House of Cards Trilogy
Rated: NR
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Street Date: February 5, 2013
Available On: DVD and Blu-ray

The Film: Set in England just after the Margaret Thatcher era “House of Cards” follows Francis Urquhart (Ian Richardson), a amoral conservative determined to rise to the position of Prime Minister.

The Extras: Audio Commentary, Andrew Davies Interview, Tour of Parliament

Recommendation: The BBC adaptation of Michael Dobbs’ bestselling novels is regarded as on of the finest television series and is the inspiration behind Kevin Spacey and David Fincher’s new Americanized series that recently debuted on Netflix. This collection includes “House of Cards” (1990), “To Play the King” (1993) and “The Final Cut” (1995). It is a wonderful series in that it is joyfully pessimistic towards politics and the perceived lack of ethics when it comes to politicians. It’s also fairly experimental in that Urquhart often speaks directly to the audience It’s fantastic and sarcastic entertainment with a wonderful British sense of (skeptical) humor.

-Ryan Michael Painter

(Copyright 2013 Sinclair Broadcast Group)