Customer Reviews

The Outer Limits (Original Series) - Volumes 1 - 3

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

It was good to see the old (Original) Outer Limits episodes. Unfortunately, there is still significant improvement needed in the double sided DVDs. Volume TWO was NOT watchable for the episode "Behold,ECK!". I was able to work over the disk and get the other three episodes to play on that side of the disk. I wish the series was available on single sided disks. TOO bad!

Update here too. I found two of the sides in volume 3 were defective. Amazon makes it easy to return and get a replacement. I was a little uneasy thinking the replacement would be the same, but they have to wait for a new shipment, and J from NY said that MGM was aware of the problem. I am sorry to have to return the entire 3 volume set as 45 of the episodes seem fine, although who knows.

My Original review message here:

I had just started to watch this series from the beginning and was enjoying it when I read a review saying Vol 3 disc 2 still doesn't work. Well, I put mine disc into 2 different players and neither of them would play this disc. There are 6 double sided discs in this package Plus an extra disc in the Volume 3 Disc 2 box which has and extra disc that has only "The Probe" on side B, and The Inheritors pt 2 and Keeper of the Purple Twilight" on side A

It's quite confusing, but instead of getting 49 hour episodes, we get 47. I'm hoping MGM or whoever will make amends to thous of us who have defaulty discs, but I'm not holding my breath

The Outer Limits has always been my favorite TV show which I was glad to finally have on DVD. I would give this product 5 stars if all of the episodes made the transfer to digital well, but "The Man Who Was Never Born" "Nightmare" "Second Chance" "Moonstone" and "The Special One" have scenes which look snowy. Also some of the problems with the original MGM/UA set still exist in some discs. Hopefully in time, 20th Century Fox will address all these issues because this series deserves better.

Update 3_ 12/3/07 - I went through the replacement process through "My Account" and was notified via e-mail that the product would not be available for over a month and was offered a refund instead, which I opted for. The $34.99 (Original Price) credit process to my account was started the same day. I was surprised Amazon did that before return of the product.

NOTE: Also, I contacted Sony customer relations that distributed the DVDs in 2002 (previous to Fox in 2007) and was told that my new 2007 disc problem is exactly the same as the previous version they distributed in 2002 - How strange... Hope this helps, j.

UPDATE 2 _ 11/30/07 - All viewers - call FOX DVD - MGM direct at 1 888 223-2369 - Ask for the input of an incident report for resolution. The response to me took less than one day. I was told this is not a widespread problem. I was asked to mail them the defective disc and a new one would be sent to me within four to eight weeks. Also, I was advised the other option is to return to my point of purchase (Amazon) and was told they should have a restock of updated product - Looks like my option will be an exchange from Amazon for quicker action.

Based on past reviews of problem discs, I tried to watch I-Robot and The Inheritors (Pt.1) and the episodes are still defective. I-Robot is so bad it froze up my DVD player and I had to unplug the player to reboot, so I could remove the disc. I tried the discs in several players and cleaned the discs, but no luck.

The disc is gold on one side (looks Cloudy) and silver on the other. The DVD itself looks flawed with obvious surface marks - It almost looks like someone tried to clean it and I received a prior return.

I will check out some more of the episodes to determine how bad the collection is. This will be returned for a replacement. If not resolved with an Amazon replacement, MGM will send out a new disc.

I thought the problem was resolved from an initial glowing review on this page, but the defective disc problem persists.

How disappointing. j.

I can't believe how fantastic it is to be able to watch these again! This series is probably the best for it's day - I grew up on it and couldn't get enough! (Remember when they even sold cards - like baseball cards - with gum in them where the cards showed the creatures?!) The stories were wonderful and very advanced for it's time. Although now we're used to all kinds of special effects, you just can't beat watching the olden-day way of doing them (with little or no budget!).. and they were fun! Thanks for keeping this series still alive and viewable!

Based on some of the reviews for this and/or for the individual volumes I was half afraid to purchase this set, but I did anyway and I'm glad I did. The episodes that several people were having problems with were fine on the set I purchased. I've been enjoying these old Outer Limits episodes now for the last few weeks and have concluded that the price I paid for this set was well worth it.

While there are no extras on these disks, I am more than happy with what I got for my $$$. -kd5-

I'm going to hold off buying these until they're properly remastered. But if you must get them now, buying the individual series is cheaper at amazon's current sale price (3x14.99 each) than this "package".

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.

I read all the reviews before purchasing these disks and was a little apprehensive from all the bad reviews about the DVD quality. Well, I eventually decided to take a chance and am very glad that I did. I found the quality of the episodes to be EXCELLENT. These are all B/W video. I do not see why people complain about the lack of remastering, as there would be little improvement in the quality. I bought these to view the original episodes and this is exactly what is provided. And I really could care less about "Special Features".

I was able to view all episodes with no problem. The double sided DVDs are a real pain and have to be handled very carefully. I agree with others that say these should be on single sided DVDs, but it doesn't appear that this is going to happen as even the new "Complete Box Set" that is coming out later in the year have exactly the same 7 double sided disks. So, to combat this problem, I have made backups of all the disks and only view the backup set (I have found this to be completely unnecessary for single sided disks). Even at a 55% compression ratio, the quality of these episodes are excellent on all three of my DVD players.

I would whole heartedly recommend these DVDs to anyone with the caveat that the double sided DVDs require extra care and probably will not survive children's handling.

Bought this and watched all of the episodes - in order of course. When I got to the last disc in volume three, I had the same episodes that were on another disc. Duplicate discs! I contacted MGM and they had me send them the discs with a photocopy of my receipt. About a month later I got a new volume three in the mail. These discs were perfect. Loved the series when I was a kids and I found out I still love it. Recommend being careful when you buy this, but it's well worth the money.