Poirot: The Early Cases Collection

I got into Poirot when I started to borrow them from the local library. I think the first one I ever saw was Murder on the Links, which was fine but I did not think too much of it, it was just something to watch for free that was somewhat amusing. However, as I continued to borrow them and watch them I began to fall in love with the show and the characters. I won't go into much detail about who's who and why they are so wonderful because if you are considering buying this collection you already know all that.

It was not long before I knew that I had to own every bit of David Suchet's Poirot but while I was ready to do the work to find out which episodes are in which collection, I was not ready to shell out a bunch of money to buy them individually. The release of Agatha Christie's Poirot: The Early Cases is a gift from above. In the order of the original U.K. broadcast, it collects the first 6 series in 6 individual cases (with 3 DVDs in each case) in a lovely outer box. They are great for someone who does not have any of the earlier DVDs but they are also perfect for those who are seeking an upgrade. I have watched some of the original versions from the library so I can compare. The new DVDs are remastered, making the picture quality much more crisp and best of all they now come with subtitles. The DVD menu is also different with a polished new look and easy navigation capability.

At one point I was thinking of waiting until they come out with Poirot: The Complete Collection but series 13 is yet to be aired, which is the last one but who could wait that long? Also, I am not sure if there will ever be a North American release of the complete collection. Acorn Media holds the rights to series 1 - 6 and 11 - 13, while A&E owns series 7 - 10, which are 12 feature length movies. So in addition to the Early Cases I have also purchased Agatha Christie Poirot: Definitive Collection, which collects series 7 - 10. Here's to hoping after series 13 Acorn releases Agatha Christie's Poirot: The Later Cases, collecting the remaining series.

Highly, highly recommended.

I don't know what Moran is on about in his (her?) review, but I own the DVDs and now the Blu-rays of this set and there's no comparison, at least on my high quality 65" monitor. It's true that the Blu-rays could be better, but the problem is in the source material and not the remastering or at least that's how it seems to me. True there's grain, but FILM HAS GRAIN. To remove it you need to use strong noise reduction and then restore the lost sharpness through digital "sharpening". Both of these destroy quality.

There are issues with colour changes. On occasion the colour tone will shift mid scene. Also there are times when the sharpness isn't as good as I would like. Are the Blu-rays up to the highest quality possible now? Of course not, but neither of these issues changes the fact that the Blu-rays are much superior to the DVDs.

I'm hugely disappointed with the Blu-ray transition for Poirot... for the price paid, I would have thought that the conversion would have been more spectacular. Some of the shots are very grainy, and the picture still looks like I'm watching it on DVD... thankfully I didn't pay the $299 price tag that HMV was charging for their Blu-ray set.