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| Alias
(Season Two) DVD Review |
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Order this DVD from Amazon.com
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Alias
The Complete Second Season
(Buena Vista Home Entertainment)
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| DVD
Release Date:
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December
2, 2003
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Length:
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917 mins.
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| Rated:
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NR
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| Format:
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Widescreen (1.78:1) Enhanced for 16x9 Televisions
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Audio:
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English
Dolby Digital 5.1
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| Subtitles:
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English, Spanish, Closed Captioned
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| Extras:
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Four
Audio Commentaries for selected episodes, The Making of “The
Telling”, The Look of Alias, Deleted Scenes, Season Two
Blooper Reel, Trailers, KROQ Kevin & Bean Radio Show
Interviews, TV Spots, The Making of the Video Game, DVD-ROM
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In Alias: The Complete Second Season,
Jennifer Garner returns as secret agent and sometimes scantily-clad
Sidney Bristow, working as an undercover CIA agent for the mysterious
SD-6. Her mission continues to be the gathering of information for the
CIA, while sometimes wearing bikinis and lingerie, to assist in their
attempt to destroy SD-6 and its ice cold leader Arvin Sloane (Ron
Rifkin), who oddly and disturbingly enough, we also get to see
scantily-clad and on more than one occasion! Besides Sidney and Sloane,
much of the outstanding cast from the first season returns, including
Sidney's humourless father Jack (Victor Garber), the always unshaven
Will Tippin (Bradley Cooper), Michael Vaughn (Michael Vartan), Francie
(Merrin Dungey), Dixon (Carl Lumbly), the stuttering comic Marshall
(Kevin Weisman) and the guy we all love to hate, the scene-stealing
evil-doer, Sark (David Anders). A new twist is added with the
introduction of Sidney's mother, Irina Derevko (played by Lena Olin).
Derevko turns herself into the CIA and offers to assist in the
gathering of information about SD-6 and Arvin Sloane. We are left to
wonder whether Derevko's motives are sincere or if the rather
mysterious ex-KGB agent has some underlying, self-serving intentions.
Besides the show's strong cast, there are a number of cameo
appearances by various actors and actresses, including Ethan Hawke,
Christian Slater, Faye Dunaway, Rutger Hauer and Richard Lewis. The
second season of Alias is filled with plenty of twists and turns, excitement,
surprises and suspense and in my opinion continues to be one of the
better shows that is currently on television. Each episode leaves you
wanting more and the six-disc, twenty-two episode DVD set is a great
investment for anyone who is interested in enjoying the shear
entertainment this show provides.
Alias: The Complete Second Season also provides us with a bevy of
bonus materials. There are four episodes which include a commentary by
various members of the cast and crew of Alias. These commentaries are
as follows:
Phase One (Episode 13) includes commentary (and a video introduction)
by the show's creator J.J. Abrams, Jennifer Garner, director Jack
Bender, Greg Grunberg (Weiss), Michael Vartan and Victor Garber. This
was a very important episode for the show, as it aired immediately
following the 2003 Super Bowl, a fact which is mentioned on more than
one occasion and on more than one DVD. The commentary also shows us an
alternate take, where Garner injures a stunt man during one fight
scene (it was sort of funny). This commentary is informative,
humourous and quite interesting and is definitely worth a listen.
Everyone does a good job at patting each other on the back for the
good job they did and I suppose it is well-deserved for this episode.
A Dark Turn (Episode 17) has the comments of director Ken Olin, John
Eisendrath, writer Jesse Alexander and writer/producer Jeff Pinkner.
Eisendrath never formally introduces himself and I am pretty sure he
never actually says anything during the entire commentary but the DVD
states he is one of the speakers so you figure it out. The three men
constantly refer to this episode as the best of the season and
although it is one of the year's good episodes, I think they are
giving themselves a lot of credit by calling it the best. This
commentary is rather average and if there is any commentary you want
to skip, this might just be the one.
Next up is Second Double (Episode 21) which includes the words of Ken
Olin, Bradley Cooper, Carly Lumbly and Terry O'Quinn (FBI Director
Kendall). This commentary is okay and rather humourous as the group
does not hesitate to poke fun at each other at various times while at
the same time, providing an in-depth look at the episode.
Finally, The Telling (Episode 22) has J.J. Abrams, Merrin Dungey, Ron
Rifkin, Ken Olin and Kevin Weisman. For future reference, the makers
of these DVDs should try to include either J.J. Abrams, Jennifer
Garner or both in all commentaries. They are both dynamic, informative
and talkative people and they make these commentaries so much more
interesting. This final commentary is okay (not as good as the
commentary for Phase One) and includes an alternate take on the ending
of the season (not an alternate ending, just an alternate take on it -
I think the only difference is that Sydney cries a bit more).
Besides the commentaries, the DVD also includes a handful of other
bonus material. The first is a 45-minutes feature called "The
Making of 'The Telling'". This is an in-depth look at the
production of the season's final episode and includes everything from
stunts, production. location scouting, editing, the episode's musical
score and some of the special effects. There are also comments from
many members of the cast and crew and overall, is a rather enjoyable
45 minutes.
Next is "The Look of Alias" which basically a feature on the
costumes and wigs that Jennifer Garner wears throughout the season.
This feature is approximately 12 minutes long and the bonus is we get
extra footage of Garner prancing around in bikinis and lingerie and
anytime that happens, it is time well-spent.
Next up is "KROQ's Kevin & Bean Radio Show Interviews"
which includes audio only (there is no video here) radio interviews
with J.J. Abrams, Victor Garber, Kevin Weisman and Jennifer Garner. In
my opinion, this feature was the best of the bunch as the interviews
are funny and very interesting - a good listen.
Finally, the bonus material has "Deleted Scenes" (with an
introduction by J.J.Abrams), "Season Two Blooper Reel",
"Alias TV Spots", "The Making of the Video Game"
and "Alias Scriptscanner" (which also appears on disc four
but I didn't spend too much time on this as it did not interest me all
that much).
Overall, Alias: The Complete Second Season is an outstanding DVD set.
Every episode leaves you begging for more and it is difficult to stop
watching any episode without moving onto the next. The thing I find
most interesting about this show is a lot of the soap opera-type stuff
that goes on - ie. the relationship between the various characters
(Sydney and her mother, her father, Sloane, Will, Dixon's character)
and the adventures of some of the minor characters (like Will and
Marshall). I have to give props to the writers of the show for giving
Marshall a girlfriend because I often felt bad for the guy and
wondered if he would ever get laid. As for Sydney's missions and the
whole Rambaldi story, well, none of that has never interested me too
much. And to tell you the truth, I still don't totally understand the
Rambaldi storyline but then again, I don't know if we are supposed to
fully understand. With that being said, I would still highly recommend
watching both Season One and Season Two of Alias. If you enjoyed the
first season of Alias, you will love the second. Sloane is still a
cold-hearted prick, although we do see a different side of his
character. Sidney still looks smoking hot in her underwear. Will is
still in love with Sydney. Marshall still rambles on about nothing but
does it brilliantly. I could go on but you probably get the point.
I would be remiss if I did not mention one thing. When you put in disc
one of Season Two, be careful because in those previews that come on
before they get to the actual televison show, there is a teaser for Season Three
of Alias and they pretty much give away all of Season Two.
At least two of the major surprises in Season Two are revealed in this
teaser and whoever decided to put this teaser on the FIRST DISC BEFORE
THE FIRST EPISODE, well, I hope you rot in hell. Next time, put the
preview for the next damn season on the last disc you prick!! It
pretty much ruined all the element of surprise for me for all
twenty-two episodes but I was still able to enjoy the entire season. I
was just never really shocked or at least as shocked as I should have
been. Nevertheless, I loved Season Two as much as I loved Season One and I cannot wait until the next season comes out on DVD.
| The
Feature: |
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8/10 |
| The
Extras: |
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8/10 |
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did you think?
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Brendan Cullin - Senior
Editor
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