| The Shield: Complete Series | User Reviews Send this to a friend | | The Shield: Complete Series | | |  | | Manufacturer: SONY PICTURES | | Customer Rating: | | | List Price: $159.95 | | Sale Price: $85.88 | | Availibility: Usually ships in 24 hours |  Free Shipping Available | | Buy Now |
| | | Product Description | | All seven seasons of the Emmy®-winning, groundbreaking series in a collectible 34-page bound anthology book filled with photos, quotes and a special letter from creator Shawn Ryan! Loaded with DVD extras including new featurettes, this set includes all 88 arresting episodes and an amazing ensemble cast featuring Emmy® winner Michael Chiklis. | Product Details |  No details are available for this product | Video Reviews |  No video reviews found for this product. | Customer Reviews |  Dark, gritty, and powerful | | Review Date: March 3, 2010 | | Reviewer: Bryan Creel, | I recently finished all 7 seasons of The Shield. This series has to be in my top 5 TV series of all time.
The show is very character driven. Each one usually has a typical "cop show" subplot, but the broad arcs are about the characters. Make no mistake, this is a very dark show. I would find my moods affected by watching it often times. I like how "real" the characters are. Even the moral centers of the show do bad things and have human failings. In my view a large part of the series is a meditation on morality. Vic Mackey does some horrible things but is also in many ways a good and sometimes even heroic character. It embraces the shades of gray that real people are made up of.
If you have any attraction to action dramas then watch this show. After the first episode you will know if you like it or not. As a testament to how much I liked the series, after I finished it I went online and watched the videos F/X hosted of conversations with the cast and creator. That's not something I ever do.
It's also very unusual for a series to remain strong over such a long run. That's especially the case when it is a coherent story and not an episodic show like a comedy. Five out of five stars. I would give six if I could. |
They fixed it! | | Review Date: January 12, 2010 | | Reviewer: Cletus Van Damme, | | I just got my replacement set today and there is now a protective sleeve for each disc. Haven't checked them all yet, but so far they are totally mint! A stunningly beautiful series set for the most compelling drama ever. Amazing value. |
No more scratches!! | | Review Date: January 18, 2010 | | Reviewer: A. Adams, San Jose, CA | | I really wanted to order this set but held off when I read all the reviews talking about the packaging problem. When the product went on backorder, I hoped Sony was fixing the problem and placed my order. The set arrived with paper inserts protecting each disc. No scratches on any disc. I have only played the first disc in its entirety (it was the only one that was slightly difficult to remove from its slot in the package) and it was flawless. This is a great series---don't miss it! |
Awesome show, packaging issues fixed | | Review Date: June 22, 2010 | | Reviewer: M. Herzog, chicago | Before I review the Shiled itself, I want to let everyone interested in the show know that the packaging issues involving scratched discs has been addressed. The book like format is the same, but the packaging now contains slip covers for each disc of the show. This prevents the discs from getting scratched, and provides further and better cover to each disc. Be warned though, if not careful in pulling out the discs with the slip, scratching may still occur. Otherwise, the pacackaging is pretty cool, with pictures, and references to the entirety of the show. For those a fan of the show, its a pretty nice rememberance, for those new, it provides several clues with relatively minor spoilers.
As to the show, to call it one of the finest cop dramas is a bit limiting. It is just one of the finest shows. The acting is top notch, with you often losing the feeling your watching actors, and truly feeling like your watching a documentary. The writing is just as good. In fact, the use of the book style in packaging is the perfect example of the show: its like a novel. Each season bleeds into the next, with story elements of the first season being relevant all the way until the final season, with many story lines in between crossing between seasons. The show packs an intensity as well as emotional punch that is simply superb, with the right amount of humor and angst anyone could require of any show.
The show is violent and foul, so those looking for a sitcom probably won't find a lot to like. But the use of violence and foul language helps the realism of the show, and necessary as judging Vic Mackey as a good guy or bad guy wouldn't be so morally grey without both. This of course goes to the heart of the show: is Vic Mackey a good person doing bad things, a bad person doing good things in a bad way, or somewhere in between. The show leaves it up to you to decide. There aren't too many shows of this caliber to come along, so cherish it when you have it. Highly recomended! |
A fitting packaging for one of the most ground-breaking dramas ever aired | | Review Date: November 28, 2009 | | Reviewer: Michael A. Weyer, | I have seen the complaints from many on disc scratches and agree there's the risk with these cardboard sets. But if you can get past that, this is still a fantastic show that shines no matter how it's set up. This ranks right up there with "The Wire" and "Battlestar Galactica" as the greatest dramas never nominated for a Best Drama Emmy. But thier loss is the viewer's gain.
It's amazing to consider just how much "The Shield" changed television. Before 2001, people figured that the only way to do real hard-hitting adult dramas was pay cable such as HBO or Showtime. But "The Shield" changed that forever, making people realize you could do daring TV without needing such utter freedom as long as it worked. And it does, in every way possible. Without this show, we wouldn't have "Nip/Tuck," "Damages," "The Closer," or "Mad Men." That's more of a legacy that most shows get but it's well earned.
In one set, the series is truly a novel for television, a look at a district so riddled with crime that the cops often have no choice but to break the rules to keep order. The character shine throughout and provide a fantastic roster: A beat cop struggling with his sexuality; his partner showing how hard it is for a woman to be accepted in a man's field; a noble detective who keeps being hopefuly despite the darkness of his cases; and the captain who's willing to put his goals of political office over justice. And at the center is the Strike Team, a group of cops who regularly bribe, accept bribes, blackmail, steal and even murder while wearing the badge. Throw in season-long guest appearances by Glenn Close and Forest Whitikar and you've got sheer brilliance.
The prime reason the show works can be summed up in two words: Michael Chiklis. The actor deservedly won an Emmy for the show's first season but should have been in the running for every one after. His Vic Mackey remains one of television's most amazing characters, a man willing to do anything to get ahead but Chiklis manages the impossible: Not only making a cheating, murdering corrup cop not only someone to root for but even a sympathetic figure to boot. Half the fun of the show is seeing Vic managing to pull his schemes right under the noses of his superiors and keep on top. Yet you feel the pain he does with his family problems and more. Thanks to him, the show shines as well as it does and the actor should always be remembered for his work here.
The extras are terrific with slews of commentaries, deleted scenes and more. The box set has a good booklet on the show as well as a bonus disc of new features, such as the real-life police scandal that inspired the series. But it's the show itself that deserves attention, not just for how it changed the rules of cable TV but how it happens to be one of the most powerful, shocking, emotional dramas ever. From the first shot to the stunning finale, "The Shield" is a must-have for a fan of TV, no matter what genere you like. And if the box set isn't perfect? Well, the number one rule of "The Shield" was always how it's not a pretty world but you make your best with it.
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