Roswell - Season 1 [DVD] [2000]

Opening with a Dido theme tune and featuring character-driven, sweet-natured melodrama, Roswell was a show with a surprisingly dedicated fan base, who twice won it reprieve from cancellation. One of its main strengths was, of course, the extent to which its premise--alien teenagers trying to sort out their identities while involved emotionally with their human contemporaries--was a free-floating metaphor for race and sexuality issues. Another was the strong ensemble that its cast developed; you believed in the strangeness of the alien trio and the well-intentioned normality of their three human friends. Jason Behr gave the alien Max a quiet authority and Majendra Delfino took the sidekick role of Maria and gave it both intensity and fine comic timing. It was also a show in which you were never sure what adults you could trust--William Sadleir trod a fine line of ambiguity as the local sheriff and Julie Benz was silkily sinister as an FBI agent. Anyone who ever loved this show will want these DVDs--and many others may want to find out what the fuss was about.

On the DVD: Roswell is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. The special features include commentaries on six episodes by writer Jason Kanims, the directors and various of the cast as well as a featurette on the making of the show and another on its adaptation from the original Roswell High series of young adult novels. The commentaries are unusually insightful on the casting process and the discs also include the auditions for the part of Tess as well as a deleted scene and a music video. --Roz Kaveney

Episodes:

• Pilot
  
• The Morning After
  
• Monsters
  
• Leaving Normal
  
• Missing
  
• 285 South
  
• River Dog
  
• Blood Brother
  
• Heat Wave
  
• The Balance
  
• Toy House
  
• Into the Woods
  
• The Convention
  
• Blind Date
  
• Independence Day
  
• Sexual Healing
  
• Crazy
  
• Tess, Lies and Videotape
  
• Four Square
  
• Max to the Max
  
• The White Room
  
• Destiny

• Audio commentary
  
• The Making Of Roswell featurette
  
• Area 51: Behind The Scenes featurette
  
• Actor auditions: Emilie De Raven
  
• Save Yourself music video
  
• Interactive menu
  
• Chapter selection

DVD Technical Information:

• Aspect Ratio: Widescreen 1.85:1 Anamorphic
  
• Language: English
  
• Subtitles: English for the hearing impaired, French
  
• Running Time: 14 hours and 50 minutes approx.
  
• Region Code: 2