Stars: Michael Chiklis, Benito Martinez, C.C.H. Pounder, Michael Jace, Catherine Dent, Walton Goggins

Summary: A Los Angeles neighbourhood is inhabited by prostitutes, gangsters and drug pushers. Detective Vic Mackey heads up the 'Strike Team' set up to deal with serious crime in the area.

Shawn Ryan, a regular writer for Angel and other programs, created this crime drama to challenge the mores of televised entertainment and to provide a heightened reality with increasingly complicated moral questions. Michael Chiklis stars as Vic Mackey, perhaps television's most no-nonsense detective. His violent, brutal methods bring results, but are often despised by his colleague Detective Wyms (CCH Pounder). Also included in a cast of layered characters including a homosexual cop (Michael Jace) and an officer who is also running for office (Benito Martinez). The show's popularity comes from its hardboiled delivery emphasized by unflinching portrayals of police brutality and unclean street language. Episodes have been helmed by first-rate directors including Nick Gomez (LAWS OF GRAVITY) and D.J. Caruso (THE SALTON SEA).

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Teeming with gang-bangers, perverts, rapists and killers, The Shieldis unabashedly adult TV drama; and even liberal viewers may flinch at plots involving child pornography and serial murder. The first series of this uncompromising police drama focuses on pugnacious detective Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis), whose amoral Strike Team employs dubious tactics in the crime-ridden (and fictional) Farmington district of Los Angeles. Mackey and his maverick partners are at odds with seasoned detectives and beat cops, escalating tensions with precinct Captain Aceveda (Benito Martinez), a Latino with flexible scruples and a political agenda.

The series invites viewers to form their own judgments regarding Mackey's volatile behaviour, which includes killing an undercover cop in the electrifying pilot episode. While each episode stands alone, the arc of the series incorporates Aceveda's campaign to end Mackey's career, the self-loathing of a homosexual rookie (Michael Jace) whose partner (Catherine Dent) is Mackey's occasional mistress, a straight-laced detective (Jay Karnes) yearning for respect, Mackey's compassionate attempt to rehabilitate a crack whore (Jamie Brown, giving the season's finest guest performance), the autism of Mackey's young son and the recklessness of his closest partner (Walton Goggins) and the vigilant stoicism of Det. Wyms (CCH Pounder), who's as sensibly upright as Mackey is corrupted. The Shieldis excellent TV for those who can grasp its complexities; all others beware. --Jeff Shannon

Aspect Ratio:	1.78 Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Cast And Crew Commentary On All 13 Episodes, The Making Of, FX Featurette, 17 Deleted Scenes, 8 Cast Auditions
Year:	2002
Release Date:	July 21, 2003
Runtime:	575 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	C D R P 1198
Keywords:	Action, Box, General, Four, Series, Wide, Screen, Set, Tv, Shield, Adventure, Discs
Genre:	Action/Adventure