Life on Mars: – The Complete Series (ABC Studios, $39.99) brings all 17 episodes of this sci-fi crime drama to  DVD. This collection became available at retail and rental outlets yesterday, September 29.

Life on Mars is a smart, suspenseful drama with a finish that will just blow you away! So the series ends the way the director wanted it to even if it only ran for one season. This set contains the entire run of the show, including the final episode which answers all the questions you may have. The series was, unfortunately, canceled by the network April, 2009.

The series begins with New York detective Sam Tyler (Jason O'Mara) being hit by a car in 2008 while pursuing a serial killer
When he wakes up, it is 1973. He doesn't know how or why he got there, but he's there. With nothing else to do other than play out his role in this mystery, Tyler starts working with the local cops as a detective. Along the way he meets his long lost father, his mother, and his younger self.

This isn't played as a science fiction show. It took its title from the David Bowie song.

For the most part, Life on Mars is a very entertaining, suspenseful and cool drama series. Part of the problem with the show is Life on Mars was a series envisioned to lasting more than one season
Life on Mars is presented in Widescreen (1:78:1) and is enhanced for 16×9 televisions.

While the first episode and flashbacks feature natural colors, it’s when we see the 1973 scenes, a filter is used and the colors of the series become more amber with a yellow/orange/brown tinge and is purposely made to look different from the present-time scenes. But by no means does the colors seem distracting.

Each episode acts as a typical police drama with Sam solving cases, with a larger theme of "How do I get home" running through it. Some of the 70's references feel a little too forced, but they work for the most part.

Overall, Life on Mars was a series that was just so fun and enjoyable but it’s so unfortunate that the series was canceled. There was great potential in this series and the finale managed to end the series in an interesting note but it would have been interesting to see in which direction the writers would have gone had they a second season,  or more time and a few more episodes.

Nevertheless, I felt that this was one of the more entertaining drama series on television and for those curious about the series or missed the series the first time around, Life on Mars – The Complete Series is definitely recommended!

Cast: Jason O'Mara, Michael Imperioli, Gretchen Mol, Jonathan Murphy, Harvey Keitel, Greg D'Agostino, Chris Miskiewicz, John Cenatiempo, Dominick Mancino.

 Life on Mars – The Complete Series
Rating (*** ½ out of *****)
 Synopsis (Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment ) One of television’s sharpest crime dramas boogies to a classic ‘70s beat when Life on Mars: The Complete Series comes to DVD on September 29, 2009 from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.

An edgy and intriguing mystery with a paranormal twist and a stellar cast, this show from the studio behind “Lost” inspired a devoted following, Life on Mars: The Complete Series comes in a multi-disc DVD set that includes all the episodes of the fan and critic favorite, right up to its shocking final moments.

Exclusive bonus features include peeks behind the scenes that offer a fun and revealing look at this one-of-a-kind series.

After a hit-and-run accident in modern-day New York City mysteriously transports police detective Sam Tyler (Jason O’Mara) back to 1973, Sam finds himself in the cultural hotbed of New York City in the tumultuous times of the Vietnam War, Watergate, women’s lib and the civil and gay rights movements – without a cell phone, computer, PDA or MP3 player -- suddenly hurtled back in time when he’s ripped from 2008 after being hit by a car while chasing down a criminal.

Stuck in 1973 and working out of the rough and tumble 125th Precinct in Manhattan, Sam has to contend with the urban wilderness of New York, complete with a hard-living bully of a boss (Harvey Keitel) and colleagues who never met a rule they wouldn’t break to catch a bad guy. The good cop bad cop culture of the ‘70s put this 21st century hero on high alert, but before he can change the world, he has to learn to survive in it.

-> Audio commentaries:

“Out Here in the Fields” with Executive Producers Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec

“Things to Do in New York When You Think You’re Dead” with Jason O’Mara, Executive Producer Scott Rosenberg and Director/Co-Executive Producer Michael Katleman.

“The Man Who Sold the World” with Executive Producers Andre Nemec and Josh Applebaum

“Life is a Rock” with Jason O’Mara, Executive Producers Josh Applebaum, Scott Rosenberg and Director/Co-Executive Producer Michael Katleman.

-> To Mars and Back – Viewers journey to “Mars” with Sam Tyler the cast and producers to see where the “Mars” concept originated and if viewers can figure out where it’s headed.

-> Sunrise to Sunset with Jason O’Mara – An exhilarating and exhausting day experiencing Jason O’Mara’s Life on Mars.

-> Flashback: Lee Majors Goes to Mars — Lee Majors steps back in the past on the Life on Mars set with cast and crew.

-> Spaced Out: Bloopers from the Set

-> Deleted Scenes