Jesse Stone: 9 Movie Collection [DVD]

The "Jesse Stone" series of nine (9) movies, from the bestselling novels by Robert B. Parker, are made for Tom Selleck to put on film. Mr. Selleck joined up with Michael Brandman to jointly Executive Produce these beginning in 2005, with the last being in 2014. Each of the nine stand on their own story line, but have a connection in some part to where the preceding film left off. Without any spoilers, and why this is so signature driven for Tom Selleck, is this is about a top grade L.A. Police Homicide detective who's forced into earlier retirement because of finally for the first time (we presume) being caught drinking "on the job." While retiring with his pension, he accepts a job on the opposite end of the country as the Police Chief of a small, seasonal coastal town called "Paradise," run by a handful of stiff necked small town bureaucrats who soon learn they can "fire him" but can't "tell him what to do." He's way overqualified for a position they don't think his qualifications of solving murders is necessary, because as Jesse often says, he's "just a small town cop who mainly writes parking tickets." Of course, it isn't long before murder comes to Paradise, and while struggling with his need for "two drinks" every night, but never "on the job," we are led through some very well written, well portrayed personal depth of the Jesse Stone character as more human than super-cop, which Selleck plays so well. Part of our journey, besides catching the killer, is following Jesse Stone's own struggle with why he drinks. Did he begin drinking because he divorced is celebrity L.A. news anchor wife who he talks to every night on the phone, but we never meet; or did he get divorced because he drinks? Even he never figures it out, despite a repeat appearances with top actors like William Devane (playing his personal psychiatrist); Kathy Baker; William Sadler; Kerri Smith; Stephen McHattie; and a well cast, young Kohl Sudduth as the unassuming but gifted assisting officer, and other top talent guest starring for specific episodes. The first of these nine shows, is actually the second in the chronology of Jesse Stone's migration and employment with Paradise; called "Stone Cold" (2005). A year later, Selleck and Brandman produced its prequel, "Night Passage" (2006), which gives us the back-story of Stone's departure from the L.A. Homicide bureau, and first appearance in Paradise for his confirmation interview. Accordingly, I recommend watching the first two in reverse of their production, so you can fully enjoy the sequence of his journey in Paradise. In fact, if you like Selleck, you may want to binge watch these, or at least several in a row, and finish off the other half the next day; as I did. A great takeaway about Selleck's character, Jesse Stone, is summed up in one of his retorts: "I don't care about what's legal, I care about justice." (Or something like that.) If you like any of the Tom Selleck TV series, or westerns, or dramas, then you'll love Jesse Stone. I highly recommend grabbing this entire package of all nine films.

We bought the series for our travel trailer. Good clean stories that keep you guessing till the end, without all the profanity you hear in other videos. Watch this one and then start it over watching the first again.

Great movies

Great collection of movies, Tom Selleck did a great job with these. The only slight negative is that the movies are not in order between the discs; not a big problem but they do follow as timeline so it’s important to watch in the correct order. There is an insert that has the correct order so you just have to be aware of that, rather than just playing each disc through. We just kept track of them as we watched to maintain the correct order. Excellent value for entertainment vs. price.

Excellent series, can be re-watched multiple times! The writing, acting and music are all at a very high level. The story lines are good, with (typically) multiple plot lines working. Tom Selleck is great at this role, and is extremely relatable. The supporting cast is terrific as well. Highly recommended, despite being well over a decade old.

Here is an UPDATE to my last review.I decided to change me rating. I called Amazon and they were willing to let me return the previous DVDs and send a replacement. I had written on the dvds to id the sequence of the movies. I appreciate the fact that they allowed me to return them. Though the replacement has the same out of sequence movie issue, so far, I haven't had an issue with how they play. No skipping, etc. So, I'm happy so far. The correct sequence of the movies is on the back of the dvd.----------------------------------OLD REVIEW.I'm so mad at myself. Unfortunately, I wrote on the dvds in order to know the order of the movies. Now I can't return them.I'm on movie 4 now and I'm really enjoying the stories. However, the packaging is terrible. Most of the movies were lose and probably scratched. Movie 4, Sea Change, is pretty much not watchable. It keeps on breaking up and pausing. I'm so mad at myself. I would have returned them had I not written the order of the movies on the dvds. Almost $30 is a lot of money to me.Also, I agree with the other reviewers who mentioned that fact that the movies are all out of order. Why would they do that?

good classic

So far so good! We have not watched them all yet!