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| The West Wing - The Complete Fourth Season | 
 enlarge | Directors: Thomas Schlamme, Chris Misiano
Actors: Martin Sheen, Bradley Whitford
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $59.98
Buy New: $24.64
You Save: $35.34 (59%)
Buy New/Used from $24.64
Avg. Customer Rating:  (64 reviews)
Sales Rank: 901
Format: Box Set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 1000 minutes
Number Of Items: 6
Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.5 x 1.3
MPN: WARD31623D
ISBN: 0790787504
UPC: 085393162320
EAN: 9780790787503
ASIN: B0007OY2N0
Release Date: April 5, 2005
Theatrical Release Date: September 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 61-64 of 64 | | « PREV 1 ... | | |
 People, people -- the series didn't end here...! February 22, 2005
21 out of 52 found this review helpful
I am sick to death of all these elitist "purists" who believe that The West Wing's sun rose (and set) with the presence (or absence) of Aaron Sorkin. Were the 1st 4 seasons (under Sorkin's influence) pure genius? Of course -- no question. Was Season 4 outstanding? Yes. But that is no reason to trash what came after. Season 5 had its weakneses, to be sure -- but there pere plenty of triumphs as well. And even the Sorkin-snobs will agree that Season 6 is proving to be the grittiest, leanest-and-meanest, funnest season of all. So please -- buy Season 4. But also buy (and NBC -- please release) subsequent seasons as well. It didn't end with the departure of Sorkin, folks!!
The end of an epic - meets the mark set by its forebearers. February 17, 2005
25 out of 34 found this review helpful
I can only echo the previous two reviews. Like its three predecessors, every minute of the fourth season of The West Wing is pure gold, its wit, realism and drama far outclassing its peers. I would, in short, rather watch a random episode from these collections than many blockbuster films, and I would pay triple the price Amazon is offering for this masterpiece without batting an eyelash, the final piece in what is surely one of the most sublime and memorable tributes to the spirit of this country and its people, even if the Bartlet Administration lives only in our dreams.
I am also compelled to mention here that the seasons of The West Wing that follow are, in comparison, barely worth watching. When the show's creators, Aaron Sorkin (writer) and Thomas Schlamme (director) left the show, it became something unrecognizable; many of us no longer consider it to be the same show. Buy this fourth season - money well spent - and complete your collection of the first four seasons of The West Wing. Cherish it, for something like this comes but once in a generation.
End of an Era February 16, 2005
190 out of 201 found this review helpful
This season saw the end of a bright but sadly short-lived era. The West Wing was THE show to watch for four glorious years. There are those out there who might say that the show somehow lost steam in the final year of the Sorkin era, but I say unto you, listen not to them. When a highly regarded show undergoes (or is about to undergo) a major change, it is nitpicked to a great extent, and some people feel compelled to invent problems with it, for whatever reason. It is fortunate for the non-crazy, then, that this year proved so able to produce challenging, powerful drama. This season opens with presidential politics in full swing, President Bartlet (Martin Sheen) campaigning for a second term facing a suspiciously Dubya-looking Republican contender portrayed by James Brolin (okay, he's more like a Bush caricature). After several great campaign-themed episodes at the season's beginning, politics-as-unusual would once again turn up in the halls of power at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
This season's biggest change was Rob Lowe's departure from the show, but that was alright, because we got the super-talented Joshua Malina to replace him. We met Toby's and CJ's dads in "Holy Night" and "The Long Goodbye", respectively. The former continues in the show's tradition of powerful, moving Christmas episodes, the latter is a greatly underrated family drama centering around CJ and her Alzheimer's-stricken father. These episodes pack plenty of emotional power, and there were other great episodes like "20 Hours in America," which tracked Josh, Toby and Donna through Indiana after they lost the motorcade, and "Life on Mars," which led to the departure of John Hoynes as Vice President, thanks to Matthew Perry's guest turn as Joe Quincy. These episodes, in addition to the pulse-pounding final two shows of the season, were only a few of a memorable and consistent year of television that called to mind the show's first season--no grand arcs, just stories and characters and the delightful political mess the White House staff would sort through on a weekly basis. This season brought the series back to its roots and was an appropriate send-off for one of the medium's masters, although it's sad indeed that the send-off in question was needed in the first place. Where have you gone, Aaron?
 A Good Series Fades To . . . Chaos February 15, 2005
106 out of 138 found this review helpful
This is the fourth and last season of 'West Wing' with Aaron Sorkin at the helm as head writer and guiding light behind the show. It is also (oddly enough!) the last season of this show that is worth purchasing. NBC made the idiotic decision, which only corporate network types could love, to drop Sorkin, along with Thomas Schlamme (another guiding force behind the show), at the end of the season. And boy does it show in the the shlock that has since appeared on TV in seasons 5 and 6.
The season divides into three basic parts: finishing up the election; the start of Bartlet's second term and Sam Seaborn's run for Congress; and the final descent into chaos that signals Sorkin's farewell to the show. While no episodes stand out as being brilliant gems -- such as Season 1's "In Excelsis Deo" and "Take This Sabbeth Day," Season 2's "In the Shadow of 2 Gunmen" and "Noel," or Season 3's "Bartlet for America" and "Posse Comitatus" -- there are far fewer outright clunkers in Season 4 than any previous season. The only dud is the abysmal "Long Goodbye," which was not written by Sorkin and focuses solely on CJ out of the White House (although by comparison, it's better than almost anything in Season 5).
The first season not to pick up from a cliffhanger the previous spring, the fourth season starts by dropping viewers into the midst of the Bartlet re-election campaign with the two-parter "20 Hours in America" that feels a little too much like "Trains, Planes, and Automobiles."
From this slightly less peppy start to the season than usual, however, the shows' remaining campaign episodes pick up speed and are among the snappiest and most tightly paced of the entire series. Especially enjoyable are "Debate Camp," which witnesses the always welcome return of pollster Joey Lucas (delightfully played by Marlee Matlin), and "Game On," Bartlet's one and only debate with his Republican challenger (ably played by James Brolin).
The season also weaves in several longer-term plotlines more successfully than usual, including:
- Hiring a replacement for the President's deceased secretary, Dolores Landingham, with the flightly Deborah Fiderer (the always entertaining Lily Tomlin);
- The aftermath of the President's decision at the end of Season 3 to have a Qumari political leader assassinated due to his connection with terrorists;
- and Donna's latest attempt to find love amongst Republican men (in this case a muted, yet fine performance by Christian Slater).
Season 4 also says farewell to Sam Seaborn (and Rob Lowe) through his improbable run for Congress, which also introduces political operative Will Bailey (Josh Molina, Lowe's eventual replacement on the show, who has appeared in every project ever written by Aaron Sorkin). This storyline provides the focus of the middle third of the season, with a series of comic and poignant adventures during Sam's campaign that provide a fitting send-off to one of the series' best, if underused, characters (marred only by the failure to explain what happened to Sam after he loses his election!). Standouts amongst these episodes include "California 47th" and "Red Haven's On Fire."
The final third of the season builds up speed at an incredible pace, leading to a denouement that in any context but Sorkin's departure from the show would be absurd. But in that context, they provide a shocking conclusion to his tenure and leave the show (and Bartlet's world) in absolute chaos (a fitting way to tell off the NBC execs). In short order: Matthew Perry (in a performance that indicates he's slightly out of his depth) becomes a new White House Counsel; Vice President Hoynes resigns; Zoey Bartlet is kidnapped; and President Bartlet temporarily removes himself from office, leaving a fearsome John Goodman as the new President Glenallen Walken. Yow!
Too bad this series couldn't have just ended altogether and gone out on a graceful note after four years. But if it had to go on without Sorkin and Schlamme, than at least there was this clear demarcation that allows true fans to break off now and not be duped into enduring later seasons of painful debiltation for what was once one of the best shows on network television. Definitely finish your West Wing DVD purchases with this season!
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