Hello! I'm Nicola, and thanks for taking the time to read my review. A bit about me, well I'm 20 yea...
Hello! I'm Nicola, and thanks for taking the time to read my review. A bit about me, well I'm 20 years old and I live in Kent, I spend far too much time reading and watching movies and writing for this place :)
Member since:23.01.2007
Reviews:50
Members who trust:13
I'd somehow managed to completely avoid watching a single episode of 24 right up to the current season (7). I'd seen the adverts but it was completely not my thing. I hate movies like that, and I hate TV shows along the same lines even more. For some reason I decided to give season 7 a go as so many people were looking forward to it coming back on - and, much to my annoyance, I got completely hooked and ended up buying all the boxsets so I could catch up.
I ended up watching the entire set of season one in two days. It is completely, ridiculously, compulsive. About half way through every episode I would be fed up with having not moved in so long and would want to go and do something else, but then by the end of the episode my thoughts would change to, "Well...one more won't hurt."
So, what's different about 24 from other shows in the same genre? Well, the quite obvious fact that it's all in real time! Sortof, anyway. Each episode is about 45 minutes long, so
there are a few time jumps where adverts would be. This is a bit odd when you're watching the DVD as three times an episode you will suddenly lose five minutes. This is a bit irritating at first, but you get used to it. I originally couldn't really see why having it in real time would make much difference, but the producers do a good job with this. For example, upcoming events are mentioned under specific times so that you begin to look forward to them and get excited when you're in that episode, a clock comes up on the bottom every now and then to remind you of where you currently are, it it ocasionally split screens to show you multiple views of what is currently occuring.
The plot is quite complicated, but, without giving too much away, it is basically about the day of the California Presedential Primary. It focuses on the Counter Terrorism Unit of Los Angeles - in particular, on Jack Bauer, played by Kiefer Sutherland. The story really does start from the very first episode, as Jack's daughter Kimberly sneaks out of the house. From there, you've got 24 episodes of twists, focusing heavily around the kidnapping of Kimberly and her mother and an assassination plot on the black presidential candidate.
I really love this show. Though in the later seasons the whole 'real time' idea becomes very loose and unrealistic, in series one this remains quite believable. Because of this less happens than in later seasons, but still enough to keep it exciting. There are so many twists in the show that you never really know what to expect, and you never know who to trust. I know I definitley didn't figure out who the mole was and was very surprised when it was revealed! This show does not really feel like a TV series to me, instead it feels like a really long movie, haha. But this is definitley a good thing - I don't really buy box sets because I can't see myself wanting to watch them again as they are so long and I already know what happens, but this isn't really the case with 24 as SO much happens and it's so addictive. Oddly, I find myself fidgeting way more during a two hour movie than I did in about three boxes straight of this collection!
The acting in this is excellent. I love Kiefer Sutherland already and he definitley does not disappoint in this. There isn't a single actor in this who I would complain about, everyone played their characters perfectly and as already stated, I definitley did not guess who the mole was so props to the cast!
The bonus features of this are pretty lacking. There's an alternate ending which is about two minutes long and a preview of season 2 which tells you absolutely nothing. Disappointing, when on future boxsets you get an entire extra DVD just with box sets! But I am almost permanently disappointed by extra features, so it doesn't really surprise me!
My biggest complain about the DVDs are quite mild, but for first time viewers of the season the DVDs really do give away exactly what happens. When you are choosing which episode you want to watch there is a little montage of video clips playing - some of which show you very major parts of the storyline, which was a little disappointing when watching an episode I suddenly realised i knew exactly what was coming up as I had seen it in that clip!
Overall I would definitley recommend giving the set a try! They are going quite cheap now as well - I got season one for £12.99 brand new.
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Season One DVD CollectionThere are terrorists planning to assassinate a presidential ... more
candidate. My teenage daughter has been kidnapped, and the people that I work with may be involved in both. I'm Federal Agent Jack Bauer. This is the longest day of my...
Such a simple idea--yet so fiendishly complex in the execution.24, as surely everyone ... more
knows by now, is a thriller that takes place over 24 hours, midnight to midnight, in 24 one-hour episodes (well, 45-minute episodes if you extract the ad breaks). Eve...
Postage & Packaging: free Super Saver Delivery Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Such a simple idea--yet so fiendishly complex in the execution.24, as surely everyone ... more
knows by now, is a thriller that takes place over 24 hours, midnight to midnight, in 24 one-hour episodes (well, 45-minute episodes if you extract the ad breaks). Eve...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
24 is an innovative television drama where the entire series takes place in one day. Each ... more
of the 24 episodes covers one hour told in real time. The first episode begins at midnight on the day of the California Presidential Primary. Jack Bauer (Kiefe...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
![24 : Complete Season 1 [DVD]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78534408.jpg "24 : Complete Season 1 [DVD]")
Apr 28th, 2009
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