The Twilight Zone - Season 1 (1985 - 1986)
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Movie Reviews of The Twilight Zone - Season 1 (1985 - 1986)
Movie Review: Zone Out In A Big Way!
Summary: 4 Stars
Let's look at this package in its entirety.
You get the full first season of "The Twilight Zone," 1985 vintage, on six discs. You have to know that three shows of this type debuted in the same season: NBC's "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "Amazing Stories" from Steven Speilberg, and this one. Note: you aren't seeing DVD collections of those other two.
The quality of the film to DVD transfer might suffer a bit on a plasma screen or HD quality viewer, but there is no issue with the look of the episodes presented here. They are fine and you shouldn't think otherwise.
The episodes are great to see years later, with such people as Lost's Terry O'Quinn, Without A Trace's Anthony La Paglia or Alias's Victor Garber doing roles in the anthology series very early in their careers, in addition to such heavyweights as Danny Kaye, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren and a bunch more adding their star power to it.
The stories themselves are very watchable and are, for the most part, worthy of Rod Serling's vision. There are some incredible gems in the collection but there are admittedly a few clunkers in the mix as well. But you could say the same about the original series! The lesser stories here shouldn't prevent you from getting this set, because the good far outweigh the bad.
The navigation around the discs could be better. If you are just watching the eps in order, you won't notice anything. But if you want to move around, you're in trouble. You can't skip the opening title sequence of the episodes; you have to fast forward past it. And you can't skip to the various segments within any story in an episode (assuming the story takes more than one segment). That is unfortunate.
The extras should also be mentioned here. I have a problem with commentary tracks generally, in that the people involved frequently are seeing the scenes for the first time since they were made, and because of that, the comments are frequently unfocused or rambling. Unfortunately, that's something of the case here. Granted, you get Writer/Director Wes Craven, Exec Producer Phil DeGuere and a host of the creatives involved in the production of the programs. And you get commentary tracks on a surpising number of the eps.
They do provide you with some info on those audio tracks, but frequently it's more like old home week, and sometimes their talks come off like "shoot the bull" reunions rather than a real examination of the process or analysis of the stories.
The commentary tracks are better than nothing, but ideally, they should be separate discussions after the principals have viewed the eps. I found that tracks where it is just one commentator speaking were better because there was more focus there.
To their credit, they do give us 14 minutes of Wes Craven on camera in an office setting to talk about many aspects of the show, so that's a touch of what fans would really like and appreciate.
Overall, the project is fascinating though and is very worth adding to your collection, whether you remember it from its original broadcasts, caught it in syndicated reruns or if you've never seen it before.
Recommended.
Movie Review: Just as good as I remembered it
Summary: 4 Stars
When I was a kid I used to love short story series. Back in the 80s I could not get enough of Taled from the Darkside, Monsters, Alfred Hitchcock presents and, of course, Twilight Zone. This was one of my favorite shows back then and many of the stories caused such a big impression on me that I kept many moments in my head throughout the years, even if I didn't really know what the titles were or who the actors were. I remembered the secret that made people in sane (many years before knowing who William Petersen was); I remember the little boy who got killed by his creepy Gramma (no surprise to realise a few years later it was a Stephen King story); unforgettable were the man who was sentenced to invisibility, the emisary from outer space who gave the UN representatives one last chance to prove the Earth was worthy, the shocking ending of the tale about the woman who pushes the button, the couple trapped in a minute that was not ready, the flashlight falling down the elevator shaft, etc, etc, etc
When last year I found episode guides for the 80s version of the Twilight Zone I took quite a stroll down memory lane. I waited for the DVD release for months and counted each day waiting for it to be on sale. Interestingly, before that, I bought a couple of tapes, selections of Tales From the Darkside, and I must say I was a bit dissapointed. A lot of the acting, specially kids was awful; the effects were really bad and simply it wasn't as good as I remembered. I just hoped TZ was not going to be like this.
And it wasn't.
This boxed set brought back all those classical moments I mentioned before, refreshed some that were lost and introduced me to many I didn't know at all. The episodes are a great example of short story telling. The acting is really good. One of the things I like about this series is that if the story had to be short, it was. If it took 10 minutes then ten minutes it was. Or 20 or 40. There was no need to make the obligatory 22 minute episode (which would change in season 3). This series was a classic for my generation (I was born in 1975) and having it back deserves a 5 star review.
I take 1 star off though and we all know it's because of the quality issue. The first story I decided to watch when I got the boxed set was The Elevator and I remember thinking "mmm, this is not DVD quality at all" (which doesn't mean at all that I didn't enjoy the episode). It is not DVD quality. The image quality does have that feel of VHS tape, although in its defense I have to say it is not "awful looking" I didn't notice any impossible to watch scenes and even though the audio is not everything it could be, it was pretty understandable (maybe in my case the hardest to understand was The Devil's Alphabet). One thing about the audio I did NOT like at all was the commentaries, and those are just badly mixed. Usually when u get audio commentaries the other tracks are faded. That's not the case here, at least in a few I heard. The audio comentary for "A Little Peace and Quiet" I found particularly bad. There's a scene where Melinda Dillon is in the kitchen with all her kids yelling, and the audio commentary just becomes another voice in the crowd.
I did like the box set in itself (meaning, the design). I read a review that said the box had no episode guides but it's not true (or maybe his package did not have it). The episode guide is stored in the front flap. Full color, with short synopses of every episode. Personally I loved the design of the set.
Concerning the menu design, I must admit this is the first series I buy in DVD so I dont know what the standard is. I DID find very clear what the contents of each episode were (I read a review that said this was confusing). I have to agree that if you want to look at the credits for a particular story you do have to go to the last story in the episode and fast forward to find out. Each episode DOES include the option to watch all episodes as a 1hr show.
SPOILER ALERT ** This happened to me so I just mention it. If you've never seen the episode "The Little People of Kellany Woods" follow this advice, DO NOT take a peek into the special features for that episode until you do watch it. Trust me. The picture they used for the special features screen gives the ending away.
All in all I loved this set, still can't wait for the next couple of seasons. However if you are very serious about image quality and think you'll get upset if the image quality is bad, be forewarned. However, if you are like me and want to relive some classic 80s TZ episodes, or just want to enjoy some good short fiction TV, get this box set.
Movie Review: Any way you slice it, crap is crap
Summary: 1 Stars
It's a shame the studios filmed this show on the cheapest film they could find. The reviewer masquerading as Alan Brenner (TZ writer/producer) said that "the 1985-87 Twilight Zone was shot on film, but edited on video. In other words, the raw footage was 35mm film, which was then transferred to videotape. Editing, dubbing, special effects--everything was done on video. (We were in fact the first drama series on television to do this.)"
Well Mr. Brennert that's all well and good but as the title of MY far more apt review says, who cares, crap is crap. That film-to-video excuse you're feeding us like candy sounds great and all, but if you ask me the truth of the matter is that all that really happened back then was that a bunch of cheap people wanted to save a few bucks on high quality film/video sources which were clearly available at the time. I mean Star Wars pre-dates this series by many years and it's loaded with special effects. So there's no real excuse for this rubbish outside of being produced by a bunch of money-grubbing cheapskates.
Movie Review: GREAT Follow-up to the Classic "Zone"!
Summary: 4 Stars
First--thanks to Alan Brennert for clarifying the technical limitations involved with bringing the series to DVD.
I found the sound & picture quality frustrating, as did some other reviewers. Hence, the 4 stars from me. But the show itself definitely merits top credentials as a 5-star collection.
Mr. Brennert sets the record straight, as we must remember it's been an incomprehensible 20 YEARS AGO when the series was filmed...that's pretty hard to swallow, considering I remember the first Friday night I saw my first episode. That night featured "Shatterday" with another piece, wrapped up with "Nightcrawlers". I was (and still am) astonished!
The stories throughout the set are compelling, the scripts are solid (mostly), the messages carry weight and they will impact your thoughts. Most of these espisodes are very provocative.
We have become spoiled with the clarity of today's films on DVD blowing us out of our living rooms with thunderous digital sound. So, we have to "gear-down" somewhat for an older presentation--but that's all right!
Enjoy the series at night with the lights out and see if you're not "Zoned-out" over this great compilation. And thank you, Alan Brennert for helping to craft such a stirring, intriquing, suspenseful continuation of Mr. Serling's masterpiece.
John McCommon
Movie Review: Still Great To Watch
Summary: 5 Stars
Unlike what others have said, I didn't have a real problem with the image quality of the DVDs. Yes, I'm a little spoiled by today's digital quality availability but I wouldn't let that stop me from viewing a truly good series and this DVD set fits that description. I watched these shows when I was in high school and it was so wonderful to experience them again, particularly my favorites "Her Pilgrim Soul" and "A Message From Charity". The added bonus of having the audio commentary for most of the episodes was especially fun. I learned not only of production "gossip" but also the stress of having to manage audience vs. network expectations. The viewing quality is still good; if you're a fan, don't deny yourself the enjoyment of this series!