Search - Alias - The Complete Collection (Seasons 1-5 + Rambaldi artifact box) on DVD

Michelle H. from RNCHO CORDOVA, CA
Reviewed on 9/13/2015...

This is one of my favorite series. Jennifer garner is my favorite actress and she does a great job of acting in this series. She plays her part very well. I love this series but packaging idea is horrible. All of the discs are in paper protectors that don't protect them at all. The packaging has scratched everyone of the discs but most are still playable however a few are not. The discs that won't play happen to be my favorite episodes. I have looked at having the discs resurfaced but its expensive; at $2.50 a disc. I had to buy a disc case to put my discs in so they are not further scratched and that was expensive. Yes you may get a bonus disc and booklet with this box but that doesn't make up for the scratched discs that won't even play. Its not worth trading for or buying. Save your credits and get all the seasons individually. I still recommend this awesome series but I don't recommend getting it in this box.

The Complete Story

T. Stewart | Santa Cruz | 07/30/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you've never seen an episode of this amazing show you have no idea what your missing... from the can't-take-a-breath pilot, to the mezmorizing series finale `Alias' was always about the shock factor, and once it got it's claws into you there was no letting go. Serving almost as the Generation X, female version of James Bond, `Alias' is a heartpounding spy-series that does not know how to give the audience a break.

Throughout the Series 105 episodes we are given a glimpse into the life of Sydney Bristow and her unbelievable and crazy decade-long transition from a wide-eyed naïve graduate student, to the worldly and weathered woman that she became, with all the bumb's and bruises along the way; and let's not forget all the butt-kicking that came along with that as well...

With Seasons One and Two, starts off with a pilot that introduces us to the happy and excited Syndey Bristow, her relationship with her estranged father, her two best friends: Francie and Will, and her soon-to-be fiancé; not to mention her job as an undercover spy for the CIA. But it isn't long before Sydney realizes that she is not working for the CIA, but in fact for the very enemy she thought she was fighting, which leads her into a dangerous life as a double agent, fighting the war on both fronts. While leading this life her personal life becomes very stressed, and she learns that sometime its impossible to separate the work from the personal.

Season Three picks up approx 2 years after the season two finale, and to stay mostly spoiler-free all I will say is that her life has been turned upside down, and the season focus's on her quest for understanding her life.

Season Four picks up about a year after season 3, and finds Sydney starting a new job, going back to being a Secret Agent, but with a few surprises on the work front.

Season Five picks up again, about a year after season 4 and finds Sydney facing the realities of the world, and of her life...

As you can see not much can be said without giving anything way. This is an extremely complex/continuity heavy show that is really well known for being hard to follow (missing several minutes of an episode can affect your understanding of not only the next couple of episodes, but story lines several years down-the-lines) and this aspec's initially turned people off from the series in its broadcast run, in favor of the DVDs.

Presented here are all 105 episodes, on 29 discs, with all the special features from the individual releases, as well as a special DVD with new bonus features and a commemorative book all packaged inside the Rambaldi artifact (a thing that play's a centeral role throughout the series).
"

Great content, horrible disc protection

Alan Coltrain | 12/07/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Other reviewers have mentioned this, but it's worth repeating: THE PACKAGING FOR THIS SET IS ILL-CONCEIVED AND WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY DAMAGE EVERY DISC. Each season's discs are packaged in beautifully detailed cardboard sleeves that are constructed so that corners and edges meet where the bottom of the disc rests. This means that each disc brushes up against four pointed corners each time it moves in the sleeve. Almost all of my discs were scratched upon delivery, and my older DVD player would not read some of them because of the depth of the scratches (my newer player didn't have any trouble, fortunately). I'd ask for a replacement set, but it would arrive in the same condition because this is a design flaw, not a manufacturing error. I'm thinking about contacting Buena Vista or its manufacturer to complain. For the price of this set, the discs ought to be protected better.

Packaging flaws aside, this is an excellent collection. The Rambaldi box itself is a great piece of eye candy and has magnetic sides and top so it closes easily; it's almost a toy itself. The bottom compartment is lined with felt and holds a bonus disc exclusive to this set. You also get a small book detailing some of the series' secrets, which is a nice bonus but not beefy enough to be a selling point.

I won't critique the content itself, other than to say that Alias is a shining example of dramatic television. It's one of my all-time favorite TV series and this collection contains every minute of every episode along with every bonus feature you could ask for.

Concerning the show alone, this product would easily merit a five-star rating, but the packaging is a real bummer. I'm as big of an Alias fan as there is, but even I have to knock off a star for the scratched discs. I'd recommend to anyone who already has two or three of the season sets to just buy the remaining seasons separately. You won't have to rely on scratched discs that way."

A Well-Crafted, Visually Vibrant Spy Series Set Apart by its

Justin Heath | Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada | 10/11/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Just out of college, Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) is recruited by Arvin Sloan (Ron Rifkin) to be part of a globe-trotting secret government spy agency known as SD-6. When tragic events occur Sydney realizes that SD-6 is not what it seems and joins up with her father (Victor Garber) at the CIA as a double agent to bring Sloan down with the help of her undercover handler and future lover Vaughn (Michael Vartan) and her partner Dixon (Carl Lumbly). Meanwhile, Sloan races to uncover the artifacts of an ancient profit known as Rambaldi, the possessor of all of them will become so powerful that they could become immortal and rule the world.

ABC was unusually good to "Alias". While they gave the show an opportunity to bring its 5-year story toward a satisfying conclusion, the show went through so many changes in the meantime it is hard to talk about it as one entity. Creator J.J. Abrams starts out keeping things very simple. Season 1 is like a run-and-gun video game where in episode after episode Sydney sneaks into a secret facility in a fantastic disguise, steals or downloads something for the CIA under the cover of SD-6 and then runs, kicks and punches her way out. Part "La Femme Nikkita", part "Mission: Impossible", it is a light and sound show.

In a rare example of positive network and creative collaboration Abrams got a call to reinvent the fledgling series (5th place will make a network start to get religion). What came out of the meeting was a complete dismantling of the series as we knew it and the establishment of something better. The show ditched the head-scratching cliffhanger endings for more self-contained episodes, but Abrams was given the freedom to continue his story arcs and flesh out the character relationships into what will ultimately be a tangled web of familial soap opera drama involving Syd's mother (Lena Olina) and Sloan's daughter.

Mid-way though the 2nd season and into the 3rd , "Alias" hits its stride. In a series filled with stupendous action sequences, a 2-hour finale that culminates in a rollicking, all-out brawl between Sydney and an evil duplicate of her roommate (just watch) that rips their apartment to splintered shreds ranks as one of the coolest scenes in modern TV for me. It is also here when the look of the show is expanded to a gorgeous cinematic scope it will have to the end. I could just drink up the colors and cinematography of this show. In addition to a perfectly short and sweet intro, Micahel Giacchino's on-target original score is laced with sound-alike Bernard Hermann violin riffs that beautifully puts a classic Hitchcock spy thriller spin on things.

Abrams has wrapped his core cast so tight with indispensable characters - including a show-stealing Kevin Weisman as computer ace Marshall (a 4th season bit where Marshall goes in the field, and must pass a retinal scanner, is classic) - that he has little room for twists and suspense. Unlike 2001's "24", we know that all of the "Alias" characters must stay safe to keep the story moving. He compensates by bringing in one long lost family member after another. Mothers, sisters, aunts and stepfathers all are revealed to be a close part of Sydney's universe. Some will find it a convoluted overkill, others will find it giving everyone more depth and resonance.

At the center of it all is Garner, who gamely goes for all the network's guilty pleasure requirements to put her in skimpy bikinis and lingerie. Strikingly beautiful, she has two modes as an actress (fighting and crying), but fills the heels of our kick-butt heroine perfectly - commanding the show and the audience around her just as a great hero should. Garber is an ever-present force of dignity and credibility. The show's fuel is arguably Rifkin who makes such a classically nasty villain and yet give him a vulnerability that, despite his pension for murder, makes you want to believe him.

Now, here's the problem with "Alias" and Abrams' writing style. Abrams spends a lot of time, for lack of a better word, stalling. Several episodes go by with nothing being revealed and wrenches being thrown into the gears of the story for no other purpose than to artificially drag out the over-arching plot until the end of the season, end of the series or maybe even until Abrams can finally settle on an endgame. Like many of the HBO serials, there is a lot of pointless running in place here.

Delivering a kick-butt girl-power action hero, a few David E. Kelley music-over-dialog montages and a focus on fashion and exotic locations mixed with some fierce violence, smashing guy-movie car chases and creativity in the gadgets and story lines that most women won't appreciate, "Alias" may have suffered a bit of gender confusion with the viewing public. I'm not sure if Abrams set out to create the ultimate gay man's spy series, but here it is. The big difference between "Alias" and the other spy shows is the endless imagination Abrams and his crew infuse it with. Tiny details like the inventive array of gadgets and weapons (like DNA replicating masks and microwave bombs) keep us enthralled.

Sure there are quite a few cracks in cinematically polished armor, but "Alias" is an overall solid, action-packed, visually vibrant piece of popcorn entertainment. Recommended for those that want something a little different and are willing to indulge its contrivances and trust that it actually might be going somewhere. The modern spy series given a little twist - Abrams gives it a refreshing imagination, Garner gives it strength, Garber credibility, and Rifkin a force to be reckoned with."