Search - The Outer Limits: The Original Series on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Movie Release: 2002 DVD Release: 09/03/2002 Format: DVD - Black and White - Closed Captioned Edition: Television Audio Tracks: English SwapaDVD Credits: 4 Number of Discs: 4 Run Time: 27 hrs 22 mins Studio: MGM Members Wishing: 6

After four years of ignoring their television holdings, MGM Home Video has thrown open the vaults on the jewel of their collection, The Outer Limits. The original series, which ran on ABC from September of 1963 until early 1965, is regarded by many fans of literary and cinematic science fiction alike as the finest anthology show of its kind ever aired, and this reviewer is inclined to agree with that assessment, even more so having viewed all 27 and a half hours of programming contained on this four-disc set. The packaging is rather neat and nicely compact, each disc held in its separate receptacle in the larger fold-out jewel case. Each of the four discs holds two sides of programming, and one immediate complaint is that the labeling on the discs designating the A- and B- sides is too small to be easily read -- a move up by a single font would made a big difference in ease of usage. On a purely visual level, the transfers of the individual programs is extraordinary, sufficient to show the occasional flaw in the near-perfect 35 mm fine-grain source material, and, on occasion, in the original special effects, but not sufficiently to destroy the illusion, the willing suspension of disbelief. The video quality outstrips that of the laserdiscs of parts of the series released in the early 1990's by MGM and Pioneer. The audio is a different matter, however -- it is mastered at a lower level than one would have wished, and lacks some of the presence and body that one would hope for from this series. A boost in volume works some wonders, but one wishes that MGM's technicians could have done some more work with that element of the programming. As to the programming as a whole, the 32 shows represent, in the main, some of the finest science fiction and fantasy ever produced for television, intelligent, well written and directed, and often even better acted, featuring an extraordinary array of stars who were also brilliant actors, often before they became stars. Not every program rises to the level of brilliance of the best of them -- "The Invisibles," "The Man Who Was Never Born," "O.B.I.T.," "The Galaxy Being," "The Zanti Misfits," "Don't Open Till Doomsday," "The Forms Of Things Unknown," and "The Chameleon" -- but even the worst are highly diverting and show surprising intelligence. (Volume Two, when it shows up containing the shortened second season of the show, will have the best single episode ever done by the series, "Demon With A Glass Hand"). Each disc opens automatically to a menu that goes two layers deep, offering four shows on each side and then a breakdown of five chapters per show, with a default "play" setting in place. Moving between the actual individual programs and the main menu is a little tougher than it ought to be, but that's a minor complaint once the procedure becomes clear. The producers could have gone into their vaults and attempted to retrieve some of the related rarities from the series' production, such as the original pilot, "Please Stand By," and perhaps the original edit of "The Forms Of Things Unknown," simply called "The Unknown," but perhaps we can hope for such treats on the second volume. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide