Mad Men: Season 1: Amazon.ca: DVD

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Customer Reviews

13 Reviews

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

Average Customer Review

4.2 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)

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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Have, Jan 27 2009

By

Laura Martins (Toronto, Ontario) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Mad Men: Season 1 (DVD)

I'm a devoted viewer of this show and was thrilled to own this first season DVD compilation. It depicts the world of pampered ad execs at a high-profile Manhattan firm in 1961 where cocktails flow before noon and sexual harrassment is the norm. Creator Matt Weiner is a stickler for period accuracy, so everything from the fashions to the breadbox on the kitchen counter reflect the late 50's/early 60's mileu. Smart writing and multi-dimentional characters also sets this show apart. I'm always riveted as endings are rarely predictable - often shocking, sometimes poignant and always original. Main character Don Draper is the gorgeous ad exec who all perceive as the confident and unflappable creative head at Sterling Cooper. We discover, however, that he's a complex protagonist whose troubled childhood haunts him and influences his many secrets and deceits. One of his secrets is pivotal and keeps the viewer completely engaged. But despite his mistakes and flaws, the writers have created a protagonist who is inately humane. The other characters are deliciously complex as well and not what they appear to be....Can't say enough about this show. It's simply brilliant.

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19 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating caricature of a terribly odd time, Jan 4 2009

By

Jack Blatant (Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Mad Men: Season 1 (DVD)

My father dislikes this series. I understand why; this is not an historic re-creation of the late 50's and early 60's. My father is of an age with Don Draper, he lived through these times, and he knows that they little resemble this series. The inaccuracies irk him. I understand his point, and I would probably feel the same way about a series that purported to represent the 80's.

It's funny that while people intuitively understand that futuristic stories are really about the present, they naively assume that stories set in the past are not. The show deliberately highlights things which we "moderns" find shocking - the young girl playing in the dry-cleaning bag, for example - but the time period itself is fundamentally a vehicle for plot and characterization. Anyone who imagines that this really is 1960 "as it was" is missing the point. Not that the directors are terribly clumsy about making the setting realistic, mind you - I swear they used all of my grandmother's furniture for the Draper home.

That noted, what I love about the series is the characterization. Don Draper is fascinating; Betty Draper is a bizarre mix of little girl, doll, temptress, and real person struggling to stay alive; I loathe Peter Campbell about as much as I can loathe a fictional character; and as for Peggy - well, no spoilers. Eminently watchable, intelligently written, periodically amusing, moving, and disturbing.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Mad Men Season One, Jan 21 2012

By

Chris Cawston (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mad Men: Season 1 (DVD)

Mad Men is an entertaining and dramatic romp through life on Madison Avenue in the 60's. It should come with a warning that viewing is addictive!

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