The Shield: The Complete Series (2002-2008)

[Yojimbo68]

Stunning news! One of my favorite series of all time and this has the best series finale of all time. I'm in. If will give me an excuse to watch the series all over again.

[karlkalabaaaw]

Probably the best news of 2015 so far. I already have the DVD box set but I'm definitely buying the Blu-ray set. By the way, you guys think this will come out on UHD or just 1080p?

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by Yojimbo68

Stunning news! One of my favorite series of all time and this has the best series finale of all time. I'm in. If will give me an excuse to watch the series all over again.

Yeah, I agree it has the best series finale I've ever seen, if you take the second to last episode into consideration as part of it. It all just built so inevitably over the years and some scenes are really shattering. I felt sick for a LONG time after a certain reveal in the last episode. But, mine and I think many people's favorite scene in the series is the extended monologue from Vic in the second to last episode. His extended pause is the stuff of acting legend! It's seriously one of my favorite scenes in acting history, right up there with Tom Hanks at the end of Captain Phillips. I envy anyone able to see this stuff for the first time.

It's too bad we haven't seen Chiklis do anything good since. I was happy to see him in American Horror Story this season, but it was not a good show.

Walton Goggins emerged as my favorite part of the way through the series. His job in the last couple seasons is especially strong. I'm thrilled that he's actually been getting great roles since The Shield and is even getting some mainstream exposure, like a major role in the next Tarantino movie. I also obviously love Dutch and Claudette's relationship throughout the series. The only characters I really don't care for are Julian (they drop the entire gay angle like a rock after a couple seasons, I guess cause it made the actor uncomfortable, and after that he has no real function on the show anymore) and Assinvader (he's just such an unbearable dick, which is the point, but man I hate watching him, especially during the whole subplot with his high-class escort, their scenes together are so disturbing).

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by karlkalabaaaw

Probably the best news of 2015 so far. I already have the DVD box set but I'm definitely buying the Blu-ray set. By the way, you guys think this will come out on UHD or just 1080p?

I don't think anything is going to come out on UHD for a long time besides expensive studio movies, particularly new ones.

[Jompa]

I hope this will be in 1:78:1 like my DVDs.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

I don't think anything is going to come out on UHD for a long time besides expensive studio movies, particularly new ones.

TV is pretty much leading the way with new content mastered in 4K while movies lag badly behind, I wouldn't be surprised if TV takes up a sizeable segment of the UHD catalogue, at least to begin with.

[EddieLarkin]

Since we filmed on 16mm film and not digitally, Shield is an ideal candidate for this. Plus we always filmed for widescreen safe.

So it obviously will be widescreen. Unfortunately.

[cakefactory]

You people complaining about widescreen, have you actually seen the whole series in fullscreen? I didn't think they ever even had a release of the last couple seasons in fullscreen.

[EddieLarkin]

Even more reason to finally get it right then

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by EddieLarkin

Even more reason to finally get it right then

Is that a no then? Are you a fan of this show? Were you going to buy this set if it was in fullscreen? Or are you just trying to dissuade people from buying it on the basis of your AR principles despite having no interest or knowledge of the series itself? I'm all for AR puritanism when it makes sense (ex, Buffy), but I truly believe it doesn't in this case.

[Doctor Jack]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

Is that a no then? Are you a fan of this show? Were you going to buy this set if it was in fullscreen? Or are you just trying to dissuade people from buying it on the basis of your AR principles despite having no interest or knowledge of the series itself? I'm all for AR puritanism when it makes sense (ex, Buffy), but I truly believe it doesn't in this case.

If a show is filmed with widescreen in mind like this than its fine to be released in 16:9. If it wasn't, like Buffy, than OAR all the way.

[Dick Deckard]

4K is on the way!

[EddieLarkin]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

Is that a no then? Are you a fan of this show? Were you going to buy this set if it was in fullscreen? Or are you just trying to dissuade people from buying it on the basis of your AR principles despite having no interest or knowledge of the series itself? I'm all for AR puritanism when it makes sense (ex, Buffy), but I truly believe it doesn't in this case.

If the later seasons aired in 4x3 then I probably will have seen them that way, as that's how I first watched the show. My copies of Seasons 5-7 (or was it 6-7?) are indeed in 16x9. I'll be buying this set either way if it looks like super grainy 4K loveliness like I hope. It sucks it's in the wrong ratio but I'm a pragmatist, not a purist.

I don't see how this is ANY different to Buffy or The Wire. Shawn Ryan is on record that the show was composed 4x3, like Buffy and The Wire were (though I'm not 100% sure if that changed with the last seasons or if it was just because Fox stopped releasing them).

Also, the fact he refers to the filming being "widescreen safe" is a dead giveaway that widescreen was not the primary AR.

[cakefactory]

With Buffy and the Wire, all (I think? or was there some non-US 16x9 release of Buffy?) the video releases were 4x3, while with this, for a while now they've all been 16x9. I am guessing many others are like me and have never seen any of it in 4x3. I realize this could be used to twist things around and say "oh, so you're saying that DVDs of [just about any movie post-1955] should have been fullscreen, since that was how many people first saw them?!," or "oh, so you're saying that Seinfeld should be released on bluray in 16x9 in the same awful cropped versions that now exist in broadcast everywhere!" Neither of which I'd ever advocate, obviously!

I guess in this case where you're not LOSING anything at all in the widescreen version and the show was filmed in such a manner that it truly was "widescreen-safe," unlike Buffy or The Wire, and the near-total lack of a static camera means that the shot composition was rarely carefully planned, means that I really could not care less about the original AR. In fact, I'd probably think it looked weird at this point if a bunch of the picture I was used to disappeared. I'm all for including both versions, but at this point there's been so much pushing of the 16x9 versions I don't think a 4x3 only release would make much sense.

[EddieLarkin]

I'm not upset about it or anything, I'm simply saying the show would look better in 4x3, so obviously I would rather have it that way.

I can easily matte the future 16x9 release anyway, as my projector has such a function (and then I can pull in my curtains so I don't have to experience those dreaded black bars). Unless they pull a Wire and start recomposing shots because Shawn Ryan feels some could be improved.

[balthazar_bee]

Whoah, Daddy. This is news I can get excited about. The gritty, antiheroic cable drama to end them all.

Walton Goggins is king, and "Family Meeting" is the most devastating hour of television I've ever seen. Soul-crushing perfection.

But really, I think I loved every episode after season 1's "Dragonchasers".

The best thing about this announcement, for me, is that it increases the chances that more people are going to be exposed to this show, which deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as what passes for TV titans today: Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, Mad Men, etc. And even more than those shows, The Shield really does feel like a journey into the darkest parts of the human soul -- what's amazing is that it also manages to be consistently kick-to-the-nuts exciting.

And as far as the OAR situation is concerned, all I can say is I was shocked -- shocked -- to discover, after the fact, that the first few seasons weren't composed for 16:9. Maybe it's such a dynamic, kinetic show, with the camera acting as practically its own character looking here and there in hand-held fashion, that there's less emphasis on formal composition, making it harder to notice. But opened up like that, it looked perfect to me, purist that I am.

It might seem backwards, but the idea of losing any of the "safe" image...I think it'd be two steps forward, one step back. I mean, it's not that it looks "fine" in 16:9; it looks great.

I believe, though I could be mistaken here, that Shawn Ryan has said that he actually prefers it opened up. Take that with the usual caveats -- hearsay, revisionism, Lucas, yadda yadda.

[septimus]

I was just about to finally start watching this show for the first time. I guess I'll be postponing that plan for a couple years!

[samukas]

Originally Posted by septimus

I was just about to finally start watching this show for the first time. I guess I'll be postponing that plan for a couple years!

Same here. I missed so many shows when they were on, that I've been waiting for news like this for quite some time.

First The Wire, now The Shield... HBO, how about some "Oz" too?

[Jay Mammoth]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

You people complaining about widescreen, have you actually seen the whole series in fullscreen? I didn't think they ever even had a release of the last couple seasons in fullscreen.

Yeah people whined about that when The Wire was announced as well, show looks amazing in widescreen HD. Looking forward to watching this series for the 1st time. Couple posters said it had their favorite series finale, want to see if it beats my current favorite Six Feet Under.

[balthazar_bee]

Wouldn't recommend postponing watching it; 2017 is still a long way off.

The immediacy of its greatness will mean you'll be retroactively angry with yourself for waiting. I know I was, having waited for the complete DVD set to come down in price.