The Shield Season One

Dom Robinson reviews

The Shield Season OneDistributed by

Columbia TriStar

• Cert:
• Cat.no: CDRP 1198
• Running time: 575 minutes
• Year: 2002
• Pressing: 2003
• Region(s): 2, PAL
• Chapters: 78 plus extras
• Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Surround)
• Languages: English
• Subtitles: English, Dutch
• Widescreen: 1.78:1
• 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
• Macrovision: Yes
• Disc Format: DVD 9
• Price: £19.99
• Extras : Behind the Shield, FX Featurette, Casting Tapes, Deleted Scenes,Season 1 Epilogue, Cast/crew Audio Commentaries
  

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  Directors:

  Clark Johnson, Gary Fleder, Stephen Gyllenhaal, D.J. Caruso, Guy Ferland,Leslie Libman, Nick Gomez, Scott Brazil

Producers:

Glen Mazzara and Dean White

Creator:

Shawn Ryan

Writers:

Shawn Ryan, Glen Mazzara, Kevin Arkadie, Kurt Sutter, Scott Rosenbaum

Music:

Matthias Weber

Cast:

Vic Mackey: Michael Chiklis
Danielle Sofer: Catherine Dent
Shane Vendrell: Walton Goggins
Julien Lowe: Michael Jace
Curtis ‘Lemonhead’ Lemansky: Kenneth Johnson
Holland ‘Dutch’ Wagenbach: Jay Karnes
David Aceveda: Benito Martinez
Claudette Wyms: CCH Pounder
Ronnie Gardocki: David Rees Snell

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With so many cop series about, The Shieldwas one I missed initially because it was started on Five at a time that wouldclash with too many other things so I missed out back then. I heard a lot ofgood things about it, but it still didn’t seem like that sort of thing I wouldfind that engrossing. Such programmes can have likeable characters andsemi-interesting plots, but become all too predictable in the way each episodeplays out.

So when this set of four discs landed on my doormat I was pleasantly surprisedto find a series which, while occasionally towing the predictable line ofthrowing a plot in which will be tied up within 44 minutes, there’s an undertowof police corruption which is the mainstay of this runaway train.

Step up Detective Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis), the baddest of the bunch.Looks like a beefier Grant Mitchell, with one-liners Bruce Willis would beproud of, but he’s a man who’ll get the job done his way, even if that meanscommitting blatant murder. “To protect and serve”? Only his best interests,although he will certainly look after his own.

The supporting cast are equally adept. Catherine Dent is, Danielle Sofer,the only female cop on the beat in the office, Michael Jace plays therookie black cop, Julien Lowe, who gets teased in certain areas of the districtfor betraying his ‘brothers’, Jay Karnes is Dutch, the one who thinkshe’s above most regular cops because he doesn’t have to go out on the beat,Benito Martinez is Mackey’s Latino superior David Aceveda, ready to expose hisdastardly deeds if only he can get enough evidence while also looking out forhimself and a potential political career, and there’s also high-upsupport from E.R.‘s CCH Pounder as Claudette Wyms.

At the time of writing, I’m six episodes into this series but ameagerly looking forward to watching the rest, seeing how the events turn outand cross over from one episode to the next. Even if you’ve never watchedthe show before but enjoy intense, well-acted drama, £34.99 is a bargainfor this boxset.

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Det. Vic Mackey – not a man to be trusted by all,
but some would trust him with their lives.

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For a relatively new series the picture is perfect, as you’d expect. Shot inanamorphic 16:9 widescreen, the frame is used to the full, which is alwayswelcome instead of some TV directors trying to cram everything into thecentral 4:3 area.

The sound is in standard Dolby Surround, but comes across best when musicis employed in a number of scenes. Any scenes lacking in such sonics don’tdetract because those are usually the consuming dialogue ones.

All but one of the extras are on the final disc, along with the 13th episode.

• Behind The Shield (21½ mins):Shot in 4:3, this is a fairly standard ‘making of’ with clips from variousepisodes mixed in with plenty of chat from the cast and crew about the seriesin general and how the violent content reflects what the police have to faceon a regular basis. (Surely some artistic licence though?)
• FX Featurette (2½ mins): ‘FX’ is the channel which broadcasts the series in the USA and this is morelike an extended trailer with a few cast/crew comments thrown in.
• Casting Tapes (18 mins): All the main cast get a chance to show what they’re made of here, but ofthe 8 clips within the time the smallest amount goes to the best one onscreen,Michael Chiklis. Still, they’re all good and you still have the full seriesin which to enjoy seeing them.
• Deleted Scenes (25½ mins): An impressive 17 of them here and it details which come from which episodeso you can safely bypass those for episodes not yet viewed. All of them arein non-anamorphic 16:9.
• Season 1 Epilogue (20 seconds): A spoiler-free end to the DVD from Michael Chiklis.
• Cast/crew Audio Commentaries:One per episode from various members of the cast and crew.

Some good extras there, but in the main nothing more than the basics you’dexpect. Fans of audio commentaries will welcome one for each episode though.

The main menus are static and silent, each showing a different member of theShield team. Subtitles are in English (for the hard of hearing) and Dutchand there are 6 chapters per episode, making 78 in all.

FILM CONTENT
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS


OVERALLPlay The Shield gamehereReview copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2003.