Product Description
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Among the most innovative one-hour dramas ever to explode onto
the small screen, 24 has exhilarated viewers and critics
worldwide for eight electrifying seasons. Emmy® Winner Kiefer
Sutherland stars as counter-terrorism agent Jack Bauer, whose
rogue tactics constantly pit him against his superiors. With
tension-filled storylines unfolding in real time, and a brilliant
supporting cast, 24 remains one of TV’s most talked-about series.
This unparalleled 56-disc collection offers all eight seasons,
the feature-length 24: Redemption, and a bonus disc of
never-before-seen special features.
.com
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Review for Season One:
Such a simple idea--yet so fiendishly complex in the execution.
24, as surely everyone knows by now, is a thriller that takes
places over 24 hours, midnight to midnight, in 24 one-hour
episodes (well, 45-minute episodes if you subtract the
commercials). Everything takes place in real time, which means no
flashbacks, no flash-forwards, no handy time-dissolves. Every
strand of the plot has to be dovetailed and interlocked so things
happen just when they should, in the right a of time. Not
that easy.
Creator Robert Cochran and his team of writers and directors have
done an impressive job of putting the jigsaw together and keeping
the tension ratcheted up high, as federal agent Jack Bauer
(Kiefer Sutherland) runs around L.A. trying to stall an
assassination attempt on an African American presidential
candidate and rescue his wife and daughter from the clutches of
the Balkan baddies. Twists, turns, revelations, and cliffhangers
are tossed at us with satisfying regularity. It's not perfect: we
get some hokey plot devices (instant amnesia, anybody?); the
final twist makes no sense whatsoever; there are altogether too
many huggy family moments; and as for Dennis Hopper's "Serbian"
accent....
Even so, this is undeniably mold-breaking TV. Sutherland,
rescuing his career from the doldrums in one heroic leap, fully
deserves his Golden Globe. Sets and locations are artfully
deployed, and Sean Callery's score is a powerful, brooding
presence. Like Murder One and The Sopranos, 24 is one of those
series that future TV thrillers will be measured against.
--Philip Kemp
Review for Season Two:
Jack Bauer is having another one of his "very bad days" in the
second season of the groundbreaking real-time thriller 24. Once
again the hours are ticking by with more guaranteed cliffhangers
than a convention of ain climbers. Holed up in a Los Angeles
condo and estranged from his daughter, Jack is no longer on the
government payroll; unfortunately for him, this small fact
doesn't seem to matter to President David Palmer and the NSA, who
call him back in to the CTU and give him 24 hours to infiltrate a
terrorist organization that is planning to detonate a dirty bomb
in the city of angels. All Jack wants is to get his daughter out
of the city, unfortunately Kim's new employer, the abusive her
of the child she is nannying, has other ideas.
Fans of the original won't be disappointed, as there are more
than enough shock moments in the first few hours to hint at the
climactic build-up to come, while newcomers can quickly get
involved in the lives of Jack and his family. There are some new
characters to bolster the veteran cast and, interestingly
(although not surprisingly), Jack's character has taken an
altogether darker, more psychopathic turn. The danger the
characters find themselves in also has a much more global, not to
mention topical, impetus, grounded as it is in the war against
terrorism. Although the territory is more familiar this time
around, this second season is just as much a high-tension, taut,
adrenalin-fuelled ride as the first, and one that will have you
glued to your TV for the next 24 hours. --Kristen Bowditch
Review for Season Three:
There's not one cougar to be found in 24's dynamic third season,
and that's good news for everyone. After Jack Bauer's daughter
Kim (Elisha Cuthbert) survived hokey hazards in season 2, she's
now a full-time staffer at CTU, the L.A.-based intelligence
beehive that's abuzz once again--three years after the events of
"Day Two"--when a vengeful terrorist threatens to release a
lethal virus that could wipe out much of the country's
population. Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) attempts to broker a deal
for the virus involving drug kingpin Ramon Salazar (Joaquim de
Almeida), whose operation Jack successfully infiltrated at high
personal cost: to maintain his cover, he got hooked on heroin.
That potentially deadly triangle--drug lords, addiction, and
bioterrorism on a massive scale--sets the 24-hour clock ticking
in a tight, action-packed plot involving a potential traitor in
CTU's midst; the return of TV's greatest villainesses in Nina
Meyers (Sarah Clarke) and former First Lady Sherry Palmer (Penny
Johnson Jerald); a troubled romance between Kim and Jack's new
partner Chase (James Badge Dale); and a scandalized reelection
campaign by president David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert), who
monitors CTU as they struggle to (literally) save the day.
The intricately woven subplots that are 24's greatest strength
are masterfully developed here, and character arcs are equally
strong, especially among CTU staffers Tony (Carlos Bernard) and
his wife Michelle (Reiko Aylesworth); CTU director Ryan Chappelle
(Paul Schulze), who is season 3's tragic bargaining chip; and the
annoying but well-intentioned Chloe O'Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub),
who makes pivotal contributions with by-the-book efficiency. It's
24's superior casting that overcomes the series' occasional
lapses in credibility, and season 3's twists make marathon
viewing a nerve-wracking delight. By the time it's all over, 24
once again leaves you gratefully exhausted. As always, Sutherland
anchors the series in the role he was born to play. When Jack
takes a private moment to release 24 hours' worth of near-al
tension and psychological anguish, Sutherland proves that 24's
dramatic priorities are as important as its thriller momentum.
DVD extras include behind-the-scenes featurettes (about the
prison break sequence, climactic F-18 Hornet air-strike, and
real-life bio-weaponry) that pay welcome tribute to the series'
hard-working crew, who create Emmy-worthy television under
pressures as intense as 24 itself. --Jeff Shannon
Review for Season Four:
Oh boy. Here we go again! Just another exciting day in the life
of 24 super-agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland). The season
kicks off with a deadly terrorist strike resulting in the
kipping of his new boss, the U.S. Secretary of Defense James
Heller (William Devane). Although a fired, ex-employee of the
Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU), it is no surprise who is going to
shift into full gear to bring the terrorists to justice. However,
it doesn't take the super-agent long to discover the kipping
of his boss is part of a much larger plan, master-minded by Habib
Marvan (Arnold Vosloh) the middle eastern terrorist cell leader
the US government has been trying to track down for years.
Considered by many to be the best season of the first four, 24 -
Season 4 is a definite departure from the first three seasons.
First, the cast is almost entirely new. Second, the pacing of
each episode does not seem as frantic. There appears to be a
shift from the reliance on plot-shifting cliff hangers (which in
some ways dragged down the quality of Season 3), to a focus on
complex, over-arcing, multiple storylines, albeit very violent.
What may be missing in superficial action clichés is definitely
compensated for in a richer plot. That's not to say the show has
slowed down; it's still amped up beyond anything else on TV, but
compared to the previous seasons, 24 has gotten a lot smarter,
and in turn, better. --Rob Bracco
Review for Season Five:
Arguably the series' best season to date, season 5 of 24
literally starts with a bang and never lets up, with an intricate
executive-level conspiracy to control Central Asia's oil supply.
Piling crisis upon crisis in an escalating series of deceptions,
twists, and deeply hidden agendas, the day-long ordeal begins
with a devastating political assassination connected to a
disgraced former CTU agent (Peter Weller) and a radical group of
Russian separatists (led by British actor Julian Sands)
threatening to release lethal nerve in Los Angeles to protest
a U.S./Russian treaty about to be signed by President Charles
Logan (Gregory Itzin). As Logan's unstable wife Martha (Jean
Smart), Secret Service agent Aaron Pierce (Glenn Morshower), and
chief of staff Mike Novick (Jude Ciccolella) gradually uncover
the conspiracy, CTU maverick Jack Bauer (series star Kiefer
Sutherland) emerges from self-imposed exile to aid his CTU
colleagues in a life-threatening quest for the truth. Meanwhile,
CTU chief Bill Buchanan (James Morrison) is thwarted by an
inexperienced, overbearing superior (Sean Astin) and an executive
takeover of CTU led by Homeland Security chief Karen Hayes (Jayne
Atkinson), forcing Bauer and his CTU loyalists to "go dark" and
work independently to honor the memory of a slain friend and
leader. Also figuring in are CTU's resident hacker-nerd
extraordinaire, Chloe O'Brian (played to perfection by Mary Lynn
Rajskub), Bauer's estranged daughter (Elisha Cuthbert), and his
beloved CTU colleague Audrey Raines (Kim Raver).
Pivoting on a declaration of martial law and a mysterious cabal
of unnamed conspirators, "Day 5" shocked even loyal 24 fans with
a high body count including several important supporting
characters. It all adds up to an exceptional season that earned
Sutherland a well-deserved Emmy (for Outstanding Lead Actor in a
Drama Series), equally deserving Emmy nominations for Itzin and
Sharp, and an Emmy win for co-executive producer Jon Cassar's
direction of the riveting season premiere. And while the
breathtaking twists of 24 don't always hold up to intense
scrutiny, these 24 episodes (running about 43 minutes each) are
tightly written and flawlessly directed with an involving
emphasis on thriller plotting and dramatic focus on the complex
and operatically tragic relationship between President Logan and
his traumatized wife. Add it all up, and you've got an addictive
reason to look forward to season 6. --Jeff Shannon
Review for Season Eight:
Network television's most exciting series ends with a bang--a lot
of bangs, in fact, along with multiple bams, whams, and
booms---as 24 bows out with this six-disc set of episodes from
its eighth and final season. As the action begins in New York
City, Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), now a grandher, has
retired from his gig at the Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) and
plans to move to California to be with his family. Yeah, right.
When he learns of a plot to assassinate President Omar Hassan
(Anil Kapoor) of the mythical Islamic Republic of Kamistan--who's
set to join the U.S. president, Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones),
and the Russian leader at the United Nations, where they will
sign a historic agreement that will end Kamistan's nuclear
program and bring lasting peace to the Middle East--Jack leaps
right back into the fray. Needless to say, the plot thickens
faster than the pools of congealed blood he inevitably leaves in
his deadly wake. Who's behind the assassination scheme? Is it
Hassan's power-hungry brother, who has no desire to give up his
country's nukes, or is he in cahoots with bigger, more sinister
forces? Are there even CTU operatives involved in these dastardly
machinations? Can Jack trust a single soul other than himself?
That he will get to the bottom of all of this (or the top, as a
central conspiracy reaches to the very highest government levels)
is a given. That he will indulge in some questionable tactics to
do so, including cynically using his allies and brutally
torturing his enemies (depicted in some intense and rather
graphic scenes), is also expected, especially as his relationship
with a disgraced former FBI agent (Annie Wersching) ups the
personal ante for him to the point of near-madness. Whether he
will survive this particular day intact, however, is another
matter entirely.
The makers of 24 have already shown that they're willing to go
way over the top to preserve the central conceit (an entire
season takes place in a single day, with each episode consuming
one hour of that day), and the eighth season is no different.
Plot twists that defy all credibility are not uncommon; there's
no time to track down rumors or verify information, so the action
tends to proceed in almost cartoon-like fashion. Many characters
make cardboard look sturdy, especially the bad guys (a bunch of
arrogant fools, craven traitors, and murderous louses). But
that's what has made the show so addictive; it simply hurtles
along, leaving no time to ask questions. And while the adventures
of Jack Bauer, the ultimate one-man army, appear to be over for
good, this season makes us wish that a day were just a bit longer
then 24 hours. Bonus features include some extended episodes,
"scenemakers" (detailed looks at certain scenes) for the majority
of episodes, deleted scenes, and more. --Sam Graham