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The Shield - Season 5 [2005]

RRP: £34.99
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Amazon.co.uk

Shane... oh, Shane... what have you done? "Conscience is a killer" is the catchphrase that made season 5 of The Shield the most intense season of the series to date. These 11 tightly scripted episodes comprise the first half of a 21-episode arc, with series creator Shawn Ryan referring to the sixth season (broadcast in 2007) as "Season 5.1." This is The Shield at its finest, culminating in a climactic 11th episode ("Postpartum") that ricochets the series toward a complex range of dramatic complications. Jumping the shark? Not a chance, pal--not when you've got soon-to-be Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker in his outstanding guest-star role as Det. John Kavanaugh, the upright, tormented Internal Affairs cop determined to destroy Det. Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) and his corrupt LAPD Strike Team. As Kavanaugh mounts an obsessive campaign to reveal Mackey's shameful secrets, conscience is a killer in the Strike Team's midst: Ronnie (David Rees Snell) maintains a stoical voice of reason, but as Mackey recruits (and seduces) a savvy lawyer (Laura Harring) to defend against Kavanaugh's harassment, Curtis "Lemonhead" Lemansky (Kenneth Johnson, never better) desperately protects the Strike Team with a sacrificial gambit that provokes Shane (Walton Goggins) to commit a crime that's both shockingly tragic and dramatically ingenious, since it forcefully propels The Shield toward a bold and unpredictable future.

Supporting-character arcs are equally fresh and involving: Officer Danny Sofer (Catherine Dent) is eight months pregnant with Mackey's child; Wyms (CCH Pounder) struggles with a disabling case of lupus before assuming Captaincy of "The Barn"; Dutch (Jay Karnes) is reluctantly teamed with the ethically challenged ex-Captain Billings (David Marciano), leading to a perfect blend of comic relief; and while Aceveda (Benito Martinez) is frantically wedged between Mackey and Kavanaugh, beat-cop Julien (Michael Jace) copes with an eager but incompetent rookie (Paula Garces) who benefits from Dutch's self-serving mentorship. And while season 5 dishes up plenty of crime-fighting action, it's Kavanaugh's presence (and Whitaker's offbeat, intimidating performance) that keeps these 11 episodes focused with laser-like intensity. (Kudos also to Cathy Cahlin Ryan for her superb work as Mackey's anguished but cool-headed wife.)

As usual with The Shield, the DVD bonus features are outstanding, emphasizing the series' cast and crew as a close-knit family, deeply affected by the departure of a major cast member and the death (on April 17, 2006, from complications of Lyme Disease and Lou Gehrig's Disease) of veteran director/producer Scott Brazil, whose contributions to The Shield were nothing less than essential. Beloved by all, Brazil is honored with a memorial featurette, and the powerful 88-minute documentary "Delivering the Baby: The Making of Episode 511" intimately chronicles the production of "Postpartum" and its emotional impact on everyone involved. Audio commentaries for all 11 episodes add to the series' rich familial history (these rank among the best TV-related DVD commentaries ever), and the "TV Academy Panel" is a well-moderated Q&A (by Entertainment Weekly reporter Lynnette Rice) with Chiklis, Ryan, and Whitaker. In the "I.A.D." featurette, The Shield's police consultants analyze Whitaker's character and the essential role of the Internal Affairs Division, and a wealth of deleted scenes prove, yet again, that The Shield maintains its excellence even on the cutting-room floor. No doubt about it, season 5 will leave you begging for season 6. --Jeff Shannon

The Shield - Season 5 - More nail biting
Review date: 2008-06-30 Rating: 10 out of 10

I don't think I need to add anything that hasn't already been written on here.
Fantastic series, wife and I are well and truly hooked and will be lacking sleep for the nest few days!!!

Reviews

WORLD'S ABSOLUTE BEST SERIES ...
Review date: 2008-06-04 Rating: 10 out of 10

Although it is an audacity to sell the box as "complete", it is no reason though to give the film a bad rating. SEASONS 2 & 3 WERE ALSO CUT (Amadillo being tortured and Acaveda's rape scene) but nobody went on a rampage about that. Season 5 is THE ABSOLUTE BEST and most suspenseful season so far. What I was missing in seasons 3 & 4 was the impact the first 2 seasons had. There was so much happening, the Strike Team was being attacked from all angles, I was unable to go to bed, I HAD to watch the entire season in one day. Season 5 brings these feelings back big time. Forest Whitaker becomes Michael Chiklis's toughest enemy and the duel between the two of them alone makes this season worthwhile watching. One moment Whitaker has the upper hand, the other Chiklis turns it around. All I can say, it is almost impossible to take a break and go to the bathroom - it's so exciting! And that is more than I can say about most movies that are being released nowadays!

The Shield begins to slip
Review date: 2008-05-12 Rating: 6 out of 10

I am a big fan of the Shield however in this season the main plot is the Strike Team are being reinvestigated over the death of the team mate "Terry" Vic murders in episode one of Season 1.
Quite frankly I thought that episode of the Shield was very unrealistic and have tried to forget about it so as this season is largely based on it, I didn't enjoy it as much as normal and the season also ends on what I also felt was a very unrealistic incident.

I think it's real shame the writers have gone over the top and as with such a great cast and show there was no need to do that.

I believe Season 6 is largely based on what happens in the final episode of season 5 so not sure if I'm going to continue.

The INCOMPLETE Fifth Season!
Review date: 2008-04-29 Rating: 2 out of 10

.
The Shield is such a superbly scripted and acted show that it really, really pains me to award only one star here. But I feel I have no option, given the cynical and shameless hatchet job performed on the all important final episode in this so-called "Complete" release. Why in heavens name would ANYONE think that fans like me would be happy if they decided to arbitrarily cut TWENTY MINUTES worth of material from the season closing episode? The US version really is genuinely complete, not to mention stuffed full of more extras. Unlike the sad offering we get fobbed off with here in Rip-Off-Britain. Deja Vu.

We the public deserve more from Sony, and unless we stand up and make a fuss they will continue to run roughshod over their viewers. So - enough! I have today returned my series 5 set to Amazon and asked for a refund. And I for one will refuse to purchase series five until they re-release it with the missing footage restored.

Sony - stop messing us around. Give your customers what they deserve!

Five stars to The Shield Series 5 - One Star for this shoddy release.

NOTHING COMES CLOSE TO THIS
Review date: 2008-04-25 Rating: 10 out of 10

always the good guy that makes a major mistake...internal affairs are all over LEM...he gets a house call from KAVANAH a real bad ass I.A.D. agent, who always gets the bad guy...always.thats right,he wants to take down VIC.and the way to do it is get LEM to spill his guts.the battle of wills between KAVANAH and VIC is breathtaking...incredible season 5

Product Details/Specifications

Actor(s):
Michael Chiklis
Walton Goggins
Laura Harring
Kenneth Johnson
Forest Whitaker

Director(s):

Recording label: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
EAN: 5035822636019
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 4
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2008-01-28
Audience rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 603 minutes

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The Shield - Season 5 [2005]

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