Customer Reviews

The Twilight Zone: Vol. 4

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

 

 

From my teens this is one of the series that I more fondly remember. As a sci-fi fan I was attracted by "The Twilight Zone" proposal. At that time I wasn't able to see more than a score of episodes, but they remain in my memory with extraordinary persistence.
Thanks to the technological marvel of DVD I'm able to see these amazing stories again and find them as magical & thought provoking as 45 years ago.
As the structure of the episodes are mostly bounded to a surprise ending or to the argument in a very short span of time of 25 minutes each, I'll focus my review more on outstanding features than on the topic of the episode in order not to spoil the pleasure of the viewer.

Disk 4 contains four excellent chapters; one of them is an exception to the usual Twilight Zone stuff.

1) Mr. Dingle, the Strong - Incredible! This is a joke, a whole comedic episode done tongue in cheek.
Burgess Meredith impersonates a feeble door-to-door seller permanently abused by a bully bar customer. Meredith will be best known by his characterization of The Penguin at "Batman" series and latter on by his impersonation of Mickey, Rocky's manager.
Suddenly invisible aliens mingle into human affairs starting a chain of comedic situations.
Qualification: 10.

2) Two - The story is rather simple in post-apocalyptic scenery an enemy couple is suddenly faced with each other.
The "bonus" of the episode resides in who the actors are. Nonetheless that Charles Bronson and Elizabeth Montgomery, best know as Samantha in "Bewitched".
The story was written & directed by talented Montgomery Pittman who died less than a year after.
Qualification: 10.

3) A Passage for Trumpet - A distressed & alcoholic musician jumps to suicide & enters The Twilight Zone.
It is an episode written by Rod Sterling in person delivering a nice story full of "Bradburian" resonances, urban scenery, and jazz music.
Jack Klugman impersonates Joey with outstanding brilliance & charisma. Fortunately for TLZ fans he will perform in several episodes of the series.
Qualification: 10.

4) The Four of Us Are Dying - A con-man is able to change his face to resemble whoever he wants.
We have again a story written by George C. Johnson with his usual skill.
Once more as in the previous episode excellent cinematography in charge of George Clemens contributes to the excellence of this chapter. Clemens won Emmy Award 1961 and nominations for the same honor 1962 & 1963 all due to several episodes of this series.
Special mention must be done for the charming & glamorous performance of Beverly Garland as Maggie the singer.
Qualification: 10.

This DVD series presentation has two great advantages: it has a very good price and allows buyers to choose their favorite chapters without needing to buy the whole series.
Reviewed by Max Yofre.

Two - a big nuclear war is over and only two people are left on earth, a man and a woman. Good episode.

The four of us are dying - A man has the ability to turn into anyone he wants. It sounds good but gives him a certain problem, average

A Passage for trumpet - a drunk trumpet player sells his trumpet and meets an angel, then his life gets better, good

Mr. Dingle the strong - a loser gets great strength from aliens that changes his life. Best one in this Vol.

Mr Dingle the Strong-Great episode! But in my opinion is the second best episode on this disc. Still every episode of Twilight Zone with Bergess Meredith is a good one. Two-Has always been one of my favorites. Stars Elizabeth Montgomery & Charles Bronson. These two episodes make the DVD worth buying. The other two episodes are good but not the best.

I love my Twilight Zone Video. My DVD came right away and I will do business with you again. Thanks~

Bad copy, repeats of the same short in a couple of the dvd's. Never ordered any more Twilight Zone dvd's after this one was so bad.

"Walking Distance" is yet another story where a person goes back to their youth. Martin Sloan is thirty-six and exhausted by his job as an advertising executive in New York City. After a particularly rough stretch, Sloan takes a drive out into the country and his journey takes him to a service station a short distance from the town where he grew up. He leaves his car there for service and walks the rest of the way into town, finding it just the way it was in his youth. In many ways he is now the outsider, for he is still an adult and he meets himself as a boy and his parents. These are awkward meetings, for he finds himself wanting to be treated as a boy again, a specific boy, namely himself. His aggressiveness leads to his youthful counterpart suffering a leg injury and when Sloan finally walks back to his car to return to normal time, it is with a limp.
The acting and scenes in this episode are superb, especially the scenes involving the carousel in the park. Sloan is completely believable as a man that wants to go back to his youth, exactly the way it was, when life was simpler and he can filter out the difficulties he is having now and those he experienced as a youth. Nostalgia is largely an exercise in selective memory, we all know that yet still suffer from it. Stories that tell us this are enjoyed, appreciated and have no affect on our capacity to look back with fondness.
"The Midnight Sun" is an absurd story that is saved by a dramatic plot twist and change at the end. For reasons unknown, the Earth has been shifted in its' orbit and is now closer to the sun. Nearly all people that can have left for cooler climates, but Norma and her neighbor Mrs. Bronson remain in their apartment building. The heat continues to rise, commodities become scarce and they rapidly begin to lose their minds. After Mrs. Bronson collapses, Norma watches her paintings melt, an event that causes her to collapse. Norma awakens to a very cool apartment, she had been suffering from a high fever and Mrs. Bronson and a doctor are hovering over her. All is not well however, when she wakes up her initial euphoria at recovering rapidly changes to dread as she realizes that her situation has not improved.
The absurd part of the story is that the action of the Earth being shifted in orbit leads to the sun shining nearly all day. If that were to happen, the Earth would continue to rotate and there would still be a night. Nevertheless, the unusual ending of the episode saves it and makes you forget the astronomical gaffe.
"Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" stars William Shatner as an intelligent, yet frightened man named Robert Wilson. He is recovering from a nervous breakdown and is with his wife on a night flight in a rainstorm. His breakdown occurred on a flight and he is still very uncomfortable with flying but determined to overcome it. Suddenly, he sees a creature walking on the wing and he tries to get others to look out. Before they do, the creature flies off and his wife and the airplane crew believe that he is relapsing. When Wilson sees the creature attempting to sabotage the engine, he manages to take the gun of a law enforcement officer, open the emergency exit and shoot the creature. The plane lands and Wilson is carried off the plane on a secured stretcher and the crew and his wife are commenting on his delusions while he smiles to himself. The last scene is a pan of the camera to the engine, where the cover is partially ripped off.
William Shatner is a superb actor, capable of portraying everything from a solid commanding officer to an unstable personality. In this case, he is thoroughly believable as a mentally unbalanced man fighting to control his fears in order to overcome a danger that only he can see.
"The Purple Testament" is a war story with an unusual twist; one that some actual war stories indicate is a real one. The U. S. military is in action against the Japanese forces in the Philippines in 1945. Lieutenant Fitzgerald suddenly realizes that when he looks at some of the soldiers, he sees an unusual light on their faces and when that happens in a short time they are dead. It unnerves him and he confides in Captain Riker, his commanding officer. After initial skepticism, Riker becomes a believer, so when Fitzgerald sees the light on Riker's face, Riker knows yet still leads his men into action, becoming the only K.I.A. in what was a relatively easy mission. As he is about to depart for division headquarters, Fitzgerald sees the light in his face and he now knows that his end is soon. Nevertheless, he gets on the jeep sent for him and the driver comments on how careful a driver he is. The episode ends with the men remaining behind hearing what they think is an explosion.
Some writers that have experienced combat write how after a time they believe that they can predict which men will be killed in the next operation. They describe it as a look of combat fatigue where the man looks like he just doesn't care any more. That look is exaggerated in this episode and the way the men in the outfit react to the thought that Fitzgerald can predict who will die is superbly acted. The light on the faces of the soon to be dead men sends a light chill down your spine.

Another great addition to anyone's TZ collection. Three of the episodes are compelling, one lacks a little. This is a great opportunity to see Bronson in an early work that actually shows off his talent. Again, Klugman shows the uniqueness of his skills as well. This disc will not disappoint. Recommended.

Volume 4 features the various twists and turns that made the Twlight Zone famous, but this DVD does not impress as much as others will. In "Mr. Dingle, the Strong," a saleman played by Burgess Meredith, realizes that he has been blessed with awesome strength (from Martians). The story fails, however, when the Martians take back the powers they gave only to give Dingle new powers that will lead to predictable results. "Two" is very interesting dramtically. Two survivors of a nuclear holocaust, Elizabeth Montgomery and Charles Bronson, find themselves alone in a barren town. Unfortunately, there is little conflict here, and while the Bronson and Montgomery do a fine bit of acting, there is not much story for them to perform; the ending is rather anti-climatic. In "A Passage for Trumpet," Jack Klugman plays a trupet player who learns what it is like to be dead. This is possibly the best episode of Vol. 4. Possibly the most disappointing episode is "The Four of Us are Dying." Arch Hammer is able to change his face at a moment's notice, but in the Twilight Zone, such "talent" brings unexpected consequences. The ending is somewhat predictable and there is little to care for in the characters.

Overall the stories on this DVD have potential, but one suspects that given more time, they could have been polished further.

Four more great episodes from Rod Serling's TWILIGHT ZONE. This volume includes the legendary, much-lampooned "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet", which stars William Shatner as a former mental patient who is now convinced that a gremlin is tampering with the wing of a plane that he is traveling on. Creepy stuff...the gremlin was played by Burt Lancaster's former circus partner Nick Cravat. This disc also includes "Time Enough At Last", a real tour-de-force for Burgess Meredith, who dons coke-bottle glasses to play a man obsessed with books but lacking the time in which to read them...until one fateful day.

Episodes:

"Time Enough At Last" (Season One, Episode #8) - Bookworm Henry Bemis (Burgess Meredith) yearns for more time to read - then a nuclear holocaust leaves him alone in the world with lots of time, plenty to read, and one ironic twist!

"The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" (Season One, Episode #22) - Inexplicable events cause the residents of quiet Maple Street to erupt into rioting. The residents suspect an alien invasion has occurred. If so, where are the alien monsters?

"Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" (Season Five, Episode #3) - Salesman Bob Wilson (William Shatner), recovering from a nervous breakdown spots a gremlin on the wing of his plane. When he attempts to alert his wife Julia (Christine White) and the others, his nightmare truly begins!

"The Odyssey of Flight 33" (Season Two, Episode #18) - Flight 33 picks up a peculiar tailwind and is blown off-course. After apparently correcting the problem, the flight arrives at it's destination - a billion years ahead of schedule!

Who the heck is "Red" Serling? Everybody knows it's ROd Serling. Unbox' error is not just a typo either, because it is repeated in several places. C'mon, Unbox! Don't insult classical TV like that!