Xena - The 10th Anniversary Collection

?Xena: 10th Anniversary Collection,? is a beautifully produced, interesting collection that is for hardcore Xena fans only. No day-trippers allowed. Unlike buying a season of the show, this collection of 17 episodes (and many special features) spans the gamut of all six seasons. The theme? Xena and Gabrielle?s lesbian relations- er, friendship. That?s right, an entire 7-disc collection devoted to their friendship. Do they really think they?re fooling anyone? This includes the series premier, the musical episode, and the series finale, among other great episodes.

The extras included in the collection can be divided into three main categories: interviews with and voiceovers by the actors, background information on the creation of Xena: Warrior Princess, fan footage, and behind the scenes investigations into what being on the set was really like. While all three groups contain interesting and fun information, the behind the scenes information was far and away the most interesting.

Interviews and Voiceovers: One of the things I was most excited about, and one which might be the biggest letdown of this collection, was the voiceover by Lucy Lawless and Renee O?Connor. While some of what they have to say is interesting, there are too many gaps and stretches of blank air time for this to be particularly engaging. More interesting are the interviews with Robert Trebor and Bruce Campbell (of Evil Dead fame) about what it was like working on the set of Xena.

Background Information: Did you know Xena?s producers were inspired by the work of director John Woo, and movies like Chinese Ghost Story? Me either. But really, do you care all that much? I found it hard to get into this section of the DVD, as they talked a lot but said very little of actual relevance to the show. More interesting to the total geek in me was the discussion of Greek and Roman myth Vs. the Xena-verse. Two university professors (one in Classics, and one in Religious Studies and Gender Studies) discuss the use of mythology in Xena, focusing specifically on the character of Aphrodite (the actress who played Aphrodite, Alexandra Tydings, is also interviewed on the subject, but more to provide some comedy than any real information on the discussion).

Fan Footage: This is only in the DVD for amusement value ? primarily the amusement of the fans in the actual clips. This includes Lucy and Renee wandering through the 2005 10th Anniversary Xena Convention, home made tapes of the self-professed ?Biggest Xena Fans Ever,? and fan reenactments of favorite Xena moments. For all of you didn?t make the cut this time, I?m sure they?ll be another DVD set coming out soon, so keep sending those tapes in.

Behind the Scenes: First off, the behind the scenes features of the DVD are excellent because they include ?Seeing Double,? a 30-minute interview with Zoe Bell, Lucy Lawless? main stuntwoman for the last 3 seasons of the show. Aside from being an interesting and talented person, Zoe is also hot as hell and says things like ?there are times when you are in the harness when you really are just a meat-puppet.? I laughed so hard I thought I might need a stunt double. Just as interesting, if slightly less clever, is ?extras,? a short feature documentary on the thousands of local extras that the show used for crowds and battles in nearly every episode.

All in all, I am impressed with this collection for the sheer number and variety of extras it includes. Even though many of the most hardcore fans will already own most (if not all) of the episodes included in this collection, the special features manage to make it a worthwhile purchase regardless. With the wide variety of material included, there is sure to be something to appeal to any Xena fan.