The Grid (2-Disc Set)

Playing like an international version of "24" , "The Grid" focuses on an international plot where terrorists plan on releasing deadly sarin nerve gas. When the sarin gas is accidentally released in a London hotel killing all the guests, an alerted ad hoc team of American and British intelligence agents try and discover who is behind the attack and what they can do to prevent further attacks. At first it appears at first that the terrorists plan on releasing the deadly gas on subways in Europe and America but as the plot thickens it appears that the subway attack plans are nothing more than a diversion. Racing against the clock to try and discover the real plans for the terrorists and the sarin nerve gas.

Featuring a top notch cast with Dylan McDermott, Julianna Margulies, Bernard hill, James Remar and Tom Skerritt, this co-production between the BBC and Fox TV for TNT may lack the consistency of "24" but it's gripping nonetheless with its international locations and international cast. The tight direction of Mikael Salomon and solid writing by Kenneth Friedman ("Bad Girls", "Cadillac Man", "Heart Like a Wheel") this four part mini-series is the perfect tonic for those who like thrillers and need a break from all the reality programming on TV.

Image quality is exceptionally good with nice, accurate flesh tones, colors and sharp, clear images. Presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, the high definition transfer will compliment your HDTV or even the 27 inch in your bedroom. The 5.1 mix isn't quite as active as a theatrical feature but does make good use of the format to place sound effects and atmospheric sounds around the viewer.

We get three featurettes presented inside views on "The Grid". One of them "Decoding The Grid" was featured in movie theaters as a preview as part of the "20" preshow entertainment. We also get a glimpse behind the optical effects for the series. We see many sequences both pre and post-production for comparison sake. The digital composite effects are cleverly combined and rearranged to give the production a much larger scale than they could afford on the budget. "Racing Against Time" focuses on the pre-production and production issues the team ran into when it came to shooting on location. Tracey Alexander discusses how they had to rearrange and cut some of the key action sequences and consolidate much of the action to come in on budget.

We get a variety of commentary tracks. On the first two hours we get scene specific commentary from Dylan McDermott. For the third and fourth hour the Director and Executive Producer Tracey Alexander dominate the commentary track and for hour four we get scene specific sequences with commentary by Juliana Margulies and Dylan McDermott. While these scene specific commentary tracks aren't as satisfying as a full length commentary it also removes a lot of inane comments and dead space. What would probably have worked better would have been to alternate both actors throughout the commentary track. Nevertheless, considering this is a mini-series it's packed with very interesting commentary tracks throughout the disc.

A terrific mini-series with an international flavor and strong performances make "The Grid" a worthwhile action-adventure movie to watch. The exotic locations and scenery along with carefully used CGI effects gives this production a larger epic scale than the average TV series. Additionally, the DVD comes packed with deleted scenes and commentary tracks throughout the entire five hour plus series. The featurettes are actually more generous than some boxed sets. We get three exceptionally good and informative glimpses behind-the-scenes on location actually shooting the mini-series and in post-production.

Fans of techno-thrillers will eat up this six hour mini-series that not only marks the first major collaboration between the BBC and Turner Broadcasting, but also the first time that I have sat up and taken notice of Julianna Margulies.

Fox sent this DVD set along for a review and it wasn't until closer to its release date that I sat down with a good stack of popcorn with my roomies to sit down for the mammoth undertaking.

Over five hours later as we all retired for the evening we concluded that the show had been a good one and even the harshest of reviewers (a rommie of mine who delights in pointing out plotholes) had to admit to being totally engrossed in the drama.

Starting with a dramatic gas attack in a London hotel the action follows the reaction of both the British and American intelligence agencies, acting both separately and (in an uneasy alliance) jointly to combat terrorism in a post-9/11 world.

As covered in the documentary that accompanies this DVD, this shows's writers had to imagine how Al-Queida would evolve in the years following the beginning of production and its eventual 2004 broadcast. Top marks to them for weaving together a topical and involving drama.

With action that covers most of the globe and well drawn characters it is not hard to recommend this show. Fans of Tom Clancy will be pleased and the stunningly gorgeous Julianna Margulies has one more fan in the world in me.

This movie was incredible. I was so sucked in from the beginning and enjoyed it thouroughly. I was amazed at how it seemd so up to date with todays current global news. It shows both sides of terrorism - the ideas and reasoning behind much of it, and the wrongs and evils of it. Some people are afraid of this film and list it as a anti-Arab propaganda, but this couldn't be further from the truth. This movie portrays many Muslims as very good people who are against terrorism, and try to help fight it. I ordered this movie right away from Amazon as soon as I could because I liked it so much. One of the best and interesting movies I've ever seen. I wish every one could see this. My highest ratings. ******

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