Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-04-18
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English, French
• Number of discs: 5
• Running time: 720 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Television really doesn't come much better than this. Criminally ignored by far, far too many people, The Wire has proven itself to be that rarest of things: an intelligent, clever, character-driven show, that's lasted more than one season.

This boxset brings together all the episodes from the maiden series of The Wire, spread across thirteen episodes. Yet those episodes, unlike many in the police genre where the show spends a good deal of its time, are dedicated to just one case. Furthermore, it follows both sides of the case. Thus, there's the Baltimore police department, with its statistics to manage, its internal politics to manage and its chain of command to respect, set against a highly organised drug gang, who too have more than their fair share of problems.

The Wire is a slow burn show, taking time to delicate put its pieces in place. Rarely do you get a dramatic end to an episode, and it's not afraid to humanise and blur the lines between good and bad. But, bluntly, there's nothing--not even The Sopranos--that US TV has broadcast in the last ten years that can hold a torch to it. This first series is genuinely outstanding television, and really deserves your attention. And the good news? Excellent as it is, this first series isn't even the best that The Wire has to offer…--Simon Brew

Synopsis
A detective called McNulty is part of a team investigating drug related crime in Baltimore. With the help of detective Shakima Greggs, the two do everything they can to bring down a powerful druglord... A television series created by a crime reporter David Simon and former detective Ed Burns.

Customer Reviews

Simply Awful
After seeing all the positive reviews I thought it would be a sure thing that this would be a good show... but how wrong could I be. The show is so slow paced, the actors are all one dimensional and every episode is like a repeat of the last with about 10 seconds of actual action. All this is topped off with language that is unnecessarily difficult to understand. Please don't waste your money like I did, the most I could stomach was 3 episodes.
24, prison break, lost and house are all far better than this garbage.

Slow-burn masterpiece
The Wire revolves around a police investigation of drug dealers in Baltimore using a wire tap; doesn't sound thrilling does it? Shows like The Shield would have burnt through this story arc (and about 46 bodies) in maybe 3 episodes. The problem is though, that with that fast and loose approach you never really care all that much about the characters, it almost becomes like watching a horror movie just guessing who's going to get bumped off next.

As others have said, The Wire is very different. The nearest comparison for me is The Sopranos rather than any other cop drama; like that epic series the characters in The Wire are flawed, scarred, even fragile, but that makes their moments of strength all the more engaging. I also didn't really get hooked until I was a few episodes in, but once you've started watching The Wire, it ruins your ability to watch lighter-weight shows like CSI or Law & Order, which isn't necessarily a bad thing!

Final point of trivia, both the lead detective McNulty and one of the two villains, Stringer Bell, are both British, doing outstanding accents. Check YouTube for evidence!

Great if you enjoyed: The Sopranos, Heroes, ER
Not so great if you enjoyed: The CSI's

The Wire Seasons 1-4
For those wondering if they should start watching the wire and dont want to read the long (but praise worthy) reviews that have been written here, briefly:

Season 1 - 5* very good, great characters, great stories, exciting, funny all those things. It really is fantastic!

Season 2 - 2* I found the story a bit boring, not half as exciting plotwise or character wise as season 1. The strength of the wire is that the characters are so believable you end up loving all of them good or bad. There's little of that in this series

Season 3 - 3* Improvement on Season 2 but again not as entertaining as season 1. The best parts are where the story refers to characters from season 1 which is all too rare in my opinion

Season 4 - 5* I'd give it 6* if I could! Has a great balance of new and old characters and it tells a great story which combines both. The story of the youthful new characters is great.

Overall YES GET THE WIRE! Season 1 is great and it's definately worth sitting through Seasons 2&3 so you understand whats going on in season 4. You could bounce from 1 directly to 4, however if you enjoyed season 1 as much as I did you will still want to watch all of them.