Alcatraz is one of the newer TV series to air. So far the reviews have been good, although many still consider the likes of Lost to be a lot more well made. The story of Alcatraz begins in the island based prison. Strange goings on have led to both prisoners and prison guards going missing. Of course, it is the job of the detectives to find out where they have gone, why and to get them back sooner rather than later. Based in 1963, the camera views might look slightly dated, but this is all in line with what Alcatraz is all about.
A lot of people have assumed that Alcatraz filming is actually much better than the story line and the actual acting that takes place. There is no doubt that the camera work throughout the series is exceptional and this certainly adds to the feeling of quality throughout. Alongside this, the costume designers have really managed to hit the nail on the head, producing the right costumes for the right parts. Of course, without good editing, this TV series certainly would not be where it was today and there are an array of good actors that manage to play out the story line perfectly.
The one thing that can be said about Alcatraz as a TV series is the actual focus can be misleading at times. Many people assume that the focus of that story line is tracking down the criminals and the detectives that do it. Based on the pilot episode, this is a good assumption, but in fact, this is not the standard cop show. After the first episode, things seem to change and the focus is suddenly shifting to how and why the prisoners escaped and why prison guards went missing as well, which makes the whole focus of Alcatraz extremely confusing to begin with. Of course, all slowly becomes clear as the episodes unfold.
What is shocking is the fact that the inmates of Alcatraz went missing, but then turned up around 40 years later. In fact, there was little focus on this, or the fact that the inmates that re-appeared had actually not aged at all. Overall, this makes for some confusing viewing and most viewers are likely to give Alcatraz 7 out of 10. This is not because it offers poor viewing, but most people would expect so much more in terms of quality.
