|
“Alias
– The Complete Third Season”
|
 |
Reviewed
by: |
Wayne A. Klein |
| Genre: |
Action |
| Video: |
1.78:1 Anamorphic
Widescreen |
| Audio: |
Dolby Digital
Surround 2.0 (mono) |
| Languages |
English |
| Subtitles |
English |
| Length |
968 minutes
|
| Rating |
NR |
| Release Date |
9/7/04 |
| Studio |
Buena Vista
Home Video |
| Commentary:
|
Cast commentary
on select episodes |
| Documentaries:
|
None |
| Featurettes:
|
Production featurette,
“Burbank to Barcelona”, “Alias Up Close” |
| Filmography/Biography:
|
None |
|
Interviews: |
“Original
1966 Interviews” |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
None |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
Deleted scenes
|
| Music
Video: |
None |
| Other:
|
“Monday Night
Football” Teaser, blooper reel, “The Animated Alias: Tribunal—An
Unknown Chapter of Sydney’s Missing Two Years Revealed” |
| Cast
and Crew: |
Jennifer
Garner, Ron Rifkin, Michael Vartan, Bradley Cooper, Carl Lumbly,
Merrin Dungey, Kevin Weisman, Victor Garber |
| Written
By: |
J. J. Abrams,
Jesse Alexander, Breen Frazier, Alex Kurtzman-Counter |
| Produced
By: |
J. J. Abrams,
Ken Olin |
| Directed
By: |
Daniel Attias,
Jack Bender, Maryann Brandon, Ken Olin |
| Music:
|
J. J. Abrams
(theme) |
| The
Review: |
We discover much more about Sydney’s
two missing years and discover that Vaughn’s lovely wife Lauren
(Melissa George) is anything but lovely.We also find out a
lot more about Project Christmas and a mysterious lady that
claims to be Sydney’s sister. The shift in season three away
from Sydney’s contrasting professional life and personal life
robs this season of some of its power. Although Will’s (Bradley
Cooper) role had largely been played out by the second season
(he does make an occasional guest appearance here), the relationship
between Sydney and Will added some nice dramatic tension to
the show. Isabella Rossellini shows up as Syd’s aunt (Lena
Olin doesn’t appear during season three)complicating her father’s
life as well. While the third season was far from a disappointment,
it certainly didn’t live up to the whirlwind action of the
first two. I’m not even going to go into the Rambaldi prophecies
as they are becoming increasingly absurd as the series progresses.
I’m sure creator/writer/producer Abrams was shooting for an
“X-Files” element here but it intrudes on the other subplots
and actions in the series.
|
| Image
and Sound: |
As usual
the image looks terrific. There’s some minor digital blemishes
in the form of edge enhancement but, on the whole, the show
looks great. The sound is rendered very nicely with nice separation
and considerable presence in the surround channels. |
| The
Extras: |
We get
the anime episode that focuses on Sydney’s “lost time” when
she disappeared for two years. We also get a couple of fine
featurettes that provide interesting behind-the-scenes information
about the progression of season three. Finally, there’s the
much improved blooper reel. How can it be an improvement on
other blooper reels? It’s funnier and involves much more of
the cast screwing up lines and scenes.
|
| Commentary:
|
The commentaries
on this boxed set only feature three of the cast members (Jennifer
Garner, Greg Grunberg and Melissa George) which contrasts with
the first two seasons sets. There’s also the “Ultimate Fan Commentary”
which was so-so. It certainly has as much insight as the actor’s
commentary tracks. Interesting idea but I’m not sure how it
would hold up on successive sets. --- |
| Final
Words: |
While the
third season doesn’t live up to the potential of the first two,
it’s still got some fun moments and is worthwhile for fans of
the series to pick up. There extras are great including an anime
adventure for Sydney that highlights what happened to her during
the two missing years between the end of the first season and
the start of the second. |
