Product Description

Dominic West, John Doman, Wendell Pierce, Lance Reddick, Deirdre Lovejoy Directors: Brad Anderson, Clark Johnson, Clément Virgo, Edward Bianchi, Gloria Muzio

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #124 in DVD
• Brand: DVD Boxsets
• Released on: 2005-04-18
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, French, Dutch, Arabic, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, Swedish
• Number of discs: 5
• Dimensions: .58 pounds
• 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

Real Art
Over the last few years the quality of the US dramas have been outstanding. The shortned List -: 24, West wing, Battlestar Galactica Rome, Deadwood and of course The Sopranos.

I borrowed The Wire on the strength of this and it was very hard going at first. It had a gritty and unappealing setting(inner city Baltimore). The Pace was pendantic and there was so much street slang and police jargon, it did not seem to be going anywhere. I had not even read the reviews. I was truly going to return it. But at about the 6th or 7th episode. I began to understand the reason for the earlier seeming directionlesness.They were laying the foundations, indeed there was line I think the character Lester made about building things piece by piece till all the characters fit. I aslso began to realise what the writers had done they had created a whole universe, I simply had to see things in thier context.

Now having watched all 3 Seasons on DVD. I concur with the other viewers is saying that this is truly an extraordinary piece of work, A tale of an American city taken from different perspectives as an allegory for something that is happening in the society at a more profound level. Kudos to the writers for the complexity and depth and to HBO for being so bold (as they have always been). The acting is simply seamless, you could be forgiven for thinking you are watching a documentary. The show scope is breathtaking. It has truly raised the bar on what televison can produce

The greatest cop show of all time.
The Wire was made by HBO an american cable network. By being on cable HBO avoids the censorship and popularism that makes much of the american TV that we receive bland (if polished), this has allowed it to create series of the quality of the Sopranos and Deadwood. The Wire has failed to "break out" in the way that those series have and was only shown on FX289, a little watched SKY channel, in the UK. This does The Wire a grave injustice as it is arguably superior to either of the aforementioned shows as it possesses an ensemble cast as strong as either of them with fantastic performances from Idris Elba and Andre Royo among others. However, it is in plot that The Wire surpasses any other show I can recall, most detective shows are episodic containing one or two crimes at the start of the hour that are solved in the last 5 minutes. The Wire breaks this mould following a team of detectives trying to catch Avon Barksdale and Stringer Bell two dealers who control the drug trade in East Baltimore over a whole series rather than an episode. This perhaps accounts for The Wire's lack of success on TV as one missed episode means you fail to see the jigsawlike case completed and fully understand what happens. The show is also unusual in that it shifts perspective between the police, criminals and addicts and in doing so becomes more than a CSI style whodunnit, and more a show about institutions and the people within them. In short the most fantastically clever thing on telly.

Listen Carefully
It's no wonder this series hasn't caught a massive audience. It's intelligent, it doesn't depend on cheap theatrics and easy hooks, it asks viewers to think for themselves, it refuses to run clichés and stereotypes, its characters are often amoral or ethically flip-flop just like real people, it doesn't hand over the story in neat little bites, it relies on small beats of emotion to redirect the narrative arcs and it absolutely will not make any allowances if you miss something important. When you add the methodical attention to detail in police work, the unfiltered slang used by the gangs, the unremitting bad language, the use of drugs and the occasional splashes of genuinely unpleasant violence it really is a winner. Oh yeah, and it takes its time and goes really slowly as well.

If reading the above you think it's a description of TV hell then goodbye. Don't let the door bump your backside on the way out. On the other hand if it rings any bells with you, then you have to watch this. The closest thing I can compare it to is...nothing else. There's never been anything quite like it. I read someone else here use the word genius and I think it is. It's a novel written for TV.

A word of warning, though. I was in episodes 5-7 before I started loving it. Up until then it was appreciation then it all clicked into place and I went back and played the whole thing from the start.

Also the 2nd and 3rd seasons are even better but you need to begin with season 1.