Customer Reviews

The Twilight Zone: Vol. 1

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The Twilight Zone was a truly great anthology series that perfected the ironic twist ending. You never knew if the episode was a joke or serious until that final zinger. Sometimes you could see them coming, but what the heck pobody's nerfect.

The three episodes (only THREE?) on this first volume are beloved by many, loathed by few (I disagree 100% with the one star reviewer) but do not fit well together. I guess they were put together as a representation of The Zone at its most diverse.

Night of the Meek: The only Christmas episode the series produced, but they got it close enough to right the first time so why tempt fate? The best thing about it is Art Carney's performance, which, if you only thought he could do Ed Norton, is a stunner.

The Invaders: Agnes Moorehead (who speaks no dialogue) is terrorized by teeny alien invaders that have landed their flying saucer on her roof. Jerry Goldsmith's excellent, and legendary, music help lift this episode (which is both playful and scary as hell) up to one of the series all time greats. So what if the Little Spacemen look like wind up toys?

Nothing in the Dark: Robert Redford plays an injured police officer that a woman hiding from Mr. Death reluctantly helps. This is far from my favorite Zone, but it does feature gruff character actor R.G. Armstrong in a small role as a man hired to tear the old lady's building down.

All three (only THREE???) episodes are good in their own unique way, but they do not play well together. I wished that more thought had been given to place episodes with similiar themes together, making for a stronger viewing experience. Nonetheless this stuff is required viewing for sci-fi buffs.

I love the Twilight Zone Series and have nearly every episode (about 150) on video tape. However, it seems silly that if you want to own the entire series on DVD you would need to buy 43 different volumes. Other TV series conveniently sell theirs by the season. The Sopranos sells about 15 hrs of footage per season in 1 box (with multiple DVDs). I find that method more convenient and it saves a ton of space on a book (or DVD) shelf.

Indelible episodes, NOTHING IN THE DARK and THE INVADERS have to be two of the most viewed stories from "The Twilight Zone." Gladys Cooper and Robert Redford give very credible performances in this story of `Mister Death' knocking at the door penned by George Clayton Johnson. THE INVADERS is a classic episode in the true sense of "The Twilight Zone." Richard Matheson wrote a memorable story and Agnes Moorehead gave one of the greatest visual acting jobs of all time. Alfred Hitchcock would probably call this episode an example of `pure cinema.' NIGHT OF THE MEEK is a great Christmas holiday episode. Art Carney plays a drunken department store Santa who comes across a magical Santa's sack that generates gifts for those that are needy. Filmed directly to videotape and written with great warmth by Rod Serling this is one of the best and loved episodes. This is a good cross-section of shows from this series.

What you might expect to find on Volume 1 of "The Twilight Zone" DVD series would be the pilot episode, but that proves not to be the case. What you will find are a trio of classic episodes where the performances by the actors are as memorable as the stories with their infamous "Twilight Zone" twists that characterized Rod Serling's celebrated television anthology series:

Episode 51, "The Invaders" (Written by Richard Matheson, First aired January 27,1 961) offers a tour de force performance by Agnes Moorhead, long after she appeared in "Citizen Kane" and "The Magnificent Ambersons" for Orson Welles, and shortly before she became Endora on "Bewitched." Moorhead plays a woman living alone in a farmhouse who finds that a miniature flying saucer has landed on her roof. The woman has to fight against the strange tiny invaders with their advanced technology. But then remember, this is "The Twilight Zone."

Episode 47, "Night of the Meek" (Written by Rod Serling, First aired December 23, 1960) is the only Christmas episode in the original run of "The Twilight Zone." Poor Henry Corwin (Art Carney), a department store Santa, shows up drunk on Christmas Eve and is fired. Wandering the streets, he discovers a magic bag that can dispense any gift he asks for. The question is, what will Henry do with this most unusual bag? If you are a fan of the "Zone" then you have probably heard the legend that Serling wrote the episode just to see Art Carney play Santa Claus. The excellent support casts features two of the best character actors of all time with John Fielder as Henry's short-tempered boss and Burt Mustin as a friendly bum on the streets, but this is Art Carney's triumph. The episode was one of six shot during the second season on videotape instead of film, but that is a minor complaint because it just makes "Night of the Meek" seem like a live television broadcast from the 1950s.

Episode 81, "Nothing in the Dark" (Written by George Clayton Johnson, First aired January 5, 1962) offers veteran character actress Gladys Cooper as Wanda Dunn, an old woman who has barricaded herself in her basement apartment for years, fearing that Mr. Death with kill her with a touch. Wanda knows that Death can take many disguises. But despite her fears, when Harold Beldon, a young policeman is shot outside her door, she drags him inside. Of course, the fact Beldon is played by Robert Redford might have something to do with her letting her guard down. A nice little grace note from the "Zone."

his DVD includes "Inside The Twilight Zone", with information on Rod Serling, a history of the series, reviews of each episode, cast information and a season-by-season commentary. Not a bad first disc, but there is much better to come (Volume 2 is the best in the series). However, you will not find a better trio of performances than you find here with Moorhead, Carney and Cooper. Plus that Redford fellow is not bad looking. Whatever happened to him?

As others have already commented on the features and technical aspects of this set (which were generally well regarded), I thought I would make a few comments more on the episodes themselves.

This series aired for a few years in the early 60s (although it started in 1959) and immediately passed into pop culture and TV legend. Many famous actors and actresses, or soon to be famous, appeared in the show. I especially remembered the episode with Robert Redford, who was probably in his mid to late 20s but who looked 18, playing Mr. Death who had come to get an old woman.

In addition to Serling, the main writers for the show were Charles Beaumont and Richard Matheson, who had already established reputations as fantasy writers, and who wrote many of the episodes. There was one other writer who did contribute some episodes, but unfortunately I can't recall the name.

I wasn't a fan of the original series as I was a little young at the time, having been born in the early 50s, but I saw some of the shows in reruns in the mid-60s. I was more of a fan of the Outer Limits, Lost in Space, and Star Trek, and only caught saw maybe a dozen episodes at the time. So at age 53, I decided to buy seasons 1-4 and finally watch most of the episodes. (I still need to find the last season, number 5).

I was pleased to see how well they have held up. It was the drab 50s and then turbulent 60s, and the Cold War, with its threat of possible nuclear annihilation, was in full swing. Perhaps that explains the pervasive film noir ambience and dark mood that often hangs like a pall over many of the episodes. Although the characters are drawn from all levels of society and from all walks of life--from two-bit criminals to the rich and famous--many are just various and sundry low-lifes, riff-raff, criminals, and grifters. And then there are the simply down and out--the bored or emotionally overwrought, old and unwanted, middle-aged and overstressed, desperate housewives, the dyspeptic, dispossessed, or depressed, and your average guy just down on his luck.

There were the few episodes that made an attempt at humor, but as the editorial review mentions, they don't seem to have held up as well as the other episodes. It was also interesting to see how often science fictional themes cropped up--although the science aspect isn't so important as the fact that a futuristic scenario allowed Serling to explore another dark topic--such as in the episode starring Jack Warden, who has been unjustly sentenced to a lonely existence on an uninhabited asteroid. He is going mad from isolation, his only contact with the outside world being the few minutes every 3 months when the supply ship comes to drop off supplies.

So overall, I'm finding it to still be a great series that has stood the test of time. This is truly a great slice of Americana, from a younger, simpler, less complex America that is now long gone.

A brief note here. The only reason for four instead of five stars is the many extra features The Definitive Edition contains. Some people may not care about those, which cost extra. These mainly include special commentary, interviews with writers and actors, photos from the first season, the separate music scores, Serling's rare blooper, his Netherlands sales pitch (the show was selected to appear in Holland), The Twilight Zone comic book in .pdf format, and his Emmy Award appearance (the Emmy's were hosted by Chuck Connors and Fred Astaire). If all you really want is mainly the episodes themselves, this edition will probably do quite well for you.

The Twilight Zone! If you're stepping into the Zone for thefirst time as a movie/television viewer used to flashy effects, massexplosions, and MTV-type editing, you need to understand a few thingsat the outset: When The Twilight Zone first aired, your televisionchoices were (all in black and white, mind you), Ozzie and Harriet,Leave it to Beaver, Gunsmoke, a couple of cop shows and a few varietyshows. The Twilight Zone came into living rooms in 1959 with unusual,ground-breaking shows that people talked about for days on end. Sinceit was an anthology show, every week viewers were presented with newstories and different actors. You really never knew exactly what toexpect. At its worst, the Twilight Zone was good TV. At its best,the show was challenging, stunning, and entertaining in a way that noother show of its time dared. I agree with most of the otherreviewers. This is an odd collection of episodes for the introductoryvolume of the series. "Night of the Meek" contains ArtCarney's touching performance of a department store Santa who drinks alittle too much in an attempt to escape the poverty of hisneighborhood. Then something strange and wonderfulhappens... "The Invaders" is one of the great episodes fromthe series. Remember, this episode aired in 1961...think"typical 1961 TV" as I mentioned before, and you won't bedisappointed. "Nothing in the Dark," while still a goodepisode, is the weakest of the three in which an old woman tries tokeep death from entering her home.

Like others, I was verydisappointed to find only three episodes on this disk instead of four.Also a behind-the-scenes section would have been nice. The text-onlyextras are okay, but I would have liked to have seen more. (When youcheck out the extras, read fast!) The best behind-the-scenes storieson the show are found in a book "The Twilight ZoneCompanion" by Marc Scott Zicree, which I highly recommend.

Zone junkies will love this classic. These can be watched over and over and never tire from them.

What can anyone actually say to critique an icon.
Half hour trips to you're not sure where, not sure
if you'll get back or if you'll want to. A marvelous
beginning to the journey.

A forerunner of American genius in broadcasting,Twilight Zone has got to be a favorite of young and old alike using quality story lines ind acting to replace over zealous effects many are plagued with today.Although quite pleased with content I am very disappointed there were no mention as to the skimpy nature,(only 3 episodes on disk)when I anticipated season one(entirely) not critics choice of best of season.I did however learn from its included bio when my favorite was shown,it was season 3 "Little Girl Lost" and I learned that Robert Redford wrote parts of the first episode of Star Trek.Neat.

These have to be three of the most televised episodes of the "Twilight Zone." They have been televised so many times through the years that I have often not paid much attention to them when they were on. Often we take things that are endearing to us for granted. So was the case with these three episodes. NOTHING IN THE DARK has been overshadowed by the stardom of Robert Redford. Watching it again, I found the story by George Clayton Johnson very moving and particularly well acted by Redford and Gladys Cooper. THE INVADERS is a classic episode and one of the backbones of the series. The writing by Richard Matheson, the performance by Agnes Moorehead, the production values and music all came together to make it one of the quintessential episodes of the series. NIGHT OF THE MEEK is pure Serling all the way. Rod Serling's yearning for those cherished days long gone or a part of ourselves that we think was lost is always evident in his best works. NIGHT OF THE MEEK is very uplifting and may bring a tear to those who cherish this episode. Art Carney showed us all a great dramatic side and depth which enhances this beyond the ordinary. The fact that this was one of the six episodes of the "Twilight Zone" that were recorded directly onto videotape instead of film gives it that `live' appearance and helps add to its validity as an icon of the days of `good television.' These are all good episodes and deserve a second look. The quality of the prints are excellent! Highly recommended!