Rating: 
Summary: Decent series, pretty good box set
Review: Summary:
Sydney A. Bristow (Jennifer Garner) is a college student and the daughter of two secret agents, one good - her father, Jonathan 'Jack' Donahue Bristow (Victor Garber) - and one bad - her mother, Laura Bristow (Lena Olin). With her past so heavily associated with spying, it only makes sense for the leader of the top secret organization, SD-6, Arvin Sloane (Ron Rifkin), to recruit her to work for him. The problem is that Arvin initially tells Sydney that his organization is a branch of the CIA, but it doesn't take long for Sydney, with the help of her father, to figure out that SD-6 isn't the CIA. When she realizes this she then goes to the CIA with the intent of bringing SD-6 down. She is assigned a handler, Michael C. Vaughn (Michael Vartan), who gives her counter missions for each of her missions she is assigned to by SD-6. So Sydney, like her father, Jack, becomes a double agent - working for both the CIA and SD-6. In all of this it is slowly revealed that Sydney's mother, Laura, who supposedly died when Sydney was a child, didn't actually die. As it turns out, Laura is actually one of the leaders of the 'evil' organization that opposes both the CIA and SD-6. Eventually Sydney is going to have to find her mother and face her. My Comments:
I have to admit that the idea for the show is a pretty cool one - a college student who flies to exotic locations on a weekly basis to perform secret missions for a top secret organization. It sounds like it would be a lot of fun. Also impressive is the production of the series. There are a lot of locations and the scope of the series is often more of a feature film than a television series with Sydney having to travel all around the world. But there are some problems. First, the story isn't really great. There are an awful lot of coincidences and people are continuously doing things that no one would do in real life. For instance, Sydney tells her fiancé once they become engaged that she is working for a secret organization, SD-6. SD-6 finds out about this and has him killed. Sydney is upset, but she goes back to work for them and, what's more, they let her come back. Sure, I understand that they tried to explain all of this by Sydney becoming a double agent for the CIA and also giving SD-6 something that they really wanted in order for her to come back, but it was pretty far-fetched and very unrealistic. There is also the whole rip-off of 'The Prophecy' from some ancient philosopher, who is really just a combination of Nostradamus and Leonardo DaVinci. It's pretty silly and ends up giving the show the aura of a strung out and loosely concocted X-Files episode with all sorts of mystical conspiracy theories. Also, with most TV shows there is at least some effort to create deeper story lines for the characters. This show doesn't actually have any of those because Sydney's deeper story is her search for her mother, which just happens to be the same thing she is doing as an agent for the two organizations. What you see is about all there is in this series. So, I haven't been too impressed with the story. The episodes are also really, really repetitive, with only an occasional exception. Essentially what you have is some inane mission that is just an excuse to dress up Jennifer Garner in some very sexy clothing and then watch her kick people. I have to admit that whoever is in charge of Jennifer's wardrobe and wigs is doing a great job of coming up with new outfits, but maybe she should occasionally just go like most secret agents do - looking like herself. But, of course, this never happens. Ironically, her partner in all of this, Agent Marcus Dixon (Carl Lumbly), never dresses up. He's always wearing either technical gear or a tuxedo or suit - he's your standard James Bond like character. As for the acting... It really isn't that bad. Sadly, the weakest link in all of this is probably the star - Jennifer Garner. I can't say I'm really surprised that her performance is only mediocre on her good days considering her absolutely pathetic performance in Daredevil. But what I have noticed is that they try to keep her dialogue to a minimum. Now, whether or not this is intentional or just a side effect of the format of the show, I don't really know. But the effect it has is to turn Jennifer Garner into a sexy actress that only has to kick people (see above, the apart about the 'inane missions') but never really has to talk to anyone. Considering that she doesn't do a great job of delivering her lines, I can't really blame the director's and writer's on this - it would really ruin the show if we had to listen to Jennifer Garner the whole time. The rest of the cast is actually okay. Of course I can't help but notice that Michael Vartan, like Jennifer Garner, is just a bit too good-looking to be a CIA agent; with his looks he should be a model, which he probably was before he became an actor. But his performances, which are generally rather short sequences, aren't too bad. Also pretty good is Sydney's father, Victor Garber, who I think is probably the best actor on the show. Overall, the series is probably fairly interesting to some people, but I have found it to be rather shallow. There isn't much depth to the plots, most of the plot reversals are rather cliché, and the primary focus seems to be on Jennifer Garner's ability to dress sexily and kick people (I think I like that phraseology). The box set of the first season actually comes with quite a few extra features, which makes owning this a good investment if you've liked the show. If you haven't, well, then you'll obviously not be interested in what they have to offer as most of the special features revolve around how cool Jennifer Garner is for doing her own stunts. I'd recommend this for Jennifer Garner fans, but that's about it.
Rating: 
Summary: The GREATEST Series on TV ever
Review: This is the best show of all time. Even if you dont understand everything from the very beginning, its just fun to watch the show for the action and all the great costumes.
Rating:
Summary: the best tv show right now. period.
Review: I've seen the pilot 4 or 5 times and it never gets old. What's amazing is how much of the next two seasons has it's seeds planted right in the first episode. Some of the lines, 'Your mother would be proud of you' classic. 'they said I fit a profile.' What self-destructive move does Sydney make when her fiance talks about having kids? I'm not a fan of TV shows on DVD but Alias is worth it because it is one of the few shows that holds up this well on multiple multiple viewings. It never gets old.
Rating:
Summary: A perfect blend of style and substance
Review: In a TV landscape dominated by not-so-reality TV, there is still hope as long as there are quality shows like Alias. I remember when critics, including myself, who dismissed Alias as little more than a 'La Femme Nikita' (USA network version) knockoff when it first aired on ABC. After all, the underlying premises of the shows seemed so similar. It is with not a little bit of surprise, then, that I got absolutely hooked and found it to be far superior than LFN. It is all too easy to dismiss Alias, even today, as a glossy action thriller that appeals only to men. However, if you look past Jennifer Garner's pretty face and what she happens to be wearing--as difficult as that may be for us men--you'll find that Alias is a well imagined, written, and acted television series worthy of every award it has garnered so far (no pun intended). JJ Abrams is one of the best writer/producers in the business, and he elevates the suspense, pace and tension of this excellent series like no other TV show I've seen. In layman's terms, this show is just too cool. It's got espionage, gadgets, humor, romance, dysfunctional family drama, and mythical artifacts. Plus, it moves at a breakneck pace that rivals any Pierce Brosnan Bond flick with the twists and turns of a Hitchcock thriller. If you missed any part of Season One, buy this DVD set. Now.
Rating:
Summary: From start to finish
Review: This show is by far amongst the best ever created. Whenever you feel some sort of boredom with the plot, or redundant film style or discontent with a character, the show suddenly changes always for the better. The pre-cognitive writters of Alias know what you want to see and have more ideas and creative means of delivering it than any other show I've seen on TV. The cast further supports the show with villians whom you detest yet can't help feel sorry for. The hero's are just as emotionally gripping. I highly recommend this show.
Rating:
Summary: OH MAN!!!!
Review: Oh man have I been waiting for this Thank goodness ABC has finally released this.....This has to be the best show that i ahve ever seen in my entire life...........I cannot wait to get my copy....i have only missed one episode which was the Second season's season finale....i was so upset....but fora all of you non-Alias fans................. This show is very good, and it makes you want to be just like her.......this show also makes you think very hard about the things that could possibly be going on in our world today, and about how even your own best friend could be a CIA and you not even know it.....Make sure you get the show.....it is very fundamental to life....
Rating:
Summary: Alias Season 1: A Must Buy
Review: I started watching Alias after ABC re-ran the first episode to get new viewers, and I haven't missed an episode since! The acting is the highest caliber out there along with the writing, etc. YOU CAN'T FIND A BETTER SHOW OUT THERE FOLKS! I would definately recommend buying the DVD's and see what all the talk is about!
Rating:
Summary: the best show ever...
Review: every episode is keep you grounded to the tv from the begining until the end and until the next episode
Rating:
Summary: Alias Needs More Viewers!!
Review: Ever since the first episode, I have been hooked! Can't wait for season 2 on dvd!
Rating: 
Summary: A lot of fun to watch, better than most shows on TV
Review: I managed to miss part of first season but what I saw convinced me that Alias is one of the better shows on TV. It does have a sort of comic book plotline(with that Rambaldi device stuff especially)but the writing is very good and Jennifer Garner is great in her role as Sidney Bristow the college student/ double agent.
The producers go all out in paying attention to detail and set design, a scene set in a foreign country really does look a lot like the real thing (TV so often does not)and sets such as laboratories or other buildings also do really well.
This DVD set is worth the gamble of buyinig it even if you haven't seen the series on TV.
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