Rating: 
Summary: Improves in every way on season 1...
Review: After the cliffhanger ending (what else is new for this show?) to season 1, I couldn't stand not knowing the rest of the story and buckled down and bought season 2. I don't regret it at all. The story of Sydney as a double agent in SD-6 that began in the first season reaches a stunning climax mid-way through the season that basically changes the whole direction of the series. The appearence of Sydney's mother in season 1 at the end of final episode becomes an intriguing plot device that leaves the viewer wondering each week which side she really is on. One of the more interesting aspects of this season is that various sub plots to the main story arc are just as facinating as the main story. For instance, I thought the story of Sloane and his wife trying to escape from the Alliance was very interesting and added to the depth of his character. Moreover, Marshall (who usually does a great job as the show's comic relief) gets a two part episode where he goes on a mission with Sydney was another season highlight for me. In addition, the episode writers this season showed that they were able to handle a gaggle of guest stars and still be able to keep the story moving forward. The traditional way most television series handle guest stars with the star power of the appearences this season is to have a "very special" one part or two part episode in which the guest mega star is allowed to shine. However, the writers let all of the stars (such as Faye Dunaway, Ethan Hawke, Christian Slater etc.) perfectly compliment the main storyline. Faye Dunaway's portrayal of a spy hunter in SD-6 on Victor Garber's trail was particularly good in my opinion. If you are a fan of the series, you have to get this DVD set. The only people I wouldn't recommend this to is people who haven't seen the first season. The story won't make too much sense and you'd be missing a lot of the fun of the first season too!
Rating: 
Summary: BUYER BEWARE!
Review: This DVD set uses the Macrovision copy protection system. For those of you not familiar with Macrovision, it is a technology installed into most modern DVD and VHS players that sends a signal through the video cable that interferes with most VCRs and some televisions video quality. You will know it when you see it, because brightness level will fluctuate from really dark to normal constantly and may cause horizontal lines and unstable video. This mostly isn't much of a problem UNLESS your primary method of getting your video signal to your TV is through your VCR. This also isn't a free techonology. Producers must pay royalties to the Macrovision company. My TV only has one video input, so the easiest way to get the best picture quality from my DVD player and satellite without having to switch cords around constantly is to use my VCR which has 2 inputs and 1 output. So far, this hasn't been a problem UNTIL I bought this dvd set. Now when I want to watch my show, I have to change all the cords around just for this particular show. This is unacceptable. Companies can worry about piracy all they want, but it should not interfere with legitimate use or my right to make a personal backup copy under my Fair Use rights. While I'm not prepared to run around boycotting and walking picket lines, I do have half a mind to return my bought copy and get a copy I can use through alternate means. I posted this just so you can be aware of what you're buying before you spend your money. You decide whether you want to deal with it or not. This product received 2 stars because even though the dvd is a pain to watch, the show totally rocks.
Rating:
Summary: Sit Back and Enjoy the Ride
Review: We got the first season of Alias for Christmas, had to stop half way through and buy a surround sound system with a sub woofer - and picked up the second season while we were out. Season II picks up with the same intensity of the first season. It's a little deep in the Sci-Fi at times but not so much that it breaks the flow. The soundtrack is amazing - it will really put your entertainment system to the test. Sound effects, music, dialog all work together to give you a movie theater experience. The DVD layout is very easy to understand, smooth transitions and great cuts! Make sure you have the time before you pop this in - there are few stopping points during the entire collection so be prepared to spend many hours in front of your TV - even pausing for "Bio-Breaks" is tough ;-) I wouldn't want to watch this any other way - this is a series that was MADE for DVD!
Rating: 
Summary: commercials?
Review: I wanted to give this five stars, I really did, because the show is just phenomenal. The first season was good, but the second season blew that away. The acting, the drama, the action, everything came together and still managed to build smoothly from what had gone before. The loss of a star, though, comes from the DVD set itself. Why are there previews for other movies and for video games on the discs? Those are fine if I'm renting a movie from the video store, but to stick them in a boxed set? No other boxed set I own has previews on the discs. For the amount of money I paid for it, I'd hope they could avoid the extra advertising, or at least put it in the set as flyers I could ignore rather than as parts of the disc that I have to skip through.
Rating:
Summary: Bristow, Sydney Bristow.
Review: What can I say about Alias that hasn't already been said? It's exhilarating, moving, heartbreaking, tragic and full of hope. The one thing I won't say about it, however, is that it's unrealistic. Yes, I realize that it sometimes slips over the line between fiction and fantasy, but calling it unrealistic is way too technical.
The truth is, no matter what the writers of Alias write, we (the fans) believe it. Can Sydney really beat up 5 men armed with only a broom? Of course. Because this show's writers and actors/actresses have talent that you rarely see in movies, and never see on television.
The dialogue, coupled with the intensity of emotion that Jennifer Garner and the rest of the cast bring to this show makes it completely believable, if not realistic.
Bottom Line: If you haven't seen this series, buy it immediately. I'm sure that 99 out of 100 people will treasure this box set!
If you have seen this series, buy the DVDs. Even if you already have the episodes on tape, the extras featured in this set are well worth it.
Happy watching!
Rating:
Summary: Actually better than the first season
Review: In this second season it continues after the first season where Sydney comfronts her mother. Soon after shooting Sydney her mother turns herslef into the C.I.A. Sydney is pushed to go get information from her although she despises her and tells herself that her real mom died in a car accident. Despite warnings from her father to not trust her mom, she starts to not just trust her but love her as well. The episode where the mom is needed in-order to do a mission is the one. Because you get Sydney working with her parents together for the first and only time. Another great episode of this season is the one with an appearence by Ethan Hawke. He plays an agent who was captured and doubled by scientist. In a great scene Sydney has to figure out which is the real agent and who to shoot. I know that sounds familiar and you may have seen it before but the way the show handles it is still very cool. Besides Ethan Hawkes appeapence, Faye Dunaway, Rutger Haurer (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Blade Runner) and Christian Slater also apear in other episodes. I liked Quentin Tarantino and Roger Moore's appearences the first season and these are good as well. I can't wait to see who appears in the 3rd season. Anyway this season is full of surprises and plot turns. It's very well written, the action is better than what you get from movies and the cast is fantastic. To me Jennifer Garner is the next Julia Roberts but a Julia Roberts that just can't act well but kick ass as well. Michael Vartan (Never Been Kissed) is excellent as well as Sydney's handler and potential b/f. Hell everyone is good in their roles and all of them have intersting characters as well. If Tom Cruise decides to make a Mission Impossible 3, he needs to sit down and watch Alias to get some pointers. Because Alias is a great spy show that the Mission Impossible movies only wish they were as good as.
Rating:
Summary: Nimble thriller keeps you guessing 4 1/2 stars
Review: You know it's a bad day when your Mom shoots you as a prelude to torture. When we last left CIA double agent Sydney (Jennifer Garner), she discovered that her own mother ( the subtle Lena Olen) wasn't dead but was the head of an evil organization that uses black mail and extortion to achieve wealth and world domination. Sloan ( the oily Ron Rifkin) the head of the evil faux CIA agency SD-6 that Sydney is spying on with her father (the marvelous Victor Garber) suspects Sydney is a double agent (for the umpteenth time). After murdering his terminally ill wife, Sloan believes his rivals are trying to drive him insane when he gets a mysterious call from his wife's favorite bed and breakfast. When he discovers her dying garden in full bloom he knows someone's trying to ship him out on the next train to Wackyland. To top off a horrible week for Sydney, one of her best friends is almost assassinated and her CIA handler disappears during a joint mission. Have you caught your breath? That was just the first three episodes of the second season. The manic pace of this series will keep your brain nimble even as your body becomes as round as a potato. Alias manages to combine elements of the original television series Mission: Impossible, Alfred Hitchcock's suspense films, the cult series The Prisoner, Felicity and The X-Files in a series of entertaining (and occasionally absurd) story arcs. Series creator/producer J. J. Abrams has created a series of multilayered stories that continue to keep the audience guessing. It may not be great "drama" but it's great spy opera. Jennifer Garner runs from one emotional extreme to another all within the same episode making the series a rollercoaster ride for fans. Thankfully the McGuffin (a reference to a tool used by Hitchcock in his suspense films. A McGuffin is a story device that moves the drama forward and that's very important to the characters but not clearly defined for the audience) of the first season the Rimbaldi Prophecy doesn't dominate the second season quite as much. While the Rimbaldi Prophecy and all the pieces of that puzzle were interesting, they had become somewhat absurd by the end of the first season. Abram's in his reach to create a mythology as complex as The X-Files exceeded his grasp. While it does figure prominently in the second season, it's less of a driving force than the character relationships and double crosses. The Complete Second Season has all 22 episodes that aired last year plus some nice extras. The picture quality is very good considering how much data is included on each disc (roughly 5 1/2 hours each). There's some minor compression artifacts but the picture is clean of analog flaws. The Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround is faithfully reproduced and has far more depth than the episodes run on ABC. The extras are surprisingly good considering the price of the set. There's a featurette on the making of "The Telling" , one on the look of the series, as well as a glimpse at the video game . The blooper reel allows an inside glimpse into the series and reminds us that to paraphrase Hitchcock, it's only a television show. Audio commentary from the cast and crew features prominently on four of the more important episodes. I really haven't had a chance to spent much time with the DVD-Rom Scriptscanner but based on the glimpse I did take, it provides a nice companion and comparison piece to the series.. Extra points go to Touchstone for the nicely packaged second season. 2 discs are in each snap case and the cardboard holder somes with a plastic sleeve that makes it look very classy. A few demerits for the annoying Disney habit of force feeding previews to the audience. I find this form of advertising offensive and it's been taken to absurd new heights on the Universal DVDs where you have to watch the advertisements before reaching the main menu. At least Disney does offer the option of skipping the previews (but you have to choose menu as the disc begins) so you can move on to the episode you want to watch. "Alias: The Second Season" is an exceptional boxed set for fans. What's fun about seeing this again so soon after the third season is the chance to look back at the carefully planned story arcs. If you haven't seen the first season of the show, I would recommend renting/purchasing the boxed set before moving forward to season two. Although Abrams and the series writers do a good job of summarizing important plot points from season one, there's quite a bit to be missed if you come in on the middle of this story.
Rating:
Summary: the best of 2002-2003 tv season
Review: Even if you missed the first season, you will have no reason to miss this one. This season, albiet a lot harder to believe logically, was more entertaining and action packed that the first season and the third (present) season. J.J. Abrams managed to reevent the show two times during the season. From the first episode to the last there is only fantasic entertainment. There is something for everyone: romance, action, adventure, fantasy, mystery. This season managed to have all its episodes be important and well written and acted. Everything always comes full circle while taking us through exciting cliffhangers and challenging plots.
Rating:
Summary: The Greatest Show on Earth!
Review: Alias just has to be the greatest show on this planet! It's complex, dizzying, exhilarating, fantastic, and intimate at the same time. The family dynamics of the Bristows (especially with the addition of the perfectly-cast Lena Olin as Sydney's thought-to-be-deceased Russian-spy mom) is compelling, very interesting to watch, and absolutely believable. (Ever notice how much they resemble each other?) The Rambaldi mythology that we had a taste of in the first season is back and we learn more about the prophet and his works. And let us not forget Sloane! Who knows what he's got up his sleeves?! The action scenes are perfectly set-up and very well-choreographed. The character development, pacing, and overall structure of the show is top-notch, not to mention the talents involved! Victor Garber, anyone? This show has just the right mix of fantasy, action, drama, romance, and even comedy. It makes great television! If you've missed Alias on TV, buy the DVDs! Your life isn't complete without them.
Rating:
Summary: Well worth the time and money
Review: This is by far the most compelling and interesting series that has come along in years. I'm NOT a big TV watcher, but I am glued to my screen every Sunday to find out what is happening in the world of Sydney Bristow. First, the cast is superb. Spot on in everyway, whoever cast Michael Vartan opposite Jennifer Garner was brilliant. I have not seen an on screen couple convey more electrifing chemistry in one look. Also, Victor Garber as Sydney's father was perfectly cast. This is a smartly written show with twists and turns you never see coming. I would recommend you buy the sets in order and get caught up on this "Spy World", it will make understanding things easier. I highly recommend this series to anyone who loves great acting, writing and just plain great entertainment.
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