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The Wire: Complete Season 1 Box Set (HBO)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 |
Average User Rating: 100% (96 Reviews) | |
| 5 / 5 | Listen Carefully
Jon (UK) - 24 June 2007 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.... Read Full Review » |
| 5 / 5 | The greatest cop show of all time.
"deadgehog" - 30 March 2005 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.... Read Full Review » |
| 5 / 5 | Real Art
C. J. Weekes - 1 July 2007 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... Read Full Review » |
| 2 / 5 | Gritty? Yes - Believable? - No
Peter Bird (UK.) - 28 January 2007 On the face of it, a cop drama that follows detective investigations of one major case through an entire series seems a worthy idea, because it offers the opportunity to explore characters, background and plot lines on a much more detailed and realistic level. Don't be deceived. Convolution should not be confused with depth, confusion with convincing narrative nor `grittiness' with reality. On the contrary, the fact that the entire cast, especially the `authority' figures of the detectives themselves, spend so much time swearing, you can't help feeling that the entire squad has group Tourette's Syndrome, and speech includes so many expletives that it is actually sometimes difficult to understand what on Earth they are talking about (if anything.) Wading through all this coprolalia emphatically does not convince me that this drama is `real-life'. (Did they really write all this profanity in the script? - what a waste of paper! Just `be totally vulgar ad lib' on page one would have saved some time if not some tedium.) But that is quibbling about a minor issue. Add the sheer, massive incompetence of nearly all the individual police officers involved coupled with the institutionalised incompetence of the authorities they work for - who, it appears, through political or personal ambition, actually penalise anyone who does actually show acumen, ability or genuine dedication to duty - simply beggars belief. This isn't a police force, this is just a bunch of bumbling clowns without baggie trousers and red noses (apart from the alcoholics on the force, that is.) As for the residents living in `the projects,' the cheap welfare housing in run-down parts of, in this case, the city of Baltimore, where The Wire is set, the suggestion is that all anyone who lives there ever does is deal or do drugs. The project housing in many parts of the United States is often associated with social deprivation, crime, drug abuse and the like, as in other countries, but not all poor people are either crooks nor dope fiends. And, of course, all the politicians are crooks as well? The judiciary has its own agenda, the laws intended to protect the freedom of the individual extend to the freedom to break the laws, including murder, with impunity? No - The Wire is an attempt at a serious and de-glamorised piece of story-telling that tries too hard and sails miles over the top. It does have points of merit, but having a good premise and turning out good narrative in a seriously credible television drama don't always go hand in hand. It's a shame - a little less would have been so much more. ... Read Full Review » |
| 5 / 5 | The King
sammylk - 14 February 2006 Just taking a moment to recommend the greatest TV drama series I've ever seen. Better by some distance than even its HBO peers "The Sopranos" and "Deadwood". "The Wire" is the "Godfather" to their "Goodfellas" in terms of the achievements this show notches up. [I call it a TV drama but the fact is that it's suited purely for DVD, it has complete disregard for the casual viewer and is perhaps best viewed in two or three sittings, a minor detail in episode three will find its significance ten episodes later, etc] Focusing on the drugs business of Baltimore from the police to the dealers to the longshoremen on the coast, I simply cannot rave about this show enough. The profane writing snaps and pops beautifully, the plots are intricate and profoundly gripping, and the acting is nothing short of perfection. What a cast! I don't say this lightly. The characters run deep and authentic, and there are no minor characters in this show, some simply have more screentime than others. The performances are an absolute delight across the board. Being in the UK I've only so far seen the first two seasons [although the third was broadcast I missed it] on DVD, and having loved the first [even more with repeated viewings] couldn't believe that the second series not only kept up the standard, but perhaps even exceeded it. I've heard that the third season is even better still. The show requires attention and commitment and will reward both to a degree that means when each case ends you'll be edified in a way that the "CSI" franchise etc can never even fractionally compete with. They are pizza, "The Wire" is a banquet. We don't get enough banquets, so accept this ones invitation, you wont regret it. Heartbreaking, funnier than many comedies, beautifully played and written with enviable brilliance, if you're unaware of this show then I urge you: invest, it's likely you'll thank me later. Get season one, you won't understand a lot of season 2 without it, and sit back, prepare to find yourself in the midst of genuine greatness. Don't expect episodic entertainment, these are 12 and 13 hour procedural movies divided by necessity by HBO, a network with the balls to have greenlit this series four times, even despite its low ratings, simply on the basis of the fact it's going to enter the pantheon of all time greatest. A little hyperbole there, but it's really above and beyond. So many classic moments, each growing more rich with time, to say more about them or name the moments would spoil the experience of seeing them fresh, as I did and as I heartily recommend -- avoid spoilers [not that the text on screen will do justice to this cast, this direction], you'll be rewarded by the story. It has moments that truly compete with Brando in "On the Waterfront", with "Prince of the City", with "The Godfather", while cutting its own fierce path. Do youself a favour, if you haven't already -- check out "The Wire". |
RRP
£50.99
Release Date
18 April 2005
Price Range
£14.99 - £37.93