24: Redemption (2008) (TV)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Jon Cassar

Writers:

Joel Surnow (creator) &
Robert Cochran (creator) ...

Release Date:

23 November 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Save the day

Plot:

Film based on the real-time television series "24" (2001), which chronicles a day in the life of Federal Agent Jack Bauer.

Plot Keywords:

Coup | Female President | Child Soldier | Based On TV Series | Africa

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Kiefer Sutherland	...	Jack Bauer
Cherry Jones	...	President Elect Allison Taylor
Bob Gunton	...	Ethan Kanin
Colm Feore	...	Henry Taylor
Powers Boothe	...	President Noah Daniels
Robert Carlyle	...	Carl Benton
Jon Voight	...	Jonas Hodges
Peter MacNicol	...	Tom Lennox
Gil Bellows	...	Frank Trammell
Hakeem Kae-Kazim	...	Colonel Iké Dubaku
Siyabulela Ramba	...	Willie
Isaach De Bankolé	...	President Ule Matobo (as Isaach De Bankole)
Kris Lemche	...	Chris Whitley
Eric Lively	...	Roger Taylor
James Joseph O'Neil	...	Halcott

Also Known As:

24: Day 7 Prequel (USA) (working title)
24: Exile (USA) (working title)
24: The Movie (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

USA:102 min (DVD extended cut) | UK:98 min (extended version) | USA:102 min (extended version) | Germany:84 min | UK:83 min (original version) | USA:87 min (DVD)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:15 (DVD rating) | USA:TV-14 | Germany:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-15 | Singapore:NC-16 | New Zealand:M | Brazil:14 | South Korea:18

Filming Locations:

Cape Town, South Africa

Company:

Imagine Television

Trivia:

The opening sequence marks the first time in the history of the series events did not transpire in real time.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: At 1:06:30, Jack Bauer leads the children into a forest. As he's yelling "take cover!", a cameraman and support crew are very visible for several seconds in the left part of the frame, and near the end of the shot the visible cameraman even turns to the other (point-of-view) camera.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards (2009) (TV)

A 102-Minute Rendering of Material Inherently Designed for Hours and Hours of Television Over Months

If Rodney Dangerfield were alive, hardened and seasoned as a government agent, he would be Jack Bauer. Jack don't get no respect. Without spoiling the sixth season for those who have yet to watch it, our world-class hero Jack, always the odd one out, is now in a fictional African country, helping his old friend, played by the wonderful Robert Carlyle, with missionary work, trying to heal his staggering emotional wounds with peace. He has been served a subpoena to appear before the U.S. Senate concerning torture charges, but declines to go. A U.S. State Department official hints that the Embassy will cut funding for the school if Carlyle goes on protecting Jack, so Jack decides to leave. If that's not enough, he winds up stuck in the middle of a bloody military coup.

Redemption is entertaining and well-acted, and it certainly primes us for the seventh season. Nonetheless I can see why it has been a very long process preparing the theatrical 24 film. Redemption maintains the real-time structural element, which the theatrical film reportedly will not have, but either way, 24 is a series that has transcended the conceivable scope of the feature motion picture. The character archs, gigantic sequence of unravelings and long-term investment in the characters is inherently designed for hours and hours of television. Redemption, on the other hand, is only an hour and forty minutes, which even still is twenty minutes longer than the version that was broadcast on TV not including commercials.

Also, I am unsure of whether or not the creators wanted to have the opportunity to do a lone Jack Bauer piece, but using this TV film as objectivity, one can easily tell that one of the vital elements in the show's scaffolding is its colorful, deeply observed and brilliantly histrionic characters.

However, I am looking forward to Cherry Jones being president and hopefully being rid of Powers Boothe's weak and uncompromising president. And I hope Jon Voight doesn't play essentially the same character as he did in Enemy of the State.