The Wire: Complete HBO Season 5 [DVD]

In chronicling a multi-generational family business dealing illegal drugs and the efforts of the Baltimore police to curb their trade, this series draws parallels between these organizations and the men and women on either side of the battle. Drawing similarities between those people who society champion as respectable and law-abiding and those dismissed as thugs, this series sets out to change this viewpoint by showing how criminogenic and unrespectable the articulate, political and respected can be, especially in American political-economic life, and how innocent and decent those from poor, poverty-wracked slums can be. The distinctions between the corporate world and organised crime are shown to have very little relevance.

Episodes Comprise:

1. More With Less
2. Unconfirmed Reports
3. Not For Attribution
4. Transitions
5. Reaction Quotes
6. The Dickensian Aspect
7. Took
8. Clarifications
9. Late Editions
10. -30-

• Actors

Dominic West, John Doman, Wendell Pierce, Lance Reddick, Deirdre Lovejoy, Sonja Sohn, Domenick Lombardozzi, Seth Gilliam & Clarke Peters

• Director

Various

• Certificate

18 years and over

• Year

2002

• Screen

Fullscreen 4:3

• Languages

English - Dolby Digital (5.1)

• Additional Languages

French

• Subtitles

English for the hearing impaired ; English ; French ; Dutch ; Danish ; Greek ; Finnish ; Hungarian ; Norwegian ; Portuguese ; Swedish

• Region


Amazon.co.uk Review
It’s borderline tragic that one of American television’s finest shows of recent times comes to an end with season five of The Wire. Long-praised for its astonishing mix of character, grit and outstandingly scripted drama, the upside is that the show sure goes out with some style.

As with every season of The Wire, there’s an underlying theme running alongside the exploration of both sides of Baltimore’s drug problem, and this time it’s the media. Fighting cutbacks, yet trying to maintain quality, the staff of The Baltimore Sun prove to be a compelling addition to the mix. On top of that, there’s also Mayor Carcetti’s battles at City Hall with the budget, a stretched police force looking for easy statistics, and fractions among the city’s main drug dealers. Desperate times, ultimately, call for desperate measures, and it turns to McNulty to come up with a plan that threads through each of the city’s factions.

That The Wire has maintained its standards for five straight seasons is surely something to be celebrated all by itself. Yet what’s even more remarkable is the way that it leaves our screens, seemingly forever. No character is safe and nothing is black and white, right up to the quite wonderful final episode. And what a way to go that last instalment proves to be. Giving nothing away, it’s a superb fanfare to a genuinely stunning--and unequalled--piece of television drama. If you’ve not already, you really should find out what all the fuss about. --Simon Brew