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The Movie:
"CSI" remains one of the biggest hits that CBS has had in ages, so it's understandable that the popular mystery/drama has spawned not one, but two spin offs - the first of which takes place in the very mystery-friendly Miami. The show focuses on lead detective Horatio Caine (David Caruso, finally making his comeback), who solves - with his forensics crew - some of Miami's toughest cases. They go through blood stain evidence, ballistics and every other possible detail relating to the case. Helping Caine are Calleigh Dusquene (Emily Procter), investigator Tim Speedle (Rory Cochrane), recovery expert Eric Delko (Adam Rodriguez) and coroner Alexx Woods (Khandi Alexander, also nice to see getting consistent work again - I was a big fan of "Newsradio".)
The show often spends the hour going through one distinct, standalone crime. Although the focus often hovers around the Caruso character, the supporting players do good work, and occasionally get their chance to shine in some of the episodes. Although Caruso has gotten some criticism for his performance, I actually think it's a superb effort from the actor, as he gives the performance a welcome slow-boil edge. The visuals are as slick as the series the show has spun-off from - a series of experienced cinematographers bring the sort of golden-hued look that producer Jerry Bruckheimer's feature films often sport. The elaborate trick shots that get the viewer into the middle of the evidence also are present here and once again, impress in their technical skill.
This third season once again delivers a wealth of fast-paced, exciting episodes, including "Murder in a Flash", where the body of a high school student is found after a series of emails resulted in a mass gathering on a golf course, but the case goes deeper when it becomes apparent that the schoolmaster's daughter is involved; "Hell Night", where a pro ballplayer accused of the murder of his wife is found murdered when the jury is going on a tour of the house, with "guilty" written a sheet of paper covering him; "Crime Wave", where the CSIs have to investigate a crime that takes advantage of the evacuation due to an incoming tsunami; "After the Fall", where the CSIs investigate the death of a pedestrian who was killed by a man falling from a building above; "Nothing to Lose", where the team investigates a fire that's covering up a crime in the Everglades; "Money Plane", where a plane carrying a fortune in checks is brought down; "Recoil", where a standoff occurs outside a courthouse and finally, "10-7", where Horatio's brother, Raymond, who was thought dead, returns in the midst of a case.
Season 3
49. 3- 1 301 20 Sep 04 Lost Son
50. 3- 2 302 27 Sep 04 Pro Per
51. 3- 3 304 4 Oct 04 Under the Influence
52. 3- 4 303 11 Oct 04 Murder in a Flash
53. 3- 5 305 18 Oct 04 Legal
54. 3- 6 306 25 Oct 04 Hell Night
55. 3- 7 308 8 Nov 04 Crime Wave
56. 3- 8 307 15 Nov 04 Speed Kills
57. 3- 9 309 22 Nov 04 Pirated
58. 3-10 310 29 Nov 04 After the Fall
59. 3-11 311 13 Dec 04 Addiction
60. 3-12 312 3 Jan 05 Shootout
61. 3-13 313 17 Jan 05 Cop Killer
62. 3-14 314 7 Feb 05 One Night Stand
63. 3-15 315 14 Feb 05 Identity
64. 3-16 316 21 Feb 05 Nothing to Lose
65. 3-17 317 7 Mar 05 Money Plane
66. 3-18 318 21 Mar 05 Game Over
67. 3-19 319 11 Apr 05 Sex & Taxes
68. 3-20 320 18 Apr 05 Killer Date
69. 3-21 321 2 May 05 Recoil
70. 3-22 322 9 May 05 Vengeance
71. 3-23 323 16 May 05 Whacked
72. 3-24 324 23 May 05 10-7
The DVD
VIDEO:"CSI: Miami" is presented by Paramount in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. The picture quality is very good - in my opinion, the image remained as excellent as the prior season presentations. Sharpness and detail remained fantastic throughout, as the level of definition remained very pleasing. Fine object detail was often apparent, and there was often nice depth to the image.
The presentations largely seemed flawless. Some light shimmering occured a couple of times, but I didn't notice any instances of edge enhancement, pixelation or print/element flaws. Colors remained bright and vibrant, with nice saturation and no smearing. Flesh tones remained accurate, while black level remained solid. Overall, this is superlative work.
SOUND: "CSI: Miami" is presented by Paramount in Dolby Digital 5.1. The show's audio is pretty good for a television program. Surrounds aren't put into terribly aggressive use, but the rear speakers do come in during many episodes to deliver some nicely placed sound effects. Audio quality remained superb, as sound effects and dialogue remained crisp and seemed well-recorded. The opening Who track also has a dynamic, full quality and kicks off the episodes strongly.
EXTRAS: Elizabeth Devine provides a commentary for "Lost Son", while Marc Dube, Corey Miller and Scott Lautanen provide commentary for "Under the Influence"; Marc Dube, Scott Lautanen and Ildy Modrovich provide commentary for "After the Fall"; "Shootout" has comments from Corey Miller and Sunil Nayar, "Crime Wave" has comments from Elizabeth Devine and Karen Gaviola and finally, "Whacked" has commentary from Ann Donahue.
The commentaries are generally interesting, although there were times (and I've thought this when reviewing a couple of the other TV sets) where I was a little surprised that there wasn't more going on in the discussion, especially given the amount of detail that has to go into each episode. However, there are definitely a few very good tracks here, especially the "Crime Wave" commentary, where the duo seem to be having a good time recalling the tight production schedule, research that had to go into the episode and minor details that wouldn't otherwise be noticed. It's a very good track and well worth a listen.
The last disc offers the remainder of the supplements, starting with "Miami Delivers the Goods", which is a 13-minute documentary that discusses how the cast and crew of the series approached coming back for the third season, bringing the desire to transition and answer questions the series that came up in the prior two seasons. We also hear more about how one member of the cast decided to leave and whose character was lost in the first episode, character development and trying to keep the situations fresh.
"Visualizing Season 3" talks about creating the visual effects and stunt sequences, giving the viewer a brief look at the different elements that go into some of the effects shots, as well as a look at some of the physical effects and stunt work sequences, and the amount of preparation and rehearsal that go into the sequences.
"Coast to Coast" discusses shooting on location in Los Angeles and trying to make locations look like Miami, which occasionally requires digitally adding backdrops and erasing mountains. It's pretty fascinating to see the work that needs to be done to try and fill in and cover up location details. The last of the main featurettes is "Deep Blue Sea", which discusses shooting on open water or in tanks, and the enormous difficulties involved. The amount of details that have to go into the shoot, such as washing sand before it goes into the tank, are pretty interesting.
Finally, we get an 8-part featurette ("Medical Examiner School"), which goes into detail about the real-life work that medical examiners must perform in criminal investigations.
Final Thoughts: "CSI: Miami" continues to strengthen in its third year, offering some clever, often fast-paced mysteries and great performances from the leads. Paramount's DVD set once again provides superb audio/video quality and a solid selection of supplemental features. Recommended.
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