Alias S1 [DVD]

I watched Alias this summer in 2011 and I couldn't believe this show was made in 2001.Alias Season 1 has quickly become one of my all-time favorites. I was surprised to find how much I enjoyed this show since I'm not big on the spy genre. On the surface, Alias seems like an action show with a female lead in sexy outfits, but it is much more than that. It is a tour de force of tight writing, sharp dialogue, outstanding acting, and creative vision. Alias is the story of Sydney Bristow -- the girl next door, straight-A student type who happens to sign up for spy work, out of patriotic inspiration and boredom. Most spies and action heroes are cold, calculating personalities, so this was a refreshing concept. The show works for me because as absurd as the plot twists become, I believe in Sydney Bristow. Her character is always grounded and she is easy to relate to, because she is sensitive and wears her heart on her sleeve. This is J.J. Abram's trademark -- the drama that is both realistic and absurd at the same time. Sydney does crazy spy work and juggles both a double-life and double-agent job, but she comes home to hang out with her friends who know nothing about her spy life, and she struggles with her relationships with her father and her paternalistic boss. As weird as the espionage world gets, we can always relate to hating your boss, trying to get along with parents, and managing work-life balance. It's hard to find compelling 20-something female leading roles in Hollywood, which makes me appreciate Sydney Bristow on a personal level.The show further innovates by mixing different genres: espionage, mystery/thriller, and a little soapy drama. I love cross-genre shows because there is more variety, less chance of falling into cliches, and the audience doesn't quite know what to expect. The action sequences, camera work, and costumes are film quality. You will have fun watching Sydney execute her missions. I'm not a connoisseur of spy shows, but I was entertained by the different wigs/dresses, car chases, and parachuting.I really enjoyed the writing and fast-paced plotting. Not many words are wasted. The action sequences are cut extremely tight. Unlike other spy shows, there isn't much mission preparation or debriefing shown; we just see Sydney stealing item X and then we're back in Los Angeles. One moment Sydney is in spy headquarters and then she's having beer at her apartment with her best buddies. Yet the show takes the time to explore Sydney's emotional reactions, which keeps the show grounded in reality.The big selling point for me is Jennifer Garner's performance. She is naturally charismatic and has probably the world's best smile, making Sydney probably the most likable spy in cinematic history. (It seems like every male character on the show is in love with Sydney -- a joke, but not far from the truth.) Garner clearly put 100% effort into her acting. Watch her face when she runs -- it's clear that both Garner and Sydney take their job seriously. Sydney Bristow is an extremely demanding role (Sydney is in almost every scene, stunt sequences, foreign languages, dramatic acting) and Garner does everything very well. The rest of the cast is absolutely stellar. I don't know how many TV shows have ever had a cast this good. There are two critically acclaimed Broadway actors (Victor Garber and Ron Rifkin) and Michael Vartan, Bradley Cooper, and Merrin Dungey have all gone on to great careers (in particular Cooper has become a huge star). Kevin Weisman is funny and charming as the comic relief, and Carl Lumbly, as Sydney's partner, lends gravity and presence to the show. Every single cast member is fantastic and my only complaint is that I wish Vartan and Dungey's characters could have been written better. The superb acting is what really makes the show work. In the hands of lesser actors, the show would have become campy.If you've read this far, you should buy this series now! I'll leave you with the words of a TV critic:"Alias isn't a perfect series, by any means. But I do think it's the most important show of the past ten years that's been completely swept under the rug. ... I have a sneaking suspicion that few shows have had a greater impact on the television landscape today." - Ryan McGee, AV Club(If you are interested in reading more, check out Ryan McGee's essays on Alias at AV Club's TV Club Classic.)

"Alias" is a great show. It's also wildly implausible. Jennifer Gardner stars as Sydney Bristow: grad student by day, spy by night, and double agent in her spare time. She does all this while racking up a million frequent flyer miles a year. It's not surprising that she's unlucky in love and often an emotional basket case. But when she's in the middle of a mission Sydney's got cool that James Bond can't match (OK, maybe the Timothy Dalton Bond could keep up).The ABC network has helped the series considerably with liberal deviation from the accepted hour show format. This began with an uninterrupted showing of the pilot when the series debuted: 66 minutes without commercial or other interruption, a nearly unheard-of occurrence in American TV. The following 21 episodes fit the standard 45 minutes of content for an "hour" show, but many ran for 15 or more minutes before the credits and first commercial break (in sharp contrast to the 2-3 minute convention before first ad break).The star and special effects crew of "Alias" are constantly pushing the envelope. Jennifer Garner had minimal action show work under her belt when she started on the series. Garner could run and dance, but was keen to learn more. It soon became apparent to the writers and stunt crew that she was adept at memorizing: not just scripts, but also stunt choreography and foreign language phonetics. The foreign languages in "Alias" are much more compelling than the usual cheat of English with some phony foreign accent. Garner has since studied kickboxing and wire stunts, and actually looks forward to jumping off 100' buildings as a regular part of her job."Alias" is in many ways a very flawed show. The flaws do not keep it from being remarkably entertaining. There's lots of impossible spy gadgetry, but the Bond movies have made us come to expect that. No real spy agency would keep on an agent as prone to emotional collapse as Sydney Bristow, yet both SD-6 and the CIA consider her a valuable asset. The whole prophetic 15th century Milo Rambaldi technology schtick is WAY out there. And many of the effects over-reach. One particularly egregious example is the oft-shown exploding car sequence. The hood pops off and the car pitches up while fire lights it from below/behind. Since you can see through the engine compartment it's glaringly apparent that this stunt car did not, in fact, actually have an engine in it as it rolled down the road."Alias" show honchos have hedged their bets by going with known quantities where possible. Series creator J.J. Abrams worked with star Garner on "Felicity", and has known Greg Grunberg (a "Felicity" regular) since childhood. Kevin Weisman played a recurring role on "Felicity". (Amanda Foreman, another "Felicity" regular, shows up in seasons two and three.) Executive producer Ken Olin appears in a small recurring role, and his wife and "thirtysomething" costar Patricia Wettig also plays a recurring character on "Alias".In the first season notable guest stars include Gina Torres, Quentin Tarantino, Angus Scrimm, Amy Irving, Lindsay Crouse, Terry O'Quinn, and Peter Berg."Alias" is written as a continuous story arc and few episodes end without leaving the viewer eager to see what comes next. The first season has plot threads involving Sydney's graduate school studies, her secret agent work for SD-6, her double agent work for the CIA, clueless best friends Will and Francie, the thaw in her relationship with her distant father, the mysterious Alliance, the prophetic works of Milo Rambaldi, and the growing question of what happened to her mother.As Sydney's view of her mother changes, so does the casting. The character is played in the first season by Arabella Holzbog (in old photos), Natasha Pavlovich (in grainy surveillance footage), and April Webster in a quick backlit scene. The character gains major importance in the second season when played by Lena Olin.It's not surprising that the show's producers and writers spend considerable time worrying about ways to bring viewers up to speed if they've missed or forgotten plot points. There's a lot going on in "Alias", and you don't want to blink sometimes for fear of being thrown off the roller-coaster.The DVD first season collection of "Alias" is unremarkable for its packaging and extra content. This is mostly a good thing. The effort went into excellent video and audio transfer, and the menus are less annoying than most. Extra content is largely what they had lying around in the editing room: a few deleted scenes, and the ABC promo spots for a few episodes. Audio commentary was added in three of the 22 episodes, including the first and last.

Great writing.

This is such an old series but it was one of my favourites from this era. When it came out it broke new ground and of the ones that were similar it was the only one that went 5 years and still has something of a cult following. It also served to firmly establish Jennifer Garner as one of the hottest actresses in this period. This series is commonly classified as sci-fi due to the plot line involving the search for artifacts with supposedly out of world abilities but this does not detract from the other themes such as Sidney's relationship with her handling (Michael Vaughn) or the plots of keeping her identity/spy job secret from her friends or how she started out thinking that she was working for the CIA but it turned out it was a crime organization. The first season has the novelty factor of a new premise, lots of action and it is not surprising that it was rated as one of the best shows in the early 2000s.

J J Abrams is renowned for both his big and small screen forrays. He gave us two of the best television series ever created, Lost and Fringe and rebooted the Star Trek movie franchise brilliantly. One of his earlier creations was this, Alias, a Bond like series but with a female lead and more twists and turns than labyrinth.Jennifer Garner plays Sydney Bristow an agent working for what she thinks to be a top secret branch of the CIA, but when she makes a grave mistake and someone she loves is killed as a result the truth is revealed about SD6 (the organisation she thinks is good and a part of the CIA). And so her quest to bring about the end of SD6 who are responsible for her fiancees death. Abrams trademark twist and turns are rife in every single episode and there are enough cliffhagers to leave you open mouthed at the end of virtually every episode. The scripts and stories are very well written, clever and very fast paced. Garner plays Bristow perfectly, not only is she insanely beautiful but she pulls of some awesome stunts. The rest of the cast are equally as good, particularly Ron Rifkin as the the head of SD6, and the man Sydney swears a secret vendetta against.Each episode is packed with non stop action, taut emotion, gripping storylines and cool gadgets. There are edge of your seat stunts, exotic locations and this show always keeps you guessing. As well as some one off episodes there is an intriguing story arc involving an ancient profit called Rmabaldi who's dangerous inventions are being used by terrorists to bring about chaos. This arc is introduced pretty early on and continues throughout the entire series and makes for some great ideas and viewing. It mixes drama, thriller, crime and elements of science fiction flawlessly.If you're worried about this being cheesy and dumb then you'd be wrong. This series is just like Abram's Lost and Fringe, it blends quality production values, great actors, gripping storylines and arcs and will no doubt hook your from the pilot. Don't hesitate and do yourself a favour, get this right now. The only problem, and its very small, is the slightly annoying techno music, but this is reduced as the series progresses and is all but gone in the subsequent seasons.At £10 this is a steal, don't hesitate, you won't be dissapointed. For fans and those interested there are also a plethora of bonus features that include commentaries on many of the episodes, featurettes (makings of) and deleted scenes. It is very well packaged in a pretty sturdy card slip case in which are three regular DVD cases that contain two discs each.

It is worth the buy dvd reads the dvd well no issues unlike my other purchases.

Never, in all my years of television viewing, did i come over such an amazing, intellegent, witty, suspenseful, action packed, emotional and dramatic television show. Infact this is such a fine show it puts every movie ive ever viewed to shame.With ALIAS reaching its third season in America, and Five showing ALIAS SEASON 2 over here, maybe its about time you caught up with Jennifer Garner, Victor Garber, Merrin Dungey, Michael Vartan, Ron Rifkin, Amy Irving, Lena Olin and guest stars such as Quentin Tarrintino and Faye Dunaway with Roger Moore popping in too!The Plot (No Spoilers)Sydney Bristow is a college student who leads the secret and thrilling life of a Double Agent for the CIA and a secret terrorist group named SD-6. Sydney's problems dont stop there, her father is also a double agent and her flatmates are beginning to suss her real identity. As well as that, not all is what it seems with her long deceased mother, Laura Bristow, and the season builds up this epic storyline to a jaw-dropping finale that was only rivalled by that of Season 2'S Finale.CharactersSydney is a highly developed character, and each of the other characters has their own themes to them, everyone from quirky Marshall to the dangerous Sloane and his cancer stricken wife, Emily. Sydney is strong and independent, and in season one, very much out for blood. But watch out for Season 3 When it comes to UK, Rumour has it Sydneys darker than ever...StyleAlias OOZES style at every edge. From the beat of the technospy music to the dark, gritty feel and the astounding cinematography. Its a real experience watching this series.Intellegence24, CSI, Law and Order. None of them can compare, or come anywhere close, to the astoundingly crafted, jaw drapping, cliff hanger ridden, fast paced, heart wrenching storylines of every episode. Where ever Sydney goes, in a red wig, a blue dress, a chinese maid outfit, everywhere, she brings oodles of intellegence with her. The whole thing has obviously been PAINSTAKINGLY planned out, and to great effect.Overall Scored : 100% (1st place)Alias is simply THE best television show of all time, bar none, You wont believe how quickly youll get hooked. And thats not all, the show also stars the Jaw Droppingly Beautiful Jennifer Garner who is a hollywood superstar in her own right as well as an all star ensemble cast. Astounding Acting, Production, Direction, Scripts and Characters make this highly watchable series a classicBUY THIS DVD!!!!

This is still one of my favourite series out there. I bought every season, and this first one should get you hooked in! A fast paced action, filled with conspiracy theories and mystery. And Jennifer Garner looks hot in every outfit she constantly changes into and tries 💋