Product Details

• Actors: Anthony LaPaglia, Poppy Montgomery, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Enrique Murciano, Eric Close
• Directors: Charles Correll, David Nutter, Deran Sarafian, John McNaughton, Kevin Hooks
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: September 14, 2004
• Run Time: 922 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (76 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0002DRE72
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,156 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Without a Trace: The Complete First Season" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

It has not taken long for Without a Trace to emerge from the shadows of CSI and become a ratings force in its own right. Jerry Bruckheimer produced both series, and both feature the-face-is-familiar character actors with extensive and diverse resumes who have been catapulted to primetime stardom. Jack Malone, head of a crack FBI missing persons unit, is the Australian-born Anthony LaPaglia's breakout role after years of portraying enough Italian mobsters and criminals to populate a season of The Sopranos. LaPaglia was a surprise Golden Globe Award-winner for this inaugural season. Without a Trace is instantly arresting. "The clock is ticking" in each episode, as Malone and company race against time to find a missing person. "After 48 hours," Malone explains to the rookie member of the team in the series pilot, "they're gone." To solve each baffling case, Malone and fellow agents Samantha Spade (Poppy Montgomery), Vivian Johnson (Marianne Jean-Baptiste of Secrets and Lies), Danny Taylor (Enrique Murciano), and new guy Martin Fitzgerald (Eric Close), must work from the inside out. "Once we find out who she is," Malone says of one victim, "odds are we'll find out where she is."

Among the inaugural season's most wrenching episodes are "Between the Cracks" and "Hang On to Me," both featuring Charles Dutton in his Emmy Award-winning performance as a father whose son has been missing for five years. The powerful season finale, "Fallout," presented in this four-disc set in a "creator's cut," concerns a man who lost his wife in the 9/11 attacks. The riveting episodes mostly stand alone, but some cases do return to haunt Malone, as witness "In Extremis," a case that ends tragically and leads to an internal investigation that threatens to subvert the close-knit unit in the episode. "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been?" Sharp writing, authentic procedurals, taut direction, and effective use of music make Without a Trace a series worth finding on DVD. --Donald Liebenson

Product Description

WITHOUT A TRACE is a fast-paced procedural drama about the Missing Persons Squad of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The sole responsibility of the special task force is to find missing persons by applying advanced psychological profiling techniques. The team reconstructs a "Day of Disappearance" timeline that details every minute of the 24 hours prior to the disappearance, following one simple rule: learn who the victim is in order to learn where the victim is. Senior agent Jack Malone (Anthony LaPaglia) heads the dedicated team. His squad includes Samantha Spade (Poppy Montgomery), Vivian Johnson (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), Danny Taylor (Enrique Murciano), and Martin Fitzgerald (Eric Close)

DVD Features:
Additional Scenes:Director's Cut of the Finale episode - Fallout - includes additional scenes not shown during the broadcast.
Audio Commentary:Commentary on the pilot episode
Deleted Scenes:Approximately 26 minutes of deleted scenes shown after each relevant episode.
Featurette:The Motive featurette, Jerry Bruckheimer's inspiration for the show; Fingerprints featurette, focuses on the look and feel of the show.

See all Editorial Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 60 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Series!! December 9, 2004

By K. Morgan

Format:DVD

Without a Trace focuses on the Missing Persons Unit of the FBI in New York City. This group of five headed by Jack Malone (Anthony Lapaglia) must find out who the missing person was to find out where they might be. They work backwards in time and forward in a race to find the missing person before 48 hours are up. Because after 48 hours chances of finding them alive are very slim.

This show is without a doubt one of the best on TV. I happened to stumble upon the reruns and was watching because I thought Anthony Lapaglia looked familiar. Of course I was thinking of Simon Moon from Frasier. By the time I could get my husband to confirm my suspicions I was hooked on this show. It is so well written and filmed that you can't watch and not become addicted.

The cast of this show is great. These five actors will make you forget your watching TV and make you believe your part of the team trying to solve the case. The writing is wonderful. In addition the way the show is filmed will leave you wanting more. I just can't say enough about this show. It has been awhile since I've been so excited about a TV show.

This DVD package is so great. The quality is excellent. And the extras are very entertaining. You go behind the scenes to learn how the show was developed and how the cast was picked. Then you can learn how the sets were made and discover that they actually have an ex-FBI man as an advisor to make the show look and feel real. This is just great. This shows the interest and pride the producers take in the show to go to the length of having an advisor help in making it real. I think this has a great deal to do with why the show is such a success and seems real.

This DVD is a must have for any fan of Without a Trace. It will provide some of the most entertaining hours on TV.

38 of 42 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars TV that doesn't insult your intelligence September 8, 2004

By K. Schwarting

Format:DVD

From the world of Jerry Bruckheimer comes a smartly written, smartly acted, and altogether intriguing drama. The series follows a group of specialized FBI agents through the time they learn of a missing person through the time that person is found (alive or dead). Periodically, subtitles pop up to let the viewer know how much time has passed, and as the hours tick by, the sense of urgency grows.

With a cast led by the great Anthony LaPaglia, this is well-written and well-acted television. On DVD, the episodes run about 40 minutes each.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars ONE OF THE BEST August 24, 2006

By Michael Butts HALL OF FAMEVINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

Without a doubt, WITHOUT A TRACE is one of the finest dramatic series on the air. Executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer who helms the also excellent CSI trio brings us a cast made in heaven, superb storylines, and some gutwrenching episodes. Anthony LaPaglia is superb as head agent Jack Malone of the FBI's Missing Persons unit. Considered rather a maverick man, who sometimes bends the rules in the name of justice, LaPaglia brings a strength and sensitivity to his role that makes Jack Malone one of the best leading roles on t.v. He is given fine support by Poppy Montgomery as Samantha Slade, a lovely young agent whose cynicism belies her innate compassion; Marianne Jean-Baptiste is Vivian Johnson, the stoic team member who acts as the voice of logic and reason and whose delivery is so natural, she doesn't seem like she's acting; Enrique Murciano as the Latino, whose has a sharp sense of humor and a quick temper at times; and Eric Close is Martin Fitzgerald, the Deputy Director's son who wants to prove to his team he is a good agent and not just his father's puppet. Along with superior camerawork, editing and music, the series has given us some marvelous guest performances from actors like Charles S. Dutton (who won an Emmy for his role as the distraught father desperately searching for his missing son); Tim Matheson, Mackenzie Astin, Dana Wheeler-Nicholson, Tom Irwin, Veronica Cartwright, Lawrence Pressman...they're have been a ton of really good performances from their guest stars.

All in all, WITHOUT A TRACE is gripping, superb entertainment!