Customer Reviews

The Twilight Zone: Vol. 8

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Aliens abound but appearance can be deceiving, as we learn in the two of the episodes of "The Twilight Zone" on Volume 8 in this DVD series. The other two visits both have to do with the end of the world as we know it. Three of the episodes found here are well above average and one of those is an outright classic (although I do not think it is the best episode of the four), which is good enough to make this one of the better volumes in this 40-plus volume set of DVDs collecting all of Rod Serling's classic television anthology series:

Episode 14, "Third From the Sun" (Adapted by Rod Serling from Richard Matheson's short story, First aired January 8, 1960), tells of scientist William Sturka (Fritz Weaver), who is convinced the world is about to end in a nuclear war. Along with test pilot Jerry Riden (Joe Maross), they escape with their families in a stolen experimental spaceship to a new planet. This is a rather pedestrian episode, where you have to get to the twist at the end to realize you are in the "Zone." In the familiar face department this one has Edward Andrews as Carling, a government type who tries to keep the characters from stealing the rocket ship.

Episode 89, "To Serve Man (Adapted by Rod Serling from Damon Knight's short story, First aired March 2, 1962), is one of the most famous "Zone" episodes with its "Soylent Green" ending (although it predates that Charlton Heston film by a decade). A Kanamit (Richard Kiel) has come to earth to create a golden age with the advanced technology of his race. Michael Chambers (Lloyd Bochner), a government decoding expert, learns to learn the true meaning of the title of the book left by the Kanamit. Is it just me or getting to a second edition of "To Serve Man" going to prove to be impossible once the cat is out of the bag? Just wondering.

Episode 90, "The Fugitive" (Written by Charles Beaumont, First aired March 9, 1962), features J. Pat O'Malley as Old Ben, an alien who befriends a lovely little girl named Jenny (Susan Gordon). As the opening narration of the episode points out, this one combines science fiction and fantasy. Old Ben has the ability to turn into anything from a mouse to a monster, which comes in handy since he is being pursued by a pair of men. But Jenny wears a leg brace and Ben wants to do something about that before he leaves the little girl who does not want to be left behind.

Episode 68, "The Shelter" (Written by Rod Serling, First aired September 29, 1961), is my favorite and the best episode on the disc. This is one of Serling's "preachy" scripts where he hits the mark perfectly. The neighborhood is gathering for a surprise party for Doc Stockton (Larry Gates), when the radio announces radar has detected what appears to be incoming missiles. Doc, his wife and young son go to the shelter he has built in his basement. His unprepared neighbors beg to be let it, but there is not enough room or supplies. That is when things get ugly. Some people consider "The Shelter" to be melodramatic, but I always found it rather chilling since it suggests that civilization will end before the bombs actually go off.

Twilight Zone is one of those productions that is quite literally timeless. Although there were numerous not-so-good episodes in the series, Volume 8 contains four pretty good episodes, including my favorite, the superb "Third from the Sun."

"Third from the Sun" is a mindblower, even if it is somewhat dated by its notion that there are other planets within the solar system that can support intelligent life. This is excellent science fiction (no spoilers here) and this episode is guaranteed to make a memorable impression if you have never seen it. This one, in fact, happens to be my favorite Zone episode ever, although opinions may differ.

The other three episodes are quite good, some serious and some not. "The Shelter" is a real classic. "To Serve Man" is funny with a touch of scariness. "The Fugitive" is quite watchable and a little on the cute side.

The DVD is a fine value, and I have repeatedly enjoyed watching these episodes.

Third From the Sun- I really wanted to like this episode... but my dad just had to blab the ending! Oh well it was good. (****)

The Shelter- I liked it, but it kind of reminded me of Monsters are Due on Maple Street. (***)

To Serve Man- Wow, a great episode. The end really freaked me out. Probably my favorite episode. There are only a few episodes I'll give five stars, the others being "Time Enough at Last" and "Walking Distance" (I've only watched so far to this volume.) (*****)

The Fugitive- many people seem to not like this episode. I thought it was cute. It calmed me down after watching "To Serve Man" (***)

This eighth installment in the Twilight Zone DVD collection is all about To Serve Man, as far as I'm concerned. That is the episode that I most remember from when I watched this series as a kid (not in the sixties, I saw the repeats and the annual marathon on the Sci-Fi Channel). I remember that those tall aliens scared the cr*p out of me! I used to "see" them in my room while lying in bed at night (which sucked if I had to go to the bathroom, seeing as I was too scared to move). And yet, this was always my favorite episode. The plot is just so cool! Aliens come to Earth to "help" humans, they teach us to efficient ways to farm and things like that. They even take some of us back to their home planet (as dinner guests perhaps?-ha ha). A couple of U.S. code breakers get a hold of one of the aliens' books and try to crack the code. They figure out the title "To Serve Man" (which they naturally assume means to help man, since that's what the aliens appear to be doing), but can't figure out the rest. Until one of them decides to go on one of the many trips to the aliens' home planet. Just as he's getting on the spaceship, his partner figures out the meaning of the book... God! Now that is television!
Oh yeah, the rest of the episodes are great(as Twilight Zones episodes all tend to be). "Shelter" is another one that I can remember watching as a kid. It's about this family who obviously has a bomb shelter, and when a UFO invasion seems eminent, the whole neighborhood is fighting to get in. (This was also spoofed by the Simpson's.) The other two are also very good and definitely deserve a place in this collection, but aren't "classics".
The DVD is great, too. The picture is of course great, but it also has a cool extra. It has commentary on each season, information on the brilliant Rod Serling, and reviews of each episode.
If you like these Twilight Zone collections, I suggest that you also get the movie Requiem for a Heavyweight. It was written by Rod Serling and stars TZ regular Jack Klugman and Jackie Gleason, and is about a washed up boxer.

Volume 8 of the twilight zone dvd series is one of the best. Four great episodes, cool special features, and it's not that expensive. Let's start with Third From the Sun. William Sturka, played by Fritz Weaver, is a scientist. A fellow scientist, Carling, tells him that th large nucular war that is about to happen will happen in 48 hours. So, William and a friend get ther familes steal a spacecraft and fly into space. A nice twist of an ending but I shouldn't tell you it. Next, The Shelter. When it seems there is going to be a alien invasion a neighborhood of friends get crazy over one family's bomb shelter. Next, To Serve Man. This is one of the Twilight Zone shows that are great, chilling, and have a shocking twist at the end. It all starts with aliens landing on earth. One of the aliens, played by my faviorite actor Richard Kiel tells everyone thre purpose on earth is to serve man. The twist comes when they find out that they misinterpretated the phrase to serve man. Finally, The Fugitive. This one is very awesome but very confusing and you have to see it for your self. ...

Susan Gordon got sick on the set of "The Fugitive" and they had to film the remaining footage for this episode, the opening ballpark scenes, a week later under a separate production number and with a diffrent (uncredited) director. "To Serve Man" was filmed twice and then the best footage from both films blended together to fit the episode we see now. That is why the flashback scenes and tons of stock footage ripped off from three separate films. "Third From the Sun" is one of the most creative films produced in the first season. The painting hanging above the phone after the opening scenes was hanging on the wall in "A World fo Difference" and "The Four of Us Are Dying." The car, not being the planet Earth, features jet engines and is a custom made by George Barris, originally conceived for THE TIME MACHINE.

Trivia above supplied not from the DVD, but from the book, "The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic" because the 800 plus page book is a P-E-R-F-E-C-T companion to the DVD. Before or after you watch an episode, you can use the book to uncover the in-jokes, bloopers and trivia that make viewing these episodes fun. Both are available on Amazon.

This is a beautiful compilation. This is back when rod stirling was in charge, i.e. the best time. This is the top of the top when it comes to science fiction, and proud to own it.

Now for the bad stuff,

The intro menu stinks. That eye that blinks and points to choices is a nice touch, but is unresponsive at times. Though the theme is good, it gets fairly annoying after a while, also that sound the eye makes when it choses something DUNNNNNAAANNNNN sound, is really really irritating.

Plus it being in black and white, and not really noticeably polished, i'd have hoped for more episodes shoved onto a dvd.

but still this is worth the money to get.

Rod Serling was amazing! I can't think of a Twilight Zone that wasn't worth watching.

There's only a few volumes...2 and 11 being the others, that every episode I consider to be first rate or even classic. Vol. 8 is such. To Serve Man is one of the epic episodes, Third from the Sun is very well written and filmed in the noir style that was popular a few years earlier. The dialogue really makes it so great. The Shelter is above average. And The Fugitive is a neat little tale. I especially love it because I have a 9 year old daughter and The Fugitive is sorta like Twilight Zone meets Nickelodeon. Still true to the Twilight Zone twists, but totally appropriate to any age. The ending is one of my favorites.

One of the best CDs of the old, "Twilight Zone," episodes. Survival fans should be especially interested in one episode titled,"The Shelter."
See how so-called friends and neighboors try to raid a single-family bomb shelter. What they would not do to get inside. Even kill. The others episodes on this CD are great too!