Noutions Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Adeel Hail Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

irishm Interesting that so many people are comparing this unfavorably to "Lost". I actually hated "Lost"… well, past the third or fourth episode, anyway, when it started collapsing under its own weight and stopped making any kind of sense at all. "Alcatraz", I liked… I already knew it had been canceled and wouldn't have an ending when I started streaming episodes, like with "Carnivale", but it was good enough that I knew I really wanted to see as much of it as was ever going to exist. Generally the supernatural and/or JJ Abrams isn't my cup of tea, but I thought this show was extremely well done. The cast is top-notch and the premise really grips the viewer. I'm sorry they never got a chance to wrap it up.

kosmasp But the show does depend too much on it. And the mystery surrounding Alcatraz (and the fantasy element they created around that infamous prison) is really something worth while. But it cannot hold its own, if you don't have interesting characters. And that begins with the main actors. While Sam Neils character has a bit of a mystique (there could be more, but still) and Jorge Garcias is the nerd/bookworm with a good sense of humor (although that only helps to a certain degree), our main actress does struggle.And it's not really her fault, which you can guess, because of the underwritten character she has to portray. But if you needed confirmation, watch the Outtakes and you can see that there is charisma to her persona, something that cannot be said about her character at all. It seems to tick all the right boxes (mystery, comedy and others), but there is no depth to it all.Having said that, the show is still enjoyable to a degree, had built itself that it could run a couple of seasons, but was axed after one. There are shows, I'm actually really sorry they got canceled, this one I might have continued watching, but only because it's not that bad

JOHN ALFORD I watched all 13 episodes--my findings :On the whole it had potential--it has been compared to lost--Lost for me was a looser , like being stuck on a merry_go_round--no way out no real theme other than ciaos--crisis . It lost me it needed to slow down--do more in-depth focus on character interaction before launching in to a new direction. Here we have characters not fully actuated--chemistry between characters was none existent--the tension was so-so with antagonist --Sam Neil's character . It was only 13 episodes--I saw a Cheers situation--the writing gets better--characters have a chance to develop chemistry and more depth . The technical parts of the show were excellent and married to the right time slot--right night and the right warm up show before . Fringe is great--the science--chemistry--characters and it just seemed like Alcatraz has a lot of potential but not given a real chance . I invite both FOX , J.J. Abrams to contact me--this show can be saved with few changes . Alcatraz itself is a legend around the world for 150 years--this should be explored.

jetset_2002 Yes, i give it one star. A broken car with a really expensive paint job is still just a broken car.I don't think i have ever been as disappointed by a show before. Its been widely marketed as "the new lost", however this show doesn't even come close to the atmosphere and gripping mystery of the first couple of Lost seasons before it, IMO, spun out of control.As a sci-fi nerd, one of the coolest things about "people from he past wake up in the future" themes is how they react to and interact with the new and undoubtedly strange world they find themselves in. We see nothing of this in here. One of the criminals, having spent roughly 2 hours in the present time, told some guy to "put his phone away" referring to his cell phone. I think that says it all. Whats next, they go on twitter in an internet café and brag about their crimes? The female cop lead looks like shes 18 years old and is completely un-likable. The fat guy from lost adds some comic relief, however although he is supposed to be some genius doctor of criminology, in the show he just scripted as the fat guy from lost.I think my major gripe with the show is the lack of present-meets-past. The criminals act like they have been traveling 5 years in time, not 45.I stopped caring after 5 episodes.