Customer Reviews

24: Season 2 (Slim Pack)

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I didn't get into 24 until this past year and decided to buy Season 1. I watched the entire thing in one weekend! It's like one looooooooooong movie but I didn't have the urge to get up and do dishes or anything.. I rushed through making me a quick something-to-eat so I could get back to Kiefer and what was going on next. So I bought season 2, but took that one a bit more slowly. I love that there is love, hate, terror, death...all in one package, and it all fits so well together! I've ordered 3 and 4 and can't wait! I wish I could give these 20 stars!

After getting hooked on 24 the last couple of years, I'm now going back and catching up on seasons that I missed. Season 2 is my favorite so far. It's tense and just about every episode is exciting. Lots of great action and Sutherland is at his best.

Highly recommended if you are a fan of the genre.

When great shows disappear from the viewing screen and pass into oblivion, their DVD's are terrific keepsakes for returning to those former hours of glory. I will watch these shows every few years, and they will recapture for me the excitement generated during the nine years of their run. This series is my third favorite television series all-time. I want it in my collection.

Season 2 follows Jack Bauer as he tries to stop a nuclear bomb from exploding in the city of Los Angeles in addition to preventing a war of retaliation springing from that same event. Most of the cast from the first season is back including the now-President David Palmer and his ex-wife Sherry. Jack's daughter Kim and the crew from CTU including villain Nina Meyers all are present and accounted for. I won't reveal much of the story specifics because too much of the enjoyment of 24 revolves around the unexpected twists and turns of the plot. Suffice it to say, that the viewer is kept guessing about much of what is going on and Jack is put through a very bad day indeed.

As with 24 - Season One, there are some real highs and lows here. Jack himself is great and the show is at its best when we watch him do what he does best. President Palmer, played by Dennis Haysbert, has great presence and is always compelling to watch. The struggle to find the nuke and stop it from killing millions of people is riveting and provided for some very exciting moments. Unfortunately, that story is resolved in episode 16 along with virtually every other plot thread and then the show tries to start a whole new series of stories revolving around a war to retaliate against three countries that may have been involved in the plot to nuke LA. The season really loses steam at this point and almost every aspect feels extremely contrived and unrealistic. Instead of building to a great climax, it wheezes across the finish line like an out of shape marathon runner. I know it wouldn't have the same marketing pizzazz but they honestly should have named this season "16" and finished after 16 hours. It would have made for a far stronger product.

The worst aspect of Season 2 is undoubtedly Kim Bauer and her increasingly unlikely story where she meets and is threatened by what appears to be every psychotic in the greater LA area and even a mountain lion thrown is for good measure. There is no connection whatsoever to the main story, she's just there for Jack to worry about and, apparently, to annoy viewers. One plot that was somewhat interesting was civil unrest and rioting related to the bomb but after several scenes building tension on this point it simply fades away unresolved and forgotten. Other flaws include CTU headquarters apparently having no restrictions to family and friends walking around at will, a phony urgency to retaliate with hours of the nuke or never, and more.

The funny thing about 24 is that you can point out endless flaws that are silly and easily avoidable yet the show's twists and turns largely carry you through them on sheer momentum. Kiefer Sutherland is fantastic in the lead role and also helps viewers ignore most of the worst flaws. Still, there's no question the show would be far less frustrating and more enjoyable if the writers would dig a little deeper and make a more honest effort to provide less contrived situations and an understanding of national security that surpasses that of the average 12 year old. I do recommend this season of 24, but only to those who are willing to accept some frustration with their entertainment.

This review is based on pricing not on content.

This "slim" edition is $53.99. The same season in what is I can only suppose is the "non-slim" edition is $34.49. What value does the slim addition bring that is worth $19.50? There doesn't seem to be any additional features. You would think the reduced packaging costs for the slim edition would would justify a price DECREASE not a price increase. (Prices based on listings on the date of the review)

It is alot of fun; there is a ton of conspiratorial intrigue and action.
Far more suspenseful throughout than Season 1.

If you liked season 1, then you will love season 2.

I've seen and re-seen all the seasons of 24 -- and am currently collecting the hours of Day8 (which I really wish was already over so I could watch them back to back!) -- and I think that this may be the best. Even when it's not necessarily my personal favorite, I think that it's objectively the best.

The reason is that it has so much in common with the stock blockbuster disaster thriller (e.g., Armageddon, Independence Day), namely in the way it goes from all these disparate groups of people who are brought together by the potential disastrous event; and it also is the most, as it were, "Clancyesque" of the seasons. I always note how most action movies start right here, where the ex-agent has suffered some great loss before now, which is alluded to but we do not actually see -- yet in the case of 24, we have seen it, and thus does Day1 function as a sort of prequel -- and is the reason why he retired, yet he is called back in For This One Assignment, because no one else can. And Jack Bauer's role in this is just so much more "Leader of the Pack" rather than his later adventures, which often remind me of Die Hard (viz., after Day3) -- not that they are worse or better on that account (I love Die Hard(s)), but just different.

I've also noticed that Sean Callery's music, something about the way he arranges it in this particular season, is way more intense than most seasons. There are certain sequences that I have not heard on either of the official soundtracks.

I usually like to calm down a little before writing a review, which accounts for why this is getting 4 stars, not 5, and also why I'm turning this review in a good 4 years after I originally watched the thing. For ages afterward something was bothering me about this series and when I figured out what it was it made me a happy man, so I'd like to share it with the community. It's this: Kim. Yes she's perky, yes she's wholesome, but she also happens to be every Friday the 13th rolled into one. I mean, accused of murder and kidnapping, involved in a near-fatal car crash and a gas-station siege and then held hostage by a millenial wack-job, all on a day when her father specifically told her to stay out of trouble? The cougar was just the icing. What I did when I figured this out was, I went back and watched the whole thing again, skipping right past all the Kim-related tomfoolery - it was way shorter and roughly about a million times better, trust me, try it out. Still doesnt get 5 stars though.
(This review refers to the non-Kim version)

Watched Season One non-stop until I had finished it all. No sleep. I'm sure Season Two will be the same. Then I'll be caught up for Season Three, but will be spoiled after watching with no commercials. I will still order each season for collection purposes. I don't normally collect DVD'S, but I couldn't pass "24" up.

BOTH PACKAGING AND PRODUCT WAS RECEIVED IN PERFECT CONDITION! CAN'T WAIT FOR 8TH SEASON!