Sweet Valley High — The Complete First Season



Synopsis

Here you go, 22 episodes of something that feels like a sitcom version of Beverly Hills90210). At the centre of the stories are twin sisters Elizabeth and Jessica (Cynthia andBrittany Daniel). Both are gorgeous blondes, but one is shallow, image-obsessed and stuck-up,while the other is bookish and kind. And don’t ask me which one is which; I can’t keep themstraight. Neither can anyone else, which leads to all sorts of misadventures (with ValuableLessons Learned). The…first episode, for instance, has the good girl winning Homecoming Queeninstead of the bad girl, and so the bad girls pretends to be the good girl to land the college boy.You know the drill. Everybody’s beautiful, and our heroines would be first on the choppingblock if Jason wandered by (sadly, he doesn’t). If you aren’t already a fan of the series or thebooks, stay away.

Audio

The 2.0 does well by the music, which pounds in a most satisfying and surround manner. Thedialogue is clear and undistorted, and is never drowned out by said music. There aren’t a wholeheck of a lot of other surround elements, however. The music is far and away this track’s strongsuit.

Video

Ugh. The picture starts off ugly, and doesn’t improve much. Though the colours aren’t bad,,the image is extremely soft (to the point that the opening credits will have you thinking you’rethe victim of bad reception), and the pixelation is noticeable. In a word, blechhhh.

Special Features

Nothing beyond some ads for other TV-related releases. The menu is basic.

Closing Thoughts

I don’t think much of the show, but if the fans aren’t going to be given any extras, they couldat least be granted a half-decent picture.

Special Features List

• Trailers