Able to boast his own international talk show, music videos, countless endorsements and merchandising, the puckish Max Headroom became more than just a character on television. He was a decade-defining icon, never better represented than in this sardonically witty, adventurous look at society and media’s own place within it.
I have been a big Max Headroom fan since I first laid eyes on him and heard his staccato voice back in the 1980s. Almost immediately after the TV show went off the air, I wanted it to own it on VHS. I heard rumors and I waited. VHS peaked and DVD started coming out. I waited. VHS went away and DVD is joined by HD formats and digital download. I waited. It took over 2 decades, but the wait is finally over. Shout! Factory released Max Headroom: The Complete Series on DVD. Long overdue, but for a hardcore fan, I will say in retrospect it was worth the wait (although I might just be saying that out of a sense of relief.)
That show looks great, 2 decades of shoddy copies will make just about any DVD release look good, but these look and sound better then I expected. The 5 disc set includes all of the shows original 14 episodes plus 2 hours of extras that includes:
* Live On Network 23: The Story Of Max Headroom – The creative team shares their stories
* Looking Back At The Future: An intimate roundtable discussion with members of the cast
* The Big-Time Blanks: Morgan Sheppard and Concetta Tomei reflect on Max Headroom
* The Science Behind The Fiction – George Stone reveals the role of technology in the creation of Max Headroom
I sound like a broken record on my praise for Shout! Factory, but they really are leading the charge on all of my favorite TV, so what else can I say. This is a show that needed a release and finally got it and not some dinky cheap release. Instead it is a high end, well done set, filled with extras.
You can order your copy from two place online:
Max Headroom: The Complete Series on DVD [@] Shout! Factory
Max Headroom: The Complete Series on DVD [@] Amazon
I was able to pick this up a couple of weeks ago, some mistake I reckon as the street date was last week. I’ve been enjoying this series so very much as I hadn’t seen all of episodes when they first aired.
Matt Frewer and Amanda Pays really seem to have a very comfortable chemistry onscreen. :)
I’ve been meaning to dabble in cyberpunk, and remember this show being quite stunning back in the day. How does it hold up?