Homicide Life on the Street - The Complete Season 3
by Barry Levinson, John McNaughton, Keith Gordon, Kenneth Fink, Lee Bonner
List Price:
Our Price: $22.72
You Save: $77.23 (77%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $12.99 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Andre Braugher, Clark Johnson, Daniel Baldwin, Isabella Hofmann, Richard BelzerDirector: Barry Levinson, John McNaughton, Keith Gordon, Kenneth Fink, Lee Bonner
Brand: A and E Home Video
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 1000 minutes
Published: 2003
DVD Release Date: 2003-10-28
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: A&E Home Video
Product features:
- Created by Barry Levinson (Diner, Tin Men), and Tom Fontana (St. Elsewhere, OZ), Homicide: Life On The Street defied the staid conventions of the typical police show, forgoing sensationalized violence and overwrought melodrama in favor of a gripping, unflinching focus on the day-to-day work of solving cases. Powered by deft writing and an extraordinary ensemble cast highlighted by Yaphet Kotto
Movie Reviews of Homicide Life on the Street - The Complete Season 3
Movie Review: Best season of TV's best crime drama ever
Summary: 5 Stars
In my opinion, season three, the first full season of Homicide, was the best. The ratings had been anemic in seasons one and two, so that it was often called during that time "the best TV show you're not watching". Hoping to improve ratings, NBC insisted on a number of changes, both cosmetic and thematic. Unfortunately, talented but unphotogenic veteran actor Jon Polito was ordered dropped from the cast as the network clamored for more on-screen romance and violence. In order to have episodes the network considered more sensational air during "sweeps" periods, NBC sometimes aired episodes out of order, often to the detriment of story arcs that had developed over several episodes. Probably the most infamous of such gaffes during this season was NBC's decision to broadcast an episode featuring the program's first sex scene ("A Model Citizen") prior to the airing of the much acclaimed episode, "Crosetti"; it was in this latter hour that the death of Detective Steve Crosetti, Jon Polito's character, was revealed and explained. The detective had been in Atlantic City on vacation since the end of the second season's four episodes. For reasons never fully explained or understood, especially considering Crosetti's deep religious beliefs mentioned on the show during the first two seasons, he returns to Baltimore and kills himself rather than return to his job. As a result of this deviation from the producers' intended order, viewers of "A Model Citizen" found out from a comment made by his ex-partner, detective Meldrick Lewis, merely that Crosetti had died but not how or when. Fortunately, the DVD set remedies this and has the episodes in the order they were intended to be aired.
This season also featured a trilogy of episodes ("The City That Bleeds," "Dead End," and "End Game") in which three detectives are seriously wounded as a result of a gunman's ambush, two of them almost fatally; meanwhile, the rest of the unit grapples with this reminder of their own mortality as they hunt for the perpetrator. What makes it even worse - if that is possible - is that the detectives were at a completely wrong address at the time of the shooting due to an administrative typo on the arrest warrant. These "cliffhanger" episodes were intended to cause the network execs to decide to let Homicide finish out its season, in spite of its ratings, and they did the trick.
Isabella Hoffmann is added to the cast this year as the new night shift commander, Megan Russert. Although she was added by the network for all the wrong reasons - to "pretty up" the cast - she is an outstanding actress and a welcome addition throughout her tenure. Russert misses detective work, though, and in the Christmas episode "All Through the House" she joins Meldrick on an investigation into the murder of a material witness when she discovers she knows something about the victim's case. During this same episode Munch and Bolander investigate the death of a man in a Santa Claus suit and Munch spends the evening with a child they believe is the victim's son. Munch is trying to hide from the boy what he believes is his father's fate, but is finally about to tell him what he thinks has happened when Bolander returns with the boy's father, bruised but OK. It turns out that the murder victim had mugged the boy's father and stolen his Santa suit only to be mugged and murdered himself later that night.
In one of the series' best season finales, "Gas Man", Bruno Kirby stars as a recently released ex-con who is out to kill detective Frank Pembleton (Andre Braugher) because he had helped lock him up years ago. Kirby plays a loser who, years ago, had falsely claimed to be a qualified repairman so that he could earn a few quick bucks by repairing a gas heater. His faulty repair work causes an explosion and the death of the family whose heater he repaired, and he is angry that he was made a "test case" and tried and convicted of the family's deaths. At the end of the show his plan of revenge has seemed to work out, and he is ready to murder Frank, but ultimately he is all talk and cannot go through with it. The final line of the episode, delivered by Pembleton, is typical of his Shakespearean musings. He is told that he is lucky that the ex-con did not kill him. He responds by saying "Luck had nothing to do with it. God reached down and graced a fool with wisdom." Ultimately, we never know if Frank is talking about himself-for how he handles himself in the situation, or the ex-con for realizing that killing Frank will solve nothing.
These episodes are typical of the high quality drama, often with a sense of irony, you'll experience in this third season of Homicide. So, if you liked seasons one and two, I know you'll love this one too. Highly recommended.
P.S. I am reviewing season three here because I have the room to go into details. However, if you already know you like the entire series, seasons 1-7 are now selling as a package set on Amazon for about $350. This will give you considerable savings over buying the seasons one at a time.
Summary of Homicide Life on the Street - The Complete Season 3
HOMICIDE:LIFE ON THE STREET SEASON 3 - DVD MovieSimilar DVD Movies
Law & Order Criminal Intent: Season 6UNI; Release date: 2011-06-28; DVD
Best price: $35.37
Price in other shops:
Hill Street Blues - Season 1Fox; Release date: 2006-01-31; DVD
Best price: $7.59
Price in other shops:
NYPD Blue: Season 2Fox; Release date: 2008-05-20; DVD
Best price: $16.19
Price in other shops:
NYPD Blue - The Complete Third SeasonFox; Release date: 2006-02-21; DVD
Best price: $12.75
Price in other shops:
Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streetsby David Simon
Holt Paperbacks; Published: 2006-08-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.65
Price in other shops:
Homicide Life on the Street - The Complete Season 7A and E Home Video; Release date: 2005-06-28; DVD
Best price: $15.98
Price in other shops:
Homicide Life on the Street - The Complete Season 6A and E Home Video; Release date: 2005-01-25; DVD
Best price: $17.99
Price in other shops:
Homicide Life on the Street - The Complete Season 4A and E Home Video; Release date: 2004-03-30; Published: 2004-03-01; DVD
Best price: $13.97
Price in other shops:
Homicide Life on the Street - The Complete Season 5A and E Home Video; Release date: 2004-09-28; Published: 2004-09-01; DVD
Best price: $21.99
Price in other shops:
Homicide Life on the Street - The Complete Seasons 1 & 2A and E Home Video; Release date: 2003-05-27; DVD
Best price: $15.42
Price in other shops: