DVD Review: 24 Season 5

Season 5 of 24 is my favorite of the show. Everything manages to come together for the best. It never slows down or lag like some episodes of previous seasons (days in Jack Bauer's life). Attacks on the people who know Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) is still alive brings Jack out of hiding. During the course of this day, Jack is framed for murder and later treason as he tries to stop Russian terrorists who stolen bio-weapon which is part of a government conspiracy within the White House. Jack goes up against his old CTU mentor (Peter Weller) along the way as many people try to kill him ad others during the course (don't worry- CTU tech super-geek Chloe O'Brien doesn't bite it as 24 loves to kill off their cast of characters with glee). Season 5 is a pulse pounding ride as director John Cassar notes on his audio commentary with Keifer Sutherland that the first and last episodes are perfect bookends. I agree. Fans of the sci-fi and horror genre will recognize some of the actors in the cast and guest cast from Roger Cross (FIRST WAVE), Jim Morrison, Geraint Wyn-Davies (FOREVER KNIGHT), Patrick Bauchau (THE PRETENDER), Sean Astin (THE LORD OF THE RINGS), Peter Weller (ROBOCOP), and Julian Sands (WARLOCK). Season 5 is the longest and most dangerous day of Jack Bauer's life and 20th Century Fox has enough faith in next month's premiere of season 6 on FOX that they're releasing the first four hours plus the first 12 minutes of episode 5 to DVD the day after the two day premiere of the first four episodes in the middle of Jan 2007.

VIDEO: 1.78:1 (Anamorphic Widescreen)

AUDIO: English 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 2.0 Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English, Spanish

The video and audio is top notch like many recent releases from FOX's TV on DVD.

SPECIAL FEATURES: 11 episode commentaries (by various cast and crew) for 10 episodes provide the real meat for this set if you want insight and details about the making of season 5. The four featurettes (SUPPORTING PLAYERS, UNSUNG HEROES: 24 CAMERA DEPARTMENT, MUSIC BY SEAN GALLERY, and LOGAN'S RETREAT) can be found on disc 7. The 100th EPISODE REEL shows highlights from the first 100 episodes while the season 6 trailer is the same one shown at the end of season 5 with no scenes from season 6. The season 6 trailer has Jack Bauer being tortured by the Chinese (while being an ad for some car). The 23 deleted and extended scenes (with optional commentary by
producer/ director Jon Cassar) have some entertaining moments including unintentional ones like a crew member's elbow showing up in the frame for one of them. I wish they label which scenes are from which episodes instead of scene numbers (but you can view each scene as part of the episodes via a branching feature where a 24 icon will pop up).

FINAL ANALYSIS: If you're a fan of 24 or waiting to see season 5 for the first time, this set is for you.

this review is (c)12-5-2006 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission (except for excerpts and a link to the review). Look for additional content at http://enterlinemedia.livejournal.com and send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com