The Outer Limits (Original Series) - Volumes 1 - 3
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DVD Cover Information
DVD: Region Code 1Format: NTSC
DVD Release Date: 2007-10-30
Movie Reviews of The Outer Limits (Original Series) - Volumes 1 - 3
Movie Review: Black, White, and Gray
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm glad that all 48 episodes are still in their original black and white, retaining the film noir eeriness. Each episode deals with black and white philosophical and ethical issues, often resolving to shades of ambiguous gray. The Outer Limits is more sci-fi oriented than the better known Twilight Zone, though it would be interesting to discuss which show had the greater influence on future shows and movies. The Outer Limits led to Star Trek and to the movie Terminator, both of which exerted their own influences. There is even one episode with Eddie Albert, as a successful businessman, with his elegant wife in reluctant tow, wanting to give up the rat race and start a gentleman's farm. I wonder if this episode (Cry of Silence) was the inspiration for the comedy TV series Green Acres? Except there is nothing comedic about what goes wrong on this farm, and it is perhaps the most frightening episode of the series.
Most episodes feature some kind of "monster," creature, or alien, but they are not always evil and often enough it is humans that are evil, out of fear, ignorance, or the desire for power. Some of the earlier episodes have an annoyingly moralistic and preachy tone, and a lot of what I call "filler" - boring repetition, unnecessary dialogue, and pointless action, perhaps because The Outer Limits was an hour long and not thirty minutes like Twilight Zone. Thankfully these flaws get worked out before too long. Then, towards the end of the series, the stories and scripts are not as good again. The best episodes are sandwiched between the first and last group of episodes.
The best episodes are good, but in honesty I have to say that less than half of them are good. The worst episodes are so bad as to be nearly comical. Nonetheless, fans of this series will not be disappointed if they purchase this set, as it is reasonably priced. In one particularly bad episode the employees at a research institute are subjected to a frightening experience (a menacing cloud) in order to induce a heart attack and then given a pacemaker. In this way their loyalty to the institute is guaranteed, as any disobedience results in the short-circuiting of the pacemaker. Stronger, braver people take longer to die from fright. Sounds pretty bad, doesn't it? :-) But there are diamonds among the coals.
I'm not a fan of sci-fi, but I like this series for the same reason I like the original Twilight Zone series, because they are good stories. These episodes are not about fantastic action sequences, special effects, or blood and gore, just good old-fashioned story-telling that leaves you something to think about.
Regarding the problems with the DVD discs that some reviewers have mentioned, I have been lucky not to have any of them. I hope that those problems get worked out, and I noticed that Amazon will be offering a new complete set of DVDs in November of 2008. Perhaps they will be more reliable.
Out of 48 episodes I think the following 16 are noteworthy:
The Man Who Was Never Born - A horribly mutated man from Earth's bleak future travels back in time in an attempt to alter the past and save mankind from its hideous fate.
Corpus Earthling - A doctor with a steel plate in his head questions his own sanity when he begins hearing the conversations of a strange race of alien rock creatures intent on conquering the world.
Nightmare - A band of Earth soldiers is captured and ruthlessly tortured, both physically and psychologically, by their alien captors.
Controlled Experiment - Two Martians conduct an investigation at the scene of a murder to try to determine why humans kill one another.
ZZZZZ - A queen bee with sinister intentions is transformed into a human to seek out the perfect mate.
The Bellero Shield - An ambitious scientist, with hopes of taking over his father's corporation, creates a laser that inadvertenly brings a gentle alien to Earth.
Second Chance - Believing that they're going on a mere carnival ride, a crew of discontented dreamers unknowingly boards a space ship bound to save the future of the human race.
Moonstone - Lunar colonists find themselves in grave danger when they attempt to aid five fugitive alien scientists.
The Mutant - After being exposed to a radioactive ionic shower, a scientist on a distant planet develops telepathic abilities and is driven to madness.
Fun And Games - The fate of the entire Earth is at stake when a man and woman are transported to a satellite, where they must fight the members of an alien race for the amusement of their captors.
A Feasibility Study - The people of Earth surprise their alien captors when an entire neighborhood is transported to another planet as part of a plan to enslave the human race.
Behold, Eck! - The fate of the Earth is at stake when an optometrist discovers special lenses enabling him to see a frightening and otherwise-invisible two-dimensional creature.
Cry Of Silence - Otherworldly forces are at play as a couple of motorists find themselves roadblocked and trapped by animated tumbleweeds.
The Invisible Enemy - An encounter with extreme terror awaits a crew sent to Mars to investigate the disappearance of an earlier expedition.
The Inheritors - After being shot in the head, four soldiers gain a genius I.Q. and begin working fervently towards a mysterious scientific goal.
The Premonition - An out-of-control test flight traps a pilot and his wife in a slow-moving time warp, and they're not alone.
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