CSI: 6.1

The sound and picture is, as you would imagine, pristine. There are six commentaries on the disc, by far the most interesting of which are those on Shooting Stars and A Bullet Runs Through It Part One, with producer/director/writer Danny Cannon. British-born Cannon is an entertaining host and, more importantly, tells you things you can’t find out just by looking at the series. He explains several of the camera techniques he uses and talks about his shifting styles across the episodes. He also makes reference to George Eads moustache-gate which he says “will go down in CSI histories as one of those bad mistakes”.

The rest of the commentary tracks – on Gum Drops and A Bullet Runs Through It - are less entertaining, with those by writer Carol Mendelsohn and directors Richard Catalani and Kenneth Fink, in particular, talking to the action too much, without giving as much background as you would like. The number of commentary tracks is about right, though, with enough to be interesting, without venturing into overkill

The ‘Special Features’ section sadly, contains just the one – CSI: The Science Of Sound – but it is an excellent extra.

It takes the double episode A Bullet Runs Through It and reveals the incredible amount of input needed to produce the soundtrack. This includes over-dubbing, a visit to the foley stage – where creative guys add in sounds such as footsteps and breaking glass – plus fun titbits, such as how they disguise their lapel microphones. It is thorough and informative and, with a 30 minute runtime, very comprehensive.

If you’re rushing out to buy this, however, it is worth noting that – as ever – the series is available in its entirety already in the Region 1 US version.