24 Season 7: DVD Review

24 Season 7: DVD Review

24 Season 7
Starring: Kiefer Sutherland, Cherry Jones, Carlos Bernard, Mary Lynn Rajskub
Roadshow Entertainment
Rating: Restricted 13
Jack's back in another pulsating series of perennial favourite, 24, the seventh day of torture, twists and trouble.
After the incredible disappointment of Day Six where the peril seemed to be apathetic writing off screen and Bauer's family onscreen, the pressure was on to ensure Day Seven didn't repeat the dizzying lows of the previous one.
And this time, it doesn't disappoint.
You know the formula - over 24 episodes, each lasting an hour, Kiefer Sutherland's Jack Bauer is faced with a variety of plots, terrorism, deaths and shocks as he tries to save the day.
Four years after CTU (the Counter Terrorism Unit) has been disbanded, Jack's facing a senate hearing - however, his time of snarling in court doesn't last long as he's pulled in to help the FBI face one of the worst terrorism threats ever.
Only this time, ghosts from the past and threats from the present cause absolute mayhem for Bauer (Sutherland is never anything less than gripping as he deals with twists and turns left, right and centre) - and as the clock edges ever closer to the end of the day, it could finally be curtains for one of the greatest heroes the spy genre has ever seen.
24 Season 7 is a welcome return to form for the show which was, to be honest, starting to lag and appeared to be running out of creative juice.
However, this time, the threat of average seems to have lulled the writers and producers to pull out all the stops - with plenty of tension throughout each episode (and relatively no lows) this Day of 24 is perhaps one of the most dazzling yet.
There's rumours Day 8 could be Bauer's last - and it's incomprehensible to think the show will go on without him - but if this really is the case, it's nice to see the show which so radically shook up episodic television when it first erupted on the screens in 2001 could be going out on a high.
With an interesting mix of extras including audio commentaries on selected episodes, and the usual deleted scenes (well, the ticking clock has to stop somewhere), the 6 disc set of 24 Season Seven should be an addition to any fan's shelf - or a great introduction to those who've not experienced the thrills of Jack Bauer's life.
And yes, I have no idea why he never stops to eat or go to the toilet either....

Rating 8/10