Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
FINALLY!!!, January 7, 2008
After seeing so many poor or banal sci-fi series released on DVD, I was upset that the Sci-Fi Channel's THE INVISIBLE MAN series was not amongst them (at least not in the US anyway... it's been available for years on Region 2 DVD's), but now, at long last, it's coming! This is by far the best show that the Sci-Fi Channel has ever created (aside from the great BATTLESTAR GALACTICA) and it has been deserving of reruns at the VERY least, but other less interesting and less entertaining shows have been clogging up Sci-Fi's airwaves (STARGATE series, I'm looking at you!).
But onto the show itself. Darien Fawkes (the underappreciated Vincent Ventresca) is a thief who is finally caught and put in prison. He's looking at a life sentence, but his brother comes to his "rescue" of sorts when he offers him a deal: Testing an experimental gland implant in the brain that will release a chemical nicknamed "Quicksilver" that coats the skin for a brief period of time that bends light around the subject, allowing them to become invisible to the naked eye. Darien accepts the deal, but we know what road good intentions lead to. Fawkes' brother is double-crossed and killed by his assistant Arnaud DeFehrn (the wonderfully sleazy Joel Bissonette), and Fawkes is stuck with the experimental gland before it's perfected. The gland has a potentially fatal flaw which is that if used for too long of a period of time, the user (in this case, Fawkes) will experience what is called "Quicksilver Madness" which he experiences psychotic and sociopathic tendencies. Fawkes is recruited by "The Agency", a covert ops organization that answers only to The President, run by a perenially frustrated bean-counter usually referred to as "The Official" or "The Fat Man" (the hilarious Eddie Jones) and his yes-man Eberts (the also-hilarious Michael McCafferty). Fawkes' condition is watched over by the lovely Claire "The Keeper" Keeply (beautiful and dry-witted Shannon Kenny), who must regularly give him injections of a counter-agent that wards off the Quicksilver Madness, and is determined to find a way to remove the gland from Darien without the procedure killing him.
The show also gives us a brilliant buddy cop story with Fawkes partnered with Agent Bobby Hobbes (the wonderful and easily recognizable Paul Ben-Victor), a self-professed ladies man and martial arts master, who also may be suffering from schizophrenia that may be fueling these delusions of grandeur (or are they delusions?). The chemistry that is developed between Fawkes and Hobbes is just amazing, and it becomes one of the high points of the show.
One of the other high points is the amazing special effects. When Fawkes goes invisible (and vice versa), the transition is totally seamless. It was this level of achievement that unfortunately brought this show to an all-too premature end because it was just too expensive to keep up that level.
Overall, this is a really great and really fun show that just ended way too soon but it finally is back to watch on this DVD series!
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally, they bring something good to DVD, December 28, 2007
I watched this series when it was on Sci-Fi, and it is one of the best shows to ever be aired (especially on that channel) and was actually one of the highest rated shows on Sci-fi (only being canceled due to the huge costs to make an episode) I recommend this series to any sci-fi fan, or fan of shows like X-Files. Very great stories while funny at the same time! Glad to see that Sci-fi finally listened to all the petitions and is bringing this out, just hope Season 2 sees a release too!
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally on DVD, February 11, 2008
The Sci-Fi Channel's The Invisible Man finally gets a long overdue release on DVD, and be glad that it has. Arguably the best, original show to ever grace the network, The Invisible Man stars Vincent Ventresca as Darien Fawkes, a con-man and thief that undergoes an experiment upon getting captured and put in jail. The experiment involves a gland imprint in his brain that allows Fawkes to turn himself invisible, and after his agent brother is murdered and betrayed, Fawkes sets out to avenge his death, and battles assassins and other enemies in the process. He gets teamed with Agent Hobbes (Paul Ben-Victor), which provides some of the best moments of the series, which is frequently entertaining and even surprisingly innovative for its time. For a Sci-Fi Channel series, The Invisible Man also features some nifty effects work, and the underrated and underutilized Ventresca is wonderful and magnetic as Fawkes. Its so great to finally have The Invisible Man on DVD, and if you watched and enjoyed the show when it aired (it was one of the highest rated original programs to ever air on Sci-Fi), this first season set is an absolute must own.
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