I've always loved David Mamet films because of his brisk realistic dialogue and his preoccupation with the male code and its clash with civilization. That theme is well served in
The Unit dvd, even better than films, because he has the long-range TV landscape to develop his characters, Delta Force anti-terrorist unit who, for hardly any pay, risk their lives in international missions while their wives, living in a nondescript military base, pinch pennies and deal with the daily dramas of having husbands who could die in the blink of an eye. Avoiding sentimentality, piety, and jingoism,
The Unit seasons 1-4 has an appropriately cynical look at power and the use of trickery to succeed against one's enemies and even one's bureacratic bosses. In this sense,
The Unit on dvd resembles the show 24 but unlike 24, which is often over the top,
The Unit seasons employs psychological realism. Perhaps better than any TV show right now,
The Unit dvd boxset specializes in riveting plot lines, especially employing the reversal, where the plot goes one way and then turns the tables in a way that never seems forced or arbitrary. So far the second season has proved as the good as the first. If you haven't seen
The Unit boxset, the DVD first series season is a must. For months it wasn't clear if CBS would bring back
The Unit 1-4 after its third season. It's an atypical show in this era of reality tv and the more popular and esoteric fare like Lost and Heroes.
The Unit seasons 1-4 dvd boxset, after all, when you get right down to it, is a series about war produced in a time of war. And the lack of success films about Iraq and Afghanistan have had (Redacted? Stop-Loss?) on the big screen on some level points to the reluctance of the public to yet engage in depictions about this war. Of course, many of the movies haven't been that good to begin with...Nonetheless, here's
The Unit dvd,The writing also becomes more ADHD than Robin Williams live comedy shows, with
The Unit dvd moving its focus from vaguely plausible missions in places like Afghanistan to wannabe-007 undercover garbage. Seriously? What set
The Unit dvd apart from other shows before was its relatively accurate portrayal of an elite infantry team and their action (like in the first season episode, "200th Hour," where you see
The Unit on dvd killhouse). In moving away from this and moving more towards generic espionage adventures, the show's creators have lost what made
The Unit seasons special to begin with. The most important thing
The Unit dvd gives its viewer is the understanding that GETTING THE JOB DONE, isn't always pretty. Isn't always moral. Isn't always negotiable.
The Unit dvd also shows what it is to be military, what it is to be American, and what it is to do a thankless job.
09-17-2009, 05:21 AM
The Unit dvd
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