| |  | DVD : The Wire - The Complete First and Second Seasons |  | | | | | | | | | |
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780783133775
ISBN: 0783133774
Label: HBO Home Video
Manufacturer: HBO Home Video
Number Of Items: 10
Publisher: HBO Home Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: January 25, 2005
Running Time: 1495 minutes
Sales Rank: 58816
Studio: HBO Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: June 02, 2002
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
After one episode of The Wire you'll be hooked. After three, you'll be astonished by the precision of its storytelling. After viewing all 13 episodes of the HBO series' remarkable first season, you'll be cheering a bona-fide American masterpiece. Series creator David Simon was a veteran crime reporter from The Baltimore Sun who cowrote the book that inspired TV's Homicide, and cowriter Ed Burns was a Baltimore cop, lending impeccable street-cred to an inner-city Baltimore saga (and companion piece to The Corner) that Simon aptly describes as 'a visual novel' and 'a treatise on institutions and individuals' as opposed to a conventional good-vs.-evil police procedural. Owing a creative debt to the novels of Richard Price (especially Clockers), the series opens as maverick Detective Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West, in a star-making role) is tapping into a vast network of drugs and death around southwest Baltimore's deteriorating housing projects. With a mandate to get results ASAP, a haphazard team is assembled to join McNulty's increasingly complex investigation, built upon countless hours of electronic surveillance.
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.
It hardly seems possible, but The Wire's second season is even better than the first. The 'visual novel' concept of this masterful HBO series is taken even further in a rich, labyrinthine plot revolving around the longshoremen of Baltimore's struggling cargo docks, where corruption, smuggling, and murder draw the attention of detective McNulty (Dominic West), who's been demoted to harbor patrol while his former colleagues have been similarly reassigned following season 1. What brings them back together is a series of events which at first seem unrelated (including 13 bodies found in a cargo container), and their ongoing effort to topple the drug empire of 'Stringer' Bell (Idris Elba) and the imprisoned Avon Barksdale (Wood Harris), whose business is suffering from short supply, high demand, and disruption of distribution. The dutiful diligence of a Marine Police Patrol Officer and the moral outrage of the longshoremen's union leader are also factored into the suspicious goings-on at the loading docks, and what unfolds in these 12 episodes is an American crime epic easily on par with the Godfather saga. Yes, it's that good.
Detailed synopsis is pointless; The Wire must be seen, heard, and absorbed to fully appreciate the way in which over 40 characters are flawlessly incorporated into a sprawling but tightly disciplined plot that deals, in the larger sense, with the deindustrialization of America and the struggle of longshoremen in a changing economical climate. Offering a privileged and occasionally frightening glimpse of the inner workings of shipping ports and cargo transports, The Wire is also a detailed exposé of organized crime and blue-collar corruption, and an authentic, well-informed study of political maneuvering among police and city officials. There's not a single false note to be found in the cast, direction, or writing of this phenomenal series, hailed by many critics as 'the best show on television.' With all due respect to HBO's other excellent series, The Wire tops them all. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews Average Rating: 
Rating: - The Novel as Television
My friend, Rose, told me I'd love The Wire.She was right.She said it was a great show and that I'd be caught up in fabulous dialogue and I was, but there are three other reasons that this HBO Series haunts my thoughts, three reasons I'm going to explain without giving away any spoilers:
1. While it's a magnificent modern story, it's told in the classic hero's journey style.
2. It feels real - the setting, characters, situations, and story all feel as if somewhere it's playing ... Read More
Rating: - The Wire seasons#1 & #2
Raw and gritty and a whole lotta fun. This is made the right way. The actors own there parts.I am never taken out of the show by the actors. It is easy to belive you are watching the real people in their real day to day lives.You may not want to have your children or your mother around when watching this as it can be a wee bit rank and randy at times.
This is worth your time and money.
Rating: - Greates Show Ever
The Wire does not cease to amaze me. Season's One and Two are masterpieces. I think I like season two a little more, but it is really hard to compare. Season's Three and Four are good, but somehow lack the magic of the first two. This is not only the best show I've ever seen, but also one of the greatest productions ever made. Watching this show is almost like reading a long, carefully detailed, masteruflly engineered novel. If you haven't seen it yet, too bad for you!
Rating: - The Wire
This movie is full of action, it's based off of cops living in Baltimore,MD and believe me it not at all far from the truth.
Rating: - The best show since the Godfather
I am not really a t.v. fan other than sports but this show made me a believer. I was glued to the t.v. when this show aired. This is a great show with a great cast. A must have..
The Wire - The Complete First and Second Seasons | | | |
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