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| Directors: Brad Anderson, Clark Johnson, Clement Virgo, Edward Bianchi, Gloria Muzio
Actors: Dominic West, John Doman, Idris Elba, Frankie Faison, Larry Gilliard Jr.
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: £50.99
Buy New: £14.98
You Save: £36.01 (71%)
New (16) Used (5) from £14.98
Rating:  95 reviews
Sales Rank: 28
Format: Pal
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language)
Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region: 2
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 5
Running Time: 720 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.7
EAN: 7321900253949
ASIN: B0007IK5Z0
Release Date: April 18, 2005
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 95
 Outstanding - just get beyond the first episode October 14, 2008
mr dotcom (UK)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I watched the first episode of the Wire a few months ago and wasn't sure what to make of it and allowed the box set to gather dust on the shelf. However, while on holiday I started watching 2 or 3 episodes at a time and suddenly it had a rhythm that wasn't there before. This isn't some quick fix TV like Lost or 24, this unfolds like a novel (unsurprising as the show features writing from the likes of Dennis Lehane and George Pelecanos) and rewards the viewer who follows the simple instruction on the cover of the box 'Listen Carefully'. I'm now on series 4 and it gets better and better - I envy those who haven't yet discovered this brilliant series - they have such an treat in store for them.
Life on the streets October 11, 2008
S. Bentley (North Yorkshire)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I've read a lot of reviews about how The Wire is difficult viewing. Is it? It's certainly viewing that demands your concentration. You can't turn it on while you're doing something else because you have to watch what's happening, but I think if you've seen Homicide: Life on the Street you will have an idea of the politics and philosophy behind the show. br / br /And well you might, because the show's creator David Simon wrote the novel that Homicide is based on, as well as a few episodes of the show, and the Wire is based in Baltimore, albeit focussing more on drugs than on homicides. br / br /The characters are real. They have failings and strengths, they're good at some things but not at others, they can be irrational and emotional. This means you can find yourself liking characters who have made dodgy lifestyle choices, just as you can find yourself hating the cops. br / br /But that's not special. That's what writing is meant to be like. We forget because television drama is nowadays written to appeal to markets, but drama used to have real characters. br / br /Is it slow? I didn't notice because so much was going on. Does it have swearing and violence? Well, yeah. But it's about cops and drug dealers. And yeah, there's the seemingly obligatory strip joint that all American crime shows must feature (sigh) but I'll let it off that one. br / br /It has humour, it has political commentary, it has good drama. br / br /What it is is a cracking little show, well worth your money if you're a fan of Homicide or NYPD Blue or if you like examinations of morality.
 Cop drama for the intelligent October 9, 2008
P. F. Yardley (England)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Before you consider the 5* reviews and purchase this set you should take the following into account. This is a gritty, hard and multi layered crime drama set in the world of drug dealing and use at the lowest social level. There's little glamour and the storline unravels slowly but at a consistent pace. The language is quite full on but never over the top or gratuitous. br /However, the acting is first rate with the characters, especially the 'baddies' very real and strong. You can believe this is actual policework, slow, political, ponderous and covered in red tape. br /If you've got the stamina and concentration this is a very rewarding watch, if you want fast paced glossy action it isn't. br /I've rated at four stars because this isn't the best drama i've ever seen, however it's an HBO series which is a recomendation in itself. Finally, if you've booked a holiday in Baltimore do not watch the series, you'll be cancelling the trip.
Flawlessly good October 8, 2008
A. Whitehead (Colchester, Essex United Kingdom)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The Wire is, at first glance, Yet Another Cop Show, about a group of disparate and conflicted police officers working to bring down criminals who are often not much better than they are. Yawn. However, there are two things that mean that people should take this seriously. Firstly, it's made by HBO who, up to a couple of years ago anyway, seemed physically incapable of making something unless it was absolutely gripping and awesome. Secondly, it's the creation of former police writer and journalist David Simon, whose previous show was the brilliant Homicide: Life on the Street. br / br /The Wire kicks off on the mean streets of Baltimore, Maryland. A murder case against a young black man named D'Angelo Barksdale collapses when one of the witnesses is scared into retracting her testimony. The furious judge learns from homicide detective Jimmy McNulty that D'Angelo is a junior member of a far-reaching criminal gang run by his cousin, the extremely elusive Avon Barksdale. This gang controls all the drug supplies on the west side of the city, and are protected by a labyrinth of legit front organisations. Determined to get some payback, the judge uses his influence to have a special joint homicide-narcotics unit formed to bring down the Barksdale gang, with McNulty assigned and an up-and-coming officer named Lt. Daniels placed in charge. br / br /The investigation into the Barksdale organisation by the unit forms the backbone of the first season of the show, but that's just one side of the story. We also get to see the investigation from the POV of the criminals themselves, most notably D'Angelo as he finds himself free but busted down to supplying the lowest of the estates, as well as the kids who work for him. A dangerous, unpredictable third faction is also in play in the form of the one-man army Omar Little, a criminal whose personal code means he can only steal from other criminals. The police try to form an alliance with Omar to bring down Barksdale, but their erstwhile ally has an unfortunate tendency to blow away the criminals they're trying to get locked up, which makes this a difficult task. br / br /The appeal of The Wire is hard to explain to those who haven't seen it. It's fairly slow-moving (although never dull) in places and arguably takes two or three episodes to really kick in. It's also pretty unforgiving if you miss an episode. Flashbacks to prior episodes are non-existent, and plot points and character and emotional arcs often turn on a single conversation from several episodes earlier. You need to pay attention here. Luckily, that's made easy by the tight writing, the ingenious methods the criminals go to avoid being caught and the even more intelligent methods the police need to use to investigate them, and the acting. It'd be almost impossible to single out any of the actors for praise. British actor Dominic West has the closest thing to a central role as McNulty, and handles the character very well, but Lance Reddick (more recently seen as the enigmatic Abbadon in Lost) holds every scene he's in as the formidable Lt. Daniels. Clarke Peters develops his character of Lester Freamon from almost a background role to that of the most intelligent and confident officer on the team in a natural and impressive manner. John Doman's constantly-infuriated performance as McNulty's commanding officer and eternal nemesis Major Rawls has to be mentioned as well. br / br /On the criminal side of things, British actor Idris Elba (formerly seen as Vaughn in the excellent Ultraviolet) impresses as Stringer Bell, Avon Barksdale's trusted number-two man, and Larry Gilliard Jr. provides the main criminal POV as 'D' Barksdale, as he tries to claw his way back up the organisation amidst growing concerns about how the family does business. For most people - including Barak Obama - the stand-out performances in the show belong to two of the more morally ambiguous characters, namely Michael K. Williams as the dangerously unpredictable Omar and Andre Royo as 'Bubs', a street informant struggling with his own drug addiction. Royo's performance was so convincing that whilst filming he was offered a heroin fix by a passer-by who thought he badly needed it, and later referred to this as his 'street Oscar'. br / br /The cast is uniformally brilliant, the writing is fantastic and the show is, surprisingly, very funny. Whether it's the stories of some mind-bogglingly stupid criminals, or the ridiculous difficulties the team faces at getting a desk into their basement office, or Bubs' methods of identifying suspects for the police observers, the show has a jet-black vein of comedy which gives several laughs per episode. This is necessary because the show can be quite bleak, showing as it does wasted young lives amidst the crumbling tenements of a poor city, and a lot of the characters die in rather unpleasant ways over the course of the investigation. The investigation also ends messily, and the fates of many of the characters is left wide open for the second season. br / br /The Wire: Season 1 (*****) takes a couple of episodes to build up a head of steam and get you into its headspace, but once that's done it never lets go.
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