Fox // 2005 // 1052 Minutes // Not Rated
Reviewed by Judge David Johnson // January 9th, 2006
"Spare me your sixth-grade Michael Moore logic!" -- Secretary of Defense Heller
These terrorists can't take the frickin' hint: stay clear of L.A.! Jack Bauer's got your number! Oh well, who am I to complain? That just means more grist for the Bauer terrorist-killin' mill. Kiefer Sutherland returns as his hard-ass hero to battle yet another threat(s) to national security.
The 24 Days of Christmas
On the first day of Christmas, Jack Bauer sent to me,
A plot to
destroy the country.
On the second day of Christmas, Jack Bauer sent to me,
Two dirtbag
thugs,
And a plot to destroy the country.
On the third day of Christmas, Jack Bauer sent to me,
Three
henchmen,
Two dirtbag thugs,
And a plot to destroy the country.
On the fourth day of Christmas, Jack Bauer sent to me,
Four covert
spies,
Three henchmen,
Two dirtbag thugs,
And a plot to
destroy the country.
On the fifth day of Christmas, Jack Bauer sent to me,
Five gunshot
wounds!
Four covert spies,
Three henchmen,
Two dirtbag
thugs,
And a plot to destroy the country.
On the sixth day of Christmas, Jack Bauer sent to me,
Six moles a'
snitchin'
Five gunshot wounds!
Four covert spies,
Three
henchmen,
Two dirtbag thugs,
And a plot to destroy the country.
On the seventh day of Christmas, Jack Bauer sent to me,
Seven cells
a-sleeping
Six moles a-snitching
Five gunshot wounds!
Four
covert spies,
Three henchmen,
Two dirtbag thugs,
And a plot to
destroy the country.
On the eighth day of Christmas, Jack Bauer sent to me,
Eight
"Dammits!" a-shouting,
Seven cells a-sleeping
Six moles
a-snitching
Five gunshot wounds!
Four covert spies,
Three
henchmen,
Two dirtbag thugs,
And a plot to destroy the country.
On the ninth day of Christmas, Jack Bauer sent to me,
Nine prisoners
a-torturing,
Eight "Dammits!" a-shouting,
Seven cells
a-sleeping
Six moles a-snitching
Five gunshot wounds!
Four
covert spies,
Three henchmen,
Two dirtbag thugs,
And a plot to
destroy the country.
On the tenth day of Christmas, Jack Bauer sent to me,
Ten national
Muslim organizations a-placating,
Nine prisoners a-torturing,
Eight
"Dammits!" a-shouting,
Seven cells a-sleeping
Six moles
a-snitching
Five gunshot wounds!
Four covert spies,
Three
henchmen,
Two dirtbag thugs,
And a plot to destroy the country.
On the eleventh day of Christmas, Jack Bauer sent to me,
Eleven
patches a-souling,
Ten national Muslim organizations a-placating,
Nine prisoners a-torturing,
Eight "Dammits!" a-shouting,
Seven cells a-sleeping
Six moles a-snitching
Five gunshot wounds!
Four covert spies,
Three henchmen,
Two dirtbag thugs,
And a
plot to destroy the country.
On the twelfth day of Christmas, Jack Bauer sent to me,
Twelve
girlfriends a-bitching,
Eleven patches a-souling,
Ten national
Muslim organizations a-placating,
Nine prisoners a-torturing,
Eight
"Dammits!" a-shouting,
Seven cells a-sleeping
Six moles
a-snitching
Five gunshot wounds!
Four covert spies,
Three
henchmen,
Two dirtbag thugs,
And a plot to destroy the country.
On the thirteenth day of Christmas, Jack Bauer sent to me,
Thirteen
Fords a-driving,
Twelve girlfriends a-bitching,
Eleven patches
a-souling,
Ten national Muslim organizations a-placating,
Nine
prisoners a-torturing,
Eight "Dammits!" a-shouting,
Seven
cells a-sleeping
Six moles a-snitching
Five gunshot wounds!
Four covert spies,
Three henchmen,
Two dirtbag thugs,
And a
plot to destroy the country.
On the fourteenth day of Christmas, Jack Bauer sent to me,
Fourteen
nameless CTU agents a-dying,
Thirteen Fords a-driving,
Twelve
girlfriends a-bitching,
Eleven patches a-souling,
Ten national
Muslim organizations a-placating,
Nine prisoners a-torturing,
Eight
"Dammits!" a-shouting,
Seven cells a-sleeping
Six moles
a-snitching
Five gunshot wounds!
Four covert spies,
Three
henchmen,
Two dirtbag thugs,
And a plot to destroy the country.
On the fifteenth day of Christmas, Jack Bauer sent to me,
Fifteen
bathroom breaks not-a-taking,
Fourteen nameless CTU agents a-dying,
Thirteen Fords a-driving,
Twelve girlfriends a-bitching,
Eleven
patches a-souling,
Ten national Muslim organizations a-placating,
Nine prisoners a-torturing,
Eight "Dammits!" a-shouting,
Seven cells a-sleeping
Six moles a-snitching
Five gunshot wounds!
Four covert spies,
Three henchmen,
Two dirtbag thugs,
And a
plot to destroy the country.
On the sixteenth day of Christmas, Jack Bauer sent to me,
Sixteen
fingers a-breaking,
Fifteen bathroom breaks not-a-taking,
Fourteen
nameless CTU agents a-dying,
Thirteen Fords a-driving,
Twelve
girlfriends a-bitching,
Eleven patches a-souling,
Ten national
Muslim organizations a-placating,
Nine prisoners a-torturing,
Eight
"Dammits!" a-shouting,
Seven cells a-sleeping
Six moles
a-snitching
Five gunshot wounds!
Four covert spies,
Three
henchmen,
Two dirtbag thugs,
And a plot to destroy the country.
On the seventeenth day of Christmas, Jack Bauer sent to me,
Seventeen
hippies not-a-bathing,
Sixteen fingers a-breaking,
Fifteen bathroom
breaks not-a-taking,
Fourteen nameless CTU agents a-dying,
Thirteen
Fords a-driving,
Twelve girlfriends a-bitching,
Eleven patches
a-souling,
Ten national Muslim organizations a-placating,
Nine
prisoners a-torturing,
Eight "Dammits!" a-shouting,
Seven
cells a-sleeping
Six moles a-snitching
Five gunshot wounds!
Four covert spies,
Three henchmen,
Two dirtbag thugs,
And a
plot to destroy the country.
On the eighteenth day of Christmas, Jack Bauer sent to me,
Eighteen
maids a-milking,
Seventeen hippies not-a-bathing,
Sixteen fingers
a-breaking,
Fifteen bathroom breaks not-a-taking,
Fourteen nameless
CTU agents a-dying,
Thirteen Fords a-driving,
Twelve girlfriends
a-bitching,
Eleven patches a-souling,
Ten national Muslim
organizations a-placating,
Nine prisoners a-torturing,
Eight
"Dammits!" a-shouting,
Seven cells a-sleeping
Six moles
a-snitching
Five gunshot wounds!
Four covert spies,
Three
henchmen,
Two dirtbag thugs,
And a plot to destroy the country.
On the nineteenth day of Christmas, Jack Bauer sent to me,
Nineteen
Arnolds a-Voslooing,
Eighteen maids a-milking,
Seventeen hippies
not-a-bathing,
Sixteen fingers a-breaking,
Fifteen bathroom breaks
not-a-taking,
Fourteen nameless CTU agents a-dying,
Thirteen Fords
a-driving,
Twelve girlfriends a-bitching,
Eleven patches
a-souling,
Ten national Muslim organizations a-placating,
Nine
prisoners a-torturing,
Eight "Dammits!" a-shouting,
Seven
cells a-sleeping
Six moles a-snitching
Five gunshot wounds!
Four covert spies,
Three henchmen,
Two dirtbag thugs,
And a
plot to destroy the country.
On the twentieth day of Christmas, Jack Bauer sent to me,
Twenty
Marines a-deploying,
Nineteen Arnolds a-Voslooing,
Eighteen maids
a-milking,
Seventeen hippies not-a-bathing,
Sixteen fingers
a-breaking,
Fifteen bathroom breaks not-a-taking,
Fourteen nameless
CTU agents a-dying,
Thirteen Fords a-driving,
Twelve girlfriends
a-bitching,
Eleven patches a-souling,
Ten national Muslim
organizations a-placating,
Nine prisoners a-torturing,
Eight
"Dammits!" a-shouting,
Seven cells a-sleeping
Six moles
a-snitching
Five gunshot wounds!
Four covert spies,
Three
henchmen,
Two dirtbag thugs,
And a plot to destroy the country.
On the twenty-first day of Christmas, Jack Bauer sent to me,
Twenty-one doors a-busting,
Twenty Marines a-deploying,
Nineteen
Arnolds a-Voslooing,
Eighteen maids a-milking,
Seventeen hippies
not-a-bathing,
Sixteen fingers a-breaking,
Fifteen bathroom breaks
not-a-taking,
Fourteen nameless CTU agents a-dying,
Thirteen Fords
a-driving,
Twelve girlfriends a-bitching,
Eleven patches
a-souling,
Ten national Muslim organizations a-placating,
Nine
prisoners a-torturing,
Eight "Dammits!" a-shouting,
Seven
cells a-sleeping
Six moles a-snitching
Five gunshot wounds!
Four covert spies,
Three henchmen,
Two dirtbag thugs,
And a
plot to destroy the country.
On the twenty-second day of Christmas, Jack Bauer sent to me,
Twenty-two rockets a-launching,
Twenty-one doors a-busting,
Twenty
Marines a-deploying,
Nineteen Arnolds a-Voslooing,
Eighteen maids
a-milking,
Seventeen hippies not-a-bathing,
Sixteen fingers
a-breaking,
Fifteen bathroom breaks not-a-taking,
Fourteen nameless
CTU agents a-dying,
Thirteen Fords a-driving,
Twelve girlfriends
a-bitching,
Eleven patches a-souling,
Ten national Muslim
organizations a-placating,
Nine prisoners a-torturing,
Eight
"Dammits!" a-shouting,
Seven cells a-sleeping
Six moles
a-snitching
Five gunshot wounds!
Four covert spies,
Three
henchmen,
Two dirtbag thugs,
And a plot to destroy the country.
On the twenty-third day of Christmas,br /> Jack Bauer sent to me,
Twenty-three EMP bombs a-pulsing,
Twenty-two rockets a-launching,
Twenty-one doors a-busting,
Twenty Marines a-deploying,
Nineteen
Arnolds a-Voslooing,
Eighteen maids a-milking,
Seventeen hippies
not-a-bathing,
Sixteen fingers a-breaking,
Fifteen bathroom breaks
not-a-taking,
Fourteen nameless CTU agents a-dying,
Thirteen Fords
a-driving,
Twelve girlfriends a-bitching,
Eleven patches
a-souling,
Ten national Muslim organizations a-placating,
Nine
prisoners a-torturing,
Eight "Dammits!" a-shouting,
Seven
cells a-sleeping
Six moles a-snitching
Five gunshot wounds!
Four covert spies,
Three henchmen,
Two dirtbag thugs,
And a
plot to destroy the country.
On the twenty-fourth day of Christmas, Jack Bauer sent to me,
Twenty-four terrorists a-ventilating
Twenty-three EMP bombs a-pulsing,
Twenty-two rockets a-launching,
Twenty-one doors a-busting,
Twenty Marines a-deploying,
Nineteen Arnolds a-Voslooing,
Eighteen
maids a-milking,
Seventeen hippies not-a-bathing,
Sixteen fingers
a-breaking,
Fifteen bathroom breaks not-a-taking,
Fourteen nameless
CTU agents a-dying,
Thirteen Fords a-driving,
Twelve girlfriends
a-bitching,
Eleven patches a-souling,
Ten national Muslim
organizations a-placating,
Nine prisoners a-torturing,
Eight
"Dammits!" a-shouting,
Seven cells a-sleeping
Six moles
a-snitching
Five gunshot wounds!
Four covert spies,
Three
henchmen,
Two dirtbag thugs...
And a plot to destroy the country.
Spoiler-free Review
Uh, there's a bunch of bad guys and Jack
Bauer shoots them a lot. Now, go watch it.
This season is especially tough to describe without ruining any of the killer moments, because, frankly, there's so many of them. While there are no neck-breaking plot twists like Nina's reveal in the first season (has any piece of episodic television ever topped that insane twist?!?) this fourth go-round of Kiefer Sutherland's real-time thriller is laden with smaller surprises.
While I've heard plenty of gripes about this season being sub-standard, for my nickel, number four was just as compulsively watchable as any season that preceded it. Sure it was fraught with logic holes you can drive Bauer's standard issue Ford Expedition through and a handful of narrative threads were abruptly and distractingly cut off, but just the fact that the showrunners are able to pull of a 24-episode long real-time series trumps those minor complaints. And the fact that the show is damn good elevates it, frankly, into the broadcast stratosphere where only shows like Arrested Development and Lost reside.
Simply put, 24 is the best hour-long on television, and season four delivered all the thrills, violence, twists and soul patches that fans have come to know and love. And while I admit there have been stronger seasons (1 and 3 are the best in my opinion), there is a simple fact that is inescapable: an uneven episode of 24 is likely a better hour spent than anywhere else on the tube.
If you missed this season, go watch it now. If you've missed this show entirely, well, you've got a lot of catching up to do.
Spoiler-laden Review
Okay, tread no further if you haven't seen
any of this season. I'm going to get into specific plot points and characters
and you will have some prime moments ruined for you if you proceed.
24 Season 4: The Good, The Bad, and The Kick-Ass
The Good
The terror threats.
This season, the writers took a different
route with respect to the threat Jack Bauer has to face. Season One focused on
David Palmer's assassination, Season Two was all about the nuke, and Season
Three a viral contagion was the flavor of the day. Here, CTU and pals must deal
with four separate attacks: the kidnapping of the Secretary of Defense, a
mass nuclear reactor meltdown, an assault on Air Force One, and, finally, a
nuclear warhead launch. The downside is that all that crap hitting the fan
stretches the plausibility limit, but the upside is apparent: a non-stop barrage
of zaniness that Bauer has to defuse, which, of course, is what all the kiddies
like.
Returning faces
When this season opens, we find the cast
gutted. Only Jack and Chloe (Mary Lynn Rajskub) return from seasons past,
replaced by a gaggle of no names and new faces. At first, this is a definite
struggle (I'll talk more about this in the "Bad" section), but the
writers eventually wise up, and the veterans begin to reappear: Tony (Carlos
Bernard), Michelle (Reiko Aylesworth), Palmer (Dennis Haysbert), and Mike Novick
(Jude Ciccolella). Their resurgence is most welcome, and, best yet, no Kim
Bauer!!!
New faces volume 1
Not all the new folks sucked. After all is
said and done, we get some excellent additions to the CTU universe. Roger
Cross's Curtis Manning started out annoying, but by the end of the season he
became a super bad-ass, and Jack's go-to guy. His takedown of Mandy in the
parking garage got me and my wife out of our seat. Edgar Stiles (Louis
Lombardi), the socially awkward CTU tech was enormously entertaining, and proved
to be a great foil for the equally awkward Chloe. Finally, Bill Buchanan (James
Morrison), who took over CTU late in the game proved to be an able, reasonable
leader who recognized Jack Bauer's ultimate supremacy.
The villain.
Here's another curve ball the writers threw into
their 24 formula: they stuck with one villain from the beginning. Habib
Marwan (Arnold Vosloo) is one slippery terrorist, and though he made a few too
many escapes, his presence straight through was a refreshing alternative to the
usual "bad guy/badder guy pulling the strings" dynamic present in the
other seasons. Thankfully, there's no default Eurotrash mercenary or greedy oil
conglomerate that emerges from the shadows as the true heavy; Marwan is capable,
sinister, and -- gasp! -- an Islamic fanatic! No, they can't do that, can
they?!? Plus, it sets up a great adversarial relationship between him and Bauer
that has teeth.
The Araz family.
And you want to talk about balls, the
inclusion of a suburban sleeper cell Middle Eastern family certainly stirred the
pot. Both Nester Serrano and Shohreh Aghdashloo, playing the Mr. and Mrs. Araz,
are awesome as the cold-blooded killer Cleaver family. Yeah it provoked a
response from oversensitive PC groups, but what a chilling set of villains. And
Mrs. Araz was righteous MILF-material, evil or not.
The Bad
New faces volume 2
For every decent new addition to the show,
there was a pain in the butt. New CTU-ers Sarah Gavin (Lana Parilla) and Erin
Driscoll (Alberta Watson) were bland and uninteresting, and were eventually
shown the door. Though Watson was a strong presence, her character was
unlikable, and with her alienation of Jack, I, along with other fans I would
presume, immediately turned cold to her. Then there was Audrey, an example of
--
Jack's continuing string of irritating girlfriends.
Since Terri
Bauer bought the farm, not one of Jack's love interests has been remotely
interesting. Audrey Raines (Kim Raver) is no exception. Though not as unbearable
as Sarah Wynter's Kate Warner from Season Two, Audrey's good-girl schtick
quickly grew tedious; if she had been a traitor, which I was pulling for from
moment one, that would have been cool. In the end, however, she was just a
boring character who gave Jack a lot of crap, so screw her. Thankfully, her dad
(William Devane) was a tough nut.
Dead end plotlines and logic gaffes.
There were plenty in this
season and they should be noted. For me, the most glaring was the abandoned
McLennen-Forester thread. This shadowy corporation designed the nuclear override
and in an attempt to clear its records detonated a pulse bomb and set a bunch of
armed guards out to kill Jack. This all leads to a great shootout, including a
feel-good moment when a few Middle Eastern shop-owners open fire along with
Jack, but after that episode, this whole storyline is dropped. In fact, I can't
even remember what came out of that whole brouhaha. And of the big
reality-stretches, the attack on Air Force One looms largest. It was a great
set-piece and the fact they allowed the President to get shot down was ballsy,
but the subsequent plot where Marwan and his associates find the nuclear launch
codes in the wreckage -- a risky venture on which the climactic terrorist attack
hinges -- is a little too brow-furrowing. Talk about a fortuitous plane crash
that would make the launch codes so easily available. There's more, sure, but
these are the big ones as far as I'm concerned.
The Kick-Ass
Tony's entrance.
In what is one of the most iconic moments in
the entire series, Jack and Audrey, overpowered and outgunned by marauding
terrorists are bailed out by an old friend at the last minute. How many message
boards must have crashed when, after Jack tells Audrey he's going to call the
"only person he can trust," and a few minutes later Tony Almeida comes
in blasting.
Tony's possible exit?!?
In a brilliant ploy by the writers,
they set up Tony to be wasted by the nefarious assassin, Mandy, then turn the
scenario on its head. All the signs are there: Tony and Michelle agree to get
back together, Jack says he needs Tony with him on one more dangerous mission,
Michelle looks longingly at her man telling him to come back safe...no one on
24 lives happily ever after, so you know Tony was going to come back to
CTU with a toe-tag. But in a reverse-twist, the dude survives, thanks to some
deft maneuvering by Curtis (a kick-ass moment in itself). Well, there's always
Season Five for Tony to get hit by a FedEx truck or something...
Jack.
It all begins and ends with Jack Bauer, the hands-down
coolest character on television for the past four years. Every moment Kiefer
Sutherland is on screen doing his thing, the action pops. And this season finds
Jack in prime form. The body count is huge, thanks largely to Jack (and that
fantastic sequence where he decimates a terrorist compound single-handedly), the
actions he has to take are more dramatic with greater collateral damage, and
that final shot of him walking into the sunrise, for all intents and purposes a
dead man, is classic.
Fox continues to show why it's currently the best studio releasing television-on-DVD. The previous 24 sets were great, and so is this one. The technical merits are all superb; the 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is tight and projects a cinematic feel, which adds to the experience and the 5.1 Dolby Digital mix is active and loud.
As always, a great dose of extras accompany. Each disc sports at least one episode with a cast or crew (or both) commentary, and the producers wisely included crew members with specific roles to comment on aspect of the production. For example, you'll hear from directors, writers, actors, the composer, sound effects guys, and production designers. It's an excellent window into the making of the show.
The seventh disc is devoted entirely to extras:
Season Five prequel
This short bit is likely the most
anticipated extra of the bunch. In it we see a really skuzzy-looking Jack Bauer,
talking to Chloe, who informs him of some shady chatter she picked up at CTU.
Suddenly, Bauer is under attack and thrust into a prolonged car chase. It's a
decent bit of action, but feels a lot like a Toyota commercial.
Deleted scenes
Thirty-nine in all, complete with optional
commentary by director John Cassar. The highlight: Behrooz's previously unseen
fate.
Three behind-the-scenes featurettes
"Breaking Ground:
Building the New CTU" focuses on the vast production design that went into
the new CTU set, "Blood on the Tracks" documents the execution of the
season-opening train collision, and "Lock and Load" spotlights the
Marines' participation in pulling off the terrorist hideout siege. All three are
robust and typical of the excellent quality these series documentaries
maintain.
"24 Conspiracy"
This was a cell phone-based marketing
tool the producers used to build up publicity for Season Four. There are 24
episodes, all taking place in real time, each lasting one minute long.
Truthfully, it's pretty cheesy, bordering on parody.
Trailers, a music video, and a "Making the Scene" episode chronicling the production of the prequel cap the offering.
Yes, this season is saddled with its share of reality-stretching plotlines, but if that's price for 24 episodes of top-notch action, I pay it gladly. Bauer has never been as brutal, the villain is one of the best, and Kim Bauer and her penchant for being kidnapped and/or stalked by wildlife is nowhere to be found. A hugely entertaining season and a top-shelf DVD presentation.
Not guilty, dammit!
Review content copyright © 2006 David Johnson; Site layout and review format copyright © 1998 - 2013 HipClick Designs LLC
Scales of Justice
Video: 90
Audio: 90
Extras: 95
Acting: 95
Story: 90
Judgment: 92
Perp Profile
Studio: Fox
Video Formats:
* 1.78:1 Anamorphic
Audio Formats:
* Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround (English)
* Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround (Spanish)
Subtitles:
* English
* Spanish
Running Time: 1052 Minutes
Release Year: 2005
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Distinguishing Marks
* Cast and Crew Commentary
* Season Five Prequel
* Making the Scene
* "Lock and Load"
* "Blood on the Tracks"
* "Breaking Ground: Building the New CTU"
* 39 Deleted Scenes
* "24: Conspiracy"
* Music Video
* Trailers
Accomplices
* IMDb
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0285331/combined
* Official Site
http://www.fox.com/24/
* 24 Season Two Review
http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/24season2.php
* 24 Season Three Review
http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/24season3.php