Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8060 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-06-16
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 6
• Running time: 960 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
From its gritty documentary look to its signature note-knocking "tching-tching" that signals scene changes, Law & Order was a groundbreaking cop show when it debuted in 1990. It is television's most resilient series, surviving huge changes to its ensemble. One of the secrets of the show's durability is its compelling structure. The first half of each hour-long episode is a classic police procedural in which "Law", personified in the first season by partners Greevey (George Dzundza) and Mike Logan (Christopher Noth) investigate a crime and make an arrest. The second half chronicles the ensuing trial, as prosecuted by assistant district attorneys Ben Stone (Michael Moriarty) and Paul Robinette (Richard Brooks) under the supervision of Steven Hill's Adam Schiff (more feisty and animated here than in later seasons).

Law & Order is also distinguished by its superb writing. Several episodes take their inspiration from the headlines, including "By Hooker, By Crook" (about a socialite-run call-girl ring) and "Indifference", which recalls the tragic Lisa Steinberg child abuse case. Others deal with such hot-button issues as abortion ("Life Choice") and AIDS ("The Reaper's Helper"). Another plus is the talent pool of character actors who lend their verisimilitude. Guest stars include Samuel L Jackson and Philip Seymour Hoffman ("The Violence of Summer"), The West Wing's John Spencer ("Prescription for Death"), Sex and the City's Cynthia Nixon ("Subterranean Homeboy Blues") and The Sopranos' Dominic Chianese ("Sonata for Stolen Organ"). --Donald Liebenson

Special Features
Extras: 14 minute documentary `The Creation of Law and Order' Including an Interview with Series Creator Dick Wolf.

Disc One Prescription for Death Subterranean Homeboy Blues `The Creation of Law and Order' Preview of Law and Order New Interactive Game

Disc Two The Reaper's Helper Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die Happily Ever After Everybody's Favorite Bagman

Disc Three By Hooker, By Crook Poison Ivy Indifference Prisoner of Love

Disc Four Out of the Half-Light Life Choice A Death in the Family The Violence of Summer

Disc Five The Torrents of Greed (Part 1) The Torrents of Greed (Part 2) Mushrooms The Secret Sharers

Disc Six The Serpent's Tooth The Troubles Sonata for Solo Organ The Blue Wall

Synopsis
Long-running crime drama LAW AND ORDER has been so successful largely because it has a formula that emphasizes story over character. This collection contains the show's entire first series, and it is evident how well the formula works from the outset. Each show begins with the police discovering a crime and for the first half-hour two detectives (here it's Chris Noth and George Dzundza) wade through the evidence to come up with a prime suspect. The second half-hour follows the suspect to trial and is told from the DA's point of view, allowing the show to dissect the intricacies of the U.S. legal system. Staying topical by often taking cases straight from current headlines, LAW AND ORDER is no less compelling when seen long after the real-life events have faded from the headlines, thanks in large part to its terrific cast and its intelligent and involving writing.

Customer Reviews

Addictive TV
Law & Order, to quote Chris Noth as Detective Mike Logan, "really
frosts my cookies". I'm not actually sure what that means, but it sounds good.
This is the first series of Dick Wolf's seminal cops 'n' lawyers show, now on
it's umpteenth series. L&O has never and will never jump the shark, as long
as the writing is so damn good. A constant changing of the cast places the
emphasis most definitely on stories, not stars, although that's not
to say the acting isn't consistently brilliant as well.

In Series One the cops are cocky, handsome Logan, who has a
penchant for wearing terrible tartan ties, and weary, middle-aged,
doughnut-munching Sergeant Max Greevey (George Dzundza),
plus sarcastic Captain Cragen (Dann Florek), a character later to
turn up as the boss in L&O spin-off Special Victims Unit. The
lawyers are smart, Machiavellian Ben Stone (Michael Maloney,
brilliant) and passionate young black ADA with 80s Cameo wedge
haircut Paul Robinette (Richard L Brooks). There's also gruff don't-
mess-with-me DA Adam "You haven't got a case" Schiff, played by
the excellent Steven Hill in all 13 series.

This first series is much more about stories torn from the headlines
than later series, but it's always been a realistic show that isn't
afraid to let the bad guy get off or leave you hanging without a
satisfactory conclusion. In L&O, the bad guys often get off on
technicalities and points of law or good old fashioned politics. A lot
of the time the lawyers have to cut a deal because their evidence
isn't good enough or can't be admitted for some seemingly
spurious legal reason. But when Stone is in court barnstorming
some witness or trying to convince a jury of a "perp"'s guilt with no
actual evidence, you're hanging on the edge of your seat. Superb
writing, consistently excellent acting from the regulars right down
to the guest actors (in Series 1: William H Macy, Noth's Sex And
The City co-star Cynthia Nixon, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samuel L
Jackson and Paul Guilfoyle (with a mullet, CSI fans!), and involving
plots, L&O never underestimates it's audience. It's TV for grown-
ups and if you let it, it will really frost your cookies.

Not to be missed!
Surely there is little better from the teevee than the Law & Order series! Admittedly Criminal Intent is my true fave, but they are all spectacular: The acting is great, you get to know the characters so well and they all have quircky personalities that you can actually relate to. For me, though, the best thing is that you can hardly ever figure out whodunnit or rather why they dunnit! theres no guarantee of a happy ending where the criminal gets his comuppance, its true-life gritty stuff and is totally underrated. the first episode i ever saw (in australia, where it gets the credit it is due, unlike here in the UK) it ended with them failing to convict a blatently evil man and i nearly died there on the couch that that could possibly be the ending! but its true to life, fast paced and just really well done.
if you havent seen it, do.

Well worth waiting for!
'Law and Order' is NOT a cop show where the hero is regularly threatened by suspension, has lots of car chases, breaks the law by beating up suspects in interrogation and - unbelievably -manages to always shoot people on distant rooftops first time.
Instead it is a superbly-written and well-photographed account of how the police and the attorneys deal in combination with criminals in New York.
It has been running for over a decade on US TV, simply because of its quality and willingness to tackle important issues such as racial discrimination, abortion and corruption.
This DVD contains 22 episodes, plus an interview with the creator, Dick Wolfe. If you like a strong plot ('CSI', or 'Prime Suspect' for UK viewers), then this is for you. The series even uses location captions to save time for more acting.
And the really good news is that there are many more episodes to come!