71 out of 71 people found the following review helpful:

Every bit as good as you've heard

maxwurr from , 2nd January, 2008

When The Guardian's Charlie Brooker goes on and on about The Wire as being the best American TV show of the last twenty years, he can get a bit repetitive. You'd also be entitled to wonder why, if The Wire is such an amazing piece of work, it only gets a UK airing on the obscure FX Channel rather than one of the big mainstream stations. But your reservations would be totally unjustified. The Wire is every bit as good as you've been told and better. Sure, it'll take you three episodes before you have a clue what is going on, but the investment pays dividends. I can't remember a drama serial from either side of the Atlantic with such depth and emotional range and that delivers trenchant social comment along with a narrative tempo that suffers not one jot from a huge cast of characters and a complex plotline. Unsentimental, brave and moving - I guarantee you will not regret it, but start with season one and work your way through otherwise you really won't have a clue what's going on! Roll on season five!

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66 out of 97 people found the following review helpful:

The most tedious show ever

A Customer from London, 19th August, 2008

I'm sick of HBO. Their solution to every show is to throw in as much swearing, sex and gratuitous nudity and hope that between the bloodshed and crass dialogue some sort of plot will emerge. It worked in Deadwood because it had some of the finest actors alive working it but failed with Rome because after a while you didn't care who lived or died. Same too for The Wire which started off as a long-winded but entertaining show and rapidly tried to 'keep it real' by adding more 'gangster' dialogue and shootings. The difference between this and something like Oz is that while both have some of the nastiest specimens of humanity on display the scipt and acting in Oz actually makes you understand them a bit better and it says a lot about the actor if you come to hate or respect their character. Not for the Wire. The actors are as bad as the script which has nothing to recommend itself and after an hour you couldn't care less who lives, who dies and what happens. The first season had the incredible Idris Elba in for a good amount of time but wiith his departure and that of a few other's we've been left with the wooden Dominic West and the other equally lifeless cast members. Why anyone would watch this in a world that has delights such as Oz, Hill Street Blues, West Wing or Boomtown is beyond me.

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21 out of 21 people found the following review helpful:

THE BEST TV EVER

rpopper65 from , 9th April, 2008

Plain and simple. This is the best TV show ever made. Better than the Sopranos (I mean, I love the Sopranos, but the conceit of a mob boss going to see a psychiatrist becomes the central hook for the whole show? fuggeddaboudit!), better than Twin Peaks (I, once again, loved Twin Peaks and wished it would never end, even when it became so dense and lost its way without David Lynch's involvement), and has now nudged out my previous all-time-favorite show, Homicide: Life on the Streets. I love the complexity of the characters and the fact that no one, absolutely no one, is a totally sympathetic character, they are all flawed, unlikeable and likeable in their own ways. I love the pace of the dialogue and the ear for slang, whether its the slang of drug dealers in the projects, lawyers in the courtroom, politicians, real estate developers, cops, longshoremen or news reporters. I love the fact that it takes place in Baltimore which is NOT New York or LA or Chicago or Miami or Vegas, but just plain, old, boring, depressed, who-the-hell-actually-lives-there-anyway Baltimore. I love the fact that each new series examines a different segment of society and still somehow manages to bring in some (or most, if not all) of the characters from the previous series and show you how it all fits into a bigger picture. I love this show so much that I bought the first 2 series on DVD so that I could go around and find people who have never seen the show and lend them the series so that they could get hooked and keep spreading the fever.

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10 out of 10 people found the following review helpful:

Absolute Class

A Customer from London, 28th April, 2008

I urge you to see this series. Start from the beginning, its a fantastic journey. HBO just seem to go from strength to strength. I love the Sopranos and Deadwood - will there be another series. i almost felt guilty when I realised that I like The Wire just as much. The writing, characterisations and acting are without compare. At times the accents are a bit difficult to understand - but that's why you have rewind. I urge you again to put it in your priority rentals from series one to four.

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Americans best.

Jonlogical from , 6th February, 2010

I confess I intensley dislike much of the garbage that eminates from Hollywood. The wire is nothing short of a masterpiece, the realism of the evil drug dealers, the dis enfranchised cops, and the double dealing politicians and bosses, the whole system on the edge of collapse, set against an almost third world background, I love it. Life is so cheap out there in West Baltimore, not a good place to holiday. Just one criticism I wish i could understand what they are saying. Roll on series five.

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Just gets better and better

HappySomeone from , 16th October, 2009

Series 4 and totally hooked. It's like a drug and by this point you just can't get enough

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1 out of 1 people found the following review helpful:

False start with the Wire

paddiwack from , 9th October, 2009

I probably made a mistake starting with series 4 as I was overwhelmed by the bleak picture of a homicidal black youth crime culture. The youthful and child actors are brilliant, but the unremitting cold violence and story of corruption with so many parallel strands was at first confusing. Is there a version with English subtitles? I find the ubiquity of shaky hand held camera shots to stimulate verity a cliche now [I think it started with NYPD]. Having said all that, there is something deeply impressive and radically sincere about the production. I will therefore skip back to series 1 and try to be more patient and attentive so I can follow all the plots and gang intrigues.

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The Best Ever

AmyBowen from , 22nd September, 2009

The Wire just gets better and better. It is by far the best thing on television and beats most films hands down. In fact everything I have watched after The Wire is poor in comparison. I love it! I was a huge fan of The Soprano's and I hate to admit it, but I think The Wire might be better. I just hope HBO bring out something equally as good soon.

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