Rating: 
Summary: Tick, tock, tick, tock.
Review: From hearing the first voice-over from Kiefer Sutherland in the pilot, "The following takes places from 12:00 PM to 1:00 AM on the day of the California Presidential Primary. Events occur in real time," I was hooked. And you should be too.
Every episode is incredibly well-crafted. The use of picture-in-picture and widescreen are especially expertly done. A digital clock appears on the screen on occasion, and it ticks before commercial breaks and at the end of every episode. This ticking sound soon becomes haunting and heart-pounding. It is one of the elements that keeps your eyes wide open, your blood pumping, and your breath short. Literally. I have on many occasions had to take a water break during commercials.The story is incredibly suspenseful. Even those who would never speak to a television would find themselves shouting, "No!" "Oh my god!" and "Why?". Although we know that in the magic realm of television, order will be restored, viewers are frightened for the characters. The writers do an incredible job of building suspense and bring the characters to life, as do the actors. 24 has been blessed with a fantastic cast, which, coincidentally, is mostly Canadian. Kiefer Sutherland obviously stands out as Jack Bauer, the federal agent with incredible love for his cause and his family, but a feverish temper as well. Whenever Jack threatens someone, you know he's serious. And you're afraid. Dennis Haysbert and Penny Johnson Jerald have incredible anti-chemistry as Senator Robert Palmer and his wife Sherry, who have a great deal of friction. In front of the press, they're loving and close, but once they are away from the press, everything is different. They test each other. These are only examples of an incredible and believable cast. 24 should have won all of the television awards it was nominated for. The only major award won so far is Kiefer Sutherland's Best Actor in a Drama Golden Globe, which he deserved far more than any other nominee. I could not let myself miss an episode of the sublimely insane first season, and as soon as Season Two starts, homework will have to wait. It's that good. {added in the middle of Season Two: It still rocks. I don't know how this season is going to end, but I love the way the show has evolved. Watch Season One on DVD, regardless of whether you've seen any of the episodes of this show.)
Rating: 
Summary: Such high hopes sunk it for me
Review: When I first heard of the concept for 24, I was salivating. What a great idea, I was hooked the second I knew of it. Then I watched it....oh how I was let down. Dropped plots (what did Mandy go to do after her girlfriend was shot????), tired plot devices (amnesia? *slams head into desk repeatedly*) and just total sub-plots that were to pad the time (the entire sub-plot with the Senator's son could have been dropped and I would have been thrilled, there were many other ways they could have caused tension between the Senator and his wife). The second major flaw (although one you won't run into with the DVD set) was seeing it weekly. It didn't feel like a day to me, it felt like...well...any weekly drama that I see one episode a week. I did watch the majority of the FX marathon, and it DOES play better watched in large chunks, but the show could have still been done in 1/2 the time. I will say Keifer Sutherland did a fabulous job, but I found some of the other performances to be almost played as caracitures (I have no clue how to spell the word, but you know what I mean:)). In conclusion, it's worth watching just from a historical television standpoint, but don't watch it expecting the grandiose drama that some have made it out to be.
Rating: 
Summary: The writers didn't have a plan.
Review: I watched 24 from the beginning all the way to the end. In the beginning it was great! Then, as the show went on, it was quite clear that the writers hadn't planned ahead at all. Instead of having a clear path for the 24 episodes, they seemed to just make things up as they went along. I had hoped that at least the last episode had been thought out from the beginning, but that was sadly not the case. The ending was extremely unsatisfying and I have no intentions of watching season two.
Rating:
Summary: Great series!
Review: 24 is one of those intense thrillers you just can't stop watching. The series plays like one long movie, with continous cliffhangers that leave you wanting more, so don't be surprised if you're addicted. This series has just about everything: Suspense, action, and drama, delivered in a mostly impeccable style. The acting's great, courtesy of Kiefer Sutherland and the strong supporting cast, and the series is always exciting, thanks to nail-biting situations and taut action sequences (anybody else found yourself at the edge of your seat during that shootout on the pier or the "duel" between the passing cars?). A lot of people may love The Sopranos and The West Wing, but 24 is every bit as dramatically involving as those popular shows and delivers far more excitement and thrills in spades. 24 is television's best show and it's a joyride not to be missed.
Rating: 
Summary: Groundbreaking Television
Review: The first season of "24" has more twists and turns than Chubby Checker as the events unfold in real time. Featuring a stalwart cast headed by Kiefer Sutherland, this innovative series represents an admirable breakthrough in a TV landscape littered with dreary sitcoms and "reality-based" garbage. Though "24" is not without its flaws, the show's breakneck pacing and cliffhanging scenarios outweigh the occasional missteps. The six-DVD set remains a must for fans, with excellent sound and picture quality. In fact, it's the best way to appreciate "24" as an integral whole -- minus commercials.
Rating:
Summary: AMAZING
Review: This show is one of the BEST I have ever seen! I recently rented all six disks on video, and didn't sleep almost the whole time because it keeps you just right on the edge of your seat NEEDING not wanting, NEEDING to know what happens next!
Aside from the compete cutting edge way the show is shot (in real time, each eppisode in an hour, which is an hour out of this day)is to the best of my knowledge a first and, I'll admit when I first heard about it and thought about it, my opinon was that's got to be awfully slow, but believe me I was so wrong. The only thing slow about it is waiting from when you click okay on the next eppisode until the eppisode starts! Which is like 30 seconds!
This is definately must have for anyone! Even those not particularly fond of Kiefer Sutherland, because I'm not his biggest fan, or I should say wasn't! All things aside it is completely worth the price!
Rating:
Summary: One Thrilling Day
Review: When 24 premiered on Fox in 2001, the hook of the show was that each episode represented one hour in the day of the presidential primary in California. Each episode opens by telling you the hour that is taking place and that the events are in real time. This is, of course, is a radical new concept for tv, which usually speeds up time for the sake of a story line. But a format can only get you so far. A show must be entertaining to hold your attention and 24 is extremely entertaining. The show is a literal rollercoaster ride. Kiefer Sutherland stars as Jack Bauer who works for the Los Angeles based counter terrorism unit of the federal government. Dennis Haysbert is David Palmer, an African American senator who has a real shot at winning a presidential nomination. It has been discovered that an extremely credible assassination attempt will be made on his life that day. Jack is put in charge of finding out who is behind the attempt and to stop it. He is also advised that the people behind the attempt include dirty agents within the organization. In addition to all of this his daughter and then wife are kidnapped. The tension is high as Jack struggles to unearth the plot against Palmer, save his family and even himself. A clock shows up every now and then (usually where there is a commercial break and then when the show would comeback from the break) to keep you up-to-date on the timing. The show also breaks the screen down into sections at times, so you can see what's happen to several characters at once in order to keep the show in real time. Each episode picks up where the last one ended, there are no flashbacks or recaps. There are times when the show does ask you to suspend reality for a bit, but basically it is completely believable. You do lose some of the cliffhanger feeling of the original run of the series as you don't have to wait a week in between shows, but the DVD retains the exciting, high quality drama, superb acting (especially by Mr. Sutherland) that earned 24 high praise and several Emmy Awards.
Rating:
Summary: Great show despite a couple flaws, but the box set stinks!
Review: Picture quality: 4.5/5
It looks nice and crisp, but isn't perfect. I noticed that there was a hair or some sort of fiber for the entirety of one camera shot in the first episode. I'm sure experts could spot more. Sound: 4/5
The sound is great and really comes out in a nice audio system with subwoofers, but it's merely stereo and wasn't enhanced with 5.1 surround. Extras: 1/5
I thought the packaging was nice when it first arrived, with an unfolding booklet with a portrait of six of the characters showing through a transparent disc holder. Then I couldn't close it one day. The disc holders are fastened down with only rubber glue! I had to peel it off and restick it down. I can only hope that it doesn't fall out of place again. As for extra features, well, there pretty much are none. I couldn't find the so-called season two teaser trailer as listed on Amazon and the outer packaging, so I'm assuming it's part of Kiefer's season one introduction, where he basically only says that season two will be even better. What's worse, they put the introduction on the last disc! Please enjoy season one, now take the last disc out, don't watch the last four hours yet or you'll spoil everything, and then put the first disc in, please. I won't talk much about the plotlines and the quality of the show. It's just one of my favorite shows of all time. I only have one complaint about the actual show, and I'm sure other fans will know. They should've made someone else the mole at the end. It just didn't fit with the rest of the show. The "previously on 24" bits that you see between the show logo and the start of the episode aren't in this set. Even though what happened in the previous episode would be obvious and redundant to a home viewer with a box set, it's still a part of the show. The recaps were stylishly done as well, keeping you refreshed on who the characters are and what's going on if you're a bit lost. The worst thing about these parts missing is that sometimes, you notice that the score has already started at the episode beginnings, and seems like the beginning of the score is missing and chopped off. The composer scored the entirety of what was aired, not just the relevant new footage of the episodes. For such a great series with its loyal following, it is a travesty that hardly anything was done for this box set release. I would've liked to see a feature where you can listen to the score by itself. Cast biographies should be on every DVD release. Deleted scenes; I've heard that there was more footage to Mandy's scenes involving the airplane. Outtakes. Cast and crew interviews. They could've put just fifteen minutes of extra footage in this set and I wouldn't complain, but they hardly did anything. My guess is that this DVD set was just a promotional tool to get people, curious about the buzz, into the show and watching the second season. If the second season goes well, they might release a new first season set with everything we want, except charging at least [money] more than it is now. If so, I hope they have a rebate for those who bought the original set. Overall, I guess it is your money's worth. 50 bucks for 24 hours minus commercials is a pretty good deal. I've paid over a hundred for other sets that are only ten hours minus commercials. It just could've been done a lot better.
Rating:
Summary: 17 hour couchtrip anyone?
Review: Somewhat torn on how to write this, I will say two things and let you decide. First, there's really good acting (for the most part), the overall storyline is extremely well thought out and some of the scenes are very intense and even shocking. It's addictive as well, especially if you buy the box. So be warned, it will be hard to stop once you've started. The intricacies of collusion, self interests, and sheer ruthlessness of some of these characters will all lend to your entertainment. So you ARE going to get your fill of TV drama. Remorse? I finally finished and looking back, I'm somewhat dissappointed, it's basically the same show over and over. I'm glad I saw the whole thing, but I feel like they wasted alot of time with peripheral drama. This could've made a great movie (minus the minutia).
Rating:
Summary: THE BEST
Review: This is the best program that I have ever seen TV Land produce. I do not know how they will ever b e able to top it. It is the best program I have ever seen on T.V. for a weekly program.
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