5/5 Outstanding Canadian Series; Winner Gemini Award (Canadian Emmy)
  by carol irvin (United States)
I completely enjoyed every episode of this outstanding Canadian series. In Canada this show is in its third season. Unfortunately, only the first is available on DVD in the USA. A very strong cast plays a crisis team in Toronto which is called into action every time an individual hits the flashpoint, i.e. he or she becomes a source of imminent danger to himself or others. This covers a wide array of situations, settings and people. One of the things I like best about this show is that it is gutsy enough to show when their efforts do not work. We get to see them fail. The actors are top notch as well. With the exception of the newest young guy member to the team, they are more notable for their acting ability than their looks, which is refreshing. These people look like they could be real life workers and not tv stars. I highly recommend you give this a try.

5/5 One of the best Police shows to ever come out of TV!
  by J. LEZONDRA (Willowbrook, IL USA)
I never heard of Flashpoint until I came across it thru amazon doing a search. And I sure am very glad to have found it! This is a different police drama where it centers on Canada's SRU--the Strategic Response Unit. Its a unit where SWAT, Negotiators, Profilers and Forensic Psychology are all rolled into one. It is a specialized police unit where the use of deadly force is ONLY employed when and if all other options fails. It is a unit where the human aspect of law enforcement is concretely personified. Although they are capable of unleashing unprecedented firepower if the situation warrants, they first employ the human act of compassion and understanding in every situation they are involved in.

Enrico Colantoni is great as Sgt. Greg Parker, the team leader of this elite unit. Ed Lane, the other veteran of this unit, personifies professionalism in every tactical situation he is involve in. Among the members of the team are: Julia "Jules" Callahan (the only female member), Sam Braddock--the hotshot special forces sniper who went to law enforcement upon discharge from the military, Spike---electronics and explosives expert, with Wordy and Lou. They are an excellent bunch of police personnel that can interact and anticipate each other's reactions, teamwork at its very best!

They respond to a lot of calls, from the outrageous to dangerous. "Let's Keep The Peace" is their battlecry before each and every response to an operation. Great, great show! Highly recommended!

5/5 What a great show
  by Larry Fryer (Salt Lake City, Utah, USA)
I bought the Season One set only because of the review here on Amazon. WAS I ever surprised--I LOVE this show. The characters are great, the stories are action-packed, very informative technically, and very sensitive to death, family relationships, etc. I find each episode uplifting in some way, yet was on the edge of my seat while watching it. These cast members seem to work so well together--unlike other such series, where it takes a season or two for the actors to establish their characters and the interrelationships among them. I have not yet found a weak link among the cast, though I was sorry to see, in one of the first episodes, this handsome, great character, replaced by a new guy. Not even sure if there IS a second season this year, now, but SURE hope so. It's at the top of my "To Buy" list.

5/5 Excellent show
  by SVWY (Wyoming)
This an excellent cop show. It shows that cops are real people who suffer thru emotions just like the rest of us and that criminals aren't all horrible people. The reality of the choices made on this show is wonderful. I loved the episode "Haunting the Barn". Let's hope that Amazon continues to offer the season DVDs on this amazing show.

3/5 Great show, too few episodes
  by K. Lee (Portland, Oregon)
I echo the other reviewers' opinions that Flashpoint is a great show, uniquely different from other police procedurals in depicting the SRU as highly intelligence-oriented and cerebral and their antagonists as real people who are often not evil and simply put in bad situations. Hence, many of the outcomes are bloodless and reliant on shooting as much as most other police shows. The acting is very good and the dialogue is intelligent and very nuanced. When I first started watching the show, I was actually bored initially because of the emphasis on dialogue and information-processing, but my boredom quickly turned into enthusiasm. Just one example of its nuance--one episode in the set features ruthless girls in a gang hunting down another girl to avenge "snitching". All the girls are white and the hunted girl has an older friend and work colleague who is a mentor of sorts to her, and is black. I just appreciated how this episode subtly turned racial stereotypes on their head. I am also reminded that several previous police procedurals have claimed to show the perspectives of the criminal and other people involved, such as Law and Order Criminal Intent and Boomtown. Flashpoint easily surpasses the claims and promise of those shows, and effortlessly as well, without making claims about it. I found myself feeling great sympathy and even solidarity for some of the opponents faced by the SRU. I could write several pages on the virtues of this show, but I will simply say Flashpoint is a great TV show that needs to be watched by as many people as possible.

I admittedly do not own this DVD set, I have been fortunate in having access to all episodes through DVR recordings. Having seen all episodes, including the current season 3, I believe this DVD set is too short for the price. The DVD producers could have easily included season 2, which would have increased the episodes to 22, which is average for most DVD sets of TV shows.

I have mixed feelings about this DVD set. On one hand, the show is so good, I almost feel the DVD set is worth buying as is. However, having seen all 27 episodes (includes 4 and counting of season 3), I think the DVD set needs to include season 2 and thus increase the episodes to 22 to be worth its price. If you can afford this set and you won't miss the money spent and you have no other way of viewing these episodes, then go ahead and buy it. In the meantime, CBS has approved a third season. Although they are not showing them yet, watch the TV schedule for season 3--some sources indicate season 3 will start in early 2010. Also--bittorrent.