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List Price: $19.98 | | Label: Universal Studios
Salesrank: 23800
Released: June 3, 2003 |
| Our Price: $10.00 |
| Used Price: $6.78 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 06/03/2003 Run time: 45 minutes Rating: Nr
Description of Law & Order - Special Victims Unit - The Premiere Episode:
Originally called Sex Crimes, executive producer Dick Wolf wisely opted for something less lurid when the second in the inexhaustible Law & Order franchise hit the air in 1999. Still, as the opening voiceover makes clear, the "sexually based offenses" investigated by New York's Special Victims Unit can be "especially heinous." Wolf penned series premier "Payback," which sets the scene, but not the tone. It's a lively, if uneasy mix between horror (rape) and comedy (risqué banter). As the first season progressed, humor would be written out altogether (leaving Richard Belzer's Homicide-derived John Munch with increasingly less to do), and less emphasis would be placed on the home lives of this "elite squad of dedicated detectives." Mostly, "Payback" introduces us to the unit, centering around partners Olivia Benton (Mariska Hargitay) and Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni). For two people with so little in common, they make a terrific team--arguably one of TV's best. Stabler is married with four children; Benton is single and her closest relationship is with her mother (Elizabeth Ashley). While Stabler can get a little rough with suspects, Benton tends to over-empathize with the victims. They report to the no-nonsense Captain Cragen (Law & Order vet Dann Florek). Like the parent program's Lenny Briscoe, he's a recovering alcoholic. Dean Winters and Michelle Hurd round out the rock-solid cast. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Law & Order - Special Victims Unit - The Premiere Episode Reviews:
Great beginning to a great show! 
2009-08-23 - I am late to jump on the SVU bandwagon. We didn't start watching this awesome show until it's 5th season, so I am really enjoying going back to watch how it all began. I've seen much of the first few seasons on reruns, but hadn't ever seen this episode. The episode is a great introduction to Olivia Benson. Their victim turns out to be a war criminal and the head of the ethnic cleansing unit. This disturbs Olivia quite a bit being that it meant he raped countless women. Elliot and Captian remind her that "we don't pick the vic" and question her a number of times if she can handle this. We find out later in the episode, as she is meeting with her mother, that she is the product of rape. That is something I didn't find out for a long time, and I think is important, so I'm glad they did introduce that in the premiere. The chemistry between Olivia and Elliot is amazing right from the start and I love to watch them together. I highly recommend any SVU fan watching this episode, but after reading the other reviews, perhaps purchasing the whole first season is a better deal. I thought the price wasn't more than I'd pay to rent it, so I didn't mind paying for just one episode. I'm not interested in owning all 10 seasons since I am able to watch them on reruns and thought this was a better deal for me.
SVU Premiere Episode Rocks
2009-01-16 - The premiere episode of SVU was great. I became a fan many years after the show started and then wanted to see how it all began. I recommend this DVD to any SVU fan.
Just buy the first season. 
2007-12-30 - This is unnecessary to buy at this point. Just get the entire first season and save yourself some money.
Terrific episode... BUT 
2007-10-18 - I love this series with all my heart. I mean every Tuesday night at 10 PM I am right there in front of the TV waiting for the show to come on. And I've seen this episode many, many times. The acting is amazing, and the writing in this episode is superb. But, come on y'all. Why buy just one episode when you can get the entire first season, filled with a lot more classic 1st season episodes such as "Stalked", "Closure", "Bad Blood", and so many other wonderful episodes that started this fantastic show. So while I'm not telling anyone to not buy this product, I am saying however, wouldn't it be a smarter idea to save up a few more bucks to buy the entire season?
The start of a wonderful relationship
2007-03-09 - This is the beginning of something that has snowballed into 4 different shows, all as great as the other ones.
