Product Description

In this explosive hour-long dramatic adventure series, David James Elliot stars as Lieutenant Commander "Harm" Rabb, Jr., a brave, outstanding Navy Lawyer and officer in the Judge Advocate General (J.A.G.) Corps. His missions are to investigate and prosecute all crimes, accidents, acts of terrorism and espionage related to the Navy and Marine Corps. Playing the diverse roles of investigator, prosecutor and defense attorney, Harm and his partner Major Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie (Catherine Bell), use their intelligence and determination to uncover the mysteries behind cases involving murder, treason, espionage and other high crimes to bring world-class criminals to justice. JAG combines all the intensity of the battlefield and all the suspense of a criminal investigation into an action-packed hour!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3010 in DVD
• Brand: PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2007-08-21
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: NTSC, Color
• Original language: German, English
• Number of discs: 6
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 1070 minutes

Amazon.com
With the fourth season of JAG: Judge Advocate General, viewers get a real sense of who the characters are. Originally running in 1998-1999, the fourth year is consistently good in both storyline and acting, and rarely loses steam in any of the 24 episodes. The six-disc boxed set begins with Commander Harmon "Harm" Rabb (David James Elliott) and his comely colleague Lieutenant Colonel Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie Mac (Catherine Bell) searching for his father in Russia. The season ends with Harm possibly giving up his military legal career to return to his first love as a naval fighter pilot. But before the cliffhanger, Harm helps to clear Mac's name against charges that she killed her ex-husband, bumbling Bud (Patrick Labyroteaux) and his wife Harriet (Karri Turner) welcome their baby into the world, and Admiral Albert Chegwidden (John M. Jackson) deals with the kidnapping of his daughter. In many ways JAG evokes memories of older whodunit series that relied on charm and humor as much as drama (and gross-out medical examinations) to keep its audience captivated. Elliott and Bell provide pleasing eye candy along with enough flirty chemistry that viewers root for the couple to get together. And Labyorteaux has transitioned well from a child actor into a very funny thespian with superb comic timing. While the plots occasionally can be out there, the series serves up feel-good stories without excessive patriotism or preaching. There's not much in the way of special features, other than a so-so gag reel. But fans of the series won't be disappointed by this set, which tackles political issues as well as matters of the heart. --Jae-Ha Kim

Customer Reviews

Fleshing out the characters in JAG
Season four provides more depth to the main characters in JAG. Harm and Mac survive the cliffhanger in which they were dangling in the last episode of season three, and the search for Harm's father comes to a conclusion. The chemistry between Harm and Mac continues to grow, but neither Harm nor Mac are anywhere near making a committment. Harm is still "playing the field," and emotional wounds from Mac's past require more than bandaids to heal. We see more of AJ's life before and beyond being the Navy's Judge Advocate General, and Bud becomes a "real" lawyer and shows that he is more than just the comic relief for the series.

The action episodes contine to thrill, but at times with resolutions that stretch plausability. "The Embassy" is probably the best with a plot twist that explores the limits of military solutions to the world's problems and lifts the series above military recruiting propaganda. "Nobody's Child" and "Goodbyes" present an emoltional side of Harm we knew he had but only saw glimpses of before. Most of the courtroom episodes are much more realistic than shows like the legal farce, "Matlock,"(my 35 years practicing law more than qualify me to say this) but "People v. Mac" strains legal credibility. However, the episode does give us a glimpe into Mac's Freudian past, and presents a disturbing insight into Brumby, a newcomer to JAG.

Although all of the episodes can "stand alone," CIA Agent Clayton Webb, Congressperson Bobbi Latham, Vietnam vet Roscoe Martin, SEAL Lt. Vernon Rivers, Lt. Cmdr. Theresa Coulter, Francesca Paretti (AJ's daughter) and Special Agent Clark Palmer (Boo!), all reappear from past seasons in their good/good, bad/good or bad/bad rolls. However viewing these episodes without at least a fleeting knowledge of what went before does not allow one to experience the growth of the characters in their rolls that makes the series all that more entertaining and enjoyable.

Good episodes... Not-so-good product
I now have all seasons (1-4) of JAG released so far. It hurts me to give this DVD set anything below 5 stars because I'm as big a JAG fan as JAG fans come... but having seen 200+ episodes on TV before the DVD sets were released at all, I wanted to see more than just the episodes. It's great that I have the episodes but it would've been nice to get more than just 4 minutes of bonus features... Even some epidsode commentary would have been nice. That's really disappointing. Seasons 1 and 2 had a few good features. I hope future released seasons offer more.

JAG The Show Stands the test of time
The subject matter of this series becomes more relevant with the passage of time. With the divisiveness in our country over military matters becoming ever more profound with each passing day, I believe it is imperative to take a time out and look back at JAG and see what the military is all about. These are honorable decent men and women that serve our country. Even with the sometimes contrived storylines, JAG the 4th season still puts the lives of our service people in perspective, and brings the reality of military service to those who watch it. I look forward to future release of the subsequent seasons of JAG to DVD. It is an important series that may be more important now than it ever was when the episodes first aired. We, as Americans can differ in our views, but there is one factor that should bring solidarity among us: We must support our military because they put themselves in harm's way all over the world to protect the right to dissent here at home.