Northern Exposure The Complete Series [Blu-ray]

Outstanding image quality and original music! For fans of the show this is an ode to joy. I would give it 5 stars, but a couple caveats. Read on.I have been waiting for years for this to be done right after buying the disappointing U.S. DVD release with insipid elevator music maddeningly replacing much of the original music that punctuates the plot, ruining the impact of many important scenes. I was on the verge of buying the  German DVD release, "Ausgerechnet Alaska" , because it has the original music and English dialogue, even though the quality of DVD video is rather poor in the age of high-definition television. Then I saw it had been recently released on Blu-ray in the U.K. and I heard angels singing a heavenly chorus. A quick check with my better half to okay the funds and it was soon on its way to me in the U.S. It took a little over a week for it to arrive, so patience required, unless you dig up some doubloons to shave a few days off the journey.It has been rewarding to watch. For those who expected Enya's powerful "Ebudae" for the climactic final scene of "Northern Lights" (4.18) or the wistful "There I Go Again" by Vinx as Maggie and Joel walk together at the end of "Ill Wind" (4.16), you will be giddy. It's all there! The emotional impact of this wonderful and thought-provoking series is back in full force; in fact it's an improvement over the original TV broadcast thanks to high-definition video.I would give it 5 stars but there are a couple drawbacks. The biggest one is that the discs are encoded for Blu-ray region B (aka region 2, Europe/Asia/Middle East) so they won't play on region A Blu-ray players (North/South America). There are several ways to get around this:-Buy a region-free player ($139 to $149) like the  LG Region Free Blu Ray Player , the  Sony Multi Zone Region Free Blu Ray Player , the  Samsung BD-5700 Multi Region Free Zone Blu-Ray DVD Player  and others.-"Hack" certain older region A players with some software codes. Search online for how to do this.-Rip the Blu-ray discs to a hard drive, removing the region encoding, and play them with a media player (time-consuming, expensive, legally questionable, but oh-so-convenient). You can expect to spend at least $50 for software, $50+ for a computer blu-ray drive, $50+ for a 1 TB or larger hard drive, $$? for a computer to run a media player, or try the petite $39  Raspberry Pi 3  running either a Plex Media Server or an OSMC Media Player which works like a charm. Unless you're a media nerd and already have all of this.The other drawback is an occasional brief clip that's soft, grainy, and less detailed (DVD quality?). There are at least a couple glaring glitches so far: "Homesick" (episode 4.20, disc 4 track2) and "Heroes" (4.4, disc 1 track 0) have 2 minutes and 30 seconds of junk at the beginning (SMPTE color bars, footage info, blank screen). You can skip it by just going to the next chapter where the episode begins normally.Thankfully the lower quality clips are rare, unimportant, and easily overlooked because you will be effervescent with the joy of having original music and sharp, high-definition images. Invite your Northern Exposure buddies over—who have aged a quarter century—and watch it together on the big screen! Introduce it to the next generation! Experience the wonder all over again.

* Very disappointing HD resolution . Sure it's better than the DVD version but it doesn’t compare to what you can ideally get from an old TV show produced on 35mm film, as Northern Exposure was. For example, the Blu-Ray version of The Twilight Zone ( the original series) is a good example of how much better HD detail you can get from old TV shows produced on 35mm film. It's a night and day difference what that show looks like compared to what this Northern Exposure Blu-Ray set looks like. Some scenes are also not much better than DVD quality. A real shame.* Poor shadow detail. Black levels are high with a lot of shadow detail simply lost to blackness. Again, a real shame.

An excellent series and well presented on blu-ray. Be aware that the seemingly impressive box set is actually just a very flimsy paper sleeve around several standard blu-ray cases; it doesn't really detract but I thought I'd prevent disappointment.

Excellent box set. Blu-ray picture quality is superb for the early 90s TV show. If you love the series and have the DVDs, this is a superb upgrade.Looks fabulous on 65 inch Oled TV.And the original music that accompanied the series when it was broadcast back in the 90s.5/5

This short review is of the DVD edition. The show is presented in the correct aspect ratio of 4:3 (televisions weren't 16:9 in 1990), and the image quality is what you would expect for this era of television. Although the video transfer does not make the show look like it was produced in the last decade, the colors are accurate and the contrast is good. Most importantly, the original music is included.I highly recommend this new DVD edition for anyone who wants to watch Northern Exposure as it looked and sounded when originally broadcast, but doesn't need to own the show on Blu-Ray. For readers in North America, it is well worth the cost and trouble of acquiring a DVD player that can play all regions and formats.

Great characters that are likeable but real, fantastic scripts, superb location (giveaway of real location is mural and name on cafe) and a feeling of community that appeals. This was a part of my life back in the day and I'm loving the experience of watching it again on a better TV than I had back then! A bargain as far as I'm concerned.

The video is strikingly beautiful and clear, so clear in fact, that some of the limitations of the video recording of the time are noticeable. You can see where some scenes were edited in, that may not have been recorded during the same lighting conditions, but I like that kind of detail. Being US costumer, I have to use a region free Blu Ray Player to watch the discs. I would have given it a 5 stars, but for the lack of subtitles, which may be an artifact of the player and not an issue with the discs. I’ll have to do more research to determine that. I am so glad this is available for purchase. A huge bonus is, all of the original music that was originaly broadcasted is intact.

I bought the DVD version of this set and it looks great on my cheap 1080p TV. Audio quality is also good going through my stereo speakers. For US buyers, you'll need a multi-region player that can play region 2 (UK) PAL format.The box is just a light wrapper, not heavy gauge cardboard, and the cases make it hard to get the DVDs out without stressing them, so I chucked the box and cases, saved the covers, and put the disks in vinyl sleeves. Much more compact and protects better.Anyone shelling out the money for this set are no doubt fans of the show and its impeccable writing, acting, and stories. What a gem, funny story lines, quirky characters, and always the unexpected.