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Rating: 
Summary: Better Left to Memory
Review: If you remember this mini-series from 90/91 and are seeking to own a copy, know that you'll be getting a watered down version of what originally aired. The DVD version comes in at 130 minutes - while I don't remember the exact running time of the tv series, it was probably in the neighborhood of 270 minutes given that it aired on three nights.So as you can see, about 1/2 the footage was cut taking out significant character and plot development. The final product is an odd collection of edits not doing justice to either the true story or original version. If you're looking for some of Benicio Del Toro's earlier work, this foots the bill though certainly not in a manner it could have with the unedited version. All in all, a rather disappointing product from editing to special features (virtually none).
Rating: 
Summary: Shocks like a cattle prod...
Review: Our Yupster sub culture(and Hollywood demi-monde)that do their Coke like kiddos "back in the day" sucked-down("there's always room for...")jello need to take a gander at this Michael Mann driven project.It's not great drama, and it's no artistic(existential)parable like British TRAFFIK or even Steven
Soderbergh's druggie adventure. Half the fine ensemble cast has been seen in similar stuff.("Poor" Bernicio Del Toro...fine actor as he is...seems behind THE EIGHT BALL para siempre.) But what is here jolts...like threat of a cattle prod. Some of us remember what happen to DEA agent Enrique Camarena. It was terrifying and outrageous then; it remains so now. Conscienceless oligarchs remain in charge. Their political lackies[enjoying loot;glamour of evil and sexually heady charge of being enamoured of rank in The Cutlure of Death]and armies of fierce, sociopathic killers;bagmen and lawyers(con assorted consort putas)are hypnotically paraded like glimpses from many bad,bad dreams. Good Guys look like fools; guten Leute like frightened rabbits.The Drug War itself eruptures like plague out of The Apocalypse. Brian Gibson has pieced together a mosaic of terror and self-inflicted curses on a culture that makes big deal of keeping children from smoking but...if it lets them live at all...eagerly treats them to thrills that kill. DRUG WARS is nightmare where everyone involved (in the film)seethes anger that the hell-harsh reality check it seeks to evoke is treated with less respect/gravitas than a SUPERBOWL commerical.
Rating: 
Summary: great
Review: this movie is awesome. benicio del toro is great and the story is compelling. great movie and dvd!
Rating:
Summary: Very poor
Review: When I first saw this mini-series I was impressed by it's depth and it's message. A group of policemen fighting against all odds, corruption and politics. It could even be stereotyped as a plot of good against evil. That was the original series. What they have done on the DVD was to condense it so much that the message, the rhythm, all the meaning is if not lost, very hard to find. Critical scenes were cut and the plot doesn't make sense any more. If you have never seen the original, this might entertain you, but if you saw it, you will be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Very poor
Review: When I first saw this mini-series I was impressed by it's depth and it's message. A group of policemen fighting against all odds, corruption and politics. It could even be stereotyped as a plot of good against evil. That was the original series. What they have done on the DVD was to condense it so much that the message, the rhythm, all the meaning is if not lost, very hard to find. Critical scenes were cut and the plot doesn't make sense any more. If you have never seen the original, this might entertain you, but if you saw it, you will be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Where is the rest?
Review: When I heard that 'Drug Wars' was being released on DVD, I was pleased. It is, in fact, one of the best American TV miniseries' ever made. However, this disc is not 'Drug Wars', but is rather a crude approximation of it. They took the 280 minute feature and edited it into a 130 minute trailer. All narrative depth is gone, and character development is non-existent. Also, it seems to have been re-edited so randomly that the plot ceases to make sense at several points. The reissue of this film was pointless, because it is not 'Drug Wars.' Why even bother releasing the film if you are going to deliberately sabotage it?
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