DVD Reviews

Charmed: The Complete Seventh Season

Back again with another season of Charmed to review.  If my research is correct, this is the second last season of the show.  8 seasons is a pretty good show run but what gave this one staying power over all the other shows out there.  Perhaps it was the Buffy/Xena formula as I like to call it.  Many shows of that variety did pretty well on the small screen (Hercules, Angel, Roswell, Andromeda).  But where there's success there's bound to be failure (The Adventures of Sinbad for example). Maybe it was the fantasy/dark themes that made it popular.  Worked for X-Files, Stargate SG-1 and for Doctor Who but not so much for Surface or Invasion. Perhaps it's the big time actors but then again, that didn't work for Firefly or Star Trek Enterprise.  Then it must be the hot main characters right?  Then how do you explain Dark Angel.  Whatever the reason, Charmed has managed to keep going.  The cast has changed but the show remains the same.

Follow the Charmed Ones on their suspenseful adventures of the supernatural!  In the seventh season, the magical Halliwell sisters are called to travel back in time, protect the Innocents from the deadly demon Sarpedon, and keep Zankou from claiming the powerful Book of Shadows. Join the Charmed Ones in the ultimate battle of impending doom when the almighty Avatars from ancient Egypt plot to vanquish anyone who threatens their Utopian transformation of the world! This season includes the episodes A Call to Arms, The Bare Witch Project, Cheaper by the Coven, charmed!, Styx Feet Under, Once in a Blue Moon, Someone to Witch Over Me, Charmed Noir, There's Something About Leo, Witchness Protection, Ordinary Witches, Extreme Makeover: World Edition, Charmageddon, Carpe Demon, Show Ghouls, The Seven Year Witch, Scary Hard, Little Box of Horrors, Freaky Phoebe, Imaginary Fiends, Death Becomes Them, and Something Wicca This Way Goes.

The video comes to us in a 1.33:1 full frame aspect ratio. We see some minor grain throughout and the occasional compression artifacts. Pretty much the same quality as season 5 & 6. Again I find the qualify of the video puzzling considering the age of the show.

The audio comes to us in both English and French 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo. It’s flat with no real use of surrounds or low end. Dialogue is clean, clear and front middle centric.  It is mixed well with sound effects and music never taking over. Extras consist of ads for Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place on DVD, the CSI series', Numbers, NCIS, the 4400, and Medium on DVD. That's it.  Nothing else.

Now I didn’t recommend the season 5 or 6 box set because of the small amount of extras so what do you think my verdict is on this one?  Again, it's not going to be a big recommend... or is it?  Having now reviewed 3 seasons of the show, I'm beginning to think this is the best you're going to get.  So with that being the case, I now change my vote for all 3 seasons to: Recommended for purchase by fans of the series.  Everyone else can enjoy it in rental or re-run form

Review By Robert Harding