Customer Reviews

24: Season Six Premiere

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

For a suspense-driven TV show that attracts fans as polarizing as Dick Cheney and Barbra Streisand, "24" has sustained an impressive amount of momentum for the past five seasons based on its timely, post-9/11 premise of covering 24 hours in the derring-do life of federal agent Jack Bauer in his constant attempt to avert terrorist attacks in Los Angeles. The just-aired sixth-season premiere carries the same propulsive creative energy forward, and 20th Century Fox smartly seized a marketing opportunity to release the first four hours on DVD this week.

The action picks up twenty months after the end of season five when Jack was kidnapped and tortured by the Chinese for his role in killing the consulate dramatized in the prior season. A bedraggled Jack, looking like a palsied, late-period Howard Hughes, emerges from a plane looking and acting most fragile. An interesting plot development that has been dismissed for now, this vulnerability lasts roughly ten minutes as the old Jack comes back to form when it becomes clear that the country is being bombarded by small-scale terrorist attacks. As the key negotiating pawn, Jack has been freed to be the sacrificial lamb to terrorist Abu Fayed in return for mastermind al-Assad. After the departure of dastardly Charles Logan last season, the new U.S. President is David Palmer's callow young brother Wayne, who has haltingly brokered the deal. Meanwhile, complications occur when Jack finds out that al-Assad has decided to forsake terrorism for a pivotal role in his country's new government.

The first two hours are better than the next two, primarily because the set-up is so intriguingly far-fetched that the execution can't help but get somewhat perfunctory. The most egregious storyline involves a suburban family who get caught up in the day's activity through their connection with their seemingly innocent Islamic-American neighbor. Part of the problem is casting actor Kal Penn, star of "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle", as the poker-faced neighbor. The White House meetings also have a bit of a by-the-numbers feel to them, though a new character, White House Chief-of-Staff Thomas Lennox, livens the proceedings with his aggressive moves toward racial profiling, a most timely and controversial topic for the show to cover.

Familiar characters return - Bill Buchanan now officially heads up the CTU and is married to National Security Adviser Karen Hayes; and CTU analyst Chloe O'Brian, glammed up a bit more, is surrounded by a new supervisor and a co-worker who happens to be his ex-husband. New characters look promising, such as Lennox (an ideal part for Peter MacNichol's weasel-like persona) and Palmer's self-righteous sister Sandra, a civil rights attorney partnered with the head of the legal counselor for the Islamic-American Alliance. There is also a new CTU second-in-command, Nadia Yassir, who is helpfully fluent in Arabic. None of the actors particularly stand out, but Kiefer Sutherland's otherwise stoic turn is leavened by peeks into a more complex ambiguity this season. The rest of season looks promising especially with the sudden detonation at the climax. The DVD's sole extra is an extended preview of the fifth episode.

Well, you get the first four episodes of 24 Season 6, and the first 12 minutes of the 5th episode. You also get a coupon for $10 off any of the 24 DVD sets including season 6 when it becomes available. The coupon does not expire until Feb. of 2008. So if you do not already own all of the DVD sets you can score yourself $10 off any of them. Great deal.

I love 24, and have the box sets to Seasons 1-5. Obviously I'm going to get Season 6 when it comes out, but now Fox has thrown this 'Premiere Set' of the first 4 Episodes of Season 6 into the mix. Now, I would normally blow this off and wait for the complete box set, but at a local retailer I saw that if you bought this 'Premiere Set' for $9.99, you get a $10.00 coupon off any season of 24, including the Season 6 box set when it comes out (the coupon doesn't expire until the end of February, 2008). Well, seeing how I am gonna buy the Season 6 box set anyways, and between the 'Premiere Set' and the coupon you break even, it's a pretty sweet deal! If you're a die hard J.B. fan like my wife and I, I say go for it......

This is a great promotion for the series. Sure, FOX could have taken the high road like CBS, NBC or ABC and just offered the reruns free on their web site, but in the end this DVD serves a useful purpose. At least we don't have to sit through those horrible non-fast forwardable commercials on-line at the network web sites. And the $9.99 cost of the DVD is completely offset by a $10 coupon included with the set that can be applied to any full season of "24" including the eventual release of Season 6. So it's a wash. Plus you get the first 12 minutes of episode 5!

It is not unreasonable to believe that hundreds of thousands of people may have missed the premiere due to TiVo or VHS recorder errors or just plain forgetfulness. No one is putting a gun to your head and forcing you to purchase this DVD.

The fact that this DVD was sold out at my local Target, K-Mart and Wal-Mart stores and as I type this is ranked #7 on the Amazon DVD sales charts, proves there is indeed an audience wanting this DVD.

This DVD gives you a good dose of the new 24 season which is the first four episodes and it also gives you a sneak peek of the next episode which is 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. So for some last thoughts I have to say three words about this DVD "c'est si bon!"

These first 4 episodes may have more action in them than any of the first 4 episodes of any season of 24. Jack's vulnerablity is also something fresh. Best show on TV remains on top!

Major ice storm had our power out during the season premier. I was so glad to get this DVD! I'm not believing Wayne Palmer as the POTUS. He's too young, and lacks experience. And Jack Bauer desperately needs a vacation!

Up until season 6, I had never seen an episode of 24. For the past couple of years I've had to hear friends, family, and others rave about it, but I just wasn't willing to dedicate time to keeping up with a weekly tv show. This year, though, I caved in and I couldn't be more impressed.

When I hear someone say "such and such is a good tv show", the first thing that comes to mind is "it may be good, but it's tv...how good can it really be?". In the case of 24, good is an understatement. The show is well acted, well written, and the storylines and subplots keep you wanting more. Basically, a season of 24 is a 22 hour action movie with about a zillion twists and turns.

After the first 4 episodes of season 6, I was hooked. In fact, I happened to see season 1 on sale for $18 at a local Walmart, bought it, and I've already finished watching all 24 episodes! It's addicting! I just ordered season 2 the other day and am planning on getting the other seasons in the future so that I can catch up on what I've missed.

In the end, 24 is definitely worth sitting down and watching every Monday at 8:00pm. If you havn't watched any of season 6 yet, you can buy this DVD to get caught up and only be a little bit behind...I think the upcoming episode will be the 7th of the season? You won't regret spending the $10.

As a side note, I will add that 24 isn't for everyone. The show is very intense to say the least (especially the 4 episodes on this DVD), and may end up being to much for some viewers.

24 is still #1 with me. We've all heard it before...how many bad days can one man have. The writers and directors are just incredible. Of course the show wouldn't be what it is without the leading man, Kiefer Sutherland. I loved watching the first 4 hours of this season 6. The twist with Jack starting out from a down position is creativity in the writing. Mixing it up is good. For me it is all about the anticipation. With Jack it has been pretty predictable of his style as an agent in the field. Now we have to watch him bring himself back up to the level we know him best. I have to say they pick some really excellent actors to join the cast and it is all good. Thanks 24!!!

Season 6 of "24" opens with four of the most compelling hours I have seen for this well-written, and well-acted, dramatic thriller television series. I believe that Fox made a wise marketing move by releasing this DVD set soon after the airing of the first four hours, helping to spurn additional interest amongst fans and others with potential interest in this show. Kiefer Sutherland offers some of his finest acting in the role of Jack Bauer, portraying a more ambigious, conflicted version of the character than the one we've been accustomed to; however, this ambiguity is understandable in light of Bauer's twenty month-long imprisonment and torture in the People's Republic of China. The acting from the rest of the cast is exceptional, with ample praise going to Peter MacNicol as Thomas Lennox, the weasel-like presidential chief of staff, Kal Penn, in a surprising dramatic twist, as Ahmed Amar, a young, fanatical Islamic Arab-American terrorist, and Alexander Siddig, best known for portraying Dr. Julian Bashir on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine", as Hamir Al-Assad, the Islamic Arab terrorist leader who yearns to craft a long-lasting peace agreement between his militants and the West, but is determined to stop his fanatical associates from staging more devestating acts of terrorism on the United States. I should also mention that there is superb acting too from James Morrison (Bill Buchanan, now head of CTU), Jayne Atkinson (National Security Advisor Karen Hayes, who is married now to Buchanan), Roger R. Cross (CTU operative Curtis Manning), and of course, Mary Lynn Raksjub (Chloe O'Brian, CTU analyst). I think the producers and writers have created a reasonable, yet still terrifying scenario for Islamic terrorist attacks, and how a highly competent American president - portrayed brilliantly by D. B. Woodside (Wayne Palmer) - and his aides would confront this threat; it is one worthy of praise inspite of recent severe criticism from Islamic and Arab-American civil rights groups. Without question, this is a fine beginning for the latest season of "24" and I eagerly look forward to seeing the rest of this season's episodes.