Product Details

• Actors: Martin Sheen, Bradley Whitford
• Directors: Thomas Schlamme, Chris Misiano
• Format: Dolby, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 6
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: December 6, 2005
• Run Time: 946 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (84 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000BB1MIM
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,819 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The West Wing: The Complete Fifth Season" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 12/06/2005 Run time: 946 minutes Rating: Nr

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing...Get it to fill your collection., June 14, 2007

By 

Constance Anderson "wwfan2" (San Fanracisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The West Wing: The Complete Fifth Season (DVD)

After the great first four seasons, season five of the West Wing is, quite frankly, terrible. Aaron Sorkin, the architect of the four first seasons and creator of the show, was fired mid-story arc by NBC and probably had a hard time watching this season, as many familiar characteristics were stripped away. Donna has suddenly gone from being a bright-eyed optimist to a jaded Washington insider, constantly speaking in a bizarre low voice. Toby is no longer quirky, but simply mean and uninteresting. The assasination of Abdul Sharif, a story arc that had existed for over a season, is ended unceremoniously in a matter of a few minutes, shoved into the end of an episode and never spoken of again. Josh's character, once funny and energetic, is reduced to screaming at the capital building, a scene, intending to be a dramatic, more likely to produce laughter than further unerstanding of his character. Will Bailey, a great replacement for Sam in season four, takes a job with the new vice president, and loses his sharp wit along the way. Despite no longer working for the president, Will is still often at meetings determining presidential policy(?).

And all of a sudden, everyone's having sex. It turns out C.J. and the Vice President were once together, an absolutely absurd story line that is difficult to believe to say the least.Then, C.J. encourages Donna to "broaden her horizons" beyond Josh, and as a result, she sleeps with a guy before getting blown up while on a fact-finding mission to the Gaza strip.(Don't ask... just don't ask.)

The fast-paced dialogue that was a trademark of the show through its first four seasons disappears. Meetings in Leo's office or the Roosevelt Room that were once fast-paced now consist of short, bland dialogue, lacking real meaning. There were a couple of episodes that I simply couldn't get through.

And then there's the president. A man who was once, as he described himself, "full of mirth", has changed. His character is as dull as a pencil after the SATs. His part becomes bland and predictable, except for the truly bizarre storyline in which he shuts down the federal governement for five days, a decision that left even hardcore fans scratching their heads.

To sum this seaons up, I would say that this is definitely not a season where every episode deserves watching. Of the seven seasons, season 5 is by far the worst- I would reccomend it to those who are looking to have a compelte collection of West Wing episodes, not someone looking to be entertained.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Strictly a quality in manufacturing issue., December 15, 2005

By 

Simple Simon - See all my reviews

This review is from: The West Wing: The Complete Fifth Season (DVD)

There are enough reviews involving the quality of content for this excellent show, you don't need mine. My gripe is with the packaging. I prefer the fold-out style of the first three seasons. The fourth and fifth season cases are less appealing. The fifth actually fell apart in my hands upon opening. Binding plastic sleaves with tape; "hey thats quality!". Enough said, I yield the floor.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Season Five...fumbling a bit, January 25, 2006

By 

a fan of education (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The West Wing: The Complete Fifth Season (DVD)

West Wing Season 5 shows clearly the departure of the talented Sorkin and Schlamme team. Nonetheless, the ensemble cast is so strong and compelling that the show lives on. Janney deserves more credit for her brilliant, complex portrayal of C.J. - an addictively watchable unfolding story of a brilliant woman with a lot of power which she wields responsibly. Whitford does yeoman's work as the probably very life-like Josh Lyman but is somewhat laughable as a nearly 50-year old man playing a thirty-something wearing a suit and carrying a ridiculously incongruous backpack. John Spencer made acting the part of Leo look easy, but his seamless elegance must have been the product of a lifetime of work. His face and voice logged a thousand miles and every scene he played was a brilliant character piece. I don't know what they will do without him! The editorial reviewers for this site should be ashamed of their illiterate staff. I count several glaring typos in the very brief blurb describing Season Five of The West Wing. That's "Bingo Bob," not "Bongo Bob and it's Leo McGarry, not McGRarry. Nice tribute to departing Jonathan Schlamme - you couldn't even bother to spell his name right. Doesn't anyone care about publishing standards on the Internet? I don't think mis-spellers ought to be granted space on billboards or web pages.