Sherlock - Series 4 [DVD] [2016]

I had been a bit nervous when looking forward to seeing this fourth series of Sherlock. There had been so many bad reviews about it in advance of its final arrival in Germany. But - now that I've seen the complete series twice, all i can say is: Those reviewers have got it all wrong! I will not have spoilers in this, as there are so many better episode guides already available. As far as the acting goes - I think that Cumberbatch and Freeman are even better - much better in fact - than they've been in series 1-3 and the Christmas Special. I think all the experience with different roles, different kinds of movies and different directors has taught them quite a bit. Gatiss' performance has much improved too. I liked him and his interpretation of Mycroft from the start, but now he's even better. There is a depth of character to his Mycroft now that wasn't there before.Toby Jones and Sian Brooke in their respective roles I found perfectly casted. There is, if I'm forgiven for adding one little bit of a spoiler here - a slight chance of Mycroft finding a love interest of his own. As to the stories - I cannot for the life of me share the opinion that the scripts are "self-indulgent" or "ridiculous" or "dumb" or "ridiculous" or whatever else I'd read about them before I even got the DVD. On the contrary, I find them coherent, logical and psycologically fascinating. Especially the "blend" of bits from Doyle's original stories like "The Musgrave Ritual" or "The Dying Detective" with the modern story line is, for me, a perfect fit. This is the story that Arthur Conan Doyle should have, but has never told. How Sherlock Holmes, this bundle of contradictions, has become the man he is. How a man can be a perfect misanthrope but at the same time have enough empathy to see through the most complex emotional or psychological motives for crimes. How he can be merciless enough to humiliate and ridicule his fellow men on many occasions, but at the same time have pity on a loving couple, or on a whining hotel thief. Why he would need cocaine to drown his bouts of "boredom" - because there's more coming up in his mind once he's not busy than just some pains of dullness. How he can be a perfect solitaire when he at the same time craves a friend like John in his life. I admit the stories are told not chronologically and not in one, continuous story line. They're told in bits and pieces, like a mosaique. However, I enjoyed that incredibly because it was so very well done. It made my second round with the DVDs as enjoyable as the first. If, of some people, this is too much demanded, they might wish to look out for another show. There are enough shows that tell one coherent story in one definte line. You could even have a little nap in between and wouldn't have any trouble tuning in again afterwards. But that's not what and how Sherlock is. Arthur Conan Doyle's stories are not like that, so why would the TV series be? The production design is much darker now than it has been in series 1-3. Even darker than that of The Abominable Bride. there are, for me at least, some marvellous quotes from the last two James Bond movies. For one, there's the ancient and stately home of the Holmes family, Musgrave Hall that very much looks like Skyfall, the ancient home of the Bond family. And there are those unsolved childhood mysteries and/or the early misdeeds nobody has ever atoned for that came to haunt James Bond (in "Skyfall" and in "Spectre"). All in all - the fourth series of Sherlock has the feeling of an end as well as that of a beginning to it. Here ends the story of "Becoming Sherlock Holmes" and here starts the story of "Being Sherlock Holmes". I like that especially as last year's "Mr Holmes" with Ian McKellen has told me the story of "having been Sherlock Holmes." I so very much hope that Cumberbatch and Freeman and Gatiss and all the others will still give me a fifth, a sixth, a twelfth and a twentieth series of "Sherlock". I have a feeling that I can no longer live without him.

Series Four was the work of the same team that created the first three-and-a-half series: -- Written by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, who are responsible for eleven of the thirteen episodes of "Sherlock" broadcast since 2010. -- All supporting characters return for Season Four: ---- Mark Gatiss as Mycroft Holmes ---- Rupert Graves as Inspector Lestrade ---- Una Stubbs as Mrs. Hudson ---- Amanda Abbington as Mary Morstan Watson ---- Louise Brealey as Molly Hooper ---- Andrew Scott as Moriarty (he just won't stay dead - this is not really a spoiler: Moriarty never stays dead. Basil Rathbone killed him off three times to no avail). Despite this pedigree, a lot of reviewers on Amazon hated Series Four, especially "The Final Problem" This is in contrast to the three previous series, which were greeted with Universal Rapture. Amazon Ratings (March 2017): -- Series 1 = 92% positive, 5% negative (575 reviews) -- Series 2 = 95% positive, 4% negative (539 reviews) -- Series 3 = 90% positive, 6% negative (1,063 reviews) -- Series 4 = 69% positive, 22% negative (137 reviews) -- Abominable Bride = 72% positive, 21% negative (341 reviews) positive = four or five stars , negative = one or two stars (not many three star reviews for Sherlock) -- No commentary tracks, but the Blu-Ray/DVD includes ten bonus features totaling 1 hour, 49 minutes, 25 seconds. -- All four-and-a-half seasons of "Sherlock" are English SDH subtitled for the hard-of-hearing. -- The first publicity photos for Season Four show new cast members Baby Watson and Toby the Bloodhound. Despite it's title, "The Final Problem" is the only one of thirteen "Sherlock" episodes not based (at least loosely) on a Conan Doyle story. The Series Four finale veered strongly in the direction of horror/science fiction. As an elderly gentleman, I prefer my mysteries straight. Nevertheless, as mystery/horror/science fiction, it was extremely well done. No regrets about giving the fourth season five stars. OBSCURE REFERENCES: There are a lot of references to the original stories. The most obscure one ever is @ 57:01 of Episode One "The Six Thatchers": Two Norwegian fishing boats are moored at a dock. Freeze the picture and zoom in. The boats are named "Flekkete Band" and "Lovens Manke" ("The Speckled Band" and "The Lion's Mane") Movie reference: In the 1970 Billy Wilder film "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes", a mysterious Belgian woman, Gabrielle Valladon, begs Holmes to find her missing husband. As part of the investigation, Sherlock and Gabrielle pose as husband and wife: "Mr. and Mrs. Ashdown". "Gabrielle Ashdown" is the alias on the forged passport used by Mary Watson in "The Six Thatchers". In the final scene, Holmes and Watson emerge from a building labeled "Rathbone Place". Rathbone Place is an actual street in London It's been there since the Eighteenth Century, so it wasn't named after Basil. The building used in "Sherlock" is actually somewhere in Wales. Watch the bonus feature "Behind 221B The Final Problem": @ 21:45 you can see a woman gluing a "Rathbone Place" sign to the building. -- If you are new to "Sherlock", there is a new ten disc boxed set of everything at a reduced price. Available in DVD or Blu-Ray: Sherlock - Series 1-4 & Abominable Bride Box Set [DVD] [2016 ] or Sherlock - Series 1-4 & Abominable Bride Box Set [Blu-ray] [2016 ] SPOILER - DON'T READ THIS PARAGRAPH UNTIL AFTER YOU HAVE VIEWED THE FIRST EPISODE: The second biggest controversy seems to be the death of Mary Watson in Episode One. The TV writers are getting a bum rap here: It was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's idea to kill her off. Watson met Mary Morstan (not an assassin/secret agent) in 'The Sign of Four' (published 1890). They married, and for the next several stories Watson moved out of 221B Baker Street. Readers were not happy. Conan Doyle noticed. By the time 'The Norwood Builder' was published (1903), it is revealed that Mary has passed away (off-stage) and Watson has moved back into 221B.

I'm a bit of a completist, so even if I had hated Series 4, I'd have still bought it! As I'd hoped, it was just as brilliantly written (mostly) and acted as the previous 3 series. The Blu-Ray obviously contains the 3 episodes: The Six Thatchers, The Lying Detective and The Final Problem. It also has got all of the extras that are also on the DVD, but oddly these aren't on all of the digital versions currently available (I am referring to a major online store, but not Amazon). There are around 18 extras on both the blu ray and DVD, from a behind the scenes look at the 3 episodes, to Mark Gatiss' production diaries. If this is the end of this version of Sherlock, then obviously I'll be disappointed but if it is, then this series attempts to tie up the loose ends but in doing so, it also raises more questions. The Six Thatchers was, for me at least, the weakest episode, not because of most of the acting but because of the lack of realism when they wrote out a character, that was rather difficult to believe (despite creative licence), and this is what spoilt this episode for me. The Lying Detective was, for me, one of the strongest episodes out of the entire 4 series and Toby Jones (who played Culverton Smith) shows what an underrated actor he is and his character is one which has definite parallels with another disturbing so-called 'celebrity' and for me, this is what made it almost difficult to watch. The Final Problem seemed to be a take on a dark and twisted version of The Crystal Maze. This was the introduction to a different Holmes family member, portrayed by (at the time that this was originally shown on the Beeb) Sian Brookes, and which turned out to have played different characters during this series, which was a clever twist in the plot. But the thing that seemed out of place was the writing/direction of Jim Moriaty, whose train sounds and facial expressions, made this episode even weirder! It wasn't needed (and neither was his faux American accent). Besides, all of this, pushed a major character into just being there as a plot device, or was I supposed to believe that this 'Master Criminal' was so easily manipulated, so far as to have a death wish? Had the writers had these two strong characters work together to give Sherlock another case, or cases to solve, then this would have been far more believable and interesting. I'm hoping that the writers flesh out the new Holmes character, instead of just being a part of this series. All in all, it's a thumbs up from me (apart from Sherlock being Tangoed!) I hope that the game will be back on again at some point soon.

I understand it far better now after watching it all again! Frankly, I didn't like Amanda Abbington as an actress, or as Mary, so I'm glad to see her gone, and the brilliant performance of Martin Freeman portraying the shock and devastation of her death made Mary's demise every more worthwhile! I don't like the ridiculous sister storyline at all, and hated the prison set-up. She kills people in cold blood, tortures him mentally, almost kills his best friend - but Sherlock ends up playing his violin for her?! But, I understood the plot line better after watching it again and it is entertaining - albeit daft. You just get the impression that the writers are trying to be far too clever. There is no excuse for this: they have a huge lead time between series, given they have to fit in slots in the cast's busy schedules way ahead of time. They have a massive canon of work with wonderful potental for adaptation - so why bring in the ludicrous story of the missing sister?! It doesn't fit with previous plot lines, and it doesn't make sense in so many ways! Firstly, the Holmes parents are far too balanced and cheery to have ever lost a child, let alone had such a murderous daughter! Secondly, the claim that the child Mycroft was able to manipulate Sherlock into blocking or rewriting memories is just madness. Substituting the dog for the child was obvious and done years ago in the final episode of MASH (a chicken for a baby, but same premise). All just too silly for words. I do hope it comes back but, if it does, make better use of the canon and less use of fairy stories and CGI.

It's Sherlock series 4 on DVD. If you liked the show, then you should consider buying the DVD before it goes from iPlayer.

Good

I found this series excellent. I was a bit concerned at the end of Series Three, because I thought the identity and the dynamic between Sherlock and Watson had been lost: all the characters were morphing into psychopaths, and it seemed Mary's prominence as a character was to blame. But the first episode of series four, for me, redeemed Mary's character, as well as Sherlock's. I agree that Mary needed to be removed, wrt the writing, to return to the underlying relationship between Sherlock and Watson. I found the emotions displayed between all three characters moving and meaningful, and Mary's role again was excellent in episode 2. Finally, episode 3 was stunning. Not for the light-hearted, indeed the most traumatic of any episode, but it did bring together all of the out-workings of the characters in all the series. Excellent! Thanks for a brilliant conclusion, and it will be interesting to see what Series 5 might bring, if it goes ahead.

There are so many people trashing this it's getting annoying. You cannot start a show off expecting the charters to remain the same. People grow and evolve which the charters of Sherlock have done and I really enjoyed watching them do so. The season isn't about the cases, it's about the boy's. The cases are interesting but in my option they are background to the charter's development. When we have finished watching, we are leaving the charters in a good place. They are now the Baker Street Boy's, their Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson, the last court of appeal, the only hope for the hapless. they have cultivated a modern day legend all of their own and they go forward in the knowledge that they must now live up to the charters they have created of themselves. They have a reputation now, one that isn't going to be easy to live up to. Basically season 4 makes them human. At the end they are left with their legacy, one they will struggle to live up too but are ultimately willing to try. It's a little cheesy in the best way and thou it's not one hundred percent perfect it is what it is. This ends the series on a decent note I felt but do yourself a favour, don't just watch it once, go back and re-watch it because you're going to need to. loose ends spanning the whole series are tired up here and this was where the show was ultimately going to end up, hints were dropped throwout the whole series to this end. I loved it and honestly the one charter who totally made this series was Mrs Hudson. That woman is AMAZING!

Sherlock season 4 is quite interesting. Sherlock is more human (though still as obnoxious, insensitive, and infuriating to poor Watson). We get a more well rounded look at Watson and we get to see his conscience at work (his Jiminy Cricket). Mycroft cares more about human life than I expected; not such a reptile with romantic interests brewing in the background (maybe for Sherlock too). A new character is introduced, a scary character who does not understand human emotion but seems to have a bond with Sherlock. I'm looking forward to Season five. I hope they do some other Sherlock Holmes stories like, The Red headed league, The Adventure of the Cardboard Box, The Illustrious Client, and the Three Gables.

I always enjoyed Sherlock Holmes movies, as a Child. The 1940 era Rathbone modern take, I liked best. period movie are fine, however a different view is always welcome. SHERLOCK series delivers modern new view and the character's survive. I read season 4 was disappointing, but the only thing that disappointed me was it was the end, of this remarkably entertaining series but all 4 season's I did. Great acting great stories, no cookie cutter formula BS, truly great.

Serie TV che ho apprezzato tantissimo

Aucune traduction ni sous-titres autres qu'en anglais

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