Xena: Warrior Princess - Season 2

 

 

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What a season! Normally shows lose their peak after their first season turns out to be a success. But for Xena, her second season adventures turned out better than I expected.

Visually the image quality of the DVD is sharper than in the first season, though it is still shot on a 16mm film stock and is a bit grainy. The CGI effects (matte paintings and 3d animation) are much better than in the first season. One of the few 3D animations I liked were the ones involving Poseidon whom I found impressive and staggering on a large screen. Now of course those visuals pale compared to what we can do today, especially in Spartacus. But for the short amount of time and other constraints the Xena crew had for their work, the Flat Earth studio produced some great CGI. Hope that they get to improve them as the seasons go on.

The location sets meanwhile are more gorgeous and diverse than in the first season. For instance, we now have some Xena episodes on the sea, which means great battles on large vessels, and other great battles shot on gorgeous New Zealand beaches.

As for the soundtrack, Jodeph LoduCa composed some excellent music. One of my favourite was the one between Xena and Solan at the end of the first episode, whihc really moved me, and the Joxer the Mighty song which Ted Raimi wrote the lyrics.

In its storylines, the season presented many episodes that either veered on comedy, or on drama, or mixed those two genres together to deliver very touching stories. Among my favourite episodes were the episode 1 (Solan and Xena's first episode, along with a very moving discussion at the end), episode 2 (A life with Xena's brother), episode 4 (Excellent Halloween episode, great use of the camera effects, and Gabrielle's scene at the dance), episode 6 (Meg, Joxer, and Xena with a Capital Z), episode 7 (scary intro filled with tense camera effects), episode 8 (excellent Hudson Leick and Kevin Smith, in an episode done while Lucy Lawless was recovering from a horrible accident), episode 10 (Great episode occuring in the 1940 that revealed what happened to the descendants of the main characters in our time period), episode 12 (Robert Tapert direction and Xena's struggles), episode 15 (felt like a documentary about Xena's day, lots of hand-held camera, and great direction by Michael Hurst), episode 16 (Joxer the Mighty in action), episode 19, (Xena's relationship with Ulysses), episode 20 (a side of Xena is revealed to Gabrielle), episode 21 (Xena and gabrielle help Cecrops the lost Mariner) and episode 22 (Very funny love stories!!!).

There were so many episodes that I loved during this season that I think this dvd set will be one I will love to rewatch over and over again. Though I have to point out that watching the Hercules series can be useful if you wonder how Callisto got stuck in that temple in the fourteenth episode.

See you next season!

[Summary: Just over 4.5 stars; a big step up from Season One's DVD collection]

Note: Just in case you haven't already watched X:WP Season Two, this review contains NO SPOILERS.

Xena: Warrior Princess Season Two DVD collection summary:
- 6 DVDs, with 4 episodes each except for 2 in the last; 22 total episodes.
- 1 CD-ROM, with largely useless content.
- Video: MUCH less grainy than the 16mm film transfer of Season One.
- Audio: Dolby Digital throughout (a big step up from the Dolby Stereo of Season One).
- DVD Extras: Good-quality stills, plus audio and video commentary on three episodes. Season One included zip - nada - bupkus. MUCH better!
- CD-ROM: Same old junk as was included for Season One. Why?
- Price: Lower than Season One, for better quality. Yay!
- Episodes: 22. Season One had 24. The only comparative downside.

Season One rated just over 3.5 stars. Season Two is worth a bit over 4.5 stars -- a major step up.

Disc 1: Portrait of Gabrielle on label
- Orphan of War
- Remember Nothing
- The Giant Killer
- Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Disc Extras:
- Still Gallery
- Weblink to Hercules/Xena site

Disc 2: Portrait of Joxer on label
- Return of Callisto
"Return of Callisto" extras: Audio and video commentary by Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor
- Warrior ... Princess ... Tramp
- Intimate Strangers
- Ten Little Warlords

Disc 3: Picture of Xena on label
- A Solstice Carol
- The Xena Scrolls
- Here She Comes ... Miss Amphipolis
- Destiny
"Destiny" extras: Audio and video commentary by Rob Tapert

Disc 4: Picture of Xena (as "Miss Amphipolis") on label
- The Quest
- A Necessary Evil
- A Day in the Life
"A Day in the Life" extras: Audio and video commentary by Lucy Lawless, Renee O'Connor, and Rob Tapert
- For Him the Bell Tolls

Disc 5: Picture of Xena and Draco on label
- The Execution
- Blind Faith
- Ulysses
- The Price
(No extras.)

Disc 6: Picture of Cupid on label
- Lost Mariner
- A Comedy of Eros
(No extras.)

Disc 7 (CD-ROM): Picture of Xena and Gabrielle on label
- Screensaver
- Cast & Director bios
- "Scrolls" - episode cast lists, guest stars ("mortals" and "gods"), search through the scrolls text
- Season Two trivia game

The audio commentaries are the usual option, easily available through the menu for each of the three episodes. The video commentaries are a subset (about 40% in each case) of the audio commentaries, with images of the commentators sitting in front of a wide-screen TV watching the episodes. The same set (except for number of chairs) is used in all three video commentaries.

X:WP Season Two contains performances by the following recurring characters from the Hercules/Xena world:
- Ted Raimi as Joxer, bumbling would-be warrior
- Hudson Leick as Callisto, nemesis extraordinaire
- Kevin Smith as Ares, God of War
- Robert Trebor as Salmoneus, mercurial merchant
- Bruce Campbell as Autolycus, King of Thieves
- Danielle Cormack as Ephiny, Amazon warrior
- Michael Hurst as Iolaus (Hercules' sidekick)
- Tim Thomerson as Meleager the Mighty
- Alexandra Tydings as Aphrodite, Goddess of Love
- Karl Urban as both Julius Caesar and Cupid (son of Aphrodite) (should actually be "Eros"; "Cupid" is his Roman name)
- Jay Laga'aia as Draco

More notable one-shot guest stars from Season Two included:
- Lisa Zane as Miss Skiros
- Mindy (Melinda) Clarke as Velasca
- Rachel Blakely as Penelope
- Tony Todd as Cecrops

More [] fun in the Hercules/Xena world. Get your copy, make some popcorn, and have a party!

I love Xena Warrior Princess and Hercules Legendary Journeys, and season 2 is Xena at her best. Destiny is one of the five best episodes of Xena ever; it reveals what made Xena into the Warrior Princess rather than just another petty warlord, and it has that great Gaelic song. I didn't pay much attention to Remember Nothing when it aired on television, but after watching it twice on dvd, I've realized how important it is to the series. However, the quality of the dvd did not match the quality of the show. It's very grainy; actually, it's the poorest quality of any dvd I've ever seen.

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5.0 out of 5 stars A NO EXTRAS set-but Xena is a top notch series
Yet again we have Universal re-releasing the Xena series on their own(it was Anchor Bay last time)here in season two,but again there are NO extras at all-contrary to some previous... Read more

Published 13 months ago by Robert Badgley

5.0 out of 5 stars Just the DVD facts (ma'am)
[Summary: Just over 4.5 stars; a big step up from Season One's DVD collection]

Note: Just in case you haven't already watched X:WP Season Two, this review contains NO... Read more

Published on Mar 29 2004 by Henry Perkins

5.0 out of 5 stars Great season of a great show!
A unique mix of action, drama, and humor, of fantasy, history and myth, made X:WP a unique show. All these qualities are on display in Xena's Season 2, probably the show's second... Read more

Published on Jan 20 2004 by Cathy Young

2.0 out of 5 stars really disappointing quality
video glitches - sound glitches - very disappointing quality

the much too brief and inconsequential commentary was also a let down - I expected much more from LL, RT & ROC... Read more

Published on Jan 18 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
All I can say is if you like midevil stories and books like that then this is the series for you. Lucy is excellent.

Published on Jan 13 2004 by samanthabotelho

5.0 out of 5 stars CLASSIC
XENAS GETTING BETTER AND BETTER THE FINEST ACTION SERIES EVER GETS ON ITS FEET VERY HERIOCEPISODES CALLISTOS SHOWN THE MOST IN THIS SEASON THAN ANY OTHER SHES BAD TOI THE BONE

Published on Dec 6 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Xena Addict
This is a must have for the fans who can't see the show anymore. I loved seeing the audio/video on some of the episodes. Read more

Published on Nov 10 2003 by purplehawke

5.0 out of 5 stars What a great Birthday present....
First off let me say I have had none of the technical problems that some of the other reviewers had and it would be a shame if someone who is a fan didn't buy this set because of... Read more

Published on Nov 8 2003 by pjink11

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful
This season is better than the first. Every time I watch it something touches my soul.

Published on Oct 17 2003 by Carrie

5.0 out of 5 stars Okay, many fans of XWP have spoken out ...
...about Anchor Bay's latest offering of Season Two. It was alot better than the first season in terms of picture quality and offerings. Read more

Published on Oct 11 2003 by Robert Matthews

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