Homicide Life on the Street - The Complete Season 5

Rating:
Summary: Seasons 1&2 on DVD
Review: Some reviewers have commented on the "poor" and "grainy" picture quality of the discs for seasons 1&2. Disregard that comment. The show's first two seasons, which were barely long enough to be called seasons, were filmed with an intentionaly gritty look. And the sound is hard to hear much of the time. They were going for a "realistic" feel, which the DVD reproduces. Turn up the volume, it's still a fantastic show.

Starting with season 3, you will notice the picture quality improves a great deal. With a full season pick-up and slightly bigger budget, the show was able afford better lighting and sound.

The stories are just as good, though. The writing was in no way affected by the slightly glossier look. And they brought on Exec Prod. Henry Brommel, a great addition to an already great staff of writers.

If you've never seen this show, you should. It was amazing. And it holds up ten years later. Better than ever.

Rating:
Summary: Only slightly better then VHS
Review: I am the biggest fan of Homicide. I taped every episode that aired. I can't tell you how thrilled I was to know that one of tv's greatest shows would be coming to DVD.
That is until I bought the first sets that came out.
The picture is pretty grainy in spots and seemed like a rush job getting it to DVD. I looks like a copy of someones copy not even a perfect print.
The audio is no better then any DVD put in your surround sound without 5.1. And the extras lack.
How about some deleated scenes some cast commentary? I mean give something back to the fans who followed it through the years.
Even if you could take the time and at least make it WIDESCREEN I couldnt thank you enough NBC and A&E. But for the asking price of the DVD sets at least make it worth it to the fans and not just a easy review VHS copy.
Brian

Rating:
Summary: No spoiler warning....
Review: I love the series (Homicide Life on the Street) but the DVD set is lacking any special features.Director/cast commentary anyone. No closed captioning. Lastly the Episode Summaries in this set give away the whole plot without mercy. Come on A&E the hardworking men and women of Baltimore's Finest deserve a little bit better than this--and so do the fans.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: I rate the series 5 stars, but the DVD's lower, because it seems with each dvd release we get less and less features at a higher price. There are NO song listsings on the Season 5 dvds -- what happened? Did they rush to get them released? Whatever happened to consistency?

Rating:
Summary: 16mm
Review: The 'grainy' quality of the video is due to the fact that the episodes were all filmed in 16mm.
This was probably lost on the broadcast TV image, and is now in full effect on the DVD.

Rating:
Summary: Homicide's Darkest Season, But Worth the Watch
Review: The fifth season of Homicide saw tragedy strike every single member of the squad, making for the series' darkest, most introspective year. The two hardest hit were Frank Pembleton and Mike Kellerman. Pembleton, who was felled by a stroke in the previous season's finale and spends the first half of the fifth season regaining his basic ability to write, talk and move properly, also struggles to regain his top-notch investigative prowess in the box solving murder cases. But just when things return to normal for him on the job, his marriage falls apart at home ("Valentine's Day.") Andre Braugher's portrayal of a recovering Pembleton proves him to be one of the finest dramatic actors on television during Homicide's run. Meanwhile, Kellerman finds himself grounded when he is the target of a police corruption investigation stemming from his time in the Arson unit ("Bad Medicine.") To make matters worse, Kellerman finds himself facing his old drug lord nemesis Luther Mahoney, who keeps slipping through his grasp again and again. These events drive Kellerman to a suicidal night on his boat ("Have a Conscience") and ultimately, to a violent confrontation with Mahoney ("Deception") that will reap consequences for Kellerman throughout the following season.

The other members of the Homicide unit have their share of problems as well. Lewis' surprise marriage is also in trouble and he finds himself tempted by a female cop (Teri Styvers) assigned to help him nail Mahoney ("Control.") Bayliss finds himself struggling with demons from his past when he works yet another child murder ("Betrayal.") This case ultimately leads Bayliss to drop Pembleton as his partner, destroying the strongest relationship in the squad. Munch must face his past as well when he works the brutal murder of his old high school crush, leading him back to his Jewish faith ("Kaddish.") Also, the new Medical Examiner Juliana Cox (Michelle Forbes) meets with tragedy in her very first episode when she loses her father to a long illness ("M.E., Myself and I.") Even recurring D.A. Ed Danvers (Zeljko Ivanek) watches his fiancé get shot down during a botched robbery in a bridal shop ("Blood Wedding.") SGT. Kay Howard nearly escapes tragedy, but in the heartbreaking season finale ("Partners and Other Strangers"), she finds herself solving the murder of her old partner, Beau Felton (Seasons 1-3.) This two-part closer would see the return of former cast members Daniel Baldwin and Isabella Hofmann, as well as future cast regulars Jon Seda and Peter Gerety.

Some fans felt the show began to decline at this point in the series, but the personal drama does not intrude on Homicide's basic formula of success. In some ways, it helps to enrich the characters that made the show so special. We are treated to intense interrogations, gritty realism and unexpected twists. A particularly noteworthy episode is, "The Documentary," in which crime scene videographer Brodie pays homage to the cops that speak for the dead. His documentary went on to win a fictional Emmy and would be his reason for leaving the show at the end of the fifth season, along with Kay Howard. Other noteworthy episodes include "Prison Riot," a foreshadowing of Tom Fontana's bloody HBO prison saga, Oz. Also, "Double Blind," "The Heart of a Saturday Night," and the two-part premier, "Hostage."

As always, the video presentation is superior to VHS and the scenes are a bit less gritty since Homicide's first two seasons. I was glad to see that A&E took care to present the episodes in chronological order, since many story arks run throughout multiple episodes. I was also glad that they finally included the previouslies, even though they are separate from the episodes. The commentaries by David Simon and others are always interesting. I do have to blast A&E for not including song lists in this package. The music is an important part of the series and if they did it before, they should stay consistent. Still, its good drama and definitely worth adding to your collection.

Episode List:

*Hostage 1
*Hostage 2
*Prison Riot (guest star Charles S. Dutton)
*Bad Medicine
*M.E., Myself and I
*White Lies
*The Heart of a Saturday Night (guest star Rosanna Arquette)
*The True Test (guest star Elijah Wood)
*Control
*Blood Wedding
*The Documentary
*Betrayal
*Have a Conscience
*Diener
*Woo's On First
*Valentine's Day
*Kaddish
*Double Blind
*Deception
*Narcissus
*Partners and Other Strangers 1 (guest star Daniel Baldwin)
*Strangers and Other Partners 2 (guest star Isabella Hofmann)




Rating:
Summary: darkest emotional road for the series
Review: The first season saw changes in the cast. Gone were Ned Betty and Daniel Baldwin, to depart at the end of the years Isabella Hufmann and Melissa Leo. For the "characters", this season was a rough one personally.

Frank Pembleton, who was now partnered with Bayliss, sees their partnership coming apart for two reasons. Pembleton has suffered a stroke and chaffs at the medication, chaffs at the desk duty. While Bayliss is once more haunted to the point of obsession over a child murder case. To add to the strain, Pembleton stroke is destroying his marriage. Mike Kellerman, who joined in the 4th season, is hounded by an old nemesis, Luther Mahoney, and threatened by Internal Affairs over problems that occurred when he was on an arson squad. A corruptions investigation looms and Kellerman feels he is being made to take the fall, pushing him to consider suicide. Lewis' recent marriage is going through a tough period and this is amplified as he is attracted to a new female cop assigned to help bring down Mahoney. Michelle Forbes (ST:NG) starts a two year run as the new Medical Examiner, who has a problem with the bottle and getting involved with Kellerman. The end of these episodes has Melissa Leo faces solving the murder of her former partner (Baldwin), and you meet the new members Seda and Gerety. They have a touch of humor with Brodie dashing about with his camera filming everyone (he leaves at the end of the year, too.)

Some of the changes were good; some - in many eyes - thought them brought about the decline in the show. I cannot say I agree with. Things change. If you stay the same you stagnate. Homicide brought forth strong drama, that was gritty, powers and above anything else you'd see on telly.


Rating:
Summary: For Starters...we finally get Closed Captioned!
Review: Well, it's about time. The previous four seasons of Homicide: Life On The Street did not come with subtitles of any kind. Now, they are here. For me, it's important to hear every wonderful stitch of crackling dialogue.

Usually, I watch the subtitles on DVDs & Video anyway. Sometimes it helps to see what a charactor is saying. Especially with foreign accents.

Go ahead and try understanding a lot of Waking Ned Devine without subtitles? Incidently, there's a wonderful Scottish film called "My Name is Joe' directed by Ken Loach which is so heavily accented that it automatically comes with subtitles.

And, now with the pending DVD Fall release of "Homicide: Life on the Street" Season Five, it will be that much sweeter to have the option to finally follow the bated words of Pembleton, Bayliss, Howard, et al that much closer.

THANK YOU A&E!


Rating:
Summary: Those Baltimore Homicide Detectives
Review: You DVD generation have to realize that this show was recorded on hand-held cameras, like the last reviewer said. He said 16mm. It can't be compared to shows that use standard equipment.

On the last episode of the season before this one, Andre Braugher's character Det. Pembleton suffered a stroke. So this season is quite the dramatic one for him. His character had also recently become a father, for the first time. The stroke he suffered made a difficult situation (becoming a father) a more difficult one.

This will be the last season you see the character Det. Kay Howard, who was promoted to Sgt. in season four. I do not know her reason for leaving the show, she was an all right character.

My favorite character on this show will always be Det. John Munch (played by Richard Belzer). He is quite the comedian in real life, his character is always entertaining on this show. After this show ended in 1999, Belzer went to the new TV show (at the time) Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and became a regular on the show - playing the same character he does on Homicide: Life on the Street. He has also played Det. Munch on three other TV Shows: The X-Files, Law & Order, and the short-lived TV Show The Beat.

So see what drama unfolds in the city of Baltimore, in season five of Homicide: Life on the Street