Law & Order:Special Victims Unit 5

Rating:
Summary: Very Well Done
Review: At the beginning I was questioning Universal's strategy to release season 5 before seasons 2,3,and 4. They said it was to help promote season 6. Plus I didn't really watch any episodes from season 5, the only one that I did watch fully was "Painless" on USA network. I must say I was very pleased with what I bought. I had never seen the episode "Loss" until I bought the DVD set. That episode is probably the best SVU I have EVER seen. After that episode I was sad to see Stephanie March go. However to be honest with you, I think her character got replaced with another one just as good. A lot of reviews that I've read say more bad things than good things about Diane Neal and her character. I will admit in her first few episodes her character didn't make some good decisions and had a lack of self-confidence. However towards the middle of the season and at the end I think that Diane Neal played her character very well.
The only thing that I don't like about this DVD set is the double sided discs, but that disadvantage is completely overlooked by everything else.
Here are my top five favorite shows on this DVD set:
1. Loss
2. Mean
3. Escape
4. Tragedy
5. Ritual

Rating:
Summary: WHERE IS SEASON 2, 3, AND 4 OF SVU ??????????
Review: I LOVE SEASON 5 OF SVU BUT WHY ARE WE SKIPPING SEASONS 2, 3, AND 4????? THERE WERE SOME GREAT EPISODES DURING THOSE SEASONS. PLEASE RELEASE THOSE SEASONS ON DVD. WHY SKIP ALL THE WAY TO THE FIFTH YEAR????? PLEASE GIVE US THOSE OTHER SEASONS ON DVD. I AM A LAW AND ORDER FANATIC. I WATCH THIS SHOW NON STOP.

Rating:
Summary: Good Show
Review: I love this show. the dvd is good except, the 2 sided dvd thing is a hassle

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Series, but why season 5?
Review: I really like this series, as I have all the Law & Order shows and spinoffs, but I'm curious as to why we are getting season 5 before season 2,3, and 4? Same goes for the others as well, Law & Order itself jumped for season 2 to 14, weird way to release them, don't you think?

Rating:
Summary: a bit of a deception
Review: I was very eager to get the new box set of the Fifth season.
I pre-ordered and was thrilled when it arrived. I have been a fan of the show since day one.
When I opened the box I was surprised to see that the discs had no picture on them, blanks ..they looked like second hand DVDs that you buy at Rogers.
I was expecting a bit more creativity in the design..The first box set was so beautiful
what happened?
Of course this doesn't alter the quality of the show.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Show Ever
Review: Law and order SVU is the best action show. You expirence the drama like no other show. Christopher Meloni is Det. Elliot Stabler. The lead Det. on all the cases. He knows what he's talking about on the show. Mariska Hargitay is Det. Olivia Benson. She works side to side with Chris Meloni (Det. Elliot Stabler). Richard Belzer is Det. John Munch. He's outspoken and says what comes to mind. Ice-T is Det. Odafin "Fin"Tutuola. He works as partners with John munch (Richard Blezer). Fin is the young Det. who transfered from narcotics. Dann Florek as Capt. Donald Cragen. He is the guy who dose everything the the victems. Stephanie March is A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot. She assits on all the cases by proscuting. Know Diane Neal is A.D.A. Casey Novak. B.D. Wong is Dr. George Huang. He is forensic psychiatrist on the show. Tamara Tunie is Dr. Melinda Warner. She the medical examiner on the show. And finally there is the wonder, fun creator and executive produce Dick Wolf. He is the one who started the show.

Rating:
Summary: My favorite show
Review: Of the few crime dramas I watch ("Cold Case", the original "CSI", "Without a Trace", and "Law & Order: SVU"), "Law & Order:SVU" is by far my personal favorite show. I watch this show religiously on both NBC and USA network. Out of the five seasons, I strongly believe that season five is the strongest season in the series because the storywriting has been so compelling. That is just my personal opinion. I was originally unhappy when Stephanie March left the series after the first 3 or 4 episodes in season five and was wary of Diane Neal as the new assistant D.A. Thank heavens I was proven wrong. Diane Neal has proved to be a worthy assistant D.A to me. Casey Novak is just as defiant and strong-willed as Alexandra Cabot was, especially when she butt heads with Detectives Stabler and Benson like in her first episode "Serendipity". Kinda funny how Diane made her first appearance on the show a couple of seasons back as a co-defendant, and now she is back as the new A.D.A. Sure the plot twists can be confusing but that makes watching this show so enjoyable to be. A lot of my favorite episodes comes from season five. One of my personal favorite episodes is "Ritual" where a young African boy is found murdered. His death appeared to be a ritual death but appearances can be deceiving. Ice-T really shines in this particular episode as 'Fin'. His involvement in the case really shines through and is definitely one of Ice-T's best performances. I really think Ice-T compliments Richard Belzer's snarky, conspiracy loving character. The dynamics between the detectives are certainly worth writing home about. Another really strong episode was the last episode with Stephanie March as Alexandra Cabot in "Loss" which involves a murdered undercover agent. I was moved by the ending and how Stephanie left the show. Although I predicted how her character would be written off, I still thought it was well written. I especially like the partnership of Detectives Stabler and Benson. Although I wonder why seasons 2, 3, and 4 weren't released prior to season 5, I still think that releasing season 5 was a great idea. It is my personal favorite season of the show, can't wait for season 4 now (which comes in second behind season 5).

Rating:
Summary: Insanely Addicting!
Review: This is a definite box set to have if you like the show. Like many, I am also wondering why they chose to release the fifth year ahead of the others. Don't get me wrong, the last season was amazing, but those who have really only followed the show starting in the 2003-2004 season and bought the first season box set are missing all the stuff that had happened, but again amazing box set! The only downfall to this is that rather then the 6 or 7 disc set, they have reduced it down to four double sided discs and the way that they are packaged you're bound to put fingerprints or scratches on the discs. The extra features on the fourth disc are really good as well. I am waiting for the other box sets to make their way out onto shelves. Superb show!

Rating:
Summary: A Bad Strategy
Review: This past season when NBC had a failed show and cancelled it, it was easy to plug in an episode of one of the Law & Order franchise. Special Victims Unit (as well as Criminal Intent) episodes were not only shown on NBC but repeated a week and a half or so later on USA Network. Plus the amount of times repeats were shown to fill spaces left by cancelled shows and over the holidays. That means each one of these episodes has seen network airing in prime timew, not just twice, but sometimes four and five times.

Does Universal really think I'm going to spend my money on a box set of DVDs showing episodes I HAVE SEEN SO MANY TIMES THAT RECENTLY?

Rating:
Summary: Great Season
Review: This season of SVU is very good! Some of the episodes are pretty intense and the introduction of the new ADA is in season 5 as well. Some of the best episodes are Mean, Slaves, Mother, Loss, Serendipity, Choice, and Careless.

As far as the DVDs themselves, I was a little disappointed that they went the cheaper route and used 2 sided DVDs. In my experience, these get messed up a little easier due to the fact that there isn't a side that can take a little injury, and no matter how careful you are with your DVDs, you are going to encounter fingerprints and/or scratches.

There weren't many extras but I rarely watch those anyway. The "police sketches" of Ice-T, BD Wong, and Dann Florek were interesting, though. I was disappointed in the SVU alumni montage because I think it missed some good stars that have appeared.
All in all this DVD set is great.