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A DVD Review of...
Images (C) 20th Century Fox, 2002 |
Genre: Drama/Thriller
Cast: Kiefer Sutherland, Leslie Hope, Sarah Clarke, Dennis Haysbert, Elisa Cuthbert, Penny Johnson
Synopsis: CTU agent Jack Bauer has to race the clock to handle both a presidential candidate assassination plot and his daughter's kidnapping, while dealing with a mole inside the agency. Events occur in Real Time over the course of one day.
TV Show Review: In a time when TV series are becoming more and more reliant on 'stand alone' episodes in order to gain bucks, its kind of refreshing to see shows which totally relies on the viewer following not one but numerous complicated subplots all twisting and changing with each and every episode. Two shows in particular this past TV season have followed that style and both are not surprisingly two of the biggest hits of the season. The first is "Alias", the only new show I've watched with absolute devotion this year and some of the best pure escapist pieces of entertainment the small screen has seen in a while.
The other is "24", a solid drama filled with twists, power plays, interesting character dynamics and great actors. What makes it even more remarkable is the 'real time' format where screen time passes at the same rate as normal time for us viewers. 'Real Time' can be a tricky concept to handle as the lacklustre Johnny Depp thriller "Nick of Time" demonstrated. "24" works because there's several different storylines active at once and by using a special split screen technique and constant digtal clock reminders, the pace keeps moving smoothly as we jump from one character to another depending upon whose got the most interesting storyline at that point in time. Indeed the fact that the commercial breaks are equated into the storyline/time recording only shows how much on the ball the producers have to be during every episode and the good news is for the most part they are.
The cast also make this work, Sutherland has matured from his bad boy days into a very likable and somewhat rogue-ish hothead hero. After the great "Now and Again" failed and "Star Trek: DS9" wrapped, its great to see the likes of Haysbert and Johnson back on TV again. Then comes the various women who dominate the show with Clarke, Cuthbert and Hope all giving excellent perfomances throughout and short appearances from Mia Kirshner and Tamara Tunie almost steal the action. This comes as a welcome surprise all round as in fact its the more well known stars towards the end of the series, whether its the nervous Lou Diamond Phillips or the BADLY accented Dennis Hopper, that seem off their game.
Like any series though there are downsides and upsides. The show does peak too early and so the plots within the last 1/3 of the season involving the Drazen family aren't anywhere near as compelling as the 'A.M.' events. Indeed from the pilot till about sundown there's hardly a fault that can be found with the onscreen action, and whilst after that point it does slip up with the Hopper character there's still plenty of compelling stuff to watch. Yes from a credibility aspect the amount of stuff that happens is unbelievable (from all the agent deaths to the number of times there's a shootout or a simple change of shirt) but this is television.
"24" embraces many of the pulp espionage thriller elements that people love, combines it with some complicated and carefully planned scripting, a healthy dose of action, and then mixes all in a slick and fast thrill ride which rarely slows. In a time when shows are so generic its painful, its a daring achievement and whilst doesn't succeed as well as some other first season efforts of this nature (ie. "Alias" and "Murder One") it still leaves an extremely good impression. - Garth Franklin
"24: Season One DVD Collection"
DVD Details In Brief (Region 2)
Rating: 15
Runtime: 1041mins
Aspect Ratio: 1.78: 1
Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Language & Sub-Titles: English
Clips: Alternate Ending, Season 2 Preview
Region 2 vs. Region 4: No Region 4 Available. |
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DVD Review: The first season of 24 comes in one of the best looking sets I've ever seen. Not only is the outer slip off cover well designed, each disc label sticker highlights its hours on a digital clock to point out each episode. Better yet are the discs themselves with four episodes on each, accessible through very hi-tech looking menus suited to the series. These menus are so cool they're almost a reason on their own to buy these discs. Another reason though is the transfer. Video quality is excellent with realistic use of colour, smooth edges, excellent contrast and only the occasional bit of grain or desaturation (mostly during night exterior 'fly over' shots which is more about the film quality than the transfer itself). For what is only a stereo track, the audio is surprisingly encompassing with an excellent mix of sound FX and music whilst dialogue is nice and clear throughout. Each episode is in wide screen and the constant split screen boxes trick used looks spectacular.
Extras wise there's only two things sadly, though not surprising considering the series only just ended before this set went into production. The first is a 2.5 minute alternate ending which shows the other most logical way the final devastating twist in the story could have gone. Its presented in the same quality anamorphic widescreen as the rest of the show and honestly I think it should've been used as the real ending remains a somewhat muddled affair (though this isnt' much more relevatory). The 90-second "Season 2 Preview" has Kiefer standing in front of a black curtain and recounting what happened in the first series before promising only "more conflict and more intrigue" - that's it, no story details. Its a pity more time wasn't spent on developing this last disc on the set as this is a show whose behind-the-scenes production elements would be quite intriguing. Still the series itself and the menus look great on disc and are VERY well suited to the format, definitely worth checking out and watching in a few back-to-back marathon style sessions. - Garth Franklin
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