24 - Season 5 [DVD 2]

Rated: Suitable for 15 years and over | Format: DVD

The adventures of Counter Terrorism Unit agent Jack Bauer have rarely been dull. Yet after four series of battling the bad guys in real time, some could rightfully wonder whether 24 had lots its edge, and its ability to surprise. The fifth season should put any such doubts to shame.

Set eighteen months after the dramatic finale to Season Four, things get off to a shocking and pulsating beginning. You won’t find plot spoilers in this review, yet it’s as if the writers realised they had some serious carpet-pulling to do to keep the show’s audience intrigued once again. Set, as usual, over the course of one single day, there’s then a slight lull in the first third, before things spring ferociously into life. Make no mistake: if you can overcome the usual need to suspend elements of your disbelief, this is the best series of 24 since the first, and as it winds near to its equally dramatic conclusions, it’s simply hard to take your eyes off it.

Joining the usual cast too is a procession of familiar names. Peter Weller (Roboocop), Sean Astin (The Lord Of The Rings) and C Thomas Howell (The Hitcher) are among those doing their curriculum vitae no harm, but the acting honours are taken by the wonderful combination of President Logan and his first lady, played by Gregory Itzin and Jean Smart.

With a denouement that sets up a sparkling sixth season, this fifth series of 24 is a genuinely significant achievement. It’s packed full of surprises, isn’t afraid to take a few risks, and as all good thrillers should, it keeps you on the edge of your seat for far longer than is comfortable. A superb show, very much on top form.

24 - Season 5 [DVD] (DVD)

This in my opinion was the best series so far, i felt slightly dissapointed by series 3 and 4, but this has got me hungry once again for 6. There is no point in me telling you any background infomation as I presume that most people reading this will have an idea what this show is all about, or like many people I would describe as "Die Hard" 24 fans. Watching this, the tension after every episode, the suspense is always there, from episodes 1-24, everyone is as nail biting as the rest.

People say that they don't enjoy it because of the fact that everything is "20 minutes away" or Jack can download the scimatics onto his PDA when ever he feels like but this does not effect the overall quality of the program, the idea of watching it is not to be critical about everything that happens, its to admire the quality of the overall series, which doesn't dissapoint.