The Americans Complete Series, Seasons 1-6 [DVD] [2018]

SUMMARY: Secret lives, secret war, near misses, family, trust, culture differences, love stories. One of the best dramas for years. Strong stories. Good characterisation. Realistic '80s setting. Some humour. Top acting. Good production values. More below under headings What is the show really about? Content & production values. Nit-picks. Manufacturer misprints some discs as NTSC [USA format]. DVD presentation box. Story arcs. Season by Season. DVD extras.WHAT IS THE SHOW REALLY ABOUT?The Cold War in the 1980s is the setting but deep down this top notch drama works because it deals with individuals as people and their relationships. It's about secret lives, secret war, near miss unmasking, family, trust, culture differences and mistrust between Soviets and Americans, and three generations also give a perspective. There are love stories, unrequited love, impossible love etc. The series follows two Soviet agents (names chosen to deliberately contrast with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip?), who work intimately together yet must still get to know each other as people within the marriage they took on as cover, all while they try to bring up two children in 'enemy' USA - and which is harder to do?! You'll feel sympathy for both Soviets and Americans.CONTENT & PRODUCTION VALUES:1. The 1980s era is faithfully re-created and incorporates actual footage from the time, including at least one Western '80s pop hit per episode. It all took me back to when I was a young adult and made me remember, not just the big hair/boots/flowery blouses, but that back then we (Westerners) really were scared of the Soviets.2. The acting is excellent all round including those portraying minors.3. Nice touch that Russian language is included (subtitled automatically - you don't need to activate anything).4. After the pilot each episode starts with a short recap which is useful to remind you, if necessary, of a story arc from a few episodes before.5. I recommend darkening the room and turning off all distractions, so as get the most from every word, every nuance, every facial expression.6. There's also quite a lot of humour - much of it from the viewer knowing more than the characters; one piece of equipment seems to become a character; you'll lose track of all the wigs.7. If new to the show, I recommend watching the pilot and the episode 'The Clock', which follows it, all in one sitting.NIT-PICKS: The premise of 'guess who your next door neighbour is' is corny and implausible but you have to get past it quickly. Without it you wouldn't get certain perspectives nor such a threat of imminent discovery, and eventually they work the premise really well. Season 3 takes a while to get going. The constant disguises made me think of "'Allo, 'Allo" but at times the show itself recognises that, plays on it at some point, and makes it a strength with one very poignant scene.MANUFACTURER MISPRINTS SOME DISCS AS NTSC [USA FORMAT]:DVD discs of seasons 3-6 are misprinted as NTSC but they are actually Region 2 for watching in the UK. Two days ago I loaded every disc of seasons 3 to 6 inclusive to check that they loaded properly, and I watched a few seconds or a few minutes of each one to check that they played all right. I suggest you do the same. Luckily I'd already watched the series so there was no problem about spoilers.DVD PRESENTATION BOX: Very compact. But not too compact - you don't get the annoyance of discs stored right on top of each other so that you have to remove one to get at one underneath it. Once you've checked each disc really is Region 2 (see above under MANUFACTURER MISPRINTS...), you may want to transfer discs to cardboard envelopes or something that's easier to access, because the box is a bit unwieldy. Quite acceptable if giving it as a gift - it's a plastic box containing the discs, and quite an attractive cardboard outer with series pictures and info.The rest contains mild spoilers - skip if wished.STORY ARCS:Certain themes or story arcs span more than one season. Each season has a main theme (e.g. the Jennings' marriage/love/trust, next generation spies/trust, bio-weapons, Soviet "civil war"). In some shows you spot unevenness and troughs as they stagger from one season's uncertainty of cancellation to the next but this is thankfully absent from 'The Americans'. This show maintains a consistently high standard of writing and characters are treated properly. Martha's story (which won actress Alison Wright an award) spans all seasons and is one of the most emotionally engaging in the series.SEASON BY SEASON:I've watched the series all through twice, and am currently watching it for the third time, and there are things you pick up on re-watching e.g. the pilot flows well and is very watchable but on re-watching you realise how cleverly but unforcedly they pack a ton of background info in so as to set up as much as poss early on. Season 1 is excellent, you wonder how they could better it but they do. Season 3 takes a while to get going, but it's worth it so persevere! Each season thereafter ramps it up as the Cold War stakes get higher e.g. bio-weapons. One season has many scenes in Moscow. Seasons 5 and 6 are outstanding. All the ends of the threads are dealt with (some shows forget or don't bother).DVD EXTRAS: Deleted scenes. Gag reels. Featurettes as follows: Commentary on the season 1 finale. Executive Order 2579. Perfecting the Art of Espionage. Ingenuity Over Technology. The Real Directorate 'S'. Morality. The Cold War for Paige. First Look. Inside Looks.

It is a great series because it's realistic and deeply true. But instead of reviewing the show I would like to say something else. Westerners had many illusions and misconceptions about communism, but we in Eastern Europe (I was born in Poland) have experienced all its sad, abhorrent, horrible and sometimes criminal aspects.People are just people and sometimes they are inclined to sacrifice values such as freedom (especially someone else's freedom) on the altar of temporary benefits. All the 1970s were dominated by so called detente policy, which meant that the West was ready to shrug off such issues as human rights behind the Iron Curtain for the sake of good relations with USSR. So we were really encouraged when Ronald Reagan (who appears in few episodes on TV) came and said loudly what any previous American administration did not dare to say: "We can win the cold war". Media, not only communist but the western also, including such American papers as "New York Times" and "Washington Post", laughed at Reagan when he was calling Soviet Union an "empire of evil" and saying that detente is simply immoral. But Ronald Reagan was right. Communism is immoral, oppressive, cynical and deeply inhuman. I lived in a communist country for almost thirty years so believe me, I know.As one of the characters in the show observed (and it's the most appropriate motto): "For the greater good" is something evil people say when they do evil things.

A rare series that maintains its high level of tension and exceptional production values from beginning to end. No small feat over 75 episodes. The boxed DVD set does not match this high quality. Our DVD player didn't seem to have the necessary codec to play the DVD's, and I had to hook up a laptop to the projector and fiddle around with third party media players to make them work. The episodes are numbered on the DVD surface but not in the menu - only the title of each episode is given which is meaningless without printed documentation, which doesn't come with the boxed set. Makes for confusion when counting through 75 episodes. The excellent viewing experience makes these problems secondary ( if you can get the product to play, that is ) but the boxed set could have been produced with greater care.

Is this the best TV drama ever? Impeccable acting and engrossing plots. Domestic scenes alternate with compelling political intrigue and occasional explosions of violent action. Not for the squeamish maybe, but this DVD set is worth every penny.

Underrated series. Season 5 is a bit ropey and slow. But the rest is first class. As good as The Shield or Breaking Bad, and based on truth. Could have done with seeing, far, far less of Paige the daughter, but these reservations apart, this is must see, thrilling, first class t.v.

I'm currently watching season 1 again having originally seen season 1 on TV some years ago. It looks as good a show as I remembered it. Looking forward to seeing the other seasons for the first time. All the seasons play fine on my UK Blu-ray player, as I checked. Only the Americans can make such classy drama as this. It makes for compulsive viewing.

Engaging characters and relationships and storylines. There is always something pretty heavy going down and there is always something at stake. You find yourself rooting for various characters at different points, thinking about it in bed, and discussing it with your other half (in our case it probably helps that my other half grew up on the other side of The Iron Curtain to me). The Americans is definitely one of my favourite dramas of all time. Only series 5(?) dips a bit in quality, with a couple of spurious episodes, but other than that this is an astounding piece of TV. And unlike many shows, it has an excellent ending to the final series, which left me quite affected.

Heaven lived through the Cold war, the series presents a good exposure to what was happening on the other side.

Je confirme : c’est une excellente série ! La saison 1 est en anglais et sans sous titrage en français. Un conseil : pour ceux qui ne sont pas bilingue activez le sous titrage (en anglais) pour sourds et malentendants ça aide ! Les autres saisons sont en français (pour les saisons 2 et 3) ou sous titrées en français.

I'm shure that the real life of those russian illigals was, or is, by far nowhere nearly as exciting as depicted in this series. But than it would not be so much fun to watch ! No person can live several identities at the same time for almost 20 years without going crazy. Not to trust anyone, not to show ones true emotions, always look over ones shoulder. Always hide the truth from your own children. I think, most illigals lives, were more like that of Rudolf Abel, famous illigal cought in 1957 and exchanged for Gery Powers in 1962.

I ordered this product, the discs were for region 2 which is Australia and Europe. Of absolutely no value to me. This has been a TOTAL amount of money taken from me with no reason.This is a terrible thing and cannot be returned or refunded.

Aunque ya se anuncia audio solo en ingles, también hay audio y subtitulos en castellano en las temporadas 1 y 2, y luego de la 3 a la 6 audio y subtitulos en ingles. Por lo demás es una serie muy interesante para aquellos que gusten de temas de espionaje en la época de la guerra fría.