La Femme Nikita- The Complete Series DVD Review
Stick with the movie instead.
Based on Luc Besson’s action flick of the same name, 1997’s “La Femme Nikita” is a Canadian TV series created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran that ran for 5 seasons. The series revolves around Nikita, a homeless woman who is wrongfully imprisoned and later forcibly recruited into joining the Section One organization that aims to eliminate terrorist organizations like Red Cell, Freedom League, First Flag, The Collective, etc. Her job requires her to assassinate terrorists, engage in undercover missions, recover intel, capture people, and so forth. Section One is comprised of Operations (who runs the organization), Michael (the team leader), Madeline (the strategist), Seymour (communications expert) and Walter (the weapons guru). Throughout the series there are other plotlines involving traitors, assassins, Nikita’s neighbor Carla (who is not what she seems), brainwashing, computers, weapons, and Michael’s family. A big part of the series is also the blossoming romance between Nikita and Michael.
With few exceptions (like “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”), films being turned into a TV series doesn’t tend to work out all that well. “La Femme Nikita” is one such show. The series is a cheap imitation of the Luc Besson action classic, the VERY 90s show is hampered by dated MTV style editing and slow-motion, the action is hokey and looks like something you’d see in bad no-budget 80s movies, the production values are woefully cheap, the background music and score are undeniably cheesy and the storytelling (and episodes) are so rushed that there is no room for nuance. Even the pilot episode is a rush job. Instead of taking the time to show Nikita adapting to life with Section One and training, it glosses over so much and gets down to business (and copying moments from the film).
The cast doesn’t help matters either as the series is filled with suspect and robotic acting. Australian actress Peta Wilson tries her best as the sexy badass, but she can only do so much with the material she’s given. A lot of fans were partial to Roy Dupuis as Michael, but to me, he’s as bland as they come.
Video/Audio:
Presentation: 1.33:1. How does it look? Do not expect any restoration here. This is just a repackage of individually released seasons now available in complete series form.
Audio Track: Dolby Digital 2.0. How does it sound? In a word- flat.
Extras:
* Commentary on the episodes “Nikita” by Joel Surnow, Robert Cochran and Jon Cassar, “Mercy” by Joel Surnow, “Hard Landing” by Joel Surnow, Jon Cassar and Michael Loceff, “End Game” by Joel Surnow and Michael Loceff, “Looking For Michael” by Jon Cassar and Eugene Robert Glazer, “On Borrowed Time” by Peter Lenkov and Eugene Robert Glazer, “Sympathy For The Devil” by Eugene Robert Glazer and Brad Turner, and “Time To Be Heroes” by Eugene Robert Glazer and Peter Leknov.
* Deleted scenes from all five seasons with optional commentary
* “Section One Declassified: The Making Of La Femme Nikita” featurette
* Season 2, 3, and 4 gag reels
* “Designing Nikita”- Production design featurette
* Internet teaser
* “Season 5: Declassified” featurette
No comments yet.
Share This Blog
Robert Ham
dmanderson
Andrea
nicklyons1
DVD Corner 
Leave a comment