Watch how it all began by purchasing the first season of The Shield on DVD. The Shield ended up lasting for seven seasons altogether, an epic run featuring more ups and downs than you could possibly dream up. But it all had to get started somewhere, and it certainly got started with a bang.
From the very first episode of The Shield, you are brought into the dark, amoral world of Vic Mackey, head of The Strike Team, an elite, gang focused and sometimes undercover police unit.
Vic and his team get the job done, maybe better than anybody else... but how exactly do they go about it? Do they cross too many lines along the way? Do the ends justify the means? Deep down, is Mackey a good guy with a bad streak or a wild rogue that can't be controlled and knows no limits?
If you've never watched this show before, then The Shield season 1 DVD will pull you in from the opening moments and get you involved with the entire series. If you're already a long time fan of everything this show brings to the table, then you'll love taking a calm, peaceful (intense, violent) stroll through memory lane as the first season of The Shield unfolds.
One of the great aspects about this series is that even though all of the seasons have their own story lines and plots, the overarching themes and main plot continues throughout the entire show. So if you really want to understand the characters, what they do and what they go through, you have to start by buying The Shield season 1 on DVD.
To catch up on the show and see where it all began, you can buy the The Shield Season 1 DVDs right here and get a great, discount price! If you'd prefer to pick up all of the seasons at once, you can purchase the The Shield Complete Series Boxed Set instead.
You can rent The Shield: Season One today and begin a free 2 week trial at Blockbuster Online Total Access with no obligations to continue. Full-time plans then begin for less than $10 per month and you can rent an unlimited amount of movies.
I love this show! I first got into it after reading some of the reviews posted here on these Season One dvds, so I thought I would give it a try and I purchased this complete season. I am truly glad that I did. I was hooked from the first episode to the last and I am now watching Season 2 on FX. What makes this show far better than all the other cop shows is that the production value is more in line with HBO or a movie than a cable television show. The acting is extremely good as are the scripts and dialogue. Even though Vic and his team are labeled "dirty" cops you can't help but root for them in the end. Michael Chiklis deserved his Golden Globe award for best actor, he takes on this role as if Vic Mackey was himself in a former life. I was also glad this show won the award for best drama series on TV. If you haven't seen the show yet and are unsure if you would like it, give it a try. It's a bit brutal and graphic, but by the time you finish the final episode, "Circles," you will be speechless, praying to catch repeats of Season 2.
The best cop-drama series on TV bar none
Review Date: February 15, 2006
Reviewer: A. Sandoc, San Pablo, California United States
Shawn Ryan's raw, gritty and excellent The Shield on the FX Channel gives the well-worn cop-drama genre a lethal dose of adrenaline. The Shield is not your dad's old type of cop show. Where shows like Law and Order (and its many spin-offs) shows cops at their honorable best, Ryan's series shows that there are also tragically flawed men who wear police blues.
The Shield and its main character Vic Mackey (excellently played by Michael Chiklis) shows the dark, seedy underbelly of police work in a multi-ethnic district of Los Angeles. The show uses the real-life, scandal of the LAPD's RAMPART Division and runs with it. Instead of South Central, the show primarily uses the fictional LA district of Farmington as their base of operation. It is an area rife with gang activity, violence and drug-dealing. There's also the racial divisions between the Latino and black communities always in danger of bursting into open violence. Through all this lies Vic Mackey and his RAMPART-like Strike Team. Right from the pilot episode we see that Vic and his men are the true power in Farmington as they try to hold the peace between rival gangs and drug dealers. The Strike Team's intentions are noble, but they've also become so much a part of the problem that they do not see their amoral and corrupt tactics as anything bad. They see things in their district on the verge of anarchy and decided that the only way to save it is to use any means necessary.
The Shield pushes the boundaries of basic-cable shows and teeters right over the edge. All the episodes are well-written with stories and topics seemingly ripped from the headlines. The first season runs the gamut from police corruption, child pornography, rapes, murders, gang violence and cop-killing. These stories are not doen with the aim of titillation and gratuitous violence and sex just for its sake. Ryan and company create the stories to show that all the news of downtrodden neighborhoods and Wild West-styled policing are all too real and can be ignored. The ensemble cast surrounding Michael Chiklis also needs to be commended for keeping the gritty and realistic tone of the show from ever becoming over-the-top and sensationalist. Stand-out performances by Walter Goggins as Vic's reckless, racist partner in the team and that of CCH Pounder as the mirror opposite of Vic just shows that all the accolades heaped upon this show has been well-deserved and well-earned.
I can't say enough about The Shield to convey how excellent a show it is. The show doesn't pull its punches in dealing with its characters and its controversial topics. Instead Shawn Ryan and his actors infuses the show with realistic grit and uncompromised storytelling. A new series usually grows on me overtime as the early episodes tries to find the show's personality, but the pilot and its shocking cop-killing by a major character hooked me from the start and I have been a loyal devotee of Vic and his Strike Team. The Shield and Vic Mackey have become the Dirty Harry of the new millenium.
Mercilessly unflinching L.A. police drama!!
Review Date: December 18, 2002
Reviewer: John S. Harris, Memphis, TN
Thank God for cable TV!
"The Shield" is the most intense new cop series in a decade. The action centers around an proto-experimental police precinct in South Central L.A. The action is violent and intense and pulls no punches. Series lead Michael Chiklis stars as Vic Mackey, leader of an elite squad within the precinct. Mackey is corrupt, amoral, but a great and effective cop. Even when you want to hate him you can't help but root for him. The precinct house's new Lieutenant makes no secret about wanting to bust Mackey as part of his political aspirations, but Mackey isn't going down without a fight. And he certainly has the fight in him.
The final scene in the first episode set the tone for what kind of cop Mackey can be. But throughout the whole first season viewers are treated to a level of grittiness and action rarely seen on television. Always intense!
One particularly satisfying story arc in the first season centers around one of the precinct's new detectives trying to catch what he thinks might be a serial killer. He eventually gets his man, and some unexpected respect from his fellow officers, but the psychological price he pays is what will resonate long after the case file is closed.
And "The Shield"'s visual style (namely the art direction and use of color) is unlike any other cop show you've seen before. That sounds kind of odd if you haven't already seen the show, but it gives the show a distinctive look to go with its already distinctive sound and feel.
Watching this show gives me the same charge I got from watching the first season of "N.Y.P.D. Blue" -- the David Caruso season. That whole first season is also available from Fox TV on DVD in early 2003. Too bad the "...Blue" box set won't also contain the first four episodes from Season 2, the episodes that wrapped up David Caruso's character story line through his exit from the show.
**** Easy instructions for watching "The Shield - Season One" on DVD: Point, click, buy, watch, enjoy, pick jaw up off floor.
A reason to stay home and watch TV
Review Date: January 30, 2003
Reviewer: Gaijin, Hilo, HI United States
After much hype by FX, the Shield debuted on cable television last year. It quickly became a hit, with its gritty and controversial characters, top-notch writing, and superb acting. There have been many attempts to do police dramas, but the Shield elevates the bar. With Michael Chiklis plays the lead role of Vic Mackey, the leader of a special strike team that does things in legal and not so legal ways at times to get the job done.
One of the most interesting aspects of the show is wondering what Vic will do next. He does some questionable things at times, but you can't help root for him and his team. With a Captain out to expose Mackey for the "dirty" cop that he is, every episode has you hooked and eagerly anticipating the next. Rounding out the superb cast, is the mentioned Captain, two detectives that get to solve many interesting cases, and two patrol officers, one a female training officer teaching the job to a new rookie. Intertwining them all is expertly done, and each actor knows their character so well, that you can feel it each time they speak.
The Shield pushes the limits of what can be shown on TV, though not as blatant as the Sopranos (which has to be shown on HBO), it has it's share of swearing and some brief partial nudity, as well as dealing with subject matter that is not for the kids. It's about time that a police drama is shown this way. NYPD Blue touched on this, but The Shield in the first season manages to take it up a notch.
The DVD set of the first season includes 4 discs containing the 13 episodes of season one, and includes a making of documentary and commentary on the episodes. Video quality is fairly good, but at times some artifacts are present. All in all, a good set and the quality of the show itself makes this set shine brightly. An award winning show with an Emmy and two Golden Globes (best Drama series and Michael Chiklis, Best actor Drama), you can't go wrong here.
Explosive
Review Date: March 3, 2009
Reviewer: T. Koegel, Chicago-ish, Ill
From the first scene, you know this isn't going to be your regular TV cop drama. Hard hitting, combat style filming, harsh street dialog make The Shield the best show out there. If you watch the first season, you will be hooked into the whole series. DVD quality is great and rewatching the episodes with commentary by the director and actors really gives insight as to the vision they all had. A must see!
One of the Only Shows on TV Worth Watching!