Blu-Ray Review: Ninth Season of ‘CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’ Sparkles in HD

CHICAGO – “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” jumps from the first season to the most recent when it comes to Blu-Ray releases of one of the most successful and beloved shows of the ’00s. It’s only a matter of time before the seven seasons in-between are filled-in but, until then, you can watch the beginning and the end of the William Petersen era on “CSI” with the recent release of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - The Ninth Season”.

Blu-Ray Rating: 4.0/5.0

With six discs, over 17 hours of murder mystery mayhem, and hours of special features, the ninth season of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” is a great Blu-Ray release to catch up before the tenth season of the flagship show of a franchise that shows few signs of slowing down.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - The Ninth Season was released on Blu-Ray on September 1st, 2009.
Photo credit: Paramount

I say “few” because the hand-off between star William Petersen and actor Laurence Fishburne did not go as smoothly as some might have predicted. It’s hard to say if it’s because of Petersen fans jumping ship or just a part of the natural erosion of TV ratings in the new iWorld, but the ninth season of “CSI” averaged the lowest amount of viewers since season one (although, it should be noted, that it actually finished a place HIGHER than the previous two seasons, indicating that everything was down.)

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - The Ninth Season was released on Blu-Ray on September 1st, 2009. Photo credit: Paramount

The fact is that even with a loss of a few hundred thousand viewers, “CSI” is one of the monsters of the television landscape, finishing in the top ten for the year during all nine seasons that it has been on the air. One could easily argue that there hasn’t been a bigger program this millennium. How many other shows have spawned not just two mega-hit spin-offs - “CSI: Miami” and “CSI: NY” - but comic books, novels, and even video games? “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” may not get the critical buzz of shows like “Lost” or “24” but it has transcended just being another mystery and become a brand name.

All 24 season nine episodes are presented in 16:9 widescreen in brilliant high definition with spectacular sounding 7.1 audio tracks. From a video & audio perspective, “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - The Ninth Season” is one of the best titles yet released when it comes to TV on the next-gen format. It’s a beauty.

Copious special features include the following:

Disc one - “Crime Scene Initiation,” “Interactive Investigative Mode” on Episode 904 “Let it Bleed,” and Deleted Scene
Disc three - “CSI (Comprehensive Scientific Information) Mode” and Deleted Scenes
Disc four - Audio Commentary by George Eads, Taylor Swift and Tom Mularz on Episode 916 “Turn, Turn, Turn,” “Interactive Investigation Mode” on Episode 915 “Kill Me If You Can,” and Deleted Scene
Disc five - Audio Commentary by Naren Shankar, Wallace Langham, Liz Vassey, Bradley Thompson and David Weddle on Episode 920 “A Space Oddity,” “Rats in Space,” “From Zero to 200 in Nine Seasons,” and Deleted Scene
Disc six - “Good-bye Grissom” and Deleted Scenes

With excellent video & audio and a wealth of special features, the ninth season of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” is a sign of the future of current television on Blu-Ray.

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com