All five seasons of the David Simon-created series will be released in remastered version consecutively from December 26-30.
- Dec 3, 2014
AceShowbiz - HBO has done remastering "The Wire" and is ready to release it. The network has announced that it will air a marathon of all five seasons of the critically-acclaimed drama in HD on its HBO Signature channel beginning Friday, December 26 at 11 A.M. and ending on Tuesday, December 30.
The David Simon-created series will also be available for download in HD at iTunes, Google Play, X-Box Video and Vudu on January 5. It will later be available on Blu-ray in summer, but the exact date has not been announced.
The premium cable channel says "The Wire" has been remastered for "a tighter fit on widescreen TVs and computer/tablet screens. The original negatives were scanned, edited, dust-busted and color-corrected with great care and attention taken to stay true to the look and feel of the original Standard-Definition 4��3 version."
Series creator Simon admitted he initially had a mixed feeling about converting the show, which was shot in a 4:3 ratio frame, to 16:9. In his blog post, he wrote, "At the last, I'm satisfied what while this new version of 'The Wire' is not, in some specific ways, the film we first made, it has sufficient merit to exist as an alternate version. There are scenes that clearly improve in HD and in the widescreen format. But there are things that are not improved..."
"...And even with our best resizing, touch-ups and maneuver, there are some things that are simply not as good. That's the inevitability: This new version, after all, exists in an aspect ratio that simply wasn't intended or serviced by the filmmakers."
He added, "Still, being equally honest here, there can be no denying that an ever-greater portion of the television audience has HD widescreen televisions staring at them from across the living room, and that they feel notably oppressed if all of their entertainments do not advantage themselves of the new hardware..."
"...It vexes them in the same way that many with color television sets were long ago bothered by the anachronism of black-and-white films, even carefully conceived black-and-white films. For them, 'The Wire' seems frustrating or inaccessible - even more so than we intended it. And, hey, we are always in it to tell people a story, first and foremost. If a new format brings a few more thirsty critters to the water's edge, then so be it."
