Product Details

• Actors: Vic Perrin, Bob Johnson, Ben Wright, Robert Culp, Robert Duvall
• Format: Black & White, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• DVD Release Date: June 5, 2007
• Run Time: 736 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000OPOAKW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,581 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Outer Limits: Volume 1" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

From the moment Vic Perrin's omniscient "Control Voice" first proclaimed, "There is nothing wrong with your television set," on September 16, 1963, The Outer Limits was destined for greatness. The dazzling, long-beloved series was a daring experiment in "omnibus" TV, trading the speculative fantasies of The Twilight Zone for farther-out sci-fi concepts. Producers Leslie Stevens and Joseph Stefano had risen as gifted writers from (respectively) Broadway and Hollywood; Stevens rebounded from his previous canceled series, while Stefano had scripted Hitchcock's Psycho and was eager to expand his creative horizons. With an executive order for scary monsters and cold war thrills, their fruitful symbiosis was preceded by the superb Stevens-directed pilot "Please Stand By," named after the series' once-proposed title and changed to "The Galaxy Being" for its broadcast premiere.

Cliff Robertson launched an impressive succession of guest stars, and on meager, oft-exceeded budgets of $120,000 per episode, The Outer Limits became a showcase for shoestring ingenuity. The "blue ribbon crew" (as Stevens called it) included cinematographer Conrad Hall, whose Oscar®-winning skills were honed on the series' cramped TV-studio sets. Packed onto two double-sided DVDs, these 16 episodes (out of a total 49) comprise the series' dynamic first season of moody, frequently paranoid black-and-white adventures. Repeat performers Martin Landau, Robert Culp, and Sally Kellerman excel (respectively) in the fan-favorite episodes "The Man Who Was Never Born," and "The Architects of Fear" (and who can forget the insect-like menace of "The Zanti Misfits"?). There are a few clunkers, of course, but the series' quality (and parade of monsters) is remarkably consistent, and DVD compression does not compromise its technical achievement. These eerily seductive shows invite repeated viewing, supporting Stephen King's oft-quoted remark that The Outer Limits was "the best program of its type ever to run on network TV." --Jeff Shannon

Product Description

OUTER LIMITS ORIGINAL SERIES VOL 1 - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great series, lousy pricing for reissue and the EXACT same transfer with no extras, June 4, 2007

By 

WTDK "If at first the idea is not absurd, the... (My Little Blue Window, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Outer Limits: Volume 1 (DVD)

The first season of "The Outer Limits" was the best. Sure the second season had some classic episodes (among them "Solider" and "Demon with a Glass Hand" which inspired James Cameron to come up with "The Terminator". I'd give the shows here 5 stars but 0 stars to MGM for this reissue. Why? Because these are the exact same digital transfers as last time. They haven't been enhanced with any thing AND there are no extras. I'd average that out to 2 stars for this set.

Don't get me wrong--the first season was terrific for the most part. This set (like the first season set) features the moving "The Man Who Was Never Born" with Martin Landau as a scarred victim of a viral holocaust who is given the chance to go back in time and prevent the birth of the man who created his sterile world. Featuring a rich score by the late Domninic Frontiere (among his best), this was "The Outer Limits" as its best. Also we get "The Galaxy Being" with Cliff Roberson who unwittingly brings an alien creature he has been communicating with from a world made of anti-matter into ours causing destruction and death. David McCallum in "The Sixth Finger" about the results of an experiment to push humanity to evolve to the next level but how, in the process, we lose the essence of what makes us human.

"The Zanti Misfits" like much of Stefano's work provides a neat allegory about human nature. We also get "The Borderlands" and many other classic episodes mixed with claptrap like "Human Factor" but almost everything here is terrific even if we're only getting half a season at a higher price than before.

Why not include a commentary track from surviving actors or David J. Suchow the author on the definitive book on "The Outer Limits"? Because MGM is convinced that you'll buy this set and the second one coming out in August AND pay more in the process because they've split them up. Heck, the least they could have done was got rid of those dreadful dual sided discs. Nope. These are dual sided as well.

So what do you get? 16 episodes--half the first season of the series. In August you can get the second half of the first season. I'm at a loss here--why release the exact same thing as before only in a different package? The only reason is so that retailers (such as Best Buy) who return things after a limited shelf life will carry this again. If you're going to do this at least give us some extras (a featurette on the visual effects, vintage interviews with the late Joe Stefano or Leslie Stevens, commentary tracks with Suchow discussing the making of the episode.

The show deserves 5 stars but Sony/MGM deserves 0 stars for this reissue. Get this instead. The Outer Limits - The Original Series, Season 1

54 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars THE OUTER LIMITS on DVD: The Greatest 2007 Swindle!, May 8, 2007

By 

Thomas Rucki (Paris, France) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Outer Limits: Volume 1 (DVD)

This "redundant" DVD re-release is absurd and unfair and doesn't do justice to the show. It's a disgrace and a real swindle that a major and "wealthy" Studio release a vintage show in two volumes. With today's technology, you could, at least, obtain a complete restoration from the original 35 mm prints. The first DVD release was cheaply cleaned up and featured no extras and worst: no language options. I advise all "Outer Limits" diehard fans to read a full account of the lowdown first DVD edition by getting this publication serving as an evidence for the future: "Video Watchdog", n° 89 and n° 102, November 2002 and December 2003, articles by "Outer Limits" expert David J. Schow. I reject this vulgar 2007 DVD edition that deserves to be dumped into the "Pit" (Cf. "It Crawled out of the Woodwork")! I believe that the right action from the Studio would be to re-release the entire season in one single set including:

- 32 restored copies

- the two "restored" alternate pilots ("Please Stand By" and "The Unknown")

- restored trailers and promos

- audio commentaries by expert David J. Schow

- interviews with "Outer Limits" cast and crew

- isolated scores

- languages options (dubbings and subtitles: English, Spanish, French)

"When this passion called aspiration becomes lust, then aspiration degenerates, becomes vulgar ambition, by which sin the angels fell."

--End Narration from "The Bellero Shield".

46 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I can't believe what I'm seeing..., May 14, 2007

By 

John Gentile (Hoboken, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Outer Limits: Volume 1 (DVD)

MGM splits the first season in half. You get 2 double sided discs, same format as the first release. No extras. I can only assume the episodes are NOT remastered. What is the point? True fans bought the first set. Casual fans will probably seek out their favorite episodes. What are the odds their favorites fall within the first 16 episodes?

This set makes no sense whatsoever. Without ANY additional attractions, I don't see why anyone would buy this.