The Twilight Zone - Season 1 (1985 - 1986)
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Movie Reviews of The Twilight Zone - Season 1 (1985 - 1986)
Movie Review: Great series, image quality has deteroriated over time
Summary: 5 Stars
I was really excited to hear that the 1980's version of "The Twilight Zone" was coming to DVD. So much so that I didn't read any reviews on it but just ordered it. I remember watching the show living in Los Angeles and reading scripts for Dino DeLaurentiis. It was one of the few shows I looked forward to as a break from digging through the slush pile of movie scripts. With Harlan Ellison (a winner of numerous awards for his fantasy and criticism), Alan Brennert, Rockne O'Bannon ("Farscape"), Phil DeGuere ("Simon and Simon"), James Crocker and other outstanding writers and directors on board, how it could not be a great show?
When I watched the first disc I thought the picture quality was acceptable but not as stellar as it could have been. As I jumped around to some of my favorite episodes I was very disappointed to see image quality that suggested it was duped from the original CBS 1 inch VHS cassettes used to broadcast the show. It turns out that the series was the first exclusively edited with effects added on video (much like "Star Trek: The Next Generation"). The masters have begun to deteriorate over time so there's been some natural loss of picture quality over time. It seems Image did the best with what they had to work with (which would also explain why, for example, the soundtrack is sometimes in stereo and sometimes in mono. Evidently not all of them were presented that way although I seem to recall them all being presented in stereo).
The extras are glorious. We get numerous audio commentaries from writers Alan Brennart, Harlan Ellison, Executive Producer/director/writer Phil DeGuere, Wes Craven and many others that give insight into the production process for the new series. Ellison is both blunt with his criticism and generous with his praise for the episodes he discusses (including "Shatterday" which Brennart actually adapted for the show). Ellison gives a great blow-by-blow account of the difficult filming of "Paladin of the Lost Hour". The director did such a poor job of shooting the episode (which explains the "Alan Smithee" credit) that Ellison, Phil DeGuere and Story Editor/writer Rockne O'Bannon all took a crack at reediting it to make it "work". All the commentaries are informative but Ellison's bluntness is, as usual,refreshing.
The 15 minute interview with Wes Craven is also quite enlightening in terms of the expectations of CBS (they weren't met which is why the network cancelled the show after the second season and then farmed it out to a Canadian production company to complete the presold syndication package). The good news is that it appears that most of these episodes are uncut and as originally presented. There's also a picture gallery included.
The packaging is very good with the DVDs bound in a "book" style similar to "Babylon 5" and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine". There's a booklet that gives a brief plot description of each episode, the writer & director and key cast members. The booklet also mentions which ones have audio commentary. Overall, an outstanding season hampered by the poor condition of the masters, this edition of "The Twilight Zone" captured much of the spirit of Serling's original show with outstanding scripts by James Crocker, Harlan Ellison, Alan Brennert, Rockne O'Bannon and others. With sharp direction by Wes Craven, Martha Cooldige, Tommy Lee Wallace, B.L. Norton and William Friedkin, the "Zone" should have taken off. Unfortunately, the Friday time slot and decreased interest from CBS over time doomed the show.
A suggestion to Image is that on future editions to mention that these are taken from the original source tapes and that the picture has deteriorated over time. That would avoid any unrealistic expectations and allow fans of the series to pick up the show for their collection. Regardless, I'm delighted that the show is finally available as this was my favorite era of "The Twilight Zone".
Movie Review: Great Episodes, Bad Viewing Quality!!!
Summary: 3 Stars
The 1st thing I noticed when I started watching these episodes was how grainy and unsharp they look....This was very disappointing to me as part of the "DVD experience" is a digital quality....They charge $50.00 for this set, for a show that has been paid for since 1985, seems like they could have taken the time and expense to clean these up..Makes you feel a little cheated in that end of it...Makes me reconsider buying the rest of the seasons when they come out...At least for $50.00.....Its more of a $20-$30 set with this kind of image quality....
So beware when bying this set...Great episodes, but no DVD quality here!!!!
Movie Review: You've just entered--The Twilight Zone---
Summary: 5 Stars
I snapped this set up as soon as it came out,and let me tell you folks,it was well worth it.There are commentaries from the T-Zones Producer Phil Deguere,Writer and Alan Brennert,Director Brad May and Best Of all Harlan Ellison(Creative Consultant/Writer,Mensch)whose commentary and insights are almost worth the price by themselves.It's especially great to see the episodes that weren't included in syndication(Still Life,The Library,Devil's Alphabet and A Day In Beaumont).This ia a great collection and I can't wait for Season Two!Movie Review: Charity's Pilgrim Soul
Summary: 5 Stars
This set is worth double the money just for the episodes "Message from Charity" and "Her Pilgrim Soul". I have been waiting to see these unadulterated for years. Aways remember running home Friday nights to watch the series. It is a joy to remember and discover again all the other episodes.Movie Review: The Zone To Own!
Summary: 5 Stars
O Yey-ahh!,
After many long years of anticipation(almost shelled out the fortune for the Japanese laser discs-but the patience payed off) Season 1 DVD released today...currently up to disc 4 in my zone-a-thon and all the memories are strobing strong-a nice way to end the year!Many,many wicked episodes-ideal for 3AM nocturnals.Paid $50 and change,not bad for 59 stories divided into 24 episodes on 6 discs