[COLOR= black]
[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]‘24’: Season 8 – The Complete Final Season (Blu-ray)[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]Directed by Brad Turner et al
Studio: Twentieth Century Fox
Year: 2010
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 1080p AVC codec
Running Time: 1056 minutes
Rating: TV-14
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English
Subtitles: SDH, Spanish, French [/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]Region:[/COLOR][COLOR= black] A
MSRP: $ 69.99[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]Release Date: December 14, 2010[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]Review Date:[/COLOR][COLOR= black] December 16, 2010[/COLOR]
The Season
3.5/5
One of the most audacious concepts ever for a television series, ‘24’ made for enthralling viewing for all of its eight broadcast seasons. Naturally, some seasons have been better than others (who will ever forget the first riveting season when all of the twists and turns were so fresh and shocking or its much deserved Emmy-winning fifth season with the show and its star at their best?), but these last few seasons have found the show repeating some of its most daring twists with different actors and in different locales but with more predictable results. Still, it’s praiseworthy indeed to cheer the producers of the show in their ability to turn out these spellbinding mini-action movies on a weekly basis. At its best, and even during its eighth and last season on the air, ‘24’ could stand tall with the best of the Bourne film series for consistently delivering thrills and surprises, one of the true landmark series ever to appear on television.
On this very last day-from-hell in the life of CTU agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), the now-retired agent has recovered from his exposure to nuclear materials and is looking forward to leaving New York City with his daughter and her family for Los Angeles. He’s pulled back into the fray, however, when word comes that peace talks between countries at the United Nations spearheaded by U.S. President Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones) may be jeopardized by an attempt on the life of IRK President Omar Hassan (Anil Kapoor). Once that situation is handled, Jack and CTU are faced with an even more pressing problem: the presence of nuclear rods in New York City which initially are attempting to be smuggled out of the country and later come to be the core of a dirty bomb set to explode in the heart of New York City. Jack’s longtime friend Chloe O'Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub) is back at CTU trying to help, but she’s initially thwarted every step of the way by new head man Brian Hastings (Mykelti Williamson), head of field operations Cole Ortiz (Freddie Prinze Jr.), and head data analyst Dana Walsh (Katee Sackhoff), all of them overly smug, insulting, and mirthless. As usual Chloe’s and Jack’s instincts prove right time and again, but it takes quite a few hours of the day before the new folks in charge get the message about their expertise.
The show’s story this season is as complex as it has always been with a new peril always in play after a previous one has been attended to. The show’s writing staff, however, comes up a little short in the originality department as once again a mole operating for the terrorists is discovered late in the day to have infiltrated CTU (this harkens back to the original season of the show), the threatened foreign President learns that trusted family members are either disloyal or have been duped into helping his enemies (multiple seasons have featured this predicament), and the U.S. President (Cherry Jones repeating her Emmy-winning role from season seven) has staff members who take matters into their own hands against Presidential orders and eventually must call on the weaselly ex-President Charles Logan (Gregory Itzin) as a consultant. The cancellation of ‘24’ at the end of the season didn’t seem to have as much to do with low ratings as it did to an obvious empty bag of tricks on display in season eight. Though the show was as breathless and exciting as ever and used split-screen technology better than any program before or since, there was an unmistakable aura of déjà vu about the entire season.
Beginning at 4 p.m. this season, this allowed the climactic episodes to be played out during daylight hours, a wise decision. Kiefer Sutherland once again gives it his all as Jack Bauer, his Emmy-winning intensity not the least bit compromised by having to play this character’s worst nightmare scenario one more time. It’s a breakthrough season for Mary Lynn Rajskub’s Chloe as she saves the day with her moxie and entertains viewers with her dry, sardonic wit. Cherry Jones, who didn’t submit herself for Emmy consideration feeling she hadn’t had enough of importance this season, misjudged her significance making an especially impassioned plea for peace on more than one occasion and having to make a deal with the devil with disastrous consequences during the twenty-four episodes. Annie Wersching returns most successfully as undercover operative Renee Walker who attempts to infiltrate a Russian mob to gain information about the nuclear rods. Freddie Prinze Jr. makes a believable tough guy field agent while Katee Sackhoff somewhat overplays her hand as the rather haughty and duplicitous Dana Walsh attempting to hide her past from her fiancé through any means necessary. The marvelous Gregory Itzin slithers his oily way through all of his scenes as the slimy, disgraced ex-President.
Video Quality
3.5/5
The episodes are presented in their widescreen television aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and are rendered in 1080p using the AVC codec. Though the show has one of the most cinematic looks ever for a television series, the video quality is a variable lot. Color is often but not always slightly desaturated and contrast often seems dialed down a peg giving a slightly milky quality to the visual impact. Detail is certainly above average, but black levels are variable, and in low light conditions, blacks are often crushed. There is very obvious banding to be seen in many episodes, and some slight moiré can be glimpsed on occasion as well. The episodes have been divided into 12 chapters.
Audio Quality
4.5/5
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound mix confirms that the show’s soundtrack is among the most active and vibrant in all of television, often boasting movie-quality spread of ambient effects which pan and swoop across and through and with constant music which engages the entire soundfield. Dialogue is excellently recorded and resides in the center channel. Very few soundtracks for television series can compete with the stellar sound design for this show.
Special Features
3.5/5
Twenty-one episodes contain behind-the-scenes mini-featurettes called “Scenemakers” in which the episode’s director, various cast and production team members comment on one particular aspect of the episode (the stunt work, the set, the special effects, a twist in the story). These vignettes run between 2-3 minutes each and are presented in 480i.
There are seven extended episodes which appear to be merely extended moments on existing scenes retained for the longer versions. There are no additional chapter designations. The viewer can choose to view the extended or the broadcast version from each episode’s main menu.
“The Ultimate CTU” finds production designer Carlos Barbosa giving us a guided tour of the shiny new CTU/New York City set. It runs 12 ¾ minutes in 1080i.
Each disc in the four disc set contains deleted scenes for the episodes on that disc. Disc one contains two scenes running 4 ¼ minutes. Disc two has two scenes which run 1 ¾ minutes while disc three has one scene lasting 1 minute. Disc four concludes with two scenes (including Jack’s complete final confession) which runs 4 ½ minutes. All are in 1080p.
“Chloe’s Arrest” is a kind of coda for the series showing Chloe’s ultimate fate after the close of the series. With Carlo Rota once again appearing as her husband Morris, this 1080p feature runs 3 ¾ minutes.
“Virtually New York” is a 9 ¼-minute look at how New York was digitally inserted into the filming of the series done in Los Angeles using software called Virtual Backlot. It’s presented in 1080i
The set offers 1080p promo trailers for the Fox-TV dramas, the FX dramas series, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, and Street Kings.
In Conclusion
3.5/5 (not an average)
The final season of ‘24’ may not have been the show’s best of eight, but it certainly ushered the program out in style with a gripping (if at times overly familiar) story and terrific central performances. Bonus features don’t memorialize the impact of the show in TV history as they should but are all pleasant diversions. For fans, of course, it’s a must-have.
Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC
[COLOR= black]‘24’: Season 8 – The Complete Final Season (Blu-ray)[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]Directed by Brad Turner et al
Studio: Twentieth Century Fox
Year: 2010
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 1080p AVC codec
Running Time: 1056 minutes
Rating: TV-14
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English
Subtitles: SDH, Spanish, French [/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]Region:[/COLOR][COLOR= black] A
MSRP: $ 69.99[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]Release Date: December 14, 2010[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]Review Date:[/COLOR][COLOR= black] December 16, 2010[/COLOR]
The Season
3.5/5
One of the most audacious concepts ever for a television series, ‘24’ made for enthralling viewing for all of its eight broadcast seasons. Naturally, some seasons have been better than others (who will ever forget the first riveting season when all of the twists and turns were so fresh and shocking or its much deserved Emmy-winning fifth season with the show and its star at their best?), but these last few seasons have found the show repeating some of its most daring twists with different actors and in different locales but with more predictable results. Still, it’s praiseworthy indeed to cheer the producers of the show in their ability to turn out these spellbinding mini-action movies on a weekly basis. At its best, and even during its eighth and last season on the air, ‘24’ could stand tall with the best of the Bourne film series for consistently delivering thrills and surprises, one of the true landmark series ever to appear on television.
On this very last day-from-hell in the life of CTU agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), the now-retired agent has recovered from his exposure to nuclear materials and is looking forward to leaving New York City with his daughter and her family for Los Angeles. He’s pulled back into the fray, however, when word comes that peace talks between countries at the United Nations spearheaded by U.S. President Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones) may be jeopardized by an attempt on the life of IRK President Omar Hassan (Anil Kapoor). Once that situation is handled, Jack and CTU are faced with an even more pressing problem: the presence of nuclear rods in New York City which initially are attempting to be smuggled out of the country and later come to be the core of a dirty bomb set to explode in the heart of New York City. Jack’s longtime friend Chloe O'Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub) is back at CTU trying to help, but she’s initially thwarted every step of the way by new head man Brian Hastings (Mykelti Williamson), head of field operations Cole Ortiz (Freddie Prinze Jr.), and head data analyst Dana Walsh (Katee Sackhoff), all of them overly smug, insulting, and mirthless. As usual Chloe’s and Jack’s instincts prove right time and again, but it takes quite a few hours of the day before the new folks in charge get the message about their expertise.
The show’s story this season is as complex as it has always been with a new peril always in play after a previous one has been attended to. The show’s writing staff, however, comes up a little short in the originality department as once again a mole operating for the terrorists is discovered late in the day to have infiltrated CTU (this harkens back to the original season of the show), the threatened foreign President learns that trusted family members are either disloyal or have been duped into helping his enemies (multiple seasons have featured this predicament), and the U.S. President (Cherry Jones repeating her Emmy-winning role from season seven) has staff members who take matters into their own hands against Presidential orders and eventually must call on the weaselly ex-President Charles Logan (Gregory Itzin) as a consultant. The cancellation of ‘24’ at the end of the season didn’t seem to have as much to do with low ratings as it did to an obvious empty bag of tricks on display in season eight. Though the show was as breathless and exciting as ever and used split-screen technology better than any program before or since, there was an unmistakable aura of déjà vu about the entire season.
Beginning at 4 p.m. this season, this allowed the climactic episodes to be played out during daylight hours, a wise decision. Kiefer Sutherland once again gives it his all as Jack Bauer, his Emmy-winning intensity not the least bit compromised by having to play this character’s worst nightmare scenario one more time. It’s a breakthrough season for Mary Lynn Rajskub’s Chloe as she saves the day with her moxie and entertains viewers with her dry, sardonic wit. Cherry Jones, who didn’t submit herself for Emmy consideration feeling she hadn’t had enough of importance this season, misjudged her significance making an especially impassioned plea for peace on more than one occasion and having to make a deal with the devil with disastrous consequences during the twenty-four episodes. Annie Wersching returns most successfully as undercover operative Renee Walker who attempts to infiltrate a Russian mob to gain information about the nuclear rods. Freddie Prinze Jr. makes a believable tough guy field agent while Katee Sackhoff somewhat overplays her hand as the rather haughty and duplicitous Dana Walsh attempting to hide her past from her fiancé through any means necessary. The marvelous Gregory Itzin slithers his oily way through all of his scenes as the slimy, disgraced ex-President.
Video Quality
3.5/5
The episodes are presented in their widescreen television aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and are rendered in 1080p using the AVC codec. Though the show has one of the most cinematic looks ever for a television series, the video quality is a variable lot. Color is often but not always slightly desaturated and contrast often seems dialed down a peg giving a slightly milky quality to the visual impact. Detail is certainly above average, but black levels are variable, and in low light conditions, blacks are often crushed. There is very obvious banding to be seen in many episodes, and some slight moiré can be glimpsed on occasion as well. The episodes have been divided into 12 chapters.
Audio Quality
4.5/5
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound mix confirms that the show’s soundtrack is among the most active and vibrant in all of television, often boasting movie-quality spread of ambient effects which pan and swoop across and through and with constant music which engages the entire soundfield. Dialogue is excellently recorded and resides in the center channel. Very few soundtracks for television series can compete with the stellar sound design for this show.
Special Features
3.5/5
Twenty-one episodes contain behind-the-scenes mini-featurettes called “Scenemakers” in which the episode’s director, various cast and production team members comment on one particular aspect of the episode (the stunt work, the set, the special effects, a twist in the story). These vignettes run between 2-3 minutes each and are presented in 480i.
There are seven extended episodes which appear to be merely extended moments on existing scenes retained for the longer versions. There are no additional chapter designations. The viewer can choose to view the extended or the broadcast version from each episode’s main menu.
“The Ultimate CTU” finds production designer Carlos Barbosa giving us a guided tour of the shiny new CTU/New York City set. It runs 12 ¾ minutes in 1080i.
Each disc in the four disc set contains deleted scenes for the episodes on that disc. Disc one contains two scenes running 4 ¼ minutes. Disc two has two scenes which run 1 ¾ minutes while disc three has one scene lasting 1 minute. Disc four concludes with two scenes (including Jack’s complete final confession) which runs 4 ½ minutes. All are in 1080p.
“Chloe’s Arrest” is a kind of coda for the series showing Chloe’s ultimate fate after the close of the series. With Carlo Rota once again appearing as her husband Morris, this 1080p feature runs 3 ¾ minutes.
“Virtually New York” is a 9 ¼-minute look at how New York was digitally inserted into the filming of the series done in Los Angeles using software called Virtual Backlot. It’s presented in 1080i
The set offers 1080p promo trailers for the Fox-TV dramas, the FX dramas series, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, and Street Kings.
In Conclusion
3.5/5 (not an average)
The final season of ‘24’ may not have been the show’s best of eight, but it certainly ushered the program out in style with a gripping (if at times overly familiar) story and terrific central performances. Bonus features don’t memorialize the impact of the show in TV history as they should but are all pleasant diversions. For fans, of course, it’s a must-have.
Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC
