Product Description

The best police force money can buy

In 1995, BLUE MURDER—the most controversial series ever produced for Australian television—exploded onto TV screens down under with such incendiary force that it was banned from being broadcast in the state where the events took place, New South Wales, for six years. This was due to ongoing legal proceedings involving several key figures depicted in the photoplay. Often referred to as an Aussie Godfather, it was, more accurately, "Goodfellas Down Under" with the goodfellas being the cops.

The attempted, bloody murder of a "blue" (insider speak for "cop") is the dramatic lynchpin of this epic of police corruption that follows the booze-riddled, unlikely partnership of decorated copper Roger "The Dodger" Rogerson (Richard Roxburgh) and career criminal Arthur "Neddy" Smith (Tony Martin) after Roger gives Neddy "the green light" to rob, steal and beat his way through Sydney's underworld in the 80's.

Directed with gritty realism (many scenes were shot on the actual locations) by one of Australia's most celebrated directors, Mike Jenkins, BLUE MURDER is a landmark Australian drama that has not been bettered on television or on the big screen.

Impeccably researched and written by Ian David, the central performance by Richard Roxburgh (Moulin Rouge) is a revelation and won the actor Australia's highest critical accolades. Tony Martin, mesmerizing as Arthur Smith, brings a likeable edge to a truly despicable character and actors Bill Hunter, as top cop Black Angus McDonald (Rogerson's protector) and Steve Bastoni (as straight "blue" Michael Drury) are outstanding.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #99620 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-11-15
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 198 minutes

Edwin Samuelson, dvdmaniacs.net
"The original 'The Shield'."

dvd.net.au
"Forget NYPD Blue... Blue Murder feels about as real as police drama can get. . .quite simply, it’s superb."

australiantelevision.net
"...A no-holds-barred view of police life & culture..."

Customer Reviews

More like a James Ellroy novel than The Shield
Blue Murder is so accurate and well acted, it could almost be classed as a documentary. It explores the true life close ties between organised crime and the police in Sydney, Australia from the 1970s through the 1980s. The outrageous behaviour is mesmerising and the characters, both good and bad, are compelling. It's well cast, well written and well acted. Blue Murder is for anyone who enjoys the stories from the seedier side of society, but doesn't necessarily need their characters to speak with American accents.

The Shield ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
To compare this masterpiece to a fictional TV show is pretty pathetic. This is simply one of the best movies I have ever seen & if our US brothers have trouble understanding the queens english then that is their problem.

Those that lived through the times & experienced the corrupotion first hand (such as myself) know that this is as real as it gets & as dirty as it comes.

Maybe some of you actually thought it was a fictional movie or something.

Anyway ***** is not high enough.

You need to be an Aussie to understand
I have no idea why they compare this to the shield, and I agree with the other reviews, in the fact that if you like the shield, then this isn't the best movie choice for you. This is though a docu-drama, based on real events from one persons point of view. For those people really interested on the comings and goings of NSW cops then I suggest some of the books written, namely by the cop who was shot. I enjoy this movie as an Australian for the attention to detail of Sydney back in the late 70's early 80's. I feel sorry for you Yanks who can't understand our version of english, and I agree subtitles would be helpful. This movie though is for Australians and I wouldn't recommend it to people from any overseas country. I would like to point out as well, that thanks to cops like the ones depicted in this movie, NSW (New South Wales) police have virtually no power nowadays, which unfortunately has led to a decline in good public behaviour.