This package is Season One of Columbo, on Blu-ray from Madman in Australia. Like the DVD it also offers the first two 'Pilot' movies and all seven of the first season 1 1/2 hour films. In short; it is reaching about 3 times the bitrate and looks quite pleasing in-motion. It is housed on three dual-layered Blu-ray discs. The superiority will, as always, be dependant on your system but it was very evident even on my 43" plasma. Lines tighten, contrast is more layered and there is a smidgeon more information in the frame on varying edges. They are in 1080P resolution and are advertised as "newly-restored from the original 35mm negatives". They are clean and I was pleased with the quality.

In the audio, Madman offer a linear PCM 2.0 channel at 1536 kbps (16-bit) or the option of a lossy Dolby Digital track. Effects are minimal but the scores are wonderful for the first season Columbo movies and are shared between Gil Melle (The Organization, The Andromeda Strain, The Deliberate Stranger, 7 episodes of Kolchak the Night Stalker and Frankenstein: The True Story) with a cool electronic leaning, and Billy Goldenberg (The Legend of Lizzie Borden, Spielberg's Duel, Smile Jenny, You're Dead etc.) and in Suitable For Framing we also get Chopin's Etude in E major op. 10 No. 3 (opening piano sequence) and Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition (cocktail party.) But in the first pilot, Prescription: Murder the score is composed by the great Dave Grusin's (Bobby Deerfield, The Front, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, ...And Justice For All, 3 Days of the Condor). It certainly advances over DVD and gives an improved representation in the viewing presentation. There are no subtitles offered on the three Region 'B' Blu-ray discs.

Extras are sparse with 'Textless Credits' for the films and, on disc one, the original NBC Mystery Movie promo (Columbo, Hec Ramsey, McMillan and Wife and McCloud.)

This remains timeless entertainment and there are so many that you can forget the twists and Columbo's sleuthing discoveries. It doesn't look like Universal will be coming out with this (maybe in BD-R one day.) I'm very happy to own and rewatch and will probably get the other seasons too.

James tells us in FB: "Sadly Madman decided to NOT continue releasing the remastered episodes on Blu-ray, so only seasons 1 and 2 were released on BD while the rest of the remastered seasons were on DVD only. But the other day Fabulous Films announced they will release Columbo in the UK on Blu-ray, most likely the entire series."

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ON THE DVD: Yes, I have read the complaints - no extras... and fans have a right to shake their fist. As a moderate fan, certainly not die-hard, I am simply happy these are finally available. I almost considered the Japanese 21 disc boxset that was available of ALL of Columbo. I'm glad I waited - this is very reasonably priced for over 11 hours of solid entertainment. Nothing appears to have been done to the image, but like the Star Trek (original episodes) these are quite acceptable with great colors and relative tightness. Sure, commentaries and Falk interviews would have been nice, but it might have been overkill for the legions of buyers who just want to nostalgically look back at this 70's TV icon and enjoy. I'm content -out of     

Gary W. Tooze