"There
is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the
picture. We are controlling transmission. We will control the horizontal.
We will control the vertical. We can change the focus to a soft blur, or
sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next hour, sit quietly and we will
control all that you see and hear. You are about to participate in a great
adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches
from the inner mind to THE OUTER LIMITS."-- The Control
Voice.
While
I am still of the opinion that the original 1960’s version of THE
OUTER LIMITS was the greatest science fiction anthology series to ever
air on broadcast television, it was during first season that the show was
truly at its best. Going into the second season of THE OUTER LIMITS
there was a production shakeup behind the scenes that made the show a lot
more conventional during its abbreviated second and final year on the air.
Now don’t get me wrong, there were a number of good episodes during
season two, including the award winning Demon With A Glass Hand,
which is not only one of the best entries from the second season, it is
one of the best period. However, without the team of Leslie Stevens and
Joseph Stefano behind it, THE OUTER LIMITS lacked the creative
vision that made the show truly outstanding. Be that as it may, MGM Home
Entertainment has made all seventeen season two episodes of THE OUTER
LIMITS available on DVD in a three disc boxed set by for the price of
$69.96.
Disc
one, side one contains the episodes Soldier, Cold Hands Warm Heart,Behold Eck!and Expanding Human. Soldier
features Michael Ansara and Lloyd Nolan in the story of soldier from the
future accidentally transported back in time. Cold Hands Warm Heart
stars William Shatner as an astronaut who has difficulty staying warm
after orbiting the planet Venus. Behold Eck! is the story of
a two dimensional creature caught in our three dimensional world, who
needs to find his way home before the dimensional rift that brought him to
our world destroys us. Expanding Human features James Doohan
in the story of a scientist who experiments on himself with a mind
expanding drug, which also has a significant effect on his physical being
as well.
Disc
one, side two contains the episodes Demon With A Glass Hand
and Cry of Silence. Demon With A Glass Hand
stars Robert Culp as a man named Trent, who has no memory and prosthetic,
computerized glass hand that is missing three fingers and pieces of its
own memory. Trent finds himself being pursued through a dilapidated office
complex by alien invaders, who are in possession of the prosthetic hand’s
three missing fingers, which may be the key to the fate of mankind. Please
note, Harlan Ellison, who earned the Writers Guild Award for his work,
wrote the script for Demon With A Glass Hand. Cry of Silence
features Eddie Albert and June Havoc in this story of a disembodied alien
presence that has begun to control inanimate objects, animals and even the
people that occupy a desert canyon.
Disc
two, side one contains the episodes The Invisible Enemy, Wolf 359,I Robot and The Inheritors Part I. The
Invisible Enemy stars Adam West in the story of human explorers on
the planet Mars, who find themselves fighting for survival against an
unseen force. Wolf 359 features Patrick O’Neal as a
scientist who recreates a miniature version of a planet circling a distant
star- then introduces human DNA to the world to watch a process of
accelerated evolution. I Robot features an appearance from
Leonard Nimoy in the story of a robot that is accused of killing the
scientist who created him. The Inheritors Part I stars
Robert Duvall as a scientific investigator named Ballard, in this story of
a solider who comes under an alien influence after a bullet becomes lodged
in his brain. Then Ballard discovers that there are three additional
soldiers who have suffered the same fate.
Disc
two, side two contains the episodes The Inheritors Part II
and Keeper Of The Purple Twilight. The Inheritors Part
II continues the story with Ballard discovering that the four
soldiers have begun secretly working on building a spaceship and that they
have been recruiting a number of handicapped children to leave Earth with
them. Keeper Of The Purple Twilight stars Warren Stevens and
Robert Webber in this tale of a scientist who enters into a pact with an
alien- exchanging his ability to experience love and emotion for
scientific information that will lead to the creation of an ultimate
weapon, capable of obliterating the world.
Disc
three, side one contains the episodes The Duplicate Man,
Counterweight,The Brain Of Colonel Barham and The
Premonition. The Duplicate Man is the story of a
scientist who creates a duplicate of himself in an effort to kill an
escaped alien creature, which he illegally imported to Earth. Counterweight
is the story of a group of astronauts who endure grueling training for a
trip to another planet, then while in a simulation of their extended space
flight, they begin behaving irrationally, unaware of the presence of an
alien from the world to which they will be traveling. The Brain Of
Colonel Barham is kept alive after his death to be used in a
computer system designed for space exploration; however, once the organ
has control of the computer system it begins setting in motions its own
plans for world domination. The Premonition is the story of
a test pilot who finds the world around him strangely frozen after
breaking the sound barrier and in the position to save his daughter’s
life when time begins moving again. Finally, disc three, side two contains
the series final episode entitled The Probe, which tells of
the survivors of a plane crash, who find themselves the test subjects
inside an alien probe.
MGM
Home Entertainment has made all the season two episodes of THE OUTER
LIMITS- THE ORIGINAL SERIES available on DVD in their proper full
screen aspect ratios. The black and white transfers are quite good for the
age of the material, producing a clear and well-defined black and white
image. Of course, the picture does appear a bit grainy from time to time
and there are some occasional blemishes on the film elements, but neither
is a cause for concern. The black and white cinematography isn’t
particularly stylized, as it was in the first season, but comes across
with deep blacks, clean whites and a good level of contrast. Digital
compression artifacts are always well concealed, even when four episodes
are encoded onto a side of a DVD.
Season
two episodes from THE OUTER LIMITS episodes are presented with
their soundtracks in Dolby Digital monaural. The tracks would appear to
have been cleaned up in the mastering process, with neither background
hiss nor other audio anomalies becoming particularly noticeable. Fidelity
has its limitations, although each episode’s musical component manages
to sound reasonably good. Dialogue is always crisply rendered and
completely understandable. There are no other language tracks or subtitle
options encoded onto the DVDs. Animation and sound serve to enhance very
cool interface for the interactive menus. Through the menus, one can
choose a particular episode to view, as well as chapters within each
episode.
The
1960’s incarnation of THE OUTER LIMITS was certainly the greatest
of all science fiction anthology shows. And while the second season lacked
the vision of its freshman year, it provides plenty of entertainment value
and its own moments of greatness. MGM has done a fine job bringing season
two of THE OUTER LIMITS- THE ORIGINAL SERIES to DVD- offering good
looking and sounding presentations for all seventeen episodes. If you own
season one, you’ll definitely want to add this second set to your
collection.
"There
is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the
picture. We are controlling transmission. We will control the horizontal.
We will control the vertical. We can change the focus to a soft blur, or
sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next hour, sit quietly and we will
control all that you see and hear. You are about to participate in a great
adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches
from the inner mind to THE OUTER LIMITS."-- The Control
Voice.
While
I am still of the opinion that the original 1960’s version of THE
OUTER LIMITS was the greatest science fiction anthology series to ever
air on broadcast television, it was during first season that the show was
truly at its best. Going into the second season of THE OUTER LIMITS
there was a production shakeup behind the scenes that made the show a lot
more conventional during its abbreviated second and final year on the air.
Now don’t get me wrong, there were a number of good episodes during
season two, including the award winning Demon With A Glass Hand,
which is not only one of the best entries from the second season, it is
one of the best period. However, without the team of Leslie Stevens and
Joseph Stefano behind it, THE OUTER LIMITS lacked the creative
vision that made the show truly outstanding. Be that as it may, MGM Home
Entertainment has made all seventeen season two episodes of THE OUTER
LIMITS available on DVD in a three disc boxed set by for the price of
$69.96.
Disc
one, side one contains the episodes Soldier, Cold Hands Warm Heart,
Behold Eck! and Expanding Human. Soldier
features Michael Ansara and Lloyd Nolan in the story of soldier from the
future accidentally transported back in time. Cold Hands Warm Heart
stars William Shatner as an astronaut who has difficulty staying warm
after orbiting the planet Venus. Behold Eck! is the story of
a two dimensional creature caught in our three dimensional world, who
needs to find his way home before the dimensional rift that brought him to
our world destroys us. Expanding Human features James Doohan
in the story of a scientist who experiments on himself with a mind
expanding drug, which also has a significant effect on his physical being
as well.
Disc
one, side two contains the episodes Demon With A Glass Hand
and Cry of Silence. Demon With A Glass Hand
stars Robert Culp as a man named Trent, who has no memory and prosthetic,
computerized glass hand that is missing three fingers and pieces of its
own memory. Trent finds himself being pursued through a dilapidated office
complex by alien invaders, who are in possession of the prosthetic hand’s
three missing fingers, which may be the key to the fate of mankind. Please
note, Harlan Ellison, who earned the Writers Guild Award for his work,
wrote the script for Demon With A Glass Hand. Cry of Silence
features Eddie Albert and June Havoc in this story of a disembodied alien
presence that has begun to control inanimate objects, animals and even the
people that occupy a desert canyon.
Disc
two, side one contains the episodes The Invisible Enemy, Wolf 359,
I Robot and The Inheritors Part I. The
Invisible Enemy stars Adam West in the story of human explorers on
the planet Mars, who find themselves fighting for survival against an
unseen force. Wolf 359 features Patrick O’Neal as a
scientist who recreates a miniature version of a planet circling a distant
star- then introduces human DNA to the world to watch a process of
accelerated evolution. I Robot features an appearance from
Leonard Nimoy in the story of a robot that is accused of killing the
scientist who created him. The Inheritors Part I stars
Robert Duvall as a scientific investigator named Ballard, in this story of
a solider who comes under an alien influence after a bullet becomes lodged
in his brain. Then Ballard discovers that there are three additional
soldiers who have suffered the same fate.
Disc
two, side two contains the episodes The Inheritors Part II
and Keeper Of The Purple Twilight. The Inheritors Part
II continues the story with Ballard discovering that the four
soldiers have begun secretly working on building a spaceship and that they
have been recruiting a number of handicapped children to leave Earth with
them. Keeper Of The Purple Twilight stars Warren Stevens and
Robert Webber in this tale of a scientist who enters into a pact with an
alien- exchanging his ability to experience love and emotion for
scientific information that will lead to the creation of an ultimate
weapon, capable of obliterating the world.
Disc
three, side one contains the episodes The Duplicate Man,
Counterweight, The Brain Of Colonel Barham and The
Premonition. The Duplicate Man is the story of a
scientist who creates a duplicate of himself in an effort to kill an
escaped alien creature, which he illegally imported to Earth. Counterweight
is the story of a group of astronauts who endure grueling training for a
trip to another planet, then while in a simulation of their extended space
flight, they begin behaving irrationally, unaware of the presence of an
alien from the world to which they will be traveling. The Brain Of
Colonel Barham is kept alive after his death to be used in a
computer system designed for space exploration; however, once the organ
has control of the computer system it begins setting in motions its own
plans for world domination. The Premonition is the story of
a test pilot who finds the world around him strangely frozen after
breaking the sound barrier and in the position to save his daughter’s
life when time begins moving again. Finally, disc three, side two contains
the series final episode entitled The Probe, which tells of
the survivors of a plane crash, who find themselves the test subjects
inside an alien probe.
MGM
Home Entertainment has made all the season two episodes of THE OUTER
LIMITS- THE ORIGINAL SERIES available on DVD in their proper full
screen aspect ratios. The black and white transfers are quite good for the
age of the material, producing a clear and well-defined black and white
image. Of course, the picture does appear a bit grainy from time to time
and there are some occasional blemishes on the film elements, but neither
is a cause for concern. The black and white cinematography isn’t
particularly stylized, as it was in the first season, but comes across
with deep blacks, clean whites and a good level of contrast. Digital
compression artifacts are always well concealed, even when four episodes
are encoded onto a side of a DVD.
Season
two episodes from THE OUTER LIMITS episodes are presented with
their soundtracks in Dolby Digital monaural. The tracks would appear to
have been cleaned up in the mastering process, with neither background
hiss nor other audio anomalies becoming particularly noticeable. Fidelity
has its limitations, although each episode’s musical component manages
to sound reasonably good. Dialogue is always crisply rendered and
completely understandable. There are no other language tracks or subtitle
options encoded onto the DVDs. Animation and sound serve to enhance very
cool interface for the interactive menus. Through the menus, one can
choose a particular episode to view, as well as chapters within each
episode.
The
1960’s incarnation of THE OUTER LIMITS was certainly the greatest
of all science fiction anthology shows. And while the second season lacked
the vision of its freshman year, it provides plenty of entertainment value
and its own moments of greatness. MGM has done a fine job bringing season
two of THE OUTER LIMITS- THE ORIGINAL SERIES to DVD- offering good
looking and sounding presentations for all seventeen episodes. If you own
season one, you’ll definitely want to add this second set to your
collection.