December 09, 2008.

Mindblowing.

Rating: 5
This show redefined television. What The Sopranos did for changing the way we look at the mafia, The Shield did for cops. Vic Mackie is the very definition of moral ambiguity. Almost gives a wild west feel to modern day law enforcement. Vic, Shane, Lem, and Ronnie enforce their own brand of justice. These guys are definite mavericks, and this show is definitely a phenomenal achievement in television history.

December 02, 2008.

Wow!.

Rating: 5
All I gotta say is wow. I'm a big fan of TV on DVD and have been searching for my next show to get into. I have all the 24 seasons, all the Lost seasons (my two favorites...until now), and was looking for something to watch since I'm all caught up on those two shows and prefer serial type shows.

I decided to give Shield a shot remembering the glowing reviews (and controversy) it had when it first came out back in...well, whenever it came out (sorry, currently too lazy to dig for that particular fact).

I can say that the first season of The Shield was probably some of the best stuff I have ever seen in a TV show. It is on par with some of the best movie dramas ever made. I highly recommend this show to anyone who has not seen it before (those folks like me looking for TV on DVD they haven't seen before). I can only hope that further seasons live up to this first one.

December 10, 2008.

BEST SHOW OUT THERE.

Rating: 5
Action, suspense, excellent cast and crew-the script and plot is amazing!! Not for children or the faint of heart :)

December 02, 2008.

It's okay..

Rating: 4
A stirring examination of the duality of man, "The Shield" follows detective Vic Mackey, head of the Strike Team in the fictional LAPD district of Farmington. Along with fellow detectives Shane, Lemonhead, and Ronnie "Moustache" Dobbs, Vic navigates the back alleys of LA, committing criminal triage, allying himself with a wide array of characters like the two-bit drug dealer Rondell, the drug running rapper Kern, and drug cartel businessman Tio.

The underlying question of the series could be, "What sacrifices, man?" What sacrifices, man, indeed. Through the continual snowballing of smaller infractions, the Strike Team finds itself ever more mired in the seedy underbelly of the streets. Planted evidence here, blackmail there, and suddenly Vic has gone from sterling detective to ultimate supercop, capable of bringing in and bringing down the most horrific of criminal offenders. What sacrifices, man! I applaud Vic for making the difficult choices others cringe away from, and making them in a manner that brings the most harm to alleged felons while protecting some innocents.

That's not to say the show is perfect, mind you. There's an entire infrastructure of other, more law-abiding police Hellbent on preventing Vic from violating a street thug's 5th Amendment rights and stopping crime in the streets. Fortunately, the bulk of these officers aren't that bright and even if they do wise up to Vic's war on crime, there's nothing they can do about it -- Vic cleans up his own messes, if you catch my drift.

*Spoiler* Vic kills some people to cover his tracks. *Spoiler*

Also, Vic's wife doesn't deserve Vic; man, you have got to get away from that girl.

For fans of Greek tragedies, some of Shakespeare's more grim plays, and people who love watching cops beat the ever living Hell out of punks.

December 12, 2008.

Widescreen.

Rating: 3
To be clear, this is the DVD set of Season 1 re-released in 2008:

I broke down & bought the new Sony release of Season 1. Here are my nitpicks about the differences with the original release:

The new set is in widescreen, which is a night & day difference from the old set on my HDTV.... The "Previously on The Shield" segments absent on the original Season 1 set are here. But, the 1st chapter stop is after the opening credits, not the recap. What a bunch of duki! Also, there are no chapter selection menus. All the original extras are here, minus the original script of the Pilot. The credits all replace the Columbia-Tristar logo with the Sony logo....

The menus use the same design as the original R1 set. The cover is also the same, without the gold reflective effect the original had.

Overall, the technical presentation is much better on this set. Plus, since they're a slim cased set, getting these Seasons will save me space on my shelf....