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The Outer Limits: The Original Series
Season One
Studio: MGM
Year: 1963-1964
Rated: NR
Film Length: 27 hours, 22 minutes
Aspect Ratio: Standard (1.33:1) Transfers
"There is nothing wrong with your television set.
Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are
controlling transmission. If we wish to make it
louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish
to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper.
We can reduce the focus to a soft blur, or sharpen
it to crystal clarity. We will control the horizontal.
We will control the vertical. For the next hour,
sit quietly and we will control all that you see and
hear. You are about to experience the awe and mystery
which reaches from the inner mind to THE OUTER LIMITS".
Many of you looking for an enthusiast's review
of The Outer Limits are going to be
disappointed by my review. Being a huge fan of
the Twilight Zone, I never had much interest
in this series that seemed to be a poor man's version
of Rod Serling's series. The episodes were a bit
too talkative (30 minutes would have been more fitting)
and there was much inconsistency from episode to
episode. On the upside, this was truly the first
TV show to take sci-fi seriously, with thought-
provoking stories that really gave afterthought. It
was also amazing how with a limited budget, the
show's producers were able to establish a creepy
mood that delivered great scares.
You must admire the fact, however, that this series
co-created by Joseph Stefano (who wrote many of the
scripts for the show) attracted a cavalcade of big
name stars that included Eddie Albert, Edward Asner,
Dabney Coleman, Michael Constantine, Robert Culp,
Bruce Dern, James Doohan, Cliff Robertson, Martin Sheen,
Adam West, Robert Duvall, Sally Kellerman, Martin Landau,
David McCallum, Vera Miles, Leonard Nimoy, Lloyd Nolan,
Warren Oates and Donald Pleasence.
The Outer Limits arrives from MGM Home Video
in a bulky Nexpak case which holds four double-sided,
dual-layer discs that carry a whopping total of 32
episodes that run about 51 minutes each. Can you
imagine so many episodes in one season?!
Inside the case is an attractive 12-page color
booklet that becomes an episode guide companion,
listing the credits and a brief synopsis of each
episode. While its strange to see chapter stops
listed beside each episode, It's a relief to see
air dates listed here as well.
Let me also angrily state that absolutely no
subtitles have been included in this DVD package.
I would have thought MGM, from past experience,
would have known better than to ignore the fact
that there are hearing impaired individuals who
rely on subtitles to enhance their viewing experience.
I took the opportunity to sample 3 episodes that
I most vividly remember from childhood, in order to
judge this set's audio and video quality.
The Galaxy Being
Executive Producer Leslie Stevens' pilot episode
where we meet a technician at a radio station (Cliff
Robertson) who makes contact with an alien being.
They chat about life, death and God. The technician
realizes this alien is very much like himself. While
Maxwell is gone more power is added to the radio
station and the alien is "transmitted" to earth as
he roams through town in a violent spree.
It crawled out of the woodwork
A cleaning woman unwittingly gives life to a
strobing growling chaotic cloud of lethal energy.
A mad scientist skillfully controls this "thing"
to terrify employees to death, and then resurrect
them with pacemakers in order to create fully
compliant slaves. This episode is a perfect
example of Joseph Stefano's tightly drawn writing
and Conrad Hall's somber photography.
The Bellero Shield
Without doubt, one of the best episodes in the
series with an all-star cast that features Martin
Landau, Sally Kellerman and Chita Rivera. It's
the story of a benevolent alien and the malevolent
humans out to exploit him. When an alien rides
a light beam to scientist's lab, the alien
demonstrates a force field shield, which nothing
can penetrate. After convincing the alien to lower
it's protective shield, the scientist's wife
shoots it, stealing it's shield device.
How is the transfer?
While each of the episodes have their share
of print blemishes (some slightly more than others),
you'll be happy to know that the overall quality
of these episodes are quite good. Some shows
look sharper than others, but there seems to be
a consistent clarity and deep black level throughout.
What you will notice is a visible amount of video
noise in the background that is most likely enhanced
by the clarity of the DVD format. Most of the
video noise can be seen in the effects shots more
than anywhere else. Still, given the era of the
original TV broadcast, these episodes look above
average.
The Dolby Digital mono soundtrack manages to keep
dialogue above the small amount of background hiss.
The problem is that these episodes have a very
high "shrill" to them that often become just
slightly over modulated. Again, one must take into
account that these shows were produced for televisions
of its time that had tiny little speakers. Fidelity
was not a priority.
Special Features
There are no added features in this set whatsoever,
though it would be criminal not to point out the
clever animated menu that MGM has put on this disc
that warns us not to adjust our DVD player.
Final Thoughts
Though overshadowed by The Twilight Zone,
The Outer Limits still managed to hold its
own in a pre-Star Trek era. Most of its themes
dealt with the fear of the unknown, and the
unfortunate human tendency to destroy what we
don't understand. It's not too surprising that
those themes still exist nearly 40 years later.
Release Date: September 3, 2002
