THE EQUALIZER - Damn, That Show is Good

[AndyDursin]

I wasn't up watching THE EQUALIZER when it ran back in the '80s, so I didn't really know what to think of this series when I popped in VEI's limited edition, complete-series DVD box-set which I was sent for review.

Frankly, I was stunned at how good this show was. Formulaic in its own way, sure, but not in a clunky, old-fashioned '70s cop drama type of manner -- with an accent on realism, location shooting, and hard-hitting, straightforward plots. Edward Woodward was rightfully praised for his work on this series. The direction and writing is top-notch. Stewart Copeland's music -- which sticks in your brain for days afterwards -- gives it a distinctive sound. Though MIAMI VICE got a lot of attention for its stylistic elements, I think this series is superior in terms of storytelling and overall effectiveness.

VEI's DVD box-set offers the complete series -- the final two seasons of which were never released on DVD previously -- in dated but passable 4:3 transfers. Apparently Season 1 aired in HD on Universal HD, which obviously would look better than this, though I didn't have an issue with the encoding. Packaging, meanwhile, is identical to the slim-line IN SEARCH OF box with standard DVD cases inside. Some background music was replaced, though from what I've sampled of this series, that's not a dealbreaker as the songs were used (from what I've seen) as filler and noise. Copeland's music remains intact, which is the most important element,.

VEI added in a whole bonus disc-set of goodies including Woodward's final TV series and film appearance, which I haven't gone through yet, but adds some value to the overall package.

The box-set is available through VEI's link here:

http://www.visualentertainment.tv/produ ... ed-edition

[John Johnson]

Can't say I'm all that impressed with the trailer to the film.

[AndyDursin]

It doesn't look anything like the series at least.

They are apparently high on it though -- getting a sequel going already, which would be the first in Denzel's career.

[Monterey Jack]

[AndyDursin]

Melissa Leo plays a young Russian ballerina in episode 3!

[Eric Paddon]

I went to college with the son of the show's producer, Coleman Luck. I've only watched a scattered number of episodes from Season 1 and also the Season 4 two hour one with Telly Savalas as an ex-terrorist turned monk and have meant to dive more into it. Got the set last week and hope to do that eventually.

[DavidBanner]

During its first season, the Equalizer writing staff was led by Joel Surnow and Maurice Hurley, both of whom had done great work the prior year on the beginning year of Miami Vice. Hurley would go on to take over Star Trek TNG for a year and a half, while Surnow would eventually go on to create 24.

Surnow was a great writer, even back in the mid 80s. His writing on Vice was one of the unsung bits of greatness from its first year. I can only imagine that he continued that vein with Equalizer. (Sadly, his script for the Wiseguy movie in the mid-90s was just awful, so he didn't always hit home runs.)

[AndyDursin]

Sounds like I can skip this film (until video) --

"Ponderously overlong and not even half as much fun as it should have been...when the retributive violence finally kicks in, it does so with a brutal, sickening thud."

http://variety.com/2014/film/reviews/to ... 201297616/

[Monterey Jack]

I'm not much of an Antoine Fuqua fan in general, and haven't been since the wildly overpraised Training Day. Even his best films tend to be only "okay".

[AndyDursin]

No surprise either the movie has little to do with the series and is apparently more of a TAKEN rerun.

[Monterey Jack]

No surprise either the movie has little to do with the series and is apparently more of a TAKEN rerun.

Name a big-screen version of an old TV show that is faithful to the original source material.

[AndyDursin]

No surprise either the movie has little to do with the series and is apparently more of a TAKEN rerun.

Name a big-screen version of an old TV show that is faithful to the original source material.

THE FUGITIVE. THE ADDAMS FAMILY. And there are others that at least had the premise correct -- but the point is that THE EQUALIZER doesn't even retain the basic concept of the original show. It sounds like they just took the title and the character's name and grafted them into a rote TAKEN-like revenge picture. It's not the original series at all -- it sounds more like DEATH WISH or something.

[Eric Paddon]

The Fugitive was successful but it really didn't try to be a clone of the TV series. It was a total reimagining of the basic premise, with the key detail being that Gerard was not transporting Kimble to the death house at the time of the escape.

[AndyDursin]

The Fugitive was successful but it really didn't try to be a clone of the TV series. It was a total reimagining of the basic premise, with the key detail being that Gerard was not transporting Kimble to the death house at the time of the escape.

I never said it was an exact clone, but it kept the basic premise at least. It did its own thing but retained the spirit, more or less, of its source. My point is that this isn't even retaining the central concept of the show -- corrupt cops, vengeance bloodbath, take out the character and the title and nobody would ever equate this with THE EQUALIZER.

[DavidBanner]

I agree with Andy on this.

The point of the series "The Equalizer" was that it was about a former spy who was making up for prior bad deeds by doing favors for people in trouble. You just answered his newspaper ad of "Odds Against You?" and he would equalize them for you. Made for an interesting TV show where he could meet different people every week and even up their odds. Granted, you could have a single episode where things could wind up going in the Death Wish or Taken direction. But that wasn't the main thrust of the series. It sounds like they've taken the most extreme version of what the character might do and made that the central line of their movie.

Most prior adaptations of TV shows to movies have tended to stay in the neighborhood of what the original show was about:

-Miami Vice was essentially a re-do of the "Smuggler's Blues" episode from 1985 - albeit with lengthy side passages that made the movie too long and self indulgent.
-The A Team certainly tried to recreate the fun of the series on a larger scale than they had a budget to accommodate in the 80s. I didn't see it, but I understand the movie wasn't successful.
-Charlie's Angels went with the same formula from the series, more or less.

Other adaptations seem to have been either parodies or worse of the original series models:
-Dukes of Hazzard
-Starsky & Hutch
-Bewitched


In the case of The Fugitive, I would say that they stayed with the basic opening plot (Kimball is wrongly suspected of killing his wife) but made one major change from the series. The point of the series was that Kimball would go from town to town, getting involved with the friend for the episode's problems, and then move on by the end of the episode. It wasn't until the very last episode that The Fugitive really got back to brass tacks to stop the running - because the point was that he was, well, a Fugitive... For the movie, they just went right from the first episode of the series to the last one - so Kimball spends the movie working to clear his name rather than going on the run. Which works great for the movie - and still more or less stays with the basic plot.