Cheap The Wire - The Complete First Season (DVD) (Elodie Keene, Rob Bailey, Ernest R. Dickerson) Price
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The show's split-perspective plotting is so richly layered, so breathtakingly authentic and based on finely drawn characters brought to life by a perfect ensemble cast, that it defies concise description. Simon, Burns, and their cowriters control every intricate aspect of the unfolding epic; directors are top-drawer (including Clark Johnson, helmer of The Shield's finest episodes), but they are servants to the story, resulting in a TV series like no other: unpredictable, complicated, and demanding the viewer's rapt attention, The Wire is "an angry show" (in Simon's words) that refuses to comfort with easy answers to deep-rooted societal problems. Moral gray zones proliferate in a universe where ruthless killers have a logical code, and where the cops are just as ambiguous as their targets. That ambiguity extends to the ending as well; season 1 leaves several issues unresolved, leaving you begging for the even more impressive developments that await in season 2. --Jeff Shannon
| CATEGORY: | DVD |
| DIRECTOR: | Elodie Keene, Rob Bailey, Ernest R. Dickerson |
| THEATRICAL RELEASE DATE: | 02 June, 2002 |
| MANUFACTURER: | Hbo Home Video |
| MPAA RATING: | NR (Not Rated) |
| FEATURES: | AC-3, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, NTSC |
| TYPE: | Drama, Movie, TV Shows, Television |
| MEDIA: | DVD |
| # OF MEDIA: | 5 |
| UPC: | 026359887321 |
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Customer Reviews of The Wire - The Complete First Season
prepare yourself One of the best television shows ever made. Every storyline is compelling, blazingly relevant, and beautifully acted. But even more than this, the ornate and graceful manner in which these narratives fit together is staggering. It's why, if you "get it" in the first episode, you'll addictively watch all three seasons. The perfect melding of investigative journalism, nuanced film work, and Dickensian plotting. This is the start of something truly remarkable.
McNulty Says This Case Needs A Wire...
HBO produces The Wire, $79.99 US, which is an original drama that I've only recently discovered. The Wire is the creative vision of David Simon and Ed Burns, and skilled writers like George Pellecanos have even been caught contributing to episodes. The thing I like most about The Wire is this, it doesn't condescend to the audience. The plot is fairly intricate for a one hour drama, and there are many different characters to follow, actors to keep track of. Also, the show is fairly realistic in its portrayal of a months long investigation, wherein criminals engage in deadly but lucrative turf wars, and hard working cops face mean-spirited reprisals for simply doing their jobs. People that live in Baltimore will especially enjoy this show, since it's the setting for the drama and exteriors are shot here. There are also some good inside jokes that people from Baltimore will understand, such as when a detective holds up a Laura Lippman paperback.
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>I was able to check out The Wire: The Complete First Season on DVD from my local library, otherwise I might never have reviewed it. Surprisingly, many DVDs (Desperate Housewives, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Sex in the City, The Forty Year Old Virgin) can be found at the library, especially boxed sets, so I'd suggest you check out the online card catalog (and interlibrary loan & hold) at your local branch before you blow your meager paycheck at the nearest Blockbuster. If you like audiobooks, you can find many of these at the library also. Some of the actors that headline The Wire are: Dominic West, John Doman, Idris Elba, Frankie R. Faison, Larry Gilliard, Jr., Wood Harris, Deidre Lovejoy, Wendell Pierce, Lance Reddick, Andre Royo, and Sonja Sohn.
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>Each episode of The Wire has (as an added feature) audio commentary from the writers, and it was fun to go back and listen to the commentary after watching each episode. If you don't speak english, you can listen to each episode in French or Spanish. Deaf viewers can follow along with English, French, or Spanish subtitles. The run time is 775 minutes, so I'd suggest setting aside a rainy three day weekend for maximum viewing pleasure. If you lose track while switching between disks, you can review an optional Previously On... or Next On... trailer for each episode of The Wire. The video is clean and vibrant, displayed in a 4:3 aspect ratio. The DVDs featured no biographical information about the actors featured in The Wire, so disappointingly I cannot tie names to all faces. I think all the acting was superb.
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>Although I love the theme music by Blind Boys of Alabama, I didn't enjoy having to sit through (or click through) the show intro 13 times. When you have the whole season in a box, I think one intro is enough. I'd rather have had a short audio bumper inserted in front of episodes 2-13, and the front end credits replaced with title cards on the back end. 41 whole minutes could have been carved out of the run time if the intro were removed from 12 episodes, and this might have allowed HBO to squeeze the season onto four discs instead of five, eliminating the overdone packaging in the process. I think the actors deserve more credit than I can accord them here, because if there were any paper booklets or inserts that were supposed to accompany the box set -- well -- the library must've removed them from the slipcase. Below find a single summary for the best episode of this boxed set. Enjoy viewing!
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>DISC 5
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>Episode 12: Cleaning Up
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>After Barksdale's supply gets confiscated in the bust, Stringer hands down new rules to the crews. Barksdale and Stringer meet with Levy to discuss their next steps, which includes the elimination of any and all persons that can connect Barksdale to the drugs. Wallace returns to the pit and asks to get put back on the crew. However, Stringer has other plans for Wallace, and asks Bodie to step up for the job. The actor that plays Wallace is absolutely phenomenal.
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>This episode (teleplay by Pellecanos) is perhaps the strongest episode in the first season of The Wire.
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"LISTEN CAREFULLY" is printed on the Box Set.
Of course to "Listen Carefully" refers to Police undercover investigative work, but I'd like to believe the creators of this incredible series literally mean for US to listen to The Wire carefully and to watch carefully also; in order to totally imbibe the MANY rich, colorful, and exciting nuances of these amazing episodes that may be lost on those who are impatient.Indeed, as other reviewers may have noted, the full essence of The Wire may not appeal to the intelligence-challenged, quicky-dicky bang-bang shoot-'em-up mentality of persons that find it a bit of a chore to think.But if you've ever experienced the joy and exilaration of just having finished reading a good book and leaned back with a smile and a whispered, "Wow that was good!" you'll understand why I took other reviewers' hearty advice and just purchased the complete SECOND season of The Wire also.It was OFTEN during this Complete First Season that I was delighted to exclaim, "Wow..this is good stuff!And although the acting and directing was superb, most significant to me was the incredibly high caliber of writing.So while you enthusiastically watch, also... "Listen Carefully".