Lost: The Complete First Season DVD Review:

Crashing on an island, forty-eight survivors of the Oceania plane flight must struggle to get along if they are going to survive.
Jack (Fox), a doctor, is the reluctant leader of the group who everyone looks to, as he struggles with his own demons. Michael (Perrineau Jr.) is struggling to connect to his son, Walt (Kelley) after only just coming into his life for the first time. Charlie (Monaghan) is coming to terms with the fact that his rock career in Driveshaft might be over but something else now driving him. Sun (Kim) and Jin (Kim) distance themselves from everyone else as the Korean couple find it hard to communicate with the group. Claire (de Ravin) is pregnant and lone as she comes to terms with the fact that she might have to have her baby on the island. Shannon (Grace) and Boone (Somerhalder) continue their sibling rivalry, even after the disaster. Sayid (Andrews) is an ex-soldier whose technical know-how could be the group’s salvation but he has to gain the trust of some of the group. Sawyer (Holloway) is already making enemies among the survivors as he has all the supplies but is he been aggressive on purpose. Hurley (Garcia) is the only one who seems to be taking the situation in his stride but he is keeping his true feeling secret. Locke (O’Quinn) has discovered his true calling on the island but how did he become a survival expert? Kate (Lilly) is the biggest mystery of all, as her past could be a lot darker than anyone could have imaged.

As the chance of rescue becomes more unlikely, the group have to pull together but this is no ordinary island.

Once in a while a television show makes such an impact on its debut that an audience becomes instantly hooked. ‘Lost’ is one of those shows.

From the creative minds behind the hit spy show ‘Alias’ comes a televisual event that will become the next must see programme. While there have been many shows and films that have dealt with people stranded on a desert islands, both reality and fictional based but ‘Lost’ is something completely different.

What starts off as a show about forty-eight survivors trying to cope with the aftermath of the catastrophic event and get used to their new surroundings. Soon changes with the group head into the jungle. Instead of the usual exotic birds, wild fruits and the odd monkey, this jungle contains secrets and terrors that none of them could have ever imagined. This is no ordinary island and they discover this very quickly.

The main emphasis of the show is not the island however but the collection of survivors that have been thrown together by the crash. Each of them has a story to tell and these are revealed in a series of flashbacks across the twenty-four episodes, with each of the main characters getting one or more episodes that show they came to be on the plane. This is what makes the show different and so gripping. On the island you think you know survivors but the back-stories reveal more about each of them as the secrets reveal who they really are.

The show has fourteen main characters, much more than most television shows but each one of them is integral to the series. Matthew Fox is Jack, the group appointed leader of the survivors and a man who really doesn’t revel in the job. They look to him because he is a doctor but Jack has his own demons that he has to over come. Evangeline Lilly plays Kate, the girl most people turn to in the group and the one who like to get things done but she has the biggest secret of them all. Josh Holloway is the conniving Sawyer, the one who we instantly despise as he does everything possible to get on everyone’s nerves but there is much more to him than you first realise. Daniel Dae Kim and Yunjin Kim are Korean couple Jin and Sun, who are reluctant to join in with the rest of the group but it is more than just the language barrier that is keeping them away from the rest of them. Dominic Monaghan is Charlie, an ex-rocker who has his own problems and additions that he has to cope with. Harold Perrineau Jr. and Malcolm David Kelley are father and son Michael and Walt, who have to get to know each other after spending eight years apart and the island might not be the best place to do this. Emilie de Ravin is Claire, who is eight months pregnant and has to come to terms that she might have to bring her child into the world on the island. Naveen Andrews is Sayid, who is one of the few trained to cope with the island but some of the survivors don’t know whether to trust him or not, even though he has the most to offer. Jorge Garcia brings some comedy to group as Hurley and he is the one who is trying to look on the bright side. Maggie Grace and Ian Somerhalder are sister and brother Shannon and Boone, whose sibling rivalry continues even after the crash. Lastly we have John Locke, played by the brilliant Terry O’Quinn. He is the one who is completely changed by the island, becoming the man who all of the survivors look to when it comes to knowing what to do in the extreme circumstances they now find themselves in.

‘Lost’ is one of those shows that you cannot really talk about or review the story for fear of soiling the many twists and turns of the plot. It grips you from the off, pulling you into both the story on the island and the backstories of the characters. This is a show that does take a few episodes to get going as it introduces and builds the characters dynamics but it becomes one of the best first seasons of a programme ever to grace television. ‘Lost’ is phenomenal.

Season Star Rating = * * * * *

PICTURE AND SOUND

Presented in 1.76:1 Anamorphic Widescreen with a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround soundtrack the transfer is very good.

BONUS MATERIALS

Audio Commentaries

Listen to commentary track for the episodes ‘Pilot Part 1 & 2’, ‘Walkabout’, ‘The Moth’ and ‘Hearts and Minds’ with contributions from executive producers J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindeloff, Carlton Cuse, Jack Bender and Bryan Burk, co-executive producer David Fury, supervising producer Javier Grillo-Marcuach and stars Terry O’Quinn, Dominic Monaghan, Maggie Grace and Josh Holloway. Each track is very informative and fun, as you can tell that this is a group of people who really feel passionate about the show.

Lost Script Scanner

Insert disc 1 into you PC DVD ROM drive to read the script for the ‘Pilot’ and jump to the scene to view those lines been played by the cast.

Departure (1hr 44.26 mins)

Executive producers J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindeloff and Bryan Burk, executive consultant Jeff Pinkner, producers Sarah Caplan and Jean Higgins, production designer Mark Worthington, director of photography Larry Fong, editor Mary Jo Markey, special effects coordinator John J. Downey, visual effects supervisors Greg Grunberg and Kevin Black, president of Bad Robot television Thom Sherman and cast members Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, Emilie de Ravin, Naveen Andrews, Jorge Garcia, Maggie Grace, Josh Holloway, Malcolm David Kelley, Daniel Dae Kim, Yunjin Kim, Dominic Monaghan, Terry O'Quinn and Harold Perrineau Jr. come together to reveal how ‘Lost’ came to be. Split into seven sections entitled ‘The Genesis of Lost’, ‘Designing a Disaster’, ‘Before they where Lost’, ‘Welcome to Oahu: The Making of the Pilot’, ‘The Art of Matthew Fox’ and ‘Lost@Comicon’, each part covers all aspects of the programmes production, from the initial idea for the show, to casting (which includes videos of the casting session) and through to the production of the pilot and the launch of the series. For fans this is exceptional and completely fascinating, as it reveals many secrets about the shows production.

Tales from the Island (57.36 mins)

Director/producer Jack Bender, producer Jean Higgins, supervising producers Javier Grillo-Marcuach and Christian Taylor, executive producer, executive producers Damon Lindeloff, Carlton Cuse and Bryan Burk, stunt coordinator Michael Vendrell, visual effects coordinator Ivan Hayden and stars Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, Emilie de Ravin, Naveen Andrews, Jorge Garcia, Maggie Grace, Josh Holloway, Malcolm David Kelley, Daniel Dae Kim, Yunjin Kim, Dominic Monaghan, Terry O'Quinn and Harold Perrineau Jr. take you on the location and set shoots for ‘Lost’. Split into three sections entitled ‘Lost: On Location’, ‘On set with Jimmy Kimmel’ and ‘Backstage with Driveshaft’. These extended featurettes cover the episodes ‘House of the Rising Sun’, ‘Confidence Man’, ‘All the best Cowboys have Daddy issues’, ‘Hearts and Minds’, ‘Special’ and ‘Exodus’, looking into the visual effects, stunts and sets needed for each episode. We also get to how the Driveshaft song ‘You all everybody’ and US talk show host Jimmy Kimmel has some fun on the set.

Lost Revealed (34.29 mins)

Split into four sections entitled ‘The Lost Flashbacks’, ‘Deleted Scenes’, ‘Bloopers from the Set’ and ‘Live from the Museum of Television and Radio’, this section gives you bonus material from various shows. Included are two deleted flashback scenes from ‘Exodus’ which include Claire and Sayid and six deleted scenes entitled ‘The Huddle’, ‘Claire’s doctor visit’, ‘A Deal’s a Deal’ ‘Capture secrets’, ‘The Jack Situation’ and ‘Whispers’. Also included is a montage of bloopers and an except from the ‘Salute to Lost’ held at the 22nd Annual Paley Festival which includes a question and answer session with the cast.

Sneak Peeks

Previews of ‘The Chronicles of Narina: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’, ‘Alias: Season 4’, ‘Desperate Housewives: The Complete First Season’, ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’, ‘Scrubs: Season 2’, ‘Dark Water’, ‘Jimmy Kimmel: Live’ and ‘Lost: Season 2 Preview’

OVERALL

An exceptional TV programme receives a brilliant DVD translation that will have fans of the show jumping for joy. With so much content that covers every aspect of the programmes production, this is the comprehensive DVD set for ‘Lost’ fans. From brilliant commentary tracks to amazing documentaries, this is the best TV DVD box set. Get lost in ‘Lost’ now!



Jamie Kelwick