Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #269 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-04-14
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Formats: Colour, Dolby, PAL, Subtitled
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 559 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Glenn Close continues the exodus of terrific movie actors and actresses who are finding the more fulfilling and meaty roles on the smaller screen. And with Damages, she’s struck gold in an engrossing legal thriller.

Close plays Patty Hewes, an experienced and high profile litigator. She’s then joined by the eager, and considerably more wet-behind-the-ears Ellen Parsons (played by Rose Byrne), who fits into the role of her protégé. Damages then sees the pair fighting a bitter and prolonged case against Ted Danson’s high-profile and very rich businessman.

Where Damages differs from many in the genre is that its first season effectively covers one single case (albeit with many, many strands), much as Murder One did all those years ago. And this makes for an increasingly layered and intriguing drama, with a healthy number of twists to keep you on your toes.

The entire first season is presented in this Damages set, and very gripping it is too. Superbly acted by its cast of high and lower profile actors, it brings with it a real compulsion to find out what happened next. It’s where the DVD set comes in handy, as there’s no longer a week between episodes to get to the next part of the story!

Damages may not have been the highest profile export from the States of late, but it is one of the very best. And this set is an ideal opportunity to find out what all the fuss is about… --Jon Foster

Synopsis
Damages, the hot new legal thriller airing on BBC is set in New York's world of high stakes litigation. It follows the lives of Patty Hewes, the nation's most revered and most reviled litigator, and her bright, ambitious protégée Ellen Parsons as they become embroiled in a class action lawsuit targeting Arthur Frobisher, one of the country's wealthiest CEOs. As Patty battles Frobisher and his attorney, Ellen learns what it takes to win at all costs, and that lives, not just fortunes, are at stake.

Synopsis
Set in the high-stakes legal world, DAMAGES explores the relationship between high-powered litigator Patty Hewes (Glenn Close) and her naive young underling Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne). Swept up by Patty's camp, Ellen barely has time to catch her breath before being faced with a lawsuit that will challenge her preconceived notions of justice, fairness, and morality. Ellen will have to start learning fast if she wants to keep up with her fierce mentor, whose no-mercy approach to the law makes her one of the most feared and admired figures in the city. Loyalties will be tested and true colours revealed as a class-action lawsuit involving one of American's richest CEOs (Ted Danson) forces everyone involved to stand up for what they believe in. The show's first series is presented here in full.

Customer Reviews

Great show but nog classic
Although i agree with of the 5 star reviews (gripping story, superbly acted, nice pace,...) i'll stick with a 4 out of 5 for one main reason: at certain points in the series it annoyed that i could see through the concept and feel that it was it built according to a "formula". This could be in little details like choice of shots of the director, the presentation of plot changes,...

Just like blockbuster formats, Damages sometimes feels just a little too much like it was created with just too much marketing in mind.

It is because of this that i have to rate it below shows that could overcome this issue and just feel just more 'real', like -for me- The Sopranos, Shield,...

Show is great though, just not a new Sopranos

TV At It's Best
At first glance you might read this as a typical boring lawyer, police and 'killer' drama...in some respects it is. However, its top of its class. It's a clever, witty, and thought provoking drama -and it comes highly recommended.

Compulsive viewing
I watched all thirteen episodes of this drama within four days. The perfomances of the main actors, Glenn Close (as the hard as nails Lawyer), Rose Byrne (the new recruit to her firm) and Ted Danson (the wealthy chief exective they are chasing with a damages claim) are all excellent. The suspense level is maintained throughout, helped by using a flashback style in reverse to tell the story. The bulk of the viewing is done showing the months leading up to the catastrophic finale. This is interspersed with later events leaving you following both the build up and the 'last chapter' at the same time until they meet near the end.
The story line follows a legal battle lead by Glenn Close's character Katey Hewes representing over 5000 former employees cheated out of their savings and pensions by former boss Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson). With hundreds of millions of dollars at stake both sides will do anything it takes to gain or protect the fortune. The twists and turns continually make you unsure of who's the 'goodie' and whose the 'baddie', whose telling the truth, lying etc.
Watching on DVD allows you the obvious advantage of watching this drama at your own pace, essential as you won't be wanting to wait a week between episodes.