Customer Reviews

Quantum Leap - The Pilot Episode

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

There is no need to buy this dvd. The pilot, genesis, is included in the Season One DVD which just came out. They don't write smart tv shows like Quantum Leap anymore. If they did, you'd probably see something like this on HBO. Each episode is more like a movie than a tv show.

...Oh, Boy. Quantum Leap on DVD.
August 22, 2002

The floodgates are open. Releasing television series on home video was completely unpractical six years ago, but the convenience of DVD has showed studios that fans will buy up television programming on DVD. As many television shows have been announced over the last month or so, it appears that a great deal more are coming. Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Warner Brothers Home Video and Paramount Home Entertainment have all recently announced commitment to television on DVD. One of the first new series coming from this announcement is the science fiction drama Quantum Leap due in 2003.

Before Scott Bacula traveled through space as the captain of the Enterprise, he traveled through time as Sam Beckett, a scientist who discovered the ability to leap through time, from person to person, within his own lifetime. Along with his friend Al, who appeared to Sam as a hologram from the future, Sam used the ability not for personal gain, but to help fix other's lives which had gone astray. Although the pilot of this series is out there on a discontinued DVD, it looks like the rest of the series will follow. Although no information is available on prices, specs, or features. Information on the show and likely many other popular series will be coming down the pipeline soon.

I loved Quantum Leap when it was on terrestrial TV and unfortunately I do not have satellite to watch re-runs on UK Gold. We've got Buffy box sets, Angel box sets, Friends box sets, even Red Dwarf box sets and all of them pale in comparison to the excellent writing and production of Quantum Leap.
It was a well thought out, interesting and funny programme which could also be moving and thought provoking. Please please please, can we have the different seasons released as box sets on DVD as I'm sure there are many like me who agree!

Quantum Leap is a real jem. With an intriguing story that pulled the audience in week after week, it was considered one of the most innovative show of its time, and it still is.

The pilot presents the genesis of the show, having Sam, the main character, forgetting (almost) completely who he is, where and when he's from and how he got in into the 1950's. The only thing he does know is that he does not belong where he is. During the show, Sam gradually learns more about himself and the project he was working on.

Quote from Sam, as he realize his predicament: "Okay, it's not a dream. It's a nightmare. And if it's a nightmare, then sooner or later, there's going to be a Boogeyman!" Then enter the Boogeyman, or Albert ("Al"), the observer from his own time...

What is remarkable about this television series is that the emphasis is on the personal and social interactions between Sam, Al, and the people around them, not on the science-fiction element of the show. No techno-babble. Not many special effects. Also, the chemistry between Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell is something to be seen.

Sam is presented as quite vulnerable, not the typical lone hero with an attitude. Sam is acted as an ordinary man (relatively speaking, as Sam has six doctorates) stuck in an extraordinary situation. Al is the sidekick, and comic relief of the show.

The pilot actually presents two "leaps": one into a test pilot, the other, shorter, into a baseball player. I do not want to spoil too much the ending, but this episode does end with the typical cliffhanger, leaping into another person, in another time, and into an awkward situation...

The DVD itself is plain vanilla. The only enhancement is a menu driven scene selection. No trailer or language options. No special features.

But aside from that, Quantum Leap is truly a classic in any media.

This is a great episode, but I wouldn't buy any of these until they start releasing entire seasons.

This is an excellent transfer of the pilot episode of the brilliant TV series Quantum Leap. Now if only there was a way to get past all the copyright problems and release the entire series on DVD.

The pilot introduces us to Sam Beckett, a scientist who steps in the Quantum Leap Accelerator in 1995 and awakens in 1956. Unfortunately something has gone wrong, his memory is patchy - at first he can barely remember who he is. Finding himself in the body of a USAF test pilot about to make an attempt to break the Mach 3 barrier in an experimental plane, Sam must ensure the survival of the pilot in addition to trying to restore his memory and hopefully return to his own time. Helping him out is an holographic image of his colleague, Al, who can only give him minute snippets of advice in the hope of sorting things out in both 1956 and 1995.

I've been a fan of Quantum Leap since it was aired on TV. As a fan, I watched it on TV and when they finally decided to put it on laserdisc, I started buying them all. I was disappointed when they stopped creating them after only less than half a dozen laserdiscs. I felt somewhat angry, cheated, and short-changed. Now again, I will start buying the DVDs and hope that the powers-that-be will continue producing DVDs and COMPLETE the series. Wonderful thought-out shows. If you've ever wanted a sci-fi show with some feeling and thought put into it...you won't be disappointed with this......

According to Project Quantum Leap, they called Deborah Pratt and asked about the QL DVDs... aparently, Universal is already working in these DVDs, so, probably they would see the light of day in 2004 (maybe the first quarter).

I loved Quantum Leap when it was airing. I am so glad that it is on DVD now. I did't buy this DVD, But I did buy season 1, 2, & 3. This episode is on Season 1. Its just as good as I remembered. Now I just want to know when Season 4 & 5 come out.

Yes, the show itself is about time: time to see life as others see it. The DVD shows it's about time to get the entire series available to the public!

In an age where TV shows are chopped up in syndication, it appears that DVDs are the last bastions of creativity. On one of these you can see an ENTIRE episode, start to finish, as it originally aired and before it has been shredded to fit into the secondary media.

IT IS ABOUT TIME TO HAVE ALL THE EPISODES RELEASED TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC. The show itself was excellent (as attested to by all the critical and fan acclaim) and the interest in it is once again gaining strength. It would be wonderful if the DVDs would have more than a mere episode but lack of more should not be an excuse not to release them.

Time is marching on. Let's get these episodes OUT THERE!