DVD Review HTF REVIEW: ALIAS (TV series, Season One -- HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) (1 Viewer)

[SteveGon]

I bought this blind and wasn't disappointed. Very well done and entertaining. Sure it's not hyper-realism, but it's great escapism. Garner is terrific and I found the Rambaldi storyline unusual and intriguing. My only real quibble is the overuse of pop songs to underscore dramatic scenes: uh-oh, Sydney is moping around again, here comes the sad song. That got old real fast.

 

[Adam_ME]

For example, how come every major villain, every big bad that has dominated each individual season has been a male and that's just for starters.

 

[EricW]

i liked the use of Billy Corgan's Landslide in "Page 47". i don't like alot of Smashing Pumpkinsbut that's my favourite version of that song.

 

[Tim Glover]

Just finished watching Volume 1. Wow! Very cool. This was also a blind purchase.

Looking forward to Vol. 2 & 3. I do hope the LFE is better used later on in this set. The sound can be overly bright and thin w/out a solid low end.

So far, I've loved the exchanges with Anna and Sydney.

 

[Dan Rudolph]

Besides what Adam pointed out, in seasons 3, 4 had female characters important enough to be considered co-villain and season 6 had the main villain female.
Also on the pro-man side, Xander and maybe Giles seem to be the only stable people in the group.

 

[CoreyII]

To Adam_ME and Dan Rudolph

First of all, to answer Adam's question.
I never considered Glory a true female big bad in the sense that Angel or the Mayor were male big bad's, because she did have to share her body with a male, albiet a good one. To me this was Joss Whedon's subtle way of showing how a woman can never achieve any induvidual power or freedom without male interferrence. And to me this is just one of the anti-male themes that the series has built itself upon. Whedon, at least on Buffy has always painted this lopsided view that the males are somehow more evil than females and that the males are always the catalyst of misfortune in women's lives.

Dan Rudolph's statement:
Although Giles and Xander are interesting characters, being males they are never allowed to have any type of extra powers among the group of women. Buffy being a slayer has super strength, agility, and reflexes,
Willow eventually becomes a very poweful witch, Anya is a demon, Dawn was born from supernatural energy, and Tera who comes into the clique for only a short time is also a witch.
And let's not forget Faith. Now when a male is given some sort of supernatural ability, Whedon always finds some creative way to put him out of the Scooby Gang;
Oz who has the powers of a werewolf had to be constantly locked up of course he eventually left the show, Angel had to be chained up at times and he eventually left the show, and Spike once he got the chip in his head was getting his a$$ kicked quite often, hell he couldn't even protect Dawn during the climatic showdown with Glory. Also worth mentioning is that each one of the previously mentioned males with their powers were also a threat at one point to Buffy's inner-circle.
And let's not forget Riley Finn, although he was quite capable of holding his own fighting alongside Buffy, Whedon eventually got rid of him too. What I'm saying is that Joss Whedon never lets any of the males stand along side his female characters as an equal in power.

 

[David Williams]

As a break from the continuing Buffy coverage...

i thought Hicks and Sidney were recruited together... even Sidney's friend Francine(?) knew about him.

No, the prequel novels are quite clear that Noah was already well into training when Sydney was recruited in about 1994 (Syd was 19, Noah 26). On her first day at SD-6, Syd instantly falls for Noah when she spots him practicing his Krav Maga during her walkthrough. Even though J.J. Abrams does not write the novels, it is my understanding that they are written from his outlines.

I'm sure Francie met him at least once in the about a year and a half that they dated prior to his leaving 5 years before the events in S1. One would assume that some unnamed organization recruited Noah when he was 18 (1988), trained him in assassination, and that he joined SD-6 as some kind of cover 6-7 years later.

 

[Ben Rockwell]

I searched through this thread, and I didn't want to start a new one, so I'm gonna post this question right here.

My gf and I were watching the first two episodes on disc 5 last night, and I noticed both some music and dialogue skipping. I have played this on another player yet (b/c I don't have access to one), but if anyone else has noticed this let me know. The most notable spot is when the camera is entering the room for the hearings about what to do about Sydney and the prophecy.
It's just a few short skips but enough to be annoying.

Thanks in advance for any info.

 

[Dave F]

Ben, what player do you have? Another HTF'er was reporting playback issues...

-Dave

 

[Ben Rockwell]

Dave,

I was initially playing it on my girlfriend's Dad's Samsung 2-in-1. I'm gonna check it on my Panasonic rp-62 later tonight. It hasn't been any discs except disc 5. I'll update later if I don't have a problem on my panny as it is my primary player. Thanks for the link to the other thread...I missed it earlier.

 

[David Williams]

After rewatching Almost Thirty Years I think I finally have a handle on how the Alliance of 12 works. It would seem that the original founders at one time or another were active in the day to day running of the individual SD cells but almost all (except Edward Poole who headed SD-9) have retired to just holding their position on the board. Since Sloane wasn't a founding member of the Alliance, he doesn't get a vote (although, Sloane's vehemnt attitude re:Khasinau would make the audience believe he does).

I think what threw everyone for a loop is that there are 12 board members and 12 SD cells, but there doesn't appear to be any connection between being the Director of a cell and being on the Alliance board (except in Poole and Sloane's cases where they wear both hats). If the had made it Director = Board Member it would have been simpler, but it would have also nixed the Arvin killing Emily for his seat subplot.

 

[EricW]

i think in the first episode, Jack Bristow says he's one of the alliance of 12: when he asks Sidney what she knows of the alliance, she replies 'they are an enemy of the united states'. he says 'i know, i'm one of them'. perhaps he was only telling her he was an enemy, not a member, i don't know. i was under the impression that both Bristow and Sloan were from the original alliance of 12 (the 12 that turned).

also, you have to wonder how effective the other cells are if they keep needing the LA branch to go globe trotting and quite probably treading on other SD cells' jurisdictions. maybe SD-6 is a branch of the alliance, but it's the branch that specializes in the james bond-type duties? like SD-1 is the political branch, SD-2 is the money-laundering branch, etc? i dunno...

 

[Steeve Bergeron]

Or maybe it's just because the other SD cells don't have a Sydney Bristow...

 

[Ric Easton]

Because of this and many other great reviews I decided to pick this up. WOW! I missed this for the X-Files final season? On the plus side... its great to finally have a great show on DVD that I've never seen. I've been a little jealous of the folks experiencing DS9, 24 and B5 for the first time on DVD.

I've only finished episode seven and so far its been quite a ride. I won't watch season 3 until I've seen season 2, so this may always be a DVD show for me. Here's hoping that they continue to release them!

Ric

 

[Tim Glover]

I've now gotten through 11 episodes and like this show more and more with each episode. I'm definitely hooked.

One question, did Alias debut in the Fall of 2001?

Now, my only problem is to finish Season 1 on dvd, then start recording Season 3 on Sunday, 9-28-03. But I'll have to hold those until I can watch Season 2 this December, then go back and watch the beginning of Season 3!!!! This Christmas season looks like I'll be spending alot of time with Alias. God, I wish that were really true. :wink:

 

[GlennH]

One question, did Alias debut in the Fall of 2001?

Yes, according to sd-6.com it was 09/30/2001.

http://www.sd-6.com/season01/episode01/

I've never watched on TV, but have just started on the Season 1 DVD set. Watched 3 episodes so far. Pretty interesting. I'd like to watch Season 3 on ABC in HD (via Comcast), but I don't want to skip everything I haven't seen yet in Seasons 1 and 2. Don't want to record Season 3 on VHS since it wouldn't be HD anyway, would rather just wait for DVD. Hopefully, the DVD sets will get caught up to the show before Season 4 (assuming there is one), like 24.

 

[Tim Glover]

Thanks Glenn.



I hear you. I will have to go ahead and record this on vhs though. It will be even worse for me as I use a regular antenna to get the local Dallas channels and sometimes it's snows, even in September.

 

[Tim Glover]

Still enjoying the shows! I really liked The Box, Part 1 & 2 but felt that Quentin Tarantino's role was too much. Not a big fan of his anyway, but felt his characterization took a little away from an already intense filled episode.

And as the episodes progress, there does seem to be an increase in LFE. Not enough still, but getting a little better.

I think I only lack 6 or 7 more episodes before I'm done.

The last one I watched was Page 47 and the final shot appears to be:

a picture of what looks like Sydney's mother????

Since this was a blind purchase I am really looking forward to seeing how all this plays out!

 

[Tim Glover]

Finished the final 2 episodes of Season 1 last night. It was great!!!!!

And watched the sneak peak of Season 2 and just can't wait until December for this dvd set.

Smallville has been my favorite tv show since it's debut in 2001, but now I may have a new fave....

 

[Joel C]

Wow, that season 2 "sneak peek" was full of so many spoilers... don't you feel cheated at all?