24: Season One (6 Discs) (UK)

Great value for money. Not much extra features but who cares when you can pick up 18 hours of material for £30. Its just great.

What can i say, possibly the most inventive and original show to hit the box within the last three years. Kiefer Sutherland is brilliant as CTU Agent Jack Bauer and the tension rises the more you watch the gripping episodes.
The picture is fine and the DD 2.0 is alright, shame TV shows hardly ever get a DD 5.1 mix or even DTS.
The extras are rubbish, not what we have come to expect from Fox (Look at the excellent X-Files Boxsets) and i feel that more could have been done. Commentaries? Interviews?

Not being a huge fan of The X-Files I have to say this is one of the BEST series on TV (and now DVD).
The entire series takes place in one day, split up into 24 episodes and divided into 45 minutes, the events happen in real time (some events happen off-screen).

The series circles around CTU (Counter-Terrorist Unit) agent Jack Bauer (played brilliantly by Kiefer Sutherland) as he gets called into work at 12am on the day of the Californian Presidential Primary, and there is a plot to assassinate Presidential candidate Senator David Palmer who if he wins will be the first African American president.
That is all that I will say, because if I explain anymore I will spoil it for you.

Picture: -

Presented in 1:78.1 Anamorphic Widescreen which is becoming more and more common now in TV series.
The print is excellent and so it should be with the show only being 2-3 months old

Sound: -

Sadly this department doesn't live up to the series high standards, presented in Dolby 2.0 surround, which being a very beefy track with good bass levels and clear sound and dialogue, the package would be superb if FOX had opted for a Dolby Digital 5.1 track to match the action and suspense of the show.

Extras: -

Nothing much to rave about here, just 2 extras they being an Alternative ending to the show, and a Sneak Preview to the second season of the show.

Overall: -

With the show already being the best of the year, and the amount of fans growing by the day it's safe to say that this should be in every action lover's collection, the show throws some many characters and situations into your face and leaves you wanting more after one episode ends that you wish you had time to watch them all back to back.
Everything from the Acting to scoring the show had been superbly 100% edge of your seat action.
Another note before i leave you is the price, with shows like The X-Files being priced at nealry £80, 24 is only £44 (rrp but u can get cheaper) this is excellent value.

This is a fantastic and original series… and a great DVD boxset as well. It is extremely good value - around £35 for 6 discs as opposed to the £60 odd that has to be shelled out for Buffy et al.

Extras are a little disappointing however with an introduction to season 2 and an alternative ending. Video and audio are both pretty good, and we get some slightly longer episodes than the R1 counterpart which is a bit of a bonus (a wopping 90 seconds extra in total!).

Overall, a great boxset - just a shame about the extras!

Waching 24 was like reading a great book you just can`t put down, I wathced the full series in 2 sessions, There`s things happening the whole time and the plot is a good one too. The concept of everything happening in realtime is something i really ejoyed aswell.

Astounding. Ground Breaking. Thrilling.
These 3 words I think best describe this masterpiece of television. I had not watched a single episode on television but because everyone kept talking about it, I risked £32.99 and bought the 6-disc DVD box set. In actual fact it is priceless. Fox or whoever made this series have really outdone themselves and deserve any penny they get.

I wont go into the plot but this kept me glued to my television. One episode after another. I didnt want to go to sleep but finally nature found a way. Next day was still glued on. I dont know how people who watched it on tv could wait a whole week for the next episode as I found it difficult waiting even a few minutes.

Like I said its class, a masterpiece, deserves more extras but GO BUY IT NOW.

How long has it been since you`ve seen a good thriller show, and I`m not talking about programs like The X-Files where each episode is a different story. I`m talking about a story that spreads it`s twists over months worth of episodes. Well how long has it been? If you`re answer comes before 2002 then you`ve obviously missed out on 24. 24 is a brave series that tells the story of an anti terrorist agent Jack Bauer who is attempting to stop the assassination of a presidential candidate. Nothing new there but 24 is different to most other series for one reason, the story is told in real time. 24 episodes about 45-50 minutes in length telling the story of an hour in the worst day of Jacks life. This style is the driving force behind the series and is what makes it such classic viewing, because the very fact that it is in real time causes the claustrophobia to build up to unbearable levels. I can honestly say that the last thing to engross me this much was David Lynch`s Twin Peaks, but I feel that I prefer 24 even to that masterpiece.

This is surprising considering that gimmicks like the real time aspect usually detract from a series overall, and anyone who`s seen the film `Nick of Time` will tell you that even real time action can`t stop a bad story from being dull. Thankfully though 24 avoids being a one trick pony and has a number of other things going for it. Firstly it has some of the best acting in years avoiding really big names in favour of people with actual ability. The program does features 2 recognizable actors in Keither Sutherland (The Lost Boys, Flatliners) who shows that even though he`s been a little quiet of late he has lost none of his acting ability. The other is a surprise appearance from a very big actor, but since he doesn`t show up till quite late in the series, I wont spoil anything here. Out of the rest of the cast I feel that particular credit should go to the guy who played Senator Palmer, because he had a massive amount of screen presence and even though he wasn`t playing a bad guy he still had the ability to make you feel nervous just by standing there. I really hope that he is able to return for season 2 that is coming some time next year. Every other actor in the series is also fantastic but unfortunately there isn`t enough time in one review to mention them all, so after reminding you that they`re all fantastic we`ll move on to the next point which is the plotting.

This is the most important area of the series, as without it all of the other things would become irrelevant. So it`s a good job that the show has a brilliant story. Instead of just being content with a real time story, like most other writers would, the writers of 24 have backed up the story with absolutely tons of drama and some very tight plotting. None of the events in the show seem scripted because each episode fits nicely into the story as a whole. Thankfully though the story is not just limited to the assassination attempt, as there is tons of drama coming from both Jacks and the Senators family life. In fact there are so many dramatic story lines coming at you that you start to wonder whether or not the writers had used a supercomputer to come up with their idea`s. I can`t reveal any of these strands here as they reveal major parts of the plot and anyone who hasn`t watched 24 yet (shame on you) is best off watching the show from a fresh perspective like the rest of us did. I recommend that you do this as soon as possible.

Extra`s


There are only 2 extra`s on this disk. The original ending and a preview of 24 season 2. While both of these are interesting extra`s, 2 is still not a lot.

Video


The video quality is perfect.

Audio


The sound is perfect, but unfortunately only comes in 2.0 surround. I would have loved to see this series in 5.1 but I can live with this.

Overall


The disks don`t have too many extra`s and there`s no 5.1, but it`s still an essential purchase. 6 disks with nearly 24 hours of entertainment for £40 is a bargain that should not be missed by anyone.

THE SHOW
What can I say about this. This was the TV event of last year, and an exilarating expereince. Non-stop tension, a great cast, several wondeful interlacing storylines, and a great number of characters to. The downsides, well, the main villains accent is a LITTLE off, and also after the first brilliant twelve hours are over, it does tail off a little with some tiresome storylines. Although a very good series overall. One thing, don`t try to watch it all in one go

VIDEO
Widecreen, 1.78.1 and good for a TV show, and no noticable layer hop, I think it is in the menu actually. I was a little dissapointed actually, as it was a little grainy I felt in the background in places. Colours are very pale, but this is just the effect of NTSC or something technical that you probably know more about than I do.

AUDIO
Stereo. Probably could have been better, but it would have cost more than the bargain £35 it does. Does a good job, and hook it through the stereo as I have to and crank up the bass. Those clock beeps at the ads are quite booming.

EXTRAS
ahhhem. There are extras on here, but they might as well not be. A laughable season 2 preview, which is kiefer sutherland going, season 1 was a bit good wasn`t it, and no actual footage of S2, on the basis none had been shot yet. The `alternate ending` is also a joke, as it is awful, and thankfully they didn`t use it.

OVERALL
No extras really, but after the problem with missing footage, this is a great TV DVD series

Feature:

24 is in one word, outstanding. The most inventive and original idea to come to T.V. for a long time. Kiefer Sutherland is back in the acting business and has never been better as CTU Agent Jack Bauerwho is having the worst day of his life which is show over 24 episodes, each meant to be an hour (though they are 45 minutes thanks to commercials) and the tension and suspense pile up each episode ending in a great showdown and a tragic loss to Bauer.The rest of the cast Dennis Haysbert, Xander Berkely, Sarah Clarke and Dennis Hopper to name a few are brilliant along with Sutherland.

Sound:

The sound is ok Dolby Digital 2.0, why can`t they put it in 5.1 or even give it a DTS track, the show is perfect for it. Let`s hope that when Season 2 graces our DVD Players the it`s got a 5.1 mix or even better DTS.

Picture:

The quality of the picture is Faultless as we have come to expect from Fox.

Extras:

This is where the package has it`s faults, where`s the special features? Only an Alternate Ending and Preview of Season 2 are on there. The Alternate ending gives us a different look on how it could have ended, the one chosen was the better, instead of having a Happy Ending they chose the better to feature in the last Episode. The preview is rubbish, it shows nothing of Season 2 and only has Kiefer Sutherland standing and telling us what to expect.