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| The Unit - The Complete First Season | 
 enlarge | Director: David Mamet
Actors: Dennis Haysbert, Audrey Marie Anderson, Regina Taylor, Max Martini, Robert Patrick
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Category: DVD
List Price: $49.98
Buy New: $21.44
You Save: $28.54 (57%)
New (46) Used (30) from $19.98
Avg. Customer Rating:  83 reviews
Sales Rank: 611
Format: Box Set, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Full Screen, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 4
Running Time: 564
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.5 x 0.8
MPN: FOXD2237060D
UPC: 024543370598
EAN: 0024543370598
ASIN: B000GB75CO
Theatrical Release Date: 2006
Release Date: September 19, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Ships same or next day WITH DELIVERY CONFIRMATION AND TRACKING.
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Product Description
The unit is a covert special forces team operating outside the usual military chain of command. Whether stateside or abroad these heroes are on the frontlines protecting u.S. Citizens & foreigners alike slipping in under the radar & risking their lives to save the day. Studio: Tcfhe Release Date: 11/11/2008 Starring: Dennis Haysbert Scott Foley Run time: 572 minutes
Amazon.com
Full of action, intrigue, and espionage, The Unit offers a dramatic, fictionalized look inside the military while also giving viewers a peek inside the private lives of the elite squad. Conceived by the critically acclaimed David Mamet (Glengarry Glen Ross, House of Games), The Unit is an elite, covert Special Forces team that operates outside the military chain of command. The first season's 13 episodes offer insight into the characters without revealing too much about the men who make up the operation. Are they extremely patriotic, or are they adrenalin junkies who have to be in danger to feel validated? The answer probably falls somewhere in between, and the viewer gets the feeling that as much as the men love their wives and children, it's their jobs that give them their true reason for living. Led by veteran Jonas Blane (Dennis Haysbert, 24), the Unit deals with terrorism, rescue missions, and assassinations quickly, discreetly, and efficiently. If all goes well, someone else gets the credit. If things go awry, it's their necks on the line. In the first season of The Unit--which aired from March to May 2006 as a mid-season replacement--the action is fast, the plot is succinct, and the acting is well done (when dealing with the deadly missions). It's the secondary storyline involving the wives that's less successful. The newest member of the Unit, Bob Brown (Scott Foley, Felicity), apparently didn't fill his wife Kim (Audrey Marie Anderson) in on what their new life would be like. From the beginning, she resists the hoo rah attitude that the other wives exhibit. But rather than coming across as an independent free thinker, she is presented as a whining drip of a woman who has no clue about the definition of a secret. Of course, when faced with the military's version of The Stepford Wives, who could blame her? As Jonas' supportive wife Molly, Regina Taylor (I'll Fly Away, Courage Under Fire) is less sympathetic than usual. In the early episodes, she comes across as an almost stalkerish busybody who is always there when Kim is trying to cope with a life she never wanted. Throw in an affair between commanding officer Colonel Tom Ryan (Robert Patrick, Terminator 2: Judgment Day) and one of the wives and you've got the makings of a military soap opera. The show is at its best when it concentrates on the men and their missions. We may not understand why they do what they do, but we're grateful that someone is doing the dangerous job for us. --Jae-Ha Kim
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| Customer Reviews: Read 78 more reviews...
 UNIT breaks the CBS MONOTONY July 25, 2006
99 out of 112 found this review helpful
Ah... finally CBS produced aired and had faith in a show that WASN'T FORMULAIC... mystery-solved, every week. Here's a court case and an immediate resolution. When does that ever happen?
The nation was starving for something outside the box and outside the typical routine T.V. shows that overwhelm our video box every night, and not to my surprise... THE UNIT actually locked in a solid rating. Was the state of the world we're in the reason for the people who tuned in? Was it the fact that Dennis Haysbert who was a lot of people's favorite character from the smash FOX hit, 24? Was it the no holds barred, no mercy, no sugar-coated story-telling method?
I think it's a combination of a lot of things. My favorite reason for tuning in was that it was REAL. It wasn't like all the other CBS shows that unrealistically solve a murder in 40 minutes or resolve a court hearing in 40 minutes.
The UNIT shows the not-so-pretty side of counter-terrorism secret units. A shadow company of elite soldiers who aren't even allowed to tell their wives what they do. But, unlike many CBS shows, you actually get to know the characters in the show. You get to see the HARD mission minded Jonas Blane (Haysbert) and the family man when he returns home. You get to see what the wives have to deal with while their men are away.
The most important thing the UNIT 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 also shows what it is to be military, what it is to be American, and what it is to do a thankless job.
This show is gritty, dark, dangerous, secretive and it comes to a dramatic and shocking finale that will leave you salivating for the 2nd season episodes to begin their run.
I'd give the DVD season set 5 stars, but the season was a mid-season replacement. Most likely a show that CBS didn't have any faith in until people starting actually watching.
Well, seeing as though it was a mid-season test show... it only had 13 episodes. So, in my opinion, this show is just getting started. The second season should have the full 24 episode run and then we'll really see what this incredible show is truly capable of.
 The Man Code is a Special Forces Drama Always Compelling September 29, 2006
28 out of 37 found this review helpful
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, 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 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 resembles the show 24 but unlike 24, which is often over the top, The Unit employs psychological realism. Perhaps better than any TV show right now, The Unit 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, the DVD first series season is a must.
 Noble To A Fault September 16, 2006
20 out of 39 found this review helpful
I was initially drawn to "The Unit" because of David Mamet's involvement. His writing can be a thing of poetic machismo, blunt yet refined. And his name on a film or TV project is always worth a look. I, also, thought the subject matter was interesting for a "serious" network program. And the cast, without question, is a talented bunch. I was particularly excited to see Regina Taylor back in a series (an Emmy Winner for the criminally overlooked "I'll Fly Away").
So having seen every episode of "The Unit", a big hit on TV, I'm afraid some of the individual pieces are a lot stronger than the end result for me.
The show is kind of split into two parts: generally, the men are off on missions and the women are holding down the homefront.
If the show was based solely on the missions, I'd have rated this a 3. While these scenes are certainly the better aspect of the program, they are a long way from original--Standard, generic assignments that you've seen in a hundred different other shows. But they are shot in a grittily realistic fashion, and that style can be appealing.
If the show, however, was based solely on the homefront, I'd have rated it a 1. Yes--a 1. While I do like the actresses, they are given pretty thankless roles. So much "speechifying". The most unfortunate character for me is Kim. She is supposed to be progressive--yet is pious, preachy and self-righteous. That would be OK--some people are like that--if there was any REALISM to the role. Whether she is demanding change on the base, reform in policy, or revitalizing a local radio station--she is nothing more than a character construct. FALSE, FALSE, FALSE.
Unfortunately, the show seems to be on a moral crusade. Nobility is great. But nobility at the expense of reality just isn't my thing. I'll take my drama a little more controversial, morally ambiguous and real. Check out "Over There" for a similarly structured show that actually takes chances. KGHarris, 9/06.
The BEST new show of last season. September 24, 2006
13 out of 18 found this review helpful
David Mamet, one of the premier dramatists in the world combining with Shawn Ryan, the creator of THE SHIELD, one of the most consistenly intelligent and uncompromising shows on TV to create an instantly addictive new program: THE UNIT. It has a terrific cast, with a great leading man in Dennis Haysbert, and makes for very compelling TV. The basics of this program are essentially an extension of one of Mamet's favorite recent subjects: The Black Ops soldiers. Their missions are secret, even to the people they love the most, and they are very important to the security of our nation. Even if the mission is "BOHICA". Mamet's love for this subject has been displayed in two of his recent efforts, SPARTAN, which he wrote and directed, and John Frankenheimer's RONIN, which he co-wrote under a psuedonym, which both focus on the lives and missions of professionals who will stop at nothing to get the job done. And as in everything Mamet, NOTHING IS AS IT SEEMS. Don't believe what you hear, see, or feel. On occasion, the show can be a little predictable, but those who are students of Mamet's dialogue will definitely be able to tell the episodes that he himself has written, which by and large, are the best of the episodes. Aside from that, this is a great show, showing the aspects of several different conflicts of all the lives involved, whether the men in the field or the wives and the children and friends left back home. Check it out.
A superb series! September 15, 2006
7 out of 10 found this review helpful
"The Unit" provides its fans with an excellent view into the workings of our special ops forces. The degree of realism portrayed during the various clandestine missions is completely engrossing. Additionally, we are given a glimpse into the life of each unit member's wife and how she must live while her husband is deployed. The show is so well acted that you can easily believe in the reality of each character.
My only disappointment with the storyline is the affair between the commanding officer and the wife of a senior mission specialist. The level of trust required to command such a highly trained group of men should, in my opinion, preclude this type of betrayal by its leader. However, this is a small matter when you weigh the overall strengths of this fine series. I hope "The Unit" is given the opportunity to develop its fan base and continue to grow as a series.
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