Alias: The Lost Episode (2002) Poster

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8/10
Very good spoof, somewhat risqué
TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews28 September 2007
My fiancée and I, both big fans of Alias, watched and enjoyed this short. It is a quite skillful send-up of the first season, hitting on pretty much all of the aspects of it. The plot is good enough, and, well, there actually is one. The writing in general is great... the dialog, the scenes, all of it. The humor is funny(viewers should note that there is a little sexual material, and one morbid bit... and a little toilet humor), the gags and jokes work well. Some of it is laugh-out-loud funny(and some of it is *really* random). They went for humor and coherence over run-time; coming in at about 15 minutes, this is neither too long nor too short - it doesn't overstay its welcome. The production values are high, as is the overall quality of this parody. The effects(in particular the visual ones) and sound are reasonably expertly done. The music was great, whether original or not, and it worked well. The actors are good and fairly well-chosen, both on resemblance and ability. One joke nails the original actor's (in)ability to cry. Vartan's mannerisms are fairly accurately recreated by W. Scott Russell. Others that do rather well include Barbara Fears and Efram Potelle, and Kyle Rankin does well in portraying the main character(and casting him, being a, well, guy, could be a statement on the physical appearance of Jennifer Garner). The fighting is nice, too, well-executed. I recommend this to any fan of Alias who can take a joke about it, and it can be watched by anyone who's seen at least the pilot(though watching more of the first season beforehand may make you appreciate it more). 8/10
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8/10
The greatest short film I've ever seen
sambaron18 December 2004
I've watched this short nearly 50 times, it's the greatest short I've ever been lucky enough to watch, and I watch a lot of shorts. It gets funnier and funnier every time. Those who are fans of Alias will love it, it's so spot on with the character likenesses etc, those who hate Alias will love it because of the way it picks on the plot devices etc, and those who have never seen Alias will still like it, because it's a solid comedy even without knowing the ins and outs of the show.

The special effects are really well done, the characters are well-acted, the plot is spot on, the locations, the jokes, the editing, cinematography, everything about this short is absolutely perfect.

The comedy is not just "laugh out loud" funny, but "struggling for air trying to breathe from laughing too hard" funny.

Do yourself a favor, look this up on google and watch it now!
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10/10
Very funny for Alias fans, non-fans will still enjoy it...
Slaveone-231 December 2003
This is a great parody of the Alias series. If you were like me, hooked on the show from the first episode, but disappointed in several key or not so key points of the show, then this parody is for you. If you get a chance to view the short "They Came to Attack Us" from the same duo you will enjoy it as well. Hope to see more from these guys. ;)
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1/10
The joke gets old quick
TrueFilm23 May 2004
What's the difference between Space Balls and Scary Movie 2, 3 and a lot of the first one. Well Space Balls is funny all the way through. It does somewhat of a story not just a showcase for jokes. And thus the jokes and the story(spoof) are given a chance at humor.

This spoof on Alias starts out funny then the stale joke gets quick fast. Yes, i do watch Alias. Think it's a good show. This spoof with hammered into your skull "jokes" and its "slapstick" humor was anything but. These directors definitely did a good job editing and getting locations but if that's the best you can say about something then is it really worth mentioning to others? Yes, to tell them to watch something better.

So do yourself a favor and watch something better.
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A bit like kicking a puppy but, while not big or clever, it is funny and those that like the show but recognise its weaknesses will appreciate it
bob the moo28 October 2007
Sydney Bristow is a college student who has an unusual job – she is a spy working for the CIA under secret conditions where not even her friends knows what she does. When she gets wasted at a party and boasts about her cool job, all her friends are killed by her employers and Sydney discovers that maybe she isn't working for the Government's intelligence community. Indeed she has actually been working for SD6, an agency that is actually a shadowy criminal organisation world-wide. Sydney joins the real CIA and works as a double agent to help CIA Agent Vaughn to bring down SD6.

As others have said, it helps to be maybe not an Alias "fan" but certainly you need to have seen a handful of episodes of the series to get the aspects of Alias that this spoof effortlessly goes at. With a plot that mimics the early seasons of Alias, this is a little bit like kicking a puppy and is why I think that being a die-hard "fan" might prevent you enjoying it because, while some spoofs are affectionate, this does rather ring of joyful mocking. And I have no problem with that because, while I enjoyed it sort of for several seasons, it deserves it for taking itself quite as seriously as it did. Having a man play Sydney is probably a bit harsh but it does work as a joke – although not one I suspect Jennifer Garner will appreciate.

The material is sharp and it shows the writers are very aware of the show and how it works – OK they have a massive, easy target but they still deserve praise for getting the bullseye. The slight downside of it is that some of the material is too obvious and lets laziness creep in, but I did appreciate the more imaginative touches, for instance what they did with Francie. As Sydney Rankin is funny but can't bring the easy pratfalls to life in the way I would have liked. Others, freed from carrying the short have simpler tasks and get short bursts of hitting their target and they do so as well as the material does.

Not brilliant then but for those able to laugh at the show it is certainly worth a look because it is bang on and, while not razor sharp, is consistently amusing by taking the p1ss out of a show that rarely seemed able to take itself anything less than 100% seriously.
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