Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
24: Redemption Recap 11/23/08
The episode takes place between 3:00PM - 5:00PM (Sangala, African time), which corresponds with 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM in Washington, the first time that the clock-time is not that of Los Angeles. The episode also features the first scenes which don't take place in real time: the opening two scenes featuring the young boys in the jungle.
3:00 PM. Jack Bauer, relieved of his duties at the now-defunct Counter Terrorist Unit, has begun travelling the world, and finds himself in Sangala, where his old Special Ops friend Carl Benton runs the Okavango School, a building designed to house orphans of Sangala's troubled political climate. He has found peace here, and does not plan to return to America. The U.S. State Department, however, has other plans: government official Frank Trammell arrives, questioning why Jack has not responded to a subpoena to attend a Senate hearing. Jack rudely sends Trammell on his way, but aware that the fury of the U.S. may impact Benton's missionary work, he decides to go elswhere to hide out.
A group of school pupils are playing soccer in a field when several rebel soldiers surround and kidnap them at gunpoint. Two of the boys - James and Desmond run and are pursued by soldiers. The others are told that they will become soldiers in the People's Freedom Army, and are taken away by Colonel Ike Dubaku and his men. Dubaku gets a phone call from the United States: the army's benefactor, Jonas Hodges, wants to know why the army draft is taking longer than expected, and asserts his claims that he is willing to send in his own men. Dubaku, determined to keep his honour, replies that he will have enough men. Hodges reminds him who is funding this operation.
View more!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Thursday, October 9, 2008
24: Redemption - First Look
US, October 3, 2008 - IGN was among a group of journalists who attended an early screening of 24: Redemption today. Airing Sunday, November 23rd, the TV-Movie marks the return of Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) for the first time since 24's sixth season ended, in May 2007. Thanks to the writers' strike, the seventh season was delayed a full year, until January of 2009, but Redemption serves as a prequel to Season 7, and of course as a way to tide fans over after this unusually long wait.
Minor Spoilers follow:
As previously reported, Redemption picks up some time after Season 6, with Jack now living in the African country of Sangala, where he's working as a missionary, alongside his old colleague Carl Benton, played by Robert Carlyle (Trainspotting / The World is Not Enough). Sangala is under siege by a vicious warlord, who is recruiting local children for his militia. And when that militia targets the kids under Jack's care, well… Let's just say Jack doesn't stand by and let it happen.
Redemption is an interesting experiment for 24 - while the movie does follow the real time format (as Jack tells us at the start, "The following takes place between 3:00pm and 5:00pm), it's obviously not part of the long, 24-hour uninterrupted storyline the series takes place in. There's even a prologue that uses (gasp!) a time jump, as are introduced to some of the militia during the day, and then cut to their rather horrific ignition of a kidnapped boy at night.
As the story begins, Jack has completely left his old life behind – clearly he has not been spending the time since Season 6 thwarting terrorists. Sporting several days worth of facial hair, Redemption introduces us to a different take on Jack, as we find him living a peaceful life, while carrying the weight of what he's gone through with him. As always, Kiefer Sutherland is excellent in this role. Some fans might be a bit disappointed that Jack actually isn't featured prominently in the first half of Redemption, but when the action picks up and Jack gets back to doing what he does best, it's definitely a thrill. More importantly, Sutherland nails some genuine moments of pathos Jack goes through, including a wonderfully acted moment where he's clearly fighting back tears, during a time when there simply isn't time to deal with them.
It's also very cool to see Jack in such a different setting - Redemption was filmed on location in South Africa, and this is a very different element for Jack to do his thing in than the Los Angeles settings we've grown accustomed to for the character. It certainly makes us curious what it would be like to follow the character through something even bigger in scope, such as the long-discussed 24 feature film.
There's also a lot of time spent in America in Redemption, where several characters are introduced who will be featured prominently in Season 7. Cherry Jones makes a solid first impression as President Allison Taylor, who we meet on the day of her inauguration. Appearing more briefly is Jon Voight as the mysterious Jonas Taylor, who is firmly established as a villain in his first scene. These characters look to be strong additions, as does Tony Todd (Chuck) as the ruthless warlord. In 24 tradition, there's also some sillier characters, including a sap of a UN representative who first doubts the threat of the warlord, and then turns coward when he realizes it's real. Gil Bellows (Ally McBeal) is saddled with another unfortunate character – an obnoxious government agent who comes looking for Jack.
24 fans hoping to see a lot of the familiar supporting cast should know that Redemption doesn't deliver much in that arena – there's no Chloe, no Buchannan… However, it was nice to see Powers Boothe and Peter MacNicol reprise their Season 6 roles – neither actor is back for Season 7 (at least that we know of), but their characters, outgoing President Noah Daniels and chief of staff Tom Lennox, get to do some nice onscreen passing of the torch as Taylor begins her administration, a rarity in 24 because of how separated the seasons are in the timeline.
Many, including us at IGN, had some big problems with Season 6. It's hard to say if Redemption marks a big return to form however, because it's not truly the next season. It certainly gets things off to a promising start though – this is very much a set up for Season 7, and while the specific story of Jack's attempt to rescue the kids is completed, a lot is left in motion for the series to continue and it's done so in a tantalizing manner.
At the end of the movie, an extended preview for Season 7 was shown. Some of the clips included had been seen before, dating back to the preview that debuted nearly a year ago, when the show was still set to return in January 2008 – including Jack discovering that Tony is alive and apparently a bad guy now. However, there were also many new sequences we glimpsed. There is a lot of action shown in the preview – including gun fights, car crashes and a big set piece involving an airplane. It definitely seems like they didn't skimp on going big this year.
The preview ends with Jack interrogating Tony, demanding to know, "What's the target?" Furious, Jack picks Tony up and slams him against a wall, exclaiming that if Tony doesn't talk, "I will kill you and you will stay dead this time!"
Monday, September 15, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
24: EXILE has been renamed
Fox changed the 24 prequel name from EXILE to REDEMPTION. Official 24: Redemption logo above! Read more...
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Monday, June 30, 2008
Jack's in Cape Town
To fill you in, in case you haven't heard the hot news — about three weeks to a month ago the FOX network announced that there's going to be a prequel movie to the seventh season of '24'.
The movie's a fan-filler prequel to make up for the way-too-long wait between Season 6 and 7 that's happened because of the writers strike at the beginning of the year.
The new season was originally supposed to premiere in January this year but it's been postponed until January 2009 so to make sure we get our 2008 fix FOX's making a two-hour movie that's being filmed right here in South Africa.
The movie premieres in the US on Sunday, 23 November and the buzz surrounding its filming's begun in Cape Town at the unfinished bridge over the Eastern Boulevard, just opposite the Waterfront. And I'm 99.9 percent convinced Kiefer Sutherland's going to be Jack Bauer'ing it.
More...
I was downtown last Thursday and as I was travelling back I spotted the bridge and stopped to take a pic to tell you how I've always thought it would be a perfect place for a '24' scene — and under the bridge there was a crew setting up!
There weren't any actors or cameras but lots of technical film types doing things, including measuring the road — for a chase scene obviously. There were unmarked cars and vans and a huge red truck going backwards and forwards, traffic officers 'discreetly' keeping a lookout, and tents with organisations going on.
The bridge often gets used for shoots but my thinking is what are the chances that just as the movie's about to happen there's such a setup happening?
Also — the discreetness to it seemed suspicious and appropriate. Film crews can make a big scene about things — with signs, branded trucks, and the like — but everything surrounding the shoot's been very hush-hush, right down to the script being used in the castings.
A Cape Town actor-mole I know went to an audition for it about two weeks ago and according to him the script was so cryptic you couldn't work out what was going on context-wise — to protect the storyline.
From what he had to say it seems that they're casting South Africans mostly in walk-on roles, with a couple of more prominent ones — my guess is they'll get a South African actor to play a lead villain...
...who'll thrillingly face Jack on the Bridge with Table Mountain as a backdrop.
I'm so convinced it's going to happen there I'll dangle from it if it doesn't! If you pass the bridge-area keep a lookout to see if you spot anything that looks suspiciously '24'-ish and be sure to be undercover to find Jack generally.
The film's going to need loads of locations and most everywhere they go he should be there. Somewhere. Hiding before kicking butt.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Prequel News
EMMY AND GOLDEN GLOBE WINNER “24” GETS A JUMPSTART ON THE CLOCK WITH SPECIAL TWO-HOUR PREQUEL SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23, ON FOX
“Day 7” Season Premiere Clocks - In January 2009
Fans have been waiting almost a year for the return of 24, television’s most addictive drama. On Sunday, November 23 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), the wait will be over as FOX presents a special two-hour prequel event.
Shot on location in South Africa, Jack Bauer battles an international crisis, while here at home the nation prepares for a new president on inauguration day. Taking place just a few months before the new day dawns, the prequel will set the stage and raise the stakes for Season Seven.
Continue reading...
“We're excited about the prequel because it explores Jack's complex emotional state of mind and still has all the signature excitement and suspense that fans have come to expect from 24,” commented executive producer Howard Gordon. “Shooting in South Africa affirms everyone’s commitment to making this season especially memorable for our fans.”
Celebrating its 150th episode this season, the series has resumed production on “Day 7” and will unfold without interruption in its regular time period Mondays (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) beginning in January 2009.
Set in Washington, DC, “Day 7” finds CTU dismantled and Jack Bauer on trial. Bauer’s day takes an unexpected turn when former colleague TONY ALMEIDA (Carlos Bernard) returns. Meanwhile, President ALLISON TAYLOR (Cherry Jones) leads the country alongside White House Chief of Staff ETHAN KANIN (Bob Gunton) and First Gentleman HENRY TAYLOR (Colm Feore).
A national security crisis prompts an investigation by a team of FBI agents including Agent JANIS GOLD (Janeane Garofalo), Agent RENEE WALKER (Annie Wersching), Agent LARRY MOSS (Jeffrey Nordling), Agent SEAN HILLINGER (Rhys Coiro) and security specialist MICHAEL LATHAM (John Billingsley). Although CTU is no longer, CHLOE O’BRIAN (Mary Lynn Rajskub) and BILL BUCHANAN (James Morrison) are back for another momentous day of shocking events.
As part of News Corp.’s global commitment to fighting climate change, 24 has pledged significant and innovative changes to its production practices with the goal of saving energy and reducing carbon emissions.
Created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, 24 is a production of Real Time Productions and Imagine Television in association with 20th Century Fox Television. Howard Gordon, Evan Katz, Jon Cassar, Manny Coto, David Fury, Kiefer Sutherland and Brian Grazer are the executive producers.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Two-hour 24 TV movie to bridge gap between S6 &S7
Fox's "24" will be returning in the fall, after all.
The producers of the Emmy-winning series are developing a two-hour "prequel" to the upcoming seventh season.
The movie, designed to bridge the two-year gap between Seasons 6 and 7, is targeted to air in the fall, leading to the January return of the real-time drama. On Wednesday, "24" producers began securing the show's core cast members for the film.
"24" was one of the biggest casualties of the writers strike. Three days into the work stoppage, Fox decided against airing a partial season of the serialized drama with the eight episodes produced before and during the first weeks of the strike.
Each season of "24" is a closed arc that takes place in real time over a 24-hour period. The upcoming seventh season is set in Washington and features the first female U.S. president, played by Cherry Jones.
At the end of the writers strike, there were rumblings about a possible split of the seventh season into two parts to air in the fall and in midseason. But Fox was quick to put those rumors to rest, reiterating that the show's scheduling pattern will remain intact with a January launch.
The "24" writing team is back at work, with filming on the remaining episodes of the seventh season slated to begin in April. Missing from the writers room is the series co-creator/executive producer Joel Surnow, who left at the end of the strike. Since the fifth season, "24" has been run by exec producer Howard Gordon.
Fox and 20th Century Fox TV, which produces the series with Imagine TV, declined comment Wednesday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
