Product Description

Studio: Uni Dist Corp (music) Release Date: 04/06/2010 Run time: 1023 minutes

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #65064 in DVD
• Brand: Uni
• Released on: 2010-04-06
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Format: Full Screen
• Original language: English
• Running time: 1000 minutes

Customer Reviews

Blood tied
Vampires are very hot right now -- the bestselling "Twilight" series, the hit TV show "True Blood," and the tragically cancelled "Moonlight."

And one of the better vampire stories to emerge from the crypt is "Blood Ties: The Complete Series," a too-brief show based on Tanya Huff's urban fantasy series. The series has a slightly slow start, but it's a solid action/fantasy series with plenty of sensual romance, gritty crime, and supernatural spookery -- and the trio of main actors are simply brilliant.

On her way back from a date, PI Vicki Nelson (Christina Cox) sees a caped figure attack and kill a young man -- leaving the body drained of blood. The victim's girlfriend hires Vicki to find the culprit. But as Vicki starts prodding around goth clubs and alleyways, she encounters the mysterious Henry Fitzroy (Kyle Schmid) who is doing his own murder investigation on the same case.

Turns out Henry is also a sexy 500-year-old vampire, and the bastard son of Henry VII. Together they have to find a creepy demon-summoner, before something far worse is unleashed. And soon she has to deal with a lot of other supernatural problems, with the help of Henry and her former partner Mike (Dylan Neal), who loathe one another.

Among the problems: voodoo priest and his zombies, time loops, an Incan mummy, a murderous "imaginary friend," a heart-crushing Celtic ghost, a suburban incubi, a man-eating Wendigo, creepy art crimes, a Goth club plagued by supernatural drugs, Egyptian gods, a Medusa, a fertility clinic that produces eerie results, Henry's ex-lover/vampire-mother, and an immortal priest with an unending vendetta against Henry. Worst of all, they must grapple with the creepy demon-summoner and his evil master...

"Blood Ties Season One" fits into the same niche as "Moonlight" and "The Dresden Files" -- a detective series with vampires and spooky things, and a human mired in the supernatural. But it's not entirely the same -- "Blood Ties" has a distinctly dark, grimy feel, with lots of pale light, shadowy urban streets and a unique vampire ("I don't have mojo. I have charm!").

It also has a nice murky mystery in each episode, with monsters ranging from notorious (zombies! mummies!) to obscure (svartalfar! bug demons!), tightly wound action scenes and some very sensual bloodsucking. And the writers spin up some lovely dialogue for Vicki and Henry, usually to each other ("Talismans don't kill people -- people kill people"). And the entire series is given a distinctly dark, grimy feel, with lots of pale light, shadowy urban streets, and a storyline that becomes quite bleak at times. The only real problem is the totally unsatisfying, inconclusive ending (TV movie! We need a TV movie!).

Cox is excellent as Vicki -- tough, strong and capable of handling her own life, but with the vulnerability of a degenerative eye disease and a demon curse. And she's backed by Neal as a skeptical, straight-and-narrow cop who doesn't trust the supernatural, but is forced to put his career in jeopardy to help Vicki, and Gina Holden as a perky Goth who appoints herself Vicki's new secretary/gofer/research assistant.

And Schmid is the perfect good-guy vampire -- he's devastatingly hot, and he mingles impish charm, sensuality, passion, ferocity and down-to-earth quirkiness ("If this book isn't at the printer's by the end of the month, my editor's gonna kill me... again!"). His most brilliant work is the prolonged torture of "Heart of Fire," especially during Henry's heartrending struggle against his bloodthirst.

The finale is unsatisfying, but the rest of "Blood Ties: The Complete Series" is a brilliantly written, well-acted series that stands head and shoulders above your average vampire TV show. It deserved way more than it got.

A fun entry in the vampire / detective genre...
Vampires are all the rage on the small screen. Just look at recent entries Moonlight - The Complete Series, True Blood: The Complete First Season (HBO Series), or the CW's "The Vampire Diaries."

Blood Ties is a Canadian TV production that was filmed as a 22-episode season. In the US, Lifetime TV decided to split was was actually one season into two, with the first eleven episodes ("Blood Price" to "Post Partum") as Season One and the remaining eleven ("Norman" to "Deep Dark") as Season Two. This box set collects all 22 episodes for the first time in North America (the British box set that was released several years ago features all 22 episodes, but no extras). The TV budget doesn't allow top-notch special effects, but the show really works with what it has (the set designs are great, but the CGI is largely lacking), and its strength is in the writing and performances.

Blood Ties revolves around Victoria "Vicki" Nelson, an ex-cop with Toronto's Metro police. Vicki was forced to resign due to a degenerative eye disease, retinitis pigmentosa, and is trying to make a living as a private investigator. Her fiery romance with fellow cop Mike Celluci is an on-again, off-again affair, and her first case as a PI gives her more than she bargained for: someone is summoning demonic forces, and Henry Fitzroy, her new partner on the case, just happens to be a 480-year-old vampire and is the illegitimate son of Henry VIII.

The series pilot Blood Price is faithfully based on Tanya Huff's Blood Price (BLOOD SERIES). The remainder of the season finds Vicki exploring demons, incubi, reanimated corpses, shapeshifters, mummies, voodoo, ghosts...while caught in a crackling love triangle between former flame Mike and sensual, deadly Henry (Kyle Schmid beat out RPatz as sexiest vampire in a recent poll). Vicki's new assistant is the perky Goth Coreen, who also has her eye on Henry.

Blood Ties consistently satisfies my cravings for an intelligently handled supernatural cop drama. Its premise sounds promising in print, but without Blood Ties' cleverly crafted story arcs and meaningful character interaction, it would amount to little more than a tired monster-movie-of-the-week retread. This is a show that wisely knows not to take itself too seriously, leading to fast and furious one-liners, visual gags and impeccable comedic timing. The entire Canadian cast and crew does a consistently amazing job of bringing Blood Ties to life, and it's great to see a Canadian production receive airtime in the States.

The show's setting is Toronto but is filmed in Vancouver (with exterior shots of identifying Toronto landmarks), but it's still Canadian through-and-through, a rarity in days where tired Toronto is expected to double as Everyamericancity. This may be the first show since Forever Knight - The Trilogy, Part 1 (1992 - 1993) and Due South: The Ultimate Collection - Three Complete Seasons that revels in its Canadianness.

Although Blood Ties is currently off the air, its fan base continues to spread through word of mouth, Blood Ties hidden object game featuring characters, locations, and audio from the show, and Internet groups, thereby bringing new viewers into the fold. It has been at least a decade since I felt so strongly about a TV show; I was so moved by Blood Ties' strong female role model and intriguing blend of romance, police procedural, and the supernatural that I downloaded several episodes via iTunes and recruited several friends to the show.

Blood Ties remains my favorite post-Forever Knight - The Trilogy, Part 1 (1992 - 1993) for its enchanting blend of humor, passion, action, moral dilemmas, and the mortal (and immortal) ties that bind. Tanya Huff's source material has been toned down enough to allow families to enjoy Blood Ties together. Blood Ties protagonist Vicki Nelson (Christina Cox) is a strong positive role model for women through her physicality, self-reliance despite disability, and intelligence.

It's instantly obvious (except to American/Canadian networks who were reluctant to pick up the show for a second season, grrr...) why Blood Ties was nominated for numerous awards such as Constellation and Leo Awards. The entire cast, headed by Christina Cox (Vicki), Kyle Schmid (Henry), Dylan Neal (Mike), and Gina Holden (Coreen), has an outstanding chemistry that shines on-screen, and I can't wait to finally own the complete Blood Ties on DVD!

Blu-ray Review
This is a review of the actual product for Blood Ties: The Complete Series [Blu-ray], not the series itself (though I enjoyed it very much). This is NOT a review of the Blood Ties TV movie from 1991.

Blood Ties: The Complete Series on Blu-ray is presented in Widescreen (1.78:1) 1080 High Definition (HD), not 1.33:1 Standard Definition (SD) letterbox like the separate Season One and Season Two DVD releases. (The format info on the back of the Blu-ray box is incorrect.)

Features:

Twenty-two episodes on four discs (HD)

24-minute Behind the Scenes featurette (SD)

Three-minute Series trailer (SD)

32-second Season 1 DVD trailer (SD)

Five-minute photo gallery (HD, about 30 pictures, including production stills, art and Blood Price covers.)

Two-channel DTS (Stereo) for each episode, but no commentaries (subtract one star from rating) or alternate language dubbing.

Optional English subtitles.

Eight-page booklet with synopses of each episode.

Verdict: This Blu-ray release is superior to the DVD, and a much better deal, too! Most TV series are now produced in HD, but they are usually released on inferior DVD's instead of Blu-ray (Moonlight, Castle, Legend of the Seeker, The Mentalist, etc.) This release is a rarity. If you watch TV shows broadcast in HD, as I do, and you want to see them released in an HD format also, then buy this series on Blu-ray.