Image Entertainment presents

Deadliest Catch: Season 3 (2007)

“It’s a new King Crab season on Alaska’s Bering Sea.”- Narrator (Mike Rowe)

Stars: Sig Hansen
Other Stars: Phil Harris, Blake Painter, Mike Rowe
Director: various

MPAA Rating: Not Rated for (adult content)
Run Time: 08h:30m:00s
Release Date: 2008-04-08
Genre: television

Style Grade	Substance Grade	Image Transfer Grade	Audio Transfer Grade	Extras Grade
A	A	B+	B	C+

 

DVD Review

There’s plenty of “reality television” polluting the airwaves these days. Those looking for true reality TV should look no further than the Discovery Channel series Deadliest Catch. This documentary-style show takes us onboard crab fishing boats in the Bering Sea to chronicle the hard life and times of their crews. Week in and week out we get intimate portraits of these fishermen and learn of the numerous sacrifices they make to better their own lives and those of their families. Image Entertainment brings us the next season DVD set for the series, titled Deadliest Catch: Season 3.

The third season (and first disc) begins with tragedy, in the aptly titled A Tragic Beginning. It’s 2006 and the crab season has begun in Dutch Harbor, Alaska. There are 81 fishing vessels taking to the seas, with the Cornelia Marie, the Northwestern, and the Time Bandit among them. When tragedy strikes, these fishermen are left to question the true importance of their dangerous job. In The Unforgiving Sea, the fishermen are still dealing with the aftermath of a sunken vessel, as the Coast Guard hunts for survivors. Meanwhile, the Northwestern and Cornelia Marie deal with equipment malfunctions, while only one of the Time Bandit and Maverick can come up with any crab.

During Pain and Paybacks, more crew members are under duress, whether it’s a severe injury to deckhand Lenny Lakanoff on the Wizard or a possible jail sentence for deckhand Matt on the Northwestern. The midway point of crab season is reached during Cheating Death, with the crew working over 40 hours nonstop. While they struggle to stay awake, more equipment problems and horrid weather make matters even worse. The first episode on Disc 2 is Bering Sea Salvation, as we’re nearing the end of the king crab season and the race is coming to a close between the ships. The Last Lap shows us the end of the 2006 season, and the brief rest before the 2007 opilio crab season begins in New Beginnings, in which we meet some newcomers who will experience the opilio season for the first time. Finishing up the second disc, Caught in the Storm takes us on board during a major storm, when Time Bandit Captain Andy calls his men off of the deck just in time to avoid a massive wave. The third and final disc starts off with Crossing the Line, where the Northwestern is almost a week behind their schedule, thanks to a collection of problems. Captain Sig takes drastic measures, including dumping all of his gear ahead of the rest of the ships. In Trials of the Greenhorns, the group must deal with some horrendous winter weather, with those on the Northwestern and Cornelia Marie doing the best jobs.

Ice and Open Water features a continued strong effort despite the huge risks that await the men. The worst off is the Time Bandit, which winds up caught in the middle of an ice pack. The season finale, A Frozen Finish, is also the best episode of the bunch. We learn the fates of the greenhorns, with some of them becoming official crab fisherman, and the rest having to find another gig next year. This jam-packed show also goes over the results of the 2007 opilio crab season, bringing the third batch of episodes to a nice, tidy end, while at the same time, leaving us breathless in anticipation of a fourth go-around.

Rating for Style: A
Rating for Substance: A

 

Image Transfer

	One
Aspect Ratio	1.78:1 - Widescreen
Original Aspect Ratio	yes
Anamorphic	yes

Image Transfer Review: Each of the 12 episodes is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen, and they look quite good. The documentary feel and cameras used produce a rough look, but the images are as detailed and sharp as possible. The colors are almost always drab, considering the near-constant inclimant weather on display, but the palette holds up and is flawless. There’s plenty of grain and specks of dirt, but this is inherent to the shooting style.

Image Transfer Grade: B+
 

Audio Transfer

	Language	Remote Access
DS 2.0	English	no

Audio Transfer Review: The Dolby Digital 2.0 audio is good as well, with the narrator’s voice always looming large over the proceedings. The microphones do their best to capture everything that is said on these ships, and this track presents the dialogue in a crisp, clear manner.

Audio Transfer Grade: B 

Disc Extras

Static menu
Scene Access with 72 cues and remote access
1 Other Trailer(s) featuring Discovery Atlas
1 Documentaries
Packaging: Nexpak
Picture Disc
3 Discs
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: dual

Extras Review: The only extra is a 42-minute look at the shooting of Deadliest Catch. This amazing piece takes us through exactly what goes into the filming of the show; a job that can be nearly as tough as crab fishing itself.

Extras Grade: C+
 

Final Comments

Enjoy some actual high-quality reality television with Discovery Channel’s great show, Deadliest Catch. This new DVD set compiles all of the third season episodes in a nice package that features excellent audio and video, along with a revealing behind-the-scenes documentary.

Chuck Aliaga 2008-04-07