My So Called Life [DVD] [1994] | ![My So Called Life [DVD] [1994]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41W5ZlBkozL._SL160_.jpg) | Actors: Claire Danes, Jared Leto, Devon Gummersall, A.J. Langer, Wilson Cruz
Studio: Universal Pictures Video
Category: DVD
List Price: £34.99
Buy New: £6.58
as of 22/11/2009 01:38 GMT details
You Save: £28.41 (81%)
New (11) Used (5) from £5.99
Seller: Amazon.co.uk
Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 1515
Format: PAL
Languages: English (Unknown), English (Original Language)
Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Region: 2
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 5
Running Time: 874 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.5 x 1
EAN: 5050582479904
ASIN: B000N39I0M
Theatrical Release Date: 1994
Release Date: May 14, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 4 to 6 weeks
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Amazon.co.uk Review
One of the most acclaimed series on TV during its brief run in the '90s, iMy So-Called Life/i pioneered the modern teen drama and made a star out of 15-year-old Claire Danes. Ostensibly centering around the trials and tribulations of high schooler Angela Chase, iMy So-Called Life/i actually expanded to include everyone in its protagonist's orbit, from school friends to extended family, and gave its stellar ensemble cast ripe material to work with during its too-short life. Produced by thirtysomething creators Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick, iMSCL/i evoked that yuppie-friendly show with its emphasis on finding extraordinary drama within ordinary situations, but was far more heartfelt and heart-wrenching, echoing the dizzying highs and lows of adolescence. As such, it developed a cult following among young viewers who identified strongly with Angela's high school traumas and followed her every move with rapt attention (after cancellation, the show enjoyed a popular reprise on MTV). Avoiding the sensational, iMy So-Called Life/i tackled every teen hot-button issue imaginable (and pioneered the then-controversial topic of teen homosexuality), but with a clear-eyed perspective, never dissolving into soap opera--even when Angela mooned over heartthrob Jordan Catalano (dreamy Jared Leto). Even as it mined adolescent angst, though, iMy So-Called Life/i never lost sight of its adults, with Bess Armstrong and Tom Irwin both phenomenal as Angela's parents, whose marriage was one of the most complex seen on TV since... well, thirtysomething. Through it all, Golden Globe winner and Emmy nominee Danes was a neurotic, touching, and funny centre, whether obsessing over a zit or negotiating the rocky terrain of first love. Her funny, sobering, and empathetic portrait of teendom reminded us that in some ways, life was just an extended version of high school. i--Mark Englehart/i
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 18
 Something like a phenomenon... May 18, 2007
Sarra Manning (London, UK)
14 out of 14 found this review helpful
Before The OC, before Skins, there was My So-Called Life and it still remains the most funny, poignant and truthful small screen portrayal of what it feels like to be a girl.
br /Angela Chase, played by Claire Danes when she was only 16, battles with her controlling mother, is betrayed by her phildandering father, argues with her bratty little sister and rebels against the safeness of her life by becoming friends with the dangerous Rayanne. And she falls painfully and hopelessly in love with Jordan Catalano (Jared Leto) who raised the beam for every other smirky-faced, tousle-haired toxic boy that a generation of girls would get crushes on.
br /The show dabbles with all those "teen issues" that it's meant to; sex, alcohol, homosexuality, domestic abuse and bad hair dye decisions but never does it in a clunky, preachy way and ended after one series, ensuring its legend lived on for ever more. With this UK DVD release (finally!), the show can be lifted out of cult status and find a new audience of girls who need to know that it's OK to feel odd and awkward and that you don't fit in.
br /I was working on the teen mag, J-17, when the show first aired and it changed my life in the best way. I now write young adult books and will always owe Winnie Holzman, the creator of My So-Called Life, a huge debt because this show inspired my writing and characters and always will.
br /Honestly, the best TV show that ever was...
A Classic for Generation X March 4, 2007
Mooji (UK)
35 out of 37 found this review helpful
With references to marijuana, Kurt Cobain and unprotected sex in the first episode I was hooked. I must have been fourteen when this was on TV and within days this had cult status for my friends and I.
br /This was the first series aimed at teenagers that involved real teenage escapades and choices. Compared to the standard fodder of Bykers Grove and Grange Hill, this was no 1 viewing.
br /The series, sadly axed after just one, revolves around Angela and her journey from awkward adolescent to, well, awkward young adult. She's self conscious, arrogant, self centred, obsessed and desperately uncomfortable learning more about herself. Her best friends are Rayanne and Rickie, who between them experience parental abuse, neglect, promiscuity, alcoholism and homelessness. Also featured are Brian the super sensitive geek, Sharon the reproachful best friend from the past, and Jordan Catalano - the high school muso/drop out that Angela spends most of the series in and out of love with.
br /There are 19 episodes in this series, and in all honesty, not one of them is a dud. Maybe I loved this series so much because I was experiencing the same changes in my life that these characters were, or maybe this was just such a passionate and sympathetic portrayal of what life really was for us kids, that it remains one of my favourite memories of being 16 and watching the repetas on Channel 4 with all my girlfriends by candle light.
br /This may seem dated with the introduction of such programmes as Skins and Sugar Rush, but it comes with a sense of vulnerability and innocence that newer programmes could never exhibit.
UK DVD issue of classic 1990s TV series. April 29, 2007
Jason Parkes (Worcester, UK)
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
'My So-Called Life' remains one of the key TV series of the 1990s, one I'd rank alongside such US TV joys as 'Twin Peaks' (despite the dodgy second series) 'Homicide: Life on the Street.' The makers of 'Thirtysomething' hit on the perfect TV series in the early to mid 1990s, 'MSCL' hitting our screens in 1994/1995, until it's sad cancellation after 19-episodes. The reason for the cancellation is still vague, recently it has been put down to Claire Danes desire not to reprise the role of Angela Chase, but you can't help but think that the gritty parts of the series - Gram about to have another affair, gay Ricky moving in with homosexual teachers, Angela about to get with Jordan, Rayanne's on-going substance problems etc - might have put some off.
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br /'My So-Called Life' sadly ended, though there has been a culty following for it, creating their own websites, buying the books influenced by the series, and in 2002 getting a limited edition DVD box-set released (an item now quite deleted and on sites like E-Bay). Clearly there was a need to release this series on DVD and I'm very glad they have, it's the best way to watch it and up there with such DVD joys as 'The Wire', the first few series of 'The West Wing', 'Six Feet Under' (though the latter probably went on too long in the end). MSCL definitely influenced series that followed, from the rarely seen 'Freaks and Geeks', to the more familiar likes of 'Dawson's Creek' and 'The OC' - the latter two becoming more and more ridiculous and soap like in terms of plots, as the characters lived in seabound utopias quite different to the suburbia of MSCL. In fact, 'The OC' probably has more in common with 'Beverley Hills 90210' when it amusingly tried to go edgy. 'MSCL' has a strong female lead character, itself quite unusual, and feels like a classic product of the 1990s, the decade between the wars that were Cold and "on Terror", and a time when angst was in the air.
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br /The 19-episodes weren't shot in one continuous run, and more unusually, in blocks over two years - some of the episodes are shown out of sequence, though this isn't an issue since each episode is quite self-contained (though the Jordan-storyline is one example an on-going plot). Some of the episodes focus heavily on Brian, Rayanne and Ricky, the makers unafraid to take the focus away from Angela and show another side to the kids' world. This DVD set contains all 19 episodes: 1. Pilot 2. Dancing in the Dark 3. Guns and Gossip 4. Father Figures 5. The Zit 6. The Substitute 7. Why Jordan Can't Read 8. Strangers In the House 9. Halloween 10. Other People's Mothers 11. Life of Brian 12. Self-Esteem 13. Pressure 14. On the Wagon 15. So-Called Angels 16. Resolutions 17. Betrayal 18. Weekend 19. In Dreams Begin Responsibilities
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br /The series hinges on factors that some people still think you can make TV without - it has great writing, a realistic location (rather than the utopias and wealthy locales of the Creek and the OC), and best of all, a brilliant cast. Danes remains fantastic as Angela, a role that she hasn't bettered in her subsequent career in films - though I felt that the lead of 'Shopgirl' was a relative of Angela, the nerd relationship in that maybe the relationship she should have had with Brian (perhaps the director putting MSCL DVDs into one scene made me ponder on that link too much!). AJ Langer is perfect as Rayanne, as Wilson Cruz is perfect as Ricky, as Devon Gummersall is perfect as Brian, as Jared Leto is perfect as Jordan, as Devon Odessa is perfect as Sharon etc. It's strange that not all of the cast have gone on to later successes - Danes and Leto's profiles are kind of there (though the latter's band 30 Seconds to Mars feels like a continuation of Jordan's band, The Frozen Embryos, here!) and Tom Irwin has been around years (Yaphet Kotto's assistant in the classic 'Midnight Run'). Devon Gummersall was in the video to Eminem's 'Stan', while A.J. Langer turned up in 'The Mentor' episode of 'Seinfeld' - fans of satirical cartoon series will note the name of Lisa Wilhoit (Danielle) in the cast for several episodes.
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br /MSCL remains for me a perfect series, one that managed to reflect the zeitgeist of the US and beyond at the time - the characters are easy to have empathy with. The music featured in the series fitted well too, this was the grunge era, songs by Buffalo Tom, The Cranberries, The Lemonheads, Madder Rose, REM and Violent Femmes feature - Buffalo Tom turning up as a bar band in one key episode (they play 'Sodajerk' and 'Late at Night'- the latter video features Danes Odessa in character). The Christmas themed 'So-Called Angels' also features Julianna Hatfield as the homeless angel character who befriends Angela - and is there anything better than the scene where Ricky dances with the girl dumped by Brian to 'Dawn Can't Decide' by the Lemonheads? (well apart from Angela dancing round her bedroom in glee to 'Blister in the Sun'!).
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br /MSCL was a great series and is a very welcome DVD issue, pretty much every episode is great, I always liked the more "fun" episodes too. 'Halloween' has a great high school ghost story plot that was nicked for a later episode of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer', while 'Weekend' is a farce centred around Rayanne being handcuffed to Angela's parents bed, as Tom Gram go away for the weekend to a hotel ran by the late great Jack Nance (of many a David Lynch movie). MSCL did depict issues - homosexuality, alcoholism, drugs, teenage sex, social pressures of school, gun violence, affairs, family hierarchy, homelessness, illness etc - but it never felt forced down the throat, MSCL not going for the cheesy resolution motif. It was also great enough to focus on the little things, e.g. an argument started when all of Patty's cheese is eaten by Rayanne and Ricky! no review would be complete without mentioning the running joke of the Tino character, always off-screen, but familiar to all! This reissue of MSCL is the DVD reisue of this year and one to watch if you haven't seen before, or one to re-watch if you haven't seen since the 1990s (it was last repeated on TV in 1997 on Channel 4). Heck, they should be screening it in schools...
at last!! a region 2 release - best show of the 90's May 3, 2007
Ms. Annette E. Tonks
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
at last the best cult show of the 90's gets the treatment it deserves, all 19 episodes are well worth watching again, the short lived show had a cult following, and even now, over 13 years on, it looks as fresh as ever, and even spawned tonnes of fan web sites, and fan fiction, who could not helped but be drawn into the saga of the teenage lives, from alcoholism, relationships, affairs, the 19 episodes has it all, with an amazing ability to reach the audience and not use issues purely for shock value,
so good it hurts! September 3, 2008
RoseD (London, UK)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I first saw this when it was originally broadcast on channel 4 in the mid-ninties and what an impact it had on me; prompting me to go and study film and tv like I'd always wanted to. Thirteen or so years later, in my 40's I find I'm still captivated and charmed by the poetry of this ground breaking and hugely influential series. Somehow it wonderously manages to feel like something of its time but also still utterly contemporary - maybe that's because of its universal honesty about the pain and joy of those awkward teenage years no matter what decade you negotiated them through. From its rich tapestry of beautifully written, envisioned and understood characters it manages to illustrate that the journey from teen to adulthood from any vantage point (the dreamer, the geek, the rebel, the cool guy etc - male/female.) is fraught with problems and pratfalls. To say that Claire Danes is amazing is a gross understatement - her performance throughout is so precise and engaging as to still utterly floor me after all these years - but the rest of the cast are outstanding as well. Devon Gummersall as uber nerd Brian is particularily deserving in my opinion, managing to make a potentially irredeemably annoying character sympathetic, endearing and at times hilarious. Jared Leto, deserves a special mention too, as he somehow manages to flesh out the one dimensional dream boat Jordan and turn him into a complex 3D person with the minimum of lines. Beautifully shot and edited, with a fabulous soundtrack this series truly is a thing of beauty and sadly the likes of which may never come our way again.... I can't recommend it highly enough!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 18
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