Poirot - The Movie Collection, Set 1 (The ABC Murders / Death in the Clouds / The Mysterious Affair at Styles / One, Two, Buckle My Shoe / Peril at End House) (1998) Review

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Up to now, Acorn Media has been issuing the David Suchet Poirot episodes like this: the shorter ones were only on video tape, the longer ones (running at 103 minutes) were only on DVD. With, I am sure, pleas from non-DVD owners, Acorn Media has made available on both formats a box set of five of the longer entries and calls it

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This is a collection of 5 feature-length episodes of the Poirot mysteries: The ABC Murders; Death in the Clouds; The Mysterious Affair at Styles; One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, and Peril at End House. "The ABC Murders" - This is the episode that star David Suchet calls his favorite. Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot is challenged by an alphabet-obsessed murderer who announces his next victims through a series of letters addressed to Poirot himself. "Death in the Clouds" - A ruthless blackmailer is killed on board an airborne plane filled with likely suspects. "Mysterious Affair at Styles" - The Cavendish household is wrought with tension due to the marriage of John Cavendish's widowed mother to a suspicious younger man. When the tension turns deadly, Poirot and Hasting unite to solve the case. "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe" - Further adventures of Agatha Christie's brilliant Belgian sleuth. "Peril at End House" - A flying ace plays a pivotal role in a case in which Poirot and Hastings swim through a sea of red herrings to arrive at the truth.

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Agatha Christie's Poirot: The Movie Collection - Set 4 Review

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(More customer reviews)Even though well into his 60's, David Suchet continues to prove that he IS Hercule Poirot. Yes, the eyes look a little tired & the belly a little full, but even the great Hercule Poirot must age.
These 90 minute movies deserve multiple viewings as the mysteries are intricate and you could miss a clue if you turn your head. The stories, based on the full length novels MRS MCGINTY'S DEAD and CAT AMONG THE PIGEONS, are more flushed out than the older 60 minute episodes. One felt like clues were left out of those shorter episodes that prevented the viewer from solving the murder with Poirot. But here, all of the clues are there for you the viewer to pick up on, but are they what they seem?
I do miss the regular cast of characters in the old 60 minute series, Inspector Japp, Captain hastings & Miss Lemon are sadly missing from the 90 minute "Movie" versions of Poirot. However, they are present in the third disc which includes interviews with the actors who brought those characters to life. And you get to see David Suchet without his Poirot mustache.
While the production values are excellent, the wonderful 'Art Deco' style of the earlier shows is missing. I do wish they had kept that style going. 'Art Deco' buildings & objects do appear in these movies, but the style is gone from the production.
The bottom line is that I do like the more flushed out stories, but I miss some of the elements from the earlier productions. Still they are a 'MUST-BUY".
While I wish PBS would air all 4 new Poirot Movies this year (I don't know if it is due to budget cuts or not), it is nice to get to see at least two of the new productions and look forward to two more later on. PBS is a co-producer of the series & they decide what Acorn Media can release in the U.S..
I have an early review copy & can say that the anamorphic 16:9 widescreen picture has some grain to it (it looked the same on the PBS-Hi Defenition broadcast). The sub-titles can help with unfamiliar British words. Bonus material is mostly limited to the 47 minute "Super Sleuths" special on disc #3. Discs 1 & 2 have very basic still frame biographies & filmographies. Quite honestly, the "Super Sleuths" special could have easily fit on a second layer of either disc 1 or 2, but it looks better to make it a 3-disc set. At least they are 'slim cases' and do not take up too much space for the extra disc.

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David Suchet returns as Hercule Poirot--the Belgian sleuth of unsurpassed deductive powers and peerless viewer appeal--in two fresh adaptations of Christie classics. As seen on PBS’s Mystery!
Mrs. McGinty’s Dead--With help from mystery novelist and old friend Ariadne Oliver (Zoë Wanamaker), Poirot tries to save a man from hanging for a murder he might not have committed. As the famous sleuth tracks down the real killer, he finds his own life at risk.
Cat Among the Pigeons--As Meadowbank School for Girls begins its term, a new student causes the headmistress unease. Princess Shaista is a political refugee hiding from revolutionaries in her native land. Fortunately, when the bodies start turning up, Poirot is on hand.
EXCLUSIVE BONUS PROGRAM: Super Sleuths, a documentary about the series featuring stars David Suchet, Philip Jackson, Hugh Fraser, and Pauline Moran; producer Brian Eastman; director Ed Bennett; writer Anthony Horowitz; and others.

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Poirot - The New Mysteries Collection (Death on the Nile / Sad Cypress / The Hollow / Five Little Pigs) (2004) Review

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(More customer reviews)The new POIROT series produced by A&E is excellent and I encourage all Poirot and David Suchet fans to purchase the DVD 4-pack. Suchet has literally grown into the part so he seems more natural than ever as Poirot. Pals from the earlier episodes, Japp and Hastings, are missing. I thought their absence and the fact that England has changed so much since the BBC first began airing these `cozy mysteries' might put a damper on my viewing experience but it did not. The filmography is beautiful. Most of the shots were taken in areas where knowledgeable Anglophiles know the past is fairly well preserved, including some lovely old estates. The BBC does it's best as ususal with lavish sets, costumes, and wonderful old automobiles for each production.
DEATH ON THE NILE - When it comes to this particular story, I still prefer the Peter Ustinov version with Mia Farrow, Betty Davis and Maggie Smith. The original film with Ustinov showed a good deal of actual footage shot in Egypt. This issue of `Death on the Nile' appears to have some shots in Egypt, but to tell you the truth, they could have shot most of the film elsewhere...for example Central or South America. Population growth and war have altered the terrain in Egypt considerably since Agatha Christie wrote her novel, which takes place around the 1930s following her travels to the Middle East with her husband, the great archeologist Mallowan.

Poirot - THE HOLLOW - The plot of this episode involves a two-timing husband who may or may not have been done in by his "stupid" wife. The wife, a doe-eyed creature who appears unable to harm a fly is soon incarcerated by the police who feel they have `got their man' but Poirot sets about trying to find the truth and unravel the obviously flawed case the police have constructed. Is the murderer the lady of the manor who stupidly placed a revolver in a basket of eggs, or is it the butler who was seen carrying a gun fitting the death weapon's description through the hallway (the lord has a gun collection, so there are plenty of guns about the place). Perhaps the mistress fired the fateful shot? She was two-timed by the dead husband who could not keep his hands off an old flame who suddenly appeared at dinner. Or was it the old flame herself who pulled the trigger? She was overheard arguing with him and wishing him dead only hours before the crime was committed.
SAD CYPRESS. Viewers of BRIDESHEAD REVISITED will recognize Diana Quick whose character from that earlier production could be the aged version of her younger self, now lying on her deathbed. Visited by her nearest kin and heirs, she soon succumbs to whatever ails her. Or does she. Has she had help? A cast of suspects soon emerges, but is all this `bother' a tempest in a teapot? Poirot is called in a soon deduces that not only has murder been committed, but the police may have locked up an innocent person. Soon the pressure is on, and Poirot must act quickly or someone else will die..perhaps at the end of a noose.

THE FIVE LITTLE PIGS is the most sad of all the new series developed by A&E, because a person has been wrongfully executed when the story begins. Perhaps this and other tales based on real life events brought the death penalty to an end in Britain. Gemma Jones stars in this episode involving a young woman named Lucy who seeks to clear her dead mother's name. Lucy's mother was executed some years before for a crime the girl believes she did not commit, and Lucy writes a letter urging Poirot to help her clear her mother's name. Poirot agrees to take her case but advises Lucy that she may not like what he uncovers. As ususal, the cast of characters is composed of excellent actors, many with familiar faces and the plot is excellent.

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This set will contain the following four Poirot movies (A&E September 2004 premieres): Death on the Nile, Sad Cypress, The Hollow, Five Little Pigs

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