Breaking Bad - Season 05

For a long time now, television programs have been making great strides in terms of quality, production values and acting. Some of the shows we've been seeing in recent years really are prime examples of what can happen when you marry exceptional stories to inspired acting. The old bias against "the ghetto of television" is being eroded more with every passing year, and one show that deserves a large amount of credit for that turnaround is Breaking Bad. Bryan Cranston is so wonderful as chemistry teacher turned meth kingpin Walter White that his performance could easily obscure the other actors in this series...but the majority of them are so perfectly cast that you just can't help but marvel how wonderful they are. From Dean Norris as DEA agent (and brother-in-law to Walter) Hank Schrader to Walt's long-suffering partner in crime Jesse Pinkman, a heart-breakingly vulnerable Aaron Paul, this show rarely misses. And even the odd average bit of acting you see here and there ends up being elevated by how truly magnificent the material is. Breaking Bad gets a lot of comparisons to Scarface. Never having watched that movie in its entirety, (I have a hard time with Al Pacino's accent) I can neither confirm nor deny the validity of that statement, but what I CAN tell you is that this is a gripping tale of a seemingly mild-mannered man who, through a twist of fate, discovers the villain within and discovers too, his genius, and we see just how much he will let go of in pursuit of the gratification of his ego. Conversely, his partner Jesse, who starts the series as a petty drug dealer, finds that as Walt becomes increasingly distant from his morality, Jesse realizes just how close his always was. From the cat-and-mouse between Walt and Hank to the complex relationship that exists between Walt and his wife and children, to the string of adversaries that Walt faces in his rise to the top, there is nothing in this show that isn't handled beautifully. If it seems like I'm gushing, it's because I am. I can't say enough good things about this show. It is, by turns, suspenseful, blackly humorous, and touching, often all at the same time. Very few stories strike this balance, and even fewer do it as well as Breaking Bad. If you haven't seen this series yet, whether it's because you've felt like you just couldn't fit in one more, you haven't made the time, or you haven't any idea what all the fuss was about...do yourself a favor: watch it. Very few things in life live up to the hype. This does.

Breaking Bad is my favorite show on TV, and I think Season 5 (Part 1) is the best set of episodes yet. The writing on this show is sharp. The first episode, "Live Free or Die", gives us a flash-forward look at where Walt is one his 52nd birthday (its an intriguing scene that sets up where the series is heading). The first few episodes deal with the aftermath of the events of Season 4, and then the show quickly moves into new territory. With his lab destroyed, Walt must find a new place to cook. He must also find new suppliers and new distribution for his product. Walt's solutions to all of these problems are genius, and that's a testament to the genius of the writing staff on the show. I think that two characters in particular really add to the greatness of this season: Mike, who is given more screen time a has a more important role in the story; and Lydia, an interesting new character who is played to perfection. In addition to the writing/acting, the show has really excelled in its camera work. The production uses the vast desert landscapes of New Mexico to their advantage and are able to shoot wider than any other TV show I've seen. The directors and cinematographer Michael Slovis also aren't afraid to put the camera in unique places that give the viewer a very unique perspective. The narrative this season also allows for a number of great montages, many of which feature the aforementioned point-of-view shots as well as some stunning time-lapse photography. In terms of the blu-ray, picture and audio quality is fantastic. There is also an audio commentary for every single episode. Another great addition is "Inside Breaking Bad"; a short 3-5 minute feature for each episode - it's a nice way to recap the events of that given episode, while also hearing from the show's writers/actors. Please Note: This Blu-Ray set includes only the first half (8 episodes) of the Fifth Season... if you want the final episodes, then you'll need to purchase this too: Breaking Bad: The Final Season (+UltraViolet Digital Copy) [Blu-ray ] FAVORITE EPISODES: 5.03 - "Hazard Pay" 5.05 - "Dead Freight" 5.08 - "Gliding Over All"

First let me say that Breaking Bad is simply the best TV drama ever. I can't say enough good things about it. And, yes, I am a big fan of The Wire, and on a given day might give that one the nod for different reasons. But no other show ever has embedded such moral complexity within an urgently explosive narrative. Walter White's character arc is meteoric; he turns weakness into strength and fails to realize the weakness of his own ambition. It's the closest we have to Greek tragedy, and at its best evokes what Joyce called "the terrible emotions of pity and awe." All this is the more stunning when you realize that it's from AMC, the network that brings you bowdlerized versions of Pulp Fiction and The Big Lebowski ("This is what happens when you meet a stranger in the Alps!"). Realizing that AMC brought you Breaking Bad is like one day discovering that Lithuania has landed an exploration party on Mars and brought it back safe--and you didn't even know they had a space program! Okay, let's talk about Season V now. In a way it's the calm before the storm, everything leading up to Season VI, which will be the final conflict and the resolution of the series. Naturally, this could have been just a waiting period, and we would have been okay with a lull. Walter White has just won a major victory (and lost his soul into the bargain), but now he's broke. How he gets back on top in "the game"--and what that costs him--is what Season V is all about. There is plenty of action, but what is riveting is the growth of Walter's moral disaster and his hubris. He has become a god in his own mind and in the minds of many others. His inevitable fall in Season VI will be horrifying and riveting. Already we see that Vince Gilligan, the show's creator and best writer, is giving us intimations that there is a big final confrontation to come: in the first episode of V we see Walt a year older and he is in a Denny's buying an M-60, for what reason we don't know. My immediate thought was: here comes the "Say hello to my little friend!" bloodbath. And then Gilligan underscores that by having Walt watching exactly that part of Scarface with Walt, Jr. Still, all this could still be misdirection on Gilligan's part. He's fooled me before when I thought I knew what was coming. That is one of the joys of Breaking Bad, in fact. It's so good and builds up such tension that you can't stop trying to figure out what will happen next. And even when you're 100% sure what *has* to happen, Gilligan makes something else happen that is not only different but surprising and better than you imagined it could be. I can't recommend this show enough. My friends who haven't seen it I nag incessantly about how good it is and they tell me I'm overselling it--until they get hooked themselves. "It's even better than you said," one of them confided. "I thought no show could possible be as good as you were making this one out to be, but in retrospect everything you said now seems like understatement." Watch it. Watch it all. Best on Blu-Ray, but any way you can get it.

As a shared hobby of sorts, my wife and I watch series television together and enjoy many different series. Somehow, I got started on Breaking Bad from the beginning without her. When I sat slacked jawed and stunned at the conclusion of season 4, I grabbed my wife and told her we were going out and getting all the previous seasons on Bluray so she could get caught up to where I was at the end of season 4. I couldn't continue to watch the best show on television and my wife be left out. If you have been hooked on Breaking Bad, the season 5 series finale (the first 8 episodes) will not disappoint. The season 4 ending was outrageous. Where could the show go from here to keep this type of tension going? Somehow, creator Vince Gilligan and his team continue to deliver some of the smartest story telling on television while building relentless tension and a sense of increasing dread for these characters. Breaking Bad takes advantage of one old story telling trick, which is used to get you to root for a group of meth dealers because they are surrounded by far worse criminals. Michael Mann's "Heat" would be an example of how you can root for "bad" guys. For movie buffs, the cinema photography is unsurpassed season after season. Every episode has near iconic shots of the characters placed out in the New Mexican desert coupled with the most creative camera angles used on television. Season 5 has been broken up into two parts. The first 8 episodes played out last summer 2012 and are now out on Amazon. Once my wife sees all of these (we have two more to go), we both will be caught up and can go through the finale episodes coming this summer together with each of us not knowing what's coming. The first half of Season 5 even ends in "wow" fashion. Lastly, this is a show, one of those rare series, that always knew it was not an indefinite series to just keep going on until viewers fell away year after year. The story and characters as presented have to have closure. We have to have closure. Another brilliant decision by creator Vince Gilligan as it allows him to go anywhere he wants with the story. He is not hand cuffed to create story lines that just keep the series alive because that's what series television does. He uses that power to great effect and has made one of the finest TV shows ever.

Yes, this is only an 8 episode season, and for contractual reasons season 6 was called the 2nd half of season five, even though they were shot a year apart and have very different parts of the storyline. But this is still 8 hours of amazing storytelling. I'd take 8 hours of the very best of 'Breaking Bad' over 12 hours of almost any other series in TV history. To worry too much about 4 fewer episodes is like being upset because a great 90 minute movie costs the same as a great 2 hour film. What can be said about this spectacular saga that hasn't been said before? One of the very few series that competes with the best films in history for achievement in cinematic storytelling. Like a great novel slowly unfolding, it's funny, heartbreaking, incredibly tense, deeply disturbing, full of brilliant plot twists, rich, compelling characters and a pitch-black sense of humor. A nebbishy high-school science teacher finds he has lung cancer, so becomes a meth dealer to make money for his family before his death. Often visually stunning, with a breathtaking performance by Brian Cranston in the lead, and great work from all the supporting roles, this portrait of a man's decent into hell couldn't be much better, and it just grows darker and more disturbing each year. In a way, thematically it recalls "The Godfather I and II" in how that epic charts Michael's journey from innocence to darkness, along with the moral murkiness of the endless drive for money and success - how we lose ourselves, so that succeeding and having ever more becomes an end in itself for which we will pay any price, rather than a route to happiness, trapping us in a game we can never win. This fifth season is a brilliant, and very emotional set up for the last. This is powerful, important and utterly enthralling stuff.

This series is to say the very least, EXCELLENT! From the very beginning it is extremely captivating and very much like a cliffhanger. You can't wait to see what will happens next. The writers of this series are extremely talented and have made this story so interesting. It's just like one of those great rare books that you just can't stop reading until you finish it. I was very disapointed that season 5 was going to be the last one. I was hoping the series would continue for many more. After all the story is wide open for so many more exciting scenarioes and situations. I think AMC and the creators of this show are making a terrible mistake in bringing it to an end so soon. I have seen many other shows that were extremely well done, end prematurely, while other series that are not so good, seem to go on forever. There are enough possibilities to make this series continue on another 5 seasons and beyond. I beleive anyone who watches this will feel the same way about it as I do. There are a lot TV series on the networks at any given time, but there are only a handful that really stand out from the rest. I just want to say that Breaking Bad is one of those rare shows that really stands out from all of the others. I hope that the producers and writers of this show will continue to create more shows that are just as captivating and incredible as this one!

(-)Why is the new strategy to get you hooked on a TV show, or purchases thereof, and then split the purchasing in two for the final seasons of something. I hate that, and has gotten me NOT to buy several iterations of TV shows on DVD or BluRay. I hate being toyed with, financially. Like a drug dealer that gives FREE tastes of drugs and then the horror pricing hits you after addiction. (+)OK, enough on the negative, great TV show from AMC. The subject matter is dark, whether dark drama or dark humor. Not everyone is going to find this a diamond in the rough, but maybe just a zircon diamond. I think it is wonderful either way. People thrown in to desperate circumstances, which only makes the desperation more dire by their actions. Lies upon more lies, and illegal doings, by a mild mannered family-man school teacher devolving into a hellish world. Bryan Cranston and others won several awards during this shows run, and deservedly so. This is the first of a volumes 1-2 with 8 episodes, and a final 8 episodes follow later. The show has one of the best endings ever, because it crosses all the T's and dots all the I's for a complete ending scenario. So buy this and the follow up 8 episodes. Great TV!! BUT don't look for puppies or hugs and kisses here.

This is a first-rate show especially for television. I never started watching it because I'm not really an AMC fan ever since they went with commercials. But I was going throught netflix one day under "series tv" and I noticed that they had 46 episodes availalbe to watch. Because I had heard so much about this show I deceided to give it a try. Guess what? I got hooked from the very first show! There were nights that I would watch back to back to back episodes and before long it was very late at night and I had to get some sleep because I had to work the next day! I finished the 46 episodes in a matter of time and because I was so involved with it, I needed to check out Season 5 because I knew Season 6 was coming up in August. So I bought the 5th Season through Amzaon Instant Net and got my fullfillment. So now I am caught up with all the episodes and can't wait until the premiere coming up in August. If you have never watched this show, I urge you to check it out. I'm sure you will be totally hooked. And because I do live in Albuquerque where the show is filmed, what a pleasure it was to view all the areas and scenes that were filmed around our city. I recognized just about everything. And this past Season 5 is no different from the previous episodes. It just grabs you and will not let you go even if you have to turn in and get some sleep!! And what a cliffhanger that they left at the end of Season 5! Don't overlook this show.

This review came out of frustration - so let me just get that out of my system before I go into detail about the DVD. Despite popular belief, this isn't half a season, or season 5.1 or a rip off. This is Season 5. AMC (the shows producers) have referred to this as Season 5 for some time now, and the packaging has stated its season 5 - and containing 8 episodes. There is no excuse for assuming that Breaking Bad concludes with this season, the information has been in the Amazon description for a long time. Price wise, I paid £17 for this - its now dropped to £15. It contains 8 episodes, 5 less than seasons 2-4 and 1 more than season 1. Dexter season 7, just released, contains 12 episodes and cost me £27 on the day of release. So, you actually get more bang for your buck with Breaking Bad. The conclusion to the series is another 8 episodes, and is being referred to as 'The Final 8' If this was just 1 full season, it would be 16 episodes long - personally, I find the pace much better suited to 2 shorter seasons. The impact of the cliffhanger at the end of season 5 is doubled by the year long wait to find out what happens next, and I think that single handedly justifies the split. Sorry about that, back to the DVD. Breaking Bad Season 5 is heavy. Walter White's transformation into the Heisenberg is almost complete. He is more than a drug producer, much more than a drug dealer. He is a drug lord. Season 5 deals with Walter becoming his own man, flexing his own ego. And its all about ego for Walter - its not about the money anymore, he is power hungry. He demands respect, he orchestrates murders from the comfort of his kitchen and starts to dismantle anything that can bring him down. I can't say much more without spoilers. Its a weighty 8 episodes - they are intense, draining and utterly engrossing. Lots happen, some huge chunks of the story are worked out in this season - i'd say the go over more ground in these 8 episodes in all of season 1 and 2. They have a big back story to rely on, and they know fans of the show well enough, to know they don't need reminding who is who - they jump right back into the action. No 'previously on Breaking Bad', no time wasted filling the uninitiated in. A note on the style of the show. Since the show started, the creators have given the look of the show a slight artistic flair, a real filmic quality. But with season 5 they lay it on thick - almost every shot can be savoured and enjoyed. The opening of the final episode maybe highlights this best - a meeting in the desert, that could easily look dull, is shot in wonderful orange light with bright blue skies. Or during the prison scene when its cuts to Walter, stood as a silhouette in his kitchen (very reminiscent of the Godfather) The DVD is packed full of extras - extended scenes and inside looks, but most notably the ever insightful commentary and an additional 8 minutes, that actually does add to the story. For me, I had already seen Breaking Bad before I bought the DVDs, but the extra's and specifically the commentary had me clicking the 'add to basket' button. Breaking Bad have become increasingly generous with the extras, both in how many extra hours you get, but also the content. Vince Gilligan is very insightful when it comes to describing exactly why he did what where, and to be honest its a joy to get the extra insight. Season 5 is no exception - maybe the most interesting set of commentaries yet. With season 5, you get some of the best 8 hours of TV made, until the series is concluded that is - and a cliffhanger which will knock you out.

Nos ha encantado. Enorme calidad. Volveremos a verla. Felicidades a todos los que han trabajado para lograr esta obra de arte

Worth buying!!!

Les commentaires concernant ce produit sont intéressants,mais imprécis.NE SURTOUT PAS RETOURNER CET ARTICLE,qui constitue la 1ère moitié de la saison finale.En effet,le 2ème coffret 'Remember my name'(sorti plus récemment),conclut cette saison avec les 8 derniers épisodes: AUCUN coffret ne propose (comme cela était suggéré dans quelques commentaires) la saison intégrale (16 épisodes de la série) ,il faut donc bien acheter les 2 coffrets(Longue vie au Roi + Remember my name) pour avoir Breaking Bad saison 5 dans son intégralité (ceux qui auraient renvoyé leur coffret seraient alors obligés de le commander à nouveau...).Franchement, j'vois pas où est l'arnaque,évoquée dans certains commentaires: 24.99 + 15.04 = 40.03 euros pour un tel diamant,c'est très bon marché! J'avais eu beaucoup de mal à quitter les SOPRANOS,idem à la fin de 'SIX FEET UNDER', mais je n'ai jamais connu de tel désarroi de voir une série se terminer. C'est,de loin,la série la plus brillante, la plus rock 'n roll jamais pensée: l'histoire est addictive (tellement originale!), les acteurs bouleversants, c'est la fiction culte ultime.La vie est bien triste désormais,sans Walter,Jesse,Hank,Mike et Saul...et tous les autres.Pour l'instant,la seule antidote à cette grande tristesse est de se repasser les 5 saisons en boucle... on parle d'une nouvelle série qui reprendrait le personnage de Saul Goodman,info ou intox?

Breaking bad es sinonimo de calidad, no queda mas que decir, la calidad de los blu rays es de 10 en sonido, video, extras. Una compra obligada para cualquier amante de tv.