Anybody own the Twighlight zone collections? (1 Viewer)

[Ty-Stumbo]

I'm christmas shopping for my father and i would love to get him one of the twilight zone collections. I was wondering if there was one collection that was better than another. If anybody can help me out, that would be great! Any input/opinions would be greatly appriciated.

 

[Alex Bankuti]

I only own one of them, me being 13 and not having lots of monney but i think it was worth it, and would assume their all good

 

[Jack Briggs]

I own all the boxsets and have looked at all the discs from Image. Superb transfers in superb packages. The episodes are not presented in chronological order but are grouped together on disc according to theme. Go to an online retailer that lists the individual episodes in each set and select the one that has the episodes you most covet.

And, finally, ask about DVDs in the area devoted to them: Home Theater Software.

 

[Harry-N]

I have them all, and perhaps a bit of insight. The order that these are presented follow the individual volume numbers from when the DVDs were released individually, thus the first set tends to mine many of the best episodes of the series. If you're only going to buy one 'collection', get number 1. It's got most of the definitive episodes.


Harry

 

[David Lambert]

Click each of these collection #'s below to find out which episodes are included with each of the box sets:

#1 #2 #3 #4 #5


Hope this helps! Personally, I'd say that if I could only have one of these, I'd also go with #1. Some of the most popular and classical episodes are included on it. Here are a few worth mentioning:
[*]Nightmare at 20,000 Feet[*]The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street[*]The Odyssey of Flight 33[*]Time Enough at Last[*]Kick the Can[*]I Sing the Body Electric[*]Third From the Sun[*]To Serve Man

 

[Dane Marvin]

One of my two all-time favorite shows. I own all 5 collections, and while it's hard to pick out the best, I can tell you that the most lacking collection is #4. Don't get me wrong, each of the collections is worth every penny, but 4 has the least number of bonafide classics and a lot of the lackluster hour-long episodes from season 4.

David is right -- Collection 1 is the best and contains the most popular disc in the series (the one with "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet", "Time Enough at Last", "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street", and "The Odyssey of Flight 33", all wonderful).

My order of preference goes like this:
#1
#2
#3
#5
#4

Again, everyone should own EVERY last episode!

 

[Craig Beam]

As a certified Zone fanatic, I must also recommend Collection #1... but honestly, I can't imagine anyone stopping with just one. Even the lesser episodes are still pretty great, so get 'em all! I bought every single volume separately when they were first released, so I paid a helluva lot more than they're asking for those boxed sets... Buying the entire series now for around $350 or so (less than half what I paid) would be an absolute no-brainer.

 

[MartinTeller]

Dissenting opinion, if you want to hear one....

I bought box #1 with delight, but after trudging through it I quickly put it up on eBay. IMO, the show has little replay value. Oh, don't get me wrong, there are good episodes. But even at 25 minutes most of them tend to drag on too long, and for a great number of them once you know the "punchline" there's little to be gained from watching them again.

I'd like to customize my own Twilight Zone collection box. I could probably get it down to about 5-6 discs of just the episodes that merit repeat viewing.

 

[David Von Pein]

I'd like to customize my own Twilight Zone collection box. I could probably get it down to about 5-6 discs of just the episodes that merit repeat viewing.

Yes, Martin, I think I'd have to concur with this statement.

Well, I might as well add in my Two TZ Cents here. .....

Here would be my votes for Top Twilight Zone Volumes On DVD:

#1 pick (without a moment's hesitation) goes to Volume 2, with such winners as "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street", "Nightmare At 20,000 Feet", "The Odyssey Of Flight 33", and "Time Enough At Last". All "Classic TZs" in my manual.

#2 pick: "More Treasures Of The Twilight Zone" volume. ... Which has three top-flight eps., plus a revealing Rod Serling/Mike Wallace interview (circa 1959), with Rod, as per his norm, just smoking up a storm during his session with Wallace. .... Episodes include: "The Masks", "The Howling Man", and "Eye Of The Beholder". All fabulous Serling tales, IMO.

#3 pick: Volume 8 -- With "The Shelter", "Third From The Sun", and "To Serve Man" (plus one more 30-minute episode).

#4 pick: Volume 7 -- Which includes "The Hitch-Hiker" (with the ever-fetching Inger Stevens ) and "Shadow Play" (with a fine Dennis Weaver performance, as a tormented prisoner).

#5 pick: Volume 9 -- Has the outstanding "Nick Of Time" ("Mystic Seer" ) episode, plus "It's A Good Life".

#6 pick: Volume 26 -- Includes Barry Morse's fine outing in "A Piano In The House", plus "Night Call" (a nice & creepy ep.).

#7 pick: Volume 11 -- With Telly Savalas' "Living Doll" and "The After Hours". (Keep an eye open for Inger Stevens lookalike Mary LaRoche in "Living Doll". She's worth keeping an eye peeled for, believe me. )

#8 pick: Volume 34 -- Worthy of purchase for "A Stop At Willoughby" alone.

#9 pick: Volume 23 -- Includes Edward Andrews in "You Drive". Great ep.

#10 pick: Volume 32 -- For the best 1-hour (1963) episode of the series, IMO: "Printer's Devil", with Burgess Meredith hamming it up very nicely as that guy from...down there.

#11 pick: Volume 1 -- With the fine Christmas episode featuring the recently-departed Art Carney ("Night Of The Meek"); plus "Nothing In The Dark", with Robert Redford.

----------------------

I'd really like to see more of the series "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" released on DVD (in separate issues).

Some of those Hitch episodes are every bit Serling's TZ equal -- such as all of the examples included on this VHS tape from GoodTimes.

It appears, as of now, the only way to get a smattering of A. Hitchcock eps. on DVD is to buy some of the full Movie Collections out there. :frowning:

 

[Ty-Stumbo]

Wow, lots of input, thanks guys! I have decided to go with collection 1, I noticed alot of the shorts i loved were in there. My all time favorite is "nightmare at 20,000 feet", I would pay to have that one episode.

I think I'm getting the collection for myself just as much as I am getting it for him.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Regarding repeat viewability, "different strokes..."

For many if not most viewers, this series is timeless. One can go back to beloved episodes over and over again and never grow tired of them. But, to use another cliche, "your mileage may vary."

 

[Dane Marvin]

Jack is right. It is rare to see a series so timeless, in which the special effects (low-budget even then and certainly low-tech due to the time period) aren't the thing you'll take away from each episode; rather, you'll going away thinking about the message conveyed. Not every single episode was golden -- and some flat-out awful ("The Bewitchin' Pool"), but watch them with friends or family and even the clunkers make for a bowl full of laughs.

This is one of THE most replayable series you could ever own on DVD.