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Nominated for 52 Emmys since its 1990 premiere, including 11 for Outstanding Drama Series, Law & Order is one of the most popular television shows in modern day history. With an additional 4 Golden Globe nominations for Best TV Series (Drama), Law & Order is more than a TV show, it’s a lucrative franchise for host network NBC, spawning popular spin-offs Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999), Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001), and (the now cancelled) Law & Order: Trial By Jury (2005). Filmed on location in New York City, the show is the brainchild of creator Dick Wolf, a longtime writer for successful TV series such as Hill Street Blues and Miami Vice. With sixteen successful seasons already on the books, and more on the way, Law & Order remains one of the best drama series available on any network…

Law & Order centers around the New York City criminal justice system, where “the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups - the police who investigate crime, and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders”. The first half of each one-hour episode is dedicated to the initial revelation of a crime and the police investigation that subsequently takes place. This usually involves interviewing witnesses, following leads, testing evidence, and/or hammering out a confession. Once sufficient evidence has been gathered to charge a suspect, the remainder of the show revolves around the district attorney’s office and their attempts to prosecute the offenders. Oftentimes, the audience will be witness to unexpected plot twists, unorthodox media-driven cases, or last minute, Perry Mason-like confessions or brokered deals. Given its long TV run, the cast of Law & Order has frequently changed over the years - with only a handful of characters experiencing lengthy runs, characters such as Det. Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach), Lt. Anita Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson), and EADA John “Jack” McCoy (Sam Waterston)…

The Law & Order (Season 2) DVD features a number of dramatic episodes including the season premiere “Confession” in which Det. Logan goes too far in interrogating the man suspected of Max Greevey’s murder. En route to obtaining a confession, Logan endangers the prosecution’s case… Other notable episodes from Season 2 include “Misconception” in which the mugging of a pregnant woman leads to murder charges when she loses the baby, and “Vengeance” in which the parents of a murder victim attempt to overturn the conviction of her killer so that he can face charges in another state where the death penalty is still enforced…

Below is a list of episodes included on the Law & Order (Season 2) DVD:

Episode 23 (Confession) Air Date: 09-17-1991
Episode 24 (The Wages of Love) Air Date: 09-24-1991
Episode 25 (Aria) Air Date: 10-01-1991
Episode 26 (Asylum) Air Date: 10-08-1991
Episode 27 (God Bless the Child) Air Date: 10-22-1991
Episode 28 (Misconception) Air Date: 10-29-1991
Episode 29 (In Memory Of) Air Date: 11-05-1991
Episode 30 (Out of Control) Air Date: 11-12-1991
Episode 31 (Renunciation) Air Date: 11-19-1991
Episode 32 (Heaven) Air Date: 11-26-1991
Episode 33 (His Hour Upon the Stage) Air Date: 12-10-1991
Episode 34 (Star Struck) Air Date: 01-07-1992
Episode 35 (Severance) Air Date: 01-14-1992
Episode 36 (Blood is Thicker…) Air Date: 02-04-1992
Episode 37 (Trust) Air Date: 02-11-1992
Episode 38 (Vengeance) Air Date: 02-18-1992
Episode 39 (Sisters of Mercy) Air Date: 03-03-1992
Episode 40 (Cradle to Grave) Air Date: 03-31-1992
Episode 41 (The Fertile Fields) Air Date: 04-07-1992
Episode 42 (Intolerance) Air Date: 04-14-1992
Episode 43 (Silence) Air Date: 04-28-1992
Episode 44 (The Working Stiff) Air Date: 05-14-1992

About the Author

Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find more reviews like this one of the Law & Order (Season 2) DVD.

PLATOON (1986), nominated for 8 and garnered 4 Oscars in 1987 (Best Director for Oliver Stone, Best Picture for Arnold Kopelson, Best Sound, and Best Editing for Claire Simpson) is a Vietnam War movie about the “evils of war,” a staple approach to any such movie. However, it is also a courageous and in-your-face look at the chaotic nature of warfare and the taboo of “friendly fire.”

Looked at from the vantage point of the year 2006, and having seen many other Vietnam movies like Apocalypse Now or Full Metal Jacket since 1986, I now realize that this is still one of the tamer and straight-forward examples of the genre. This still stands comfortably on its legs as an ensemble piece with its moments and works well as an indictment of a massive letdown in which the grunts trying to do their assigned duties in the death-infested swamps of Vietnam were perhaps the last ones to blame.

The film, shot in the forbidding jungles of Philippines, boasts a high-powered cast including Tom Berenger (as SSgt. Bob Barnes), Willem Dafoe (Sgt. Elias Grodin), an 18 year old Charlie Sheen (Pvt. Chris Taylor), Johnny Depp (Pvt. Gator Lerner), Forest Whitaker (Big Harold), Francisco Quinn (son of the great Anthony Quinn, as Rhah), to name a few.

Writing by Oliver Stone (who won the screenwriting Oscar in 1978 for his Midnight Express as well as another Best Director Oscar in 1989 for Born on the Fourth of July) is well paced, preserving a good rhythm between scenes of carnage and reflection. The dialogs are crisp and realistic.

The voiceover provided by the main character Chris Taylor is without an equal because it addresses Taylor’s grandmother. I thought that was such a poignant touch for a young private lost in the world, who does not even have a girlfriend yet, to take refuge in the wisdom of his grandmother while all hell is breaking loose around him.

The plot, unfolding from the view-point of Pvt. Taylor, actually does not have too much meat in it. This movie shines on character and setting, on predicament and context, rather than on clever plot twists and turns. It can be summarized as one long story of a platoon either engaging the Viet Cong in the slug and snake infected jungle swamps, often under tropic rain, or getting stoned out of their minds to suspend the harrowing reality for an hour or two.

When the two top dogs of the platoon, the over-the-edge nihilistic Ssgt. Barnes and Sgt. Elias who can still rely on his conscience and basic moral values, clash heads, they divide the platoon into two bickering factions. The result of such infighting and accumulating resentment is not pretty.

The metaphysical horror of war has been exposed with more dramatic authority by one-of-a-kind movies like Apocalypse Now. Platoon does not go that deep but it is still a bona fide Vietnam War movie that should be on every movie fan’s must-see list.

An 8 out of 10.

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Ugur Akinci, Ph.D. is a Creative Copywriter, Editor, an experienced and award-winning Technical Communicator specializing in fundraising packages, direct sales copy, web content, press releases and hi-tech documentation.

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