24 - Season 3  (2003-04)

Rating: NR

Distributor: Fox Home Entertainment

Release Date: December 7, 2004
Review posted: December 8, 2004

Reviewed by Dennis Landmann

SYNOPSIS

It's been three years since CTU agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) thwarted a terrorist attempt to plunge the United States into war. Now he's back in L.A. after working undercover for six months bringing down drug lord Ramon Salazar (Joaquim de Almeida). But then the FBI receives a phone call threatening the release of a deadly virus in Los Angeles if Salazar isn't released from prison within six hours. As CTU, now headed by Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard), races to locate the virus, Jack realizes that the only way to prevent additional terrorist demands is to find the source of the virus - by breaking Salazar out of prison himself.

Meanwhile, CTU faces its own problems both externally and internally, and President Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) must deal with problems of his own other than the bio threat, including seeking re-election, with the help of his brother and chief-of-staff Wayne Palmer (D.B. Woodside), that becomes sidelined by unfortunate circumstances. Also, Kim Bauer (Elisha Cuthbert) now works at CTU where she's been dating agent Chase Edmunds (James Badge Dale), who is Jack's partner. Day 3 gets more complex as it goes on, but on the same token it becomes a little less impacting than Jack Bauer's previous memorable days.

CRITIQUE

The idea for 24 is simple but also complex: a season tells the story of one day in the life of a government agent who must deal with a threat; each show adds one hour to the events of the day. That sounds great, and the concept of the first season, Jack Bauer must stop an assassination attempt of a Presidential candidate, was handled very well, which resulted in a terrific first season that brought excitement and intrigue to the television industry. The second season, also terrific, dealt with the treat of a nuclear device going off in Los Angeles. Now arrives the third season on DVD, which still excites and intrigues, but lacks certain elements to make it memorable. In short, Season 3 is not as good as the first two seasons, but gets by just slightly hanging on a few threads.

Season 3 opens with a bang and sets the action into motion. The idea of an enhanced deadly virus being released into the general population in Los Angeles is scary, and the first few episodes deal with Jack Bauer and CTU racing against time to find the people responsible for the threat, but more importantly finding the virus' carrier, who turns out to be an unsuspecting teenager (Riley Smith). Meanwhile, the President, now romantically involved with his personal doctor Anne, is in town for a President debate.

After the first few episodes, however, there's a twist that shakes up everything that came before, which requires the viewer to rethink the events and make sense of them (believe them as well). It's good to have a twist early in the day for the show, and 24 is certainly well known for its twists and plot turns, but this time the charm wears off a bit and the twist turns into a questionable plot device that puts Jack Bauer into Mexico and under the control of the bad guys, namely Ramon Salazar and brother Hector. Well, the twist isn't as bad as it sounds, it just caught me off-guard. The second act is good and takes places at night in Mexico, and the third act spends time tracking down the person who actually controls the virus (another twist or two appear here).

On a different but related note, it appears the writers made up story elements as the day in the show went along; this could explain some of the weak subplots early in the season. The writing in general is fine, and several very intense character and action scenes occur, but it also lacks a little inspiration. For example, the events surrounding a baby inside CTU and Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard) sacrificing national security over personal feelings, and some other issues, should have been excised or rewritten. On the contrary, Jack's heroin addiction adds to his character as a tragic hero, and a few other subplots impact the performance of the season also, but then again the weak subplots detract a bit from the show's pace and central storyline. The show's dialogue is not too technical but focuses much more on character interactions and so forth.

In terms of acting, the cast is somewhat of an ensemble and they do a fantastic job. Dennis Haysbert continues to impress playing the President, while Kiefer Sutherland is once again in charge playing the hero shouting and repeating orders. While Sutherland is great in the role, and he also gets to show serious emotions during the day, his performance plays along the same lines as in prior seasons, and perhaps it's just a feeling I have but Jack Bauer's persistent shouting matches, lack of following protocol, and hero status is becoming less convincing as the third season moves along. Joaquin de Almeida plays the villain believably, and the supporting cast gets the job done quite well.

On a technical level, 24 is top notch, featuring excellent production design, smart editing, cool choreography of gun fights and action scenes, great cinematography (it is mostly handheld) and a propulsive score by Sean Callery, skilled direction by series regulars Jon Cassar and Ian Toynton, as well as others, and the list goes on. Obviously, there's nothing to complain about in this department.

In conclusion, the third season of 24 impresses on levels and remains entertaining, but it lacks noticeable ingenuity and intensity in the writing ever so present in the first season (though I agree it had its minor faults, too). My main complaint is I don't think the sacrifices made on behalf of several characters this season were really worth the trouble.

This review seems to run on a negative slant, and I feel a little bad putting down the show in its third season, but after viewing all twenty-four episodes again I just couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed by the outcome. I still love 24, though. Maybe it's kind of a love-hate thing, I guess, or maybe not.

THE VIDEO

Fox presents 24 in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. This is a nice transfer in places as some scenes feature heavy grain, especially the night scenes as well as some outdoor scenes, but the colors remain bright and crisp, and saturation looks good. Parts of the video looks shimmery, or it may be the background noise that creeps up. Sharpness is good, and detail is fine, but there's something about the video that isn't a hundred percent. Still, despite some flaws, 24 looks great in widescreen format.

THE AUDIO

Fox presents 24 in English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound. This presentation sounds much better than the TV broadcast. Dialogue is clearer and more easy to understand, and the sound effects blast off very nicely. The surrounds are active during the action moments and Sean Callery's cool score. A Spanish 2.0 dub track is available, as are optional English and Spanish subtitles.

THE EXTRAS

All special features are located on disc 7, except for the commentaries and deleted scenes.

The set features six audio commentaries on select episodes. It pairs one creative talent with one of the actors from the show, which allows two different viewpoints to come across. The tracks are decent overall with good information here and there, as well as the obvious happy talk. They're not overwhelming, but definitely nice to have. Here is a breakdown of the commentaries per disc:

Disc 1: 3:00pm - 4:00pm by Howard Gordon and Kiefer Sutherland

Disc 2: 5:00pm - 6:00pm by writer and co-executive producer Evan Katz and Riley Smith (Kyle Singer)

Disc 3: 10:00pm - 11:00pm by Howard Gordon and Sarah Clarke (Nina Myers)

Disc 4: 1:00am - 2:00Am by Joel Surnow and Mary Lynn Rajskub (Chloe O'Brien)

Disc 5: 5:00am - 6:00am by Robert Cochran, Reiko Aylesworth (Michelle Dessler) and Carlos Bernard (Tony Almeida)

Disc 6: 10:00am - 11:00am Commentary by Carlos Bernard (Tony Almeida), James Badge Dale (Chase Edmunds) and Tim Iacofano

The set also features a total of 45 deleted scenes (26:33), which can be seen on the individual discs with the corresponding episode via a branching option, or all together on disc 7, but there is no "play all" option. The scenes arrive with optional commentary by Jon Cassar (16 scenes), Michael Loceff (6 scenes), and Howard Gordon (22 scenes). Oddly, one scene is without commentary. The majority of the deleted scenes are decent, they're more character scenes than anything else. Reasons for cutting them are time/pacing, and because they lacked tension, according to the commentaries.

The last disc is devoted entirely to special features, and starts with a Season 4 Teaser (2:15). Next is a Season 4 Promo (6:31), which very briefly shows three scenes that take place before the start of Day 4. This was created exclusively for this DVD, and hopefully this idea catches on with other TV-on-DVD releases.

24: On The Loose (32:18) focuses on the filming of the prison break sequence (the riot and Russian roulette scenes) and the helicopter landing in downtown Los Angeles. This documentary, directed by Marc Ostrick (who also did the fantastic Season 2 documentary), shows loads of on-set footage, and features an interview with Kiefer Sutherland and others. Life on the 24 set isn't easy.

Boys and Their Toys (11:28) looks at the F-18 air-strike sequence. A lot of preparation and scheduling went into the production of this scene, and this fly-on-the-wall featurette shows what went on that day.

Biothreat: Beyond the Series (24:35) discusses viruses, bio-weaponry, and so on. It features a variety of interviews and specific footage. While an interesting idea, the featurette didn't overwhelm me that much.

Multi-Angle Study (6:13) presents footage of the Midnight Shootout sequence from two different angles (A and B). The featurette allows the viewer to choose from three angles (A and B separately, and then together).

Rounding out the extras is an Inside Look at Mr. and Mrs. Smith, an action spy movie from director Doug Liman that hits Summer 2004. The trailer looks fun, it makes me want to see the film right now.

FINAL THOUGHTS

24 is tense, intriguing and fast in general, but the third season lacks a coherent storyline, and therefore it doesn't play as good as the first two seasons. However, the enjoyment factor is pretty high, which earns the DVD set a recommendation. Fans will want to pick it up, others should start at the beginning.

VERDICT: RECOMMENDED

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