-through-the-motions deals where you mostly feel guilty for watching such sordid stuff in the name of entertainment. "The Fisher King, Part 1" comes to mind. Note the part 1, and the fact that it closes the season ('nuff said).
Series signatures are: 1- They call suspects "Un-subs" (it sounds cool, and they say it's authentic); 2- While the team flies to and from the crime scene in their private jet, voice-overs deliver quotes ("G.K. Chesterton wrote ...") which are supposed to have relevance to the episode in hand (kind of a "thought for the day"); 3- As a team member builds up the profile for his listener (say in a press conference), the background will occasionally melt into a special effect reconstruction of the hypothetical killer in his environment, and the speaker will enter this imaginary space to conjure it up more fully (interesting; a bit gimmicky, though - I'm not sure it really adds anything useful).
Can't Wait For Season 2 To Be On DVD!!!! March 17, 2007
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
Season 1 is truly addictive! The only circumstance that stopped me from
watching the entire Season 1 at once was that I had to eat! The story
lines are fantastic! The acting is so real that one forgets that the viewer is watching it on your TV! Buy it! Watch it! But one word of caution! Have a protable frig next to you loaded with food so you don't have to move!
One of the best shows on TV today! February 16, 2007
11 out of 13 found this review helpful
Criminal Minds is one of the best programs currently airing on television. Since its debut on CBS in the fall of 2005, the program has impressed viewers not only with its excellent cast, but also with top-notch writing and production. Criminal Minds follows a group of profilers from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit who track down a broad range of criminals, including serial killers, rapists, arsonists/bombers and child abductors, among others. The profilers get inside the heads of these criminals by establishing psychological profiles of their subjects and thinking as they do.
Mandy Patinkin (Chicago Hope) stars as Special Agent Jason Gideon, and Thomas Gibson (Dharma & Greg) is Special Agent Aaron Hotchner. Gideon and Hotchner head up the BAU team. Each member of the team has his or her own area of expertise. Derek Morgan (former soap star Shemar Moore) specializes in obsessive crimes, while Elle Greenaway (Lola Glaudini) has a background in sexual offenses. Matthew Gray Gubler is Dr. Spencer Reid, the geeky, socially-challenged genius. A.J. Cook plays rookie agent Jennifer "J.J." Jareau, and Kirsten Vangsness is Penelope Garcia, the techie. The producers have assembled an excellent cast, with each actor well suited for his/her role, and they have great chemistry, playing off each other very well.
The writers and producers of Criminal Minds consult with staff at the real-life Behavioral Analysis Unit in Quantico, Virginia. This allows the writers to come up with some incredibly realistic storylines for the show. It is because of this gritty realism that some of the stories come off incredibly dark and heavy, as seen in one episode in which a serial killer forces husbands to watch while their families are murdered and the killer collects the husbands' wedding rings. Many of the writers have confessed that these darker plots have been very difficult for them to write, and some have said writing for this program has been so creepy that they have been checking the doors and windows in their own homes.
DVD bonus features include three featurettes. The first is "The Making of Criminal Minds" which includes comments from the show's creators, writers and producers as well as the cast members. "Inside Quantico and the Criminal Mind" takes a look inside the real-life FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit in Quantico, Virginia. The third featurette is "Meet Matthew Gray Gubler," a look at the actor who plays Dr. Spencer Reid, which includes comments from his co-stars, and the production staff was well as from Gubler himself. There are also commentary tracks for several episodes. Along with the original CSI, Criminal Minds is one of my favorite programs on television today. They started off with a very strong first season. I am currently watching and enjoying Season Two while looking forward to Season Three.
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