The Good

Who doesn't love seeing Gordon Ramsay in the kitchen?

The Bad

No real extras.Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares: Complete Series One looks at Gordon Ramsay's TV cooking show when it was set in Britain. With 12 Michelin stars to his credit, this is a chef who has seen it, done it, cooked it, sauteed it and that says nothing about what he does to the chefs who work his kitchen! While his style might not always be appreciated, he does get results and one gets the impression throughout this 2 disc set that he brings the best out of both his chefs and himself.

Features

Production Notes and Gordon Ramsay Bio

These extra's are cool if you like to read things. Personally, I don't (at least not on a TV screen) so I didn't really pay attention to them.

Video

16:9 - Widescreen. This 387 minute DVD set is shot with basically the same finesse as the American TV show. There is quick cutting, music to underscore scenes, and the usual litany of Reality TV tropes.

Audio

Stereo. SDH Subtitles. The audio on this release is solid but there isn't anything that special about it. Ramsay yells in the right spots, the music comes on at the right moments, and everything that is done seems like it's in service of telling the most compelling story possible. What more can you ask for, right?

Package

Ramsay is seen brandishing a knife on the front cover of this two disc, slipcase DVD set. The back gives us a shot of Ramsay, a description of what this show is about, a special features listing, and minor technical specs. Both discs are stored in two slim cases (wouldn't it have been more economical to pack them in one Amaray case?), with the only difference in their covers being episode listings on the back of them.

Final Word

I have never really watched Gordon Ramsay's American TV show Hell's Kitchen, but from the little that I have seen about that I knew what I was going to get here. The chefs are given a task, Ramsay yells at them, they start doing the task, he yells some more, they finish the task, he continues to yell and then someone gets fired. While Ramsay doesn't seem to have as much of the swagger here that he does on the American show, Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares: Complete Series One is must own TV for all who are fans of Ramsay or the culinary arts.

Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares was released .