THE WIRE hits Blu-Ray on 2 June

The Wire, the HBO series once described by Charlie Brooker as the "Best TV series since the invention of radio," is getting its long-awaited Blu-Ray release on 2 June this year.

The show has been remastered in high definition and widescreen under the supervision of creator David Simon and the show's original editors. Although Simon has been vocally sceptical of the remastering idea, it turns out that, when done, it mostly worked quite well, although Simon noted some scenes where the composition was damaged by expanding it so they reframed and cropped where necessary. It is unclear if the new Blu-Ray release will given an option to watch in HD in the original aspect ratio.

Also up in the air is the price for the UK version. The American version is a hefty $199.99, which directly translates to £133. That's considerably more than The Sopranos complete Blu-Ray box set was on release (£99), for a significantly shorter series (60 episodes to The Sopranos' 86). The box set includes all of the previous special features from the DVD release as well as some new material. HBO's press release follows:

“One of the most daring dramas in the
history of the medium” -The Baltimore Sun

“One of the great achievements in television
artistry” -San Francisco Chronicle

THE WIRE:
THE COMPLETE SERIES
BLU-RAY WITH DIGITAL HD

Acclaimed Series Available for the First Time
on BLU-RAY Disc with Digital HD June 2, 2015

Loaded with Bonus Content Just in Time for Father’s Day Gift Giving

All 60 Episodes Beautifully Re-mastered in 16×9 Full Frame HD

New York, NY (March 5, 2015) – In the six years that have passed since the conclusion of the HBO seriesThe Wire, the critically acclaimed drama has turned into a worldwide phenomenon that has been hailed as “the best show in the history of television” by MSNBC. This summer, the series will make its highly anticipated debut on Blu-ray disc for the very first time. The 20-disc box set featuring all 60 episodes of the hit series in a stunningly re-mastered 16×9 full-screen HD format is showcased with newly redesigned box art.The Wire: The Complete Serieson Blu-ray with Digital HD ($199.99) is loaded with an exciting slate of bonus materials, including four behind-the-scenes documentaries, three prequels that explore life beforeThe Wire, and an all-new cast and crew Q&A from the Paley Center for Media’sThe Wirereunion event.The Wire: The Complete Serieson Blu-ray with Digital HD will be in stores June 2, 2015 – just in time for Father’s Day and summer binge watching – and is a must-have for all TV connoisseurs!

The Wire depicts an American urban dystopia, framed in our time, in which easy distinctions between good and evil and crime and punishment are challenged at every turn. In five successive seasons, the series depicts a Baltimore in which institutional prerogatives, economic inequalities and a brutalizing drug war confound the efforts to advance the city and its people. The series’ first season lays out the futility of the drug war, while the second highlights the deindustrialization and the death of the working class. The third season introduces the city’s political culture and lays out the forces that stand in the path of actual reform. The fourth season addresses the educational system and the actual opportunities that remain to coming generations. The fifth and final season examines the media culture and its role in perpetuating the status quo. Amid all of this, carefully drawn characters on both sides of the law and from a variety of Baltimore cultures move forward as best they can, human to a flaw, struggling against a system that seems weighted against civic progress.