BRAVO BBC HOME ENTERTAINMENT! PRIMETIME EMMY® AWARD WINNER ANDREW DAVIES BRINGS YOU HOUSE OF CARDS TRILOGY REMASTERED From the writer of Academy® Award Nominated film Bridget Jones Diary Highly Recommended by Whom You Know Our Coverage Sponsored by Stribling and Associates
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Finding a quality television show to watch these days can be quite a feat. American television often lacks the sophistication and good story telling that I long for. This is why I am so thankful for BBC Home Entertainment! Watching the original UK series House of Cards trilogy has really whet my appetite for first-rate television programming. Screenwriter Andrew Davies (Bleak House, Pride and Prejudice) won an Emmy Award for this series, and I had no problem understanding why! He has perfectly adapted this story from Michael Dobbs' bestselling novels. House of Cards has all the ingredients necessary to keep you fully intrigued and begging for more. Relentless greed, corruption, and ruthless ambition will keep your eyes glued to the television. Not to mention the superb acting that raises this series so high above the norm. After watching this show, I am eager to see what Davies next project will be and what other treasures will be released from BBC Home Entertainment!
Machiavelli will out, in this intensely plotted behind-the-scenes political drama from BBC Home Entertainment. Setting up his "House", on the road to becoming Prime Minister of England, Mr. Urquhart (pronounce that : erkot) lays out the plot and prepares the way for his machinations. Using the camera as witness to his sly, polished chess moves, FU, as he is called by his cronies, involves us in his scenario. Natty ensembles dress the politically savvy members of Parliament, and the gorgeous backdrop of Westminster proper defines this BBC production. Drama with a soupçon of humor, albeit black humor, set in and around the British Prime Minister's offices gives us a perverted sense of how life may be behind closed doors. Vague ruminations of a Wagnerian note surface from time to time, as the central character hums a little tune, as a mood setter, alluding perhaps to the convoluted intrigues composed by the writers. Like Hamlet, by Mr. Shakespeare, or his "Scottish" play, the direct involvement of the audience intensifies the proceedings. Based on a novel by Michael Dobbs, "House of Cards" delivers. Titillating sex notwithstanding, the acting stimulates believability and engages us from beginning to end. The odd leitmotif though out is the recurrence of quite personable little rats. Rats at the opening of scenes, and in unexpected places, lend their distinctive connotation to the overview. With a touch of Lady Macbeth's whiff of evil, and a thimbleful of innuendo of a sexual nature (pseudo-incest, homosexuality), this British production leads us by our noses through myriad and meticulous routes to an inevitable end. This is a main character you will NOT fall in love with, immersed in his own folly, drowning in his own blind ambition. But the strength of the dramatic performance underlies the constant superlatives in any BBC production, and you will watch until the very end, enthralled by the stupidity of man.
If you love political cliff hangers then look no further than the House of Cards Trilogy. This four disc set will have you begging for more as you are introduced to the scheming, scathing and corrupt world of Britain's Conservative party. We are introduced to Francis Urquhart played by Ian Richardson, who will stop at nothing to become Prime Minister. Richardson is excellently cast and becomes your favorite villain to cheer for. Just when you think everything has played out and Francis has gotten everything he ever wanted, it all starts crumbling down again. What will happen next? Well you will just have to watch to find out. I promise you won't be disappointed, as you hang on the edge of your seat waiting for Francis' next chess move in the game of his life. If you like politics you will love House of Cards. So order in and grab your blanket because you'll be so hooked you will have to watch it all in one sitting.
I've heard of House of Cards, but have never had the chance to actually sit down and watch it. I am so glad I did. I couldn't imagine anyone as Francis Urquhart other than Ian Richardson now. He did such a wonderful job at playing a bad guy you love to hate. I really enjoyed how Urquhart spoke to us to make us feel like we were somehow involved. After finishing House of Cards, I couldn't wait to begin To Play The King. The way the first one ended and then lead into the next was incredible. I couldn't wait to start. It was the same when it was time for me to watch The Final Cut. I was just so enthralled from the beginning. This should be a must see for anyone who loves the bad guys you love to hate.
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From Primetime Emmy® Award winner Andrew Davies, the writer of internationally renowned films such as Bridget Jones's Diary and miniseries such as Pride and Prejudice, comes the digitally remastered premiere of House of Cards for the first time ever on Blu-ray on February 5, 2013. Davies’ original BBC adaptation of Michael Dobbs’ bestselling novels, House Of Cards Trilogy, made its cable debut on Masterpiece Theater in the U.S. and went on to earn Davies his first Primetime Emmy® (for “House of Cards,” the first part of the trilogy). BBC Home Entertainment brings to the shelves the best of British drama, remastered and newly released, and House of Cards, considered the godfather of modern political thrillers, is a true classic that must not be missed.
“Not only is BBC Home Entertainment releasing fantastic new shows into the marketplace, we are dedicated to remastering the gems that are currently in our library. We are bringing the best of British television back to our audience in the latest technical standards. Our shows are recognized as being amongst the best that television has to offer, and as a film and television aficionado, I want to see these take their appropriate place alongside such classics as The Godfather, E.T. and Gone With The Wind. I believe that great television deserves to be acknowledged the same way that great films do – by having a permanent place in your home collection,” says Soumya Sriraman, EVP Home Entertainment and Licensing for BBC Worldwide America.
This delicious tale of political greed, corruption and burning ambition features a full deck of renowned British talent headlined by Ian Richardson (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), who turns in a “scarily perfect performance” (The New York Times) as the Machiavellian statesman who discovers that rising to power is just the beginning- and staying there can be just as challenging.
In House Of Cards, Francis Urquhart pulls the strings behind his party’s parliamentary facade, and he has no qualms about using that power to reach the highest office in the land – even if it means scheming and backstabbing his way to the top until he is standing on a pile of broken promises, betrayals and the bodies of those who oppose him. One by one his opponents tumble, until at last there is just one wild card left in the pack.
In To Play The King, the sardonic politico’s schemes have brought him to the pinnacle of government, but at the moment of his triumph, an idealistic and determined young King stands in his way. How far will Urquhart go to maintain his grip on his growing power? As he threatens to expose a royal scandal, he seems unstoppable. But someone out there knows the secret that could bring him down.
And in The Final Cut, Urquhart is now Prime Minister and nearing the end of his term. Though he plans to let international events help him to a luxurious retirement, he finds himself caught in someone else’s power play, and for the first time is unable to see a way out. Will he outwit his enemies one last time, or will his long career end in disgrace and defeat?
Bonus features include:
audio commentaries on select episodes with Ian Richardson and Andrew Davies
an interview with Andrew Davies on the To Play The King controversy
“Westminster: Behind Closed Doors” featurette
About BBC Worldwide Americas:
BBC Worldwide is the main commercial arm and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). BBC Worldwide Americas brings together all of BBC Worldwide businesses across North and South America. The company exists to maximize the value of the BBC’s assets for the benefit of the UK license payer, and invests in public service programming in return for rights. The company has five core businesses: Channels, Content & Production, Sales & Distribution, Consumer Products and Digital. Under these businesses fall two key brands in the U.S. – digital cable channel BBC AMERICA and BBC Worldwide Productions, the production arm responsible for the smash hit Dancing with the Stars.
