Day Break – The Complete Series (BCI Eclipse DVD)
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Extras: B Episodes: B-
Day Break was an ABC-TV network series that
premiered late in 2006 and at first showed great promise, but with ratings that
quickly crashed through the floor shortly after the series’ pilot episode; the
series was just as quickly canceled.
The
series is complicated and its downfall may have been trying to be too
unique. The series stars actor Taye
Diggs as Detective Brett Hopper who has just been recently framed for the
murder of State Attorney Albert Garza.
The twist, however, is that Hopper is stuck in some kind of time loop in
which he gets to relive that same day over and over again. Hopper quickly realizes he is in this ‘time
loop’ and chooses his actions and words accordingly, along the way searching
out the people who framed him, saving his loved ones, and gathering the crew of
witnesses that will set him free. Each
day Hopper wakes up to watch his clock turn from 6:17am to 6:18am, but even
though it is the same day as before he now has the advantage of all the
knowledge he previously gained with the disadvantage of any injuries sustained
in that time. If Hopper figures out or
makes a difference in the day that he is attempting to change, it will affect
the rest of his days and related events will be altered. The series had an interesting concept, but in
the end felt way too convoluted for a series that just did not manage to
captivate its audience.
This
reviewer likes Taye Diggs as an actor, but found this series draining. The viewer goes into the series expecting to
find a unique mix of 24, X-Files, and
Ground Hog Day but instead comes out
knowing that that mixture just leaves a bad taste in your mouth. With the exception of Taye Diggs this
reviewer did not care for any of the actors, feeling them to be quite bland
and/or stereotypical of what they thought the role ‘should be.’ The series created an idea that was meant to
standout as a mystery/action/thriller but failed in the sense that it did
nothing to make that timeslot its own. Day Break was seen by ABC as such a
dragging concept that it only aired 6 of the 13 filmed episodes; that has to
tell you something. By morning you would
have forgotten about this series.
The
technical features on this 4-Disc set are adequate and consistent with most
television box sets that are arriving on DVD today. The picture is presented as a 1.78 X 1
Anamorphic Widescreen that has a crisp picture, but does display a degree of
light/dark as well as contrast issues.
The sound is slightly more solid than the picture in its Dolby Digital
5.1 Surrounds, giving the actions sequences the ‘boom’ they need to be
effective. The extras are surprisingly
nice for a short run series such as this.
The extras include 15 audio commentaries on all 13 episodes, cast and
crew interviews, behind the scenes footage, and photo galleries. The amazing amount of extras that are
presented here on a series that only lasted 13 episodes leads to one of two
conclusions; either they thought the series was going to be a hit and filmed
early or they knew this series would not be seen on video for a long time
again, so do it now.
‘For
every decision there is a consequence’ and apparently Day Break is facing those consequences.
- Michael P. Dougherty II
