Lost Empires (3 DVD Set) Review

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(More customer reviews)Granada Television's 1986 "Lost Empires" is a series that proves that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Starring a sullen young Colin Firth, this eight-hour, three DVD set has held a place in my heart for the last 16 years. It was with much anticipation then that I opened this package and watched it anew with my family. Would it stand the test of time? Was it as great as I recalled?
Based on the novel by JB Priestley, LE chronicles the adventures of young Richard Herncastle (Firth), an aspiring landscape painter, who in 1913 accepts an offer from his hard-nosed Uncle Nick (John Castle II) to join his magic act and tour the great `empire halls' on England.
Uncle Nick promises "I'll show you the world lad!" In the process young Richard gets more than he bargained for in the way of life adventures. . Firth's Herncastle finds himself thrown together with magicians, dwarfs, sad-sack comedians, flirty torch-song singers, suffragettes and aging Sir Lawrence Olivier. And he also quickly becomes the lightning rod that somehow touches all their lives.
The first half of LE, featuring Sir Lawrence Olivier as pathetic comedian Harry Barrard, Carmen du Sautoy as sultry Julie Blaine, John Castle's riveting Uncle Nick and Beattie Edney as love interest Nancy Ellis is where Lost Empires shines! We feel the whole world opening up for Richard as he is torn between Nancy and Julie. Every night this travelling company performs authentic song and dance numbers as we see World War I looming in the background.
Of special note is John Castle. Playing master illusionist "Ganga Dun" Castle's Nick Ollanton creates a character so vivid and steely that he virtually steals the DVD.
The second half of LE slows down a bit after young Richard has learned a few life lessons the hard way. The vibrant personalities of first half give way to more outrageous, less believable ones.
The DVD transfer is what you'd expect from most Granada product of the 80's: film grain is a bit much, but the colors are good, and I quickly "saw beyond" the grain of film. The sound is actually quite clear and vibrant with a large dynamic range. I frequently was "riding" the volume control to back off the volume when the director cut from quiet dialog scenes to the Empire performance scenes. There is no info booklet to speak of with the three discs which was a bit of a letdown (Brideshead Revisited ships with a rather informative booklet by contrast.) ...
If however you are looking for a group of clearly drawn characters desperate to hold onto a way of living, performing and loving as "The New World" is about to crush them under war and the onset of "talking movies" then LE is for you. If you've got the dough to spare, get it. If you're unsure, pick up Brideshead Revisited instead.
Me, I'm happy now that my "Masterpiece Theater" DVD shelf contains the three things I've always wanted: Brideshead, Prime Suspect and now Lost Empires.

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