Selected Customer Reviews
About time they made a collection
I will admit that I was not alive when this show was first aired but that doesn't mean I can't enhoy it as much as the next person. I do have a problem paying 90$ for it. If you are millitary go to the PX/BX/NEX and you can get it for 35$. At Wal-Mart it is 50. And to everyone giving it a bad review because it isn't a season set, you have to realize two things: 1, none of the episodes are interrelated and 2, before tv-ondvd got so big the only way you could by tv shows were in volumes
proably the most intelligent television show ever
In an era of rubber monsters,creature features and fears of a
soviet invasion,Rod Serling's Twilight Zone stands out as one
of the most intelligent things to have ever screened on T.V.
despite being widely criticised at the time by zealous t.v.
critics for it's sci-fi content it thoughtfully challenged a
lot of the social/political notions of the day(and some that sadly still need to be challenged today).
What was missed by the critics was that confronting issues of race etc in the late50s/early 60's was a highly risky manouevere particularly in the medium of Television.
Though this is not to say Rod Serling didn't enjoy the otherworldly element of the twilight zone which he used as a storytelling method.
I grew up in the 80's and though knew of the twilight zone through numerous pop culture references and the 80's incarnation of the show it wasn't untill the advent of DVD that I actively began to seek out the twilight zones of the 50's and what a fantastic find, for me it is the best television show ever mixing black comedy(Time enough at Last)social commentary(The monsters are due on Maple Street) and out and out sci-fi/horror fun(Nightmare at 10,000 feet).
If you don't own any Twilight Zone material the collection boxsets are really the way to go,if you buy the single dvds you'll usually find that you've become that addicted to them you'll wind up searching e-bay at 2am in the morning contemplating paying some exorbortant fee for a second hand copy you can't find anywhere!!
These boxsets are well presented and are more value for money than collecting the individual dvds, as being a perfectionist when it comes to collecting items i went through agony trying to obtain all 40 of them which i ran out of money trying to do(although i did wind up buying and keeping "Treasures of the twilight zone" and "More Treasures of the Twilight zone" which i do reccomend if you're nearing the completion of your Twilight Zone collection).
Rod Serling what a brilliant storyteller,truly a shakespeare in the golden age of Television,a shining beacon of intellectual hope in a sea of canned laughter and soap and ciggarette commercials.
DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR AND BUY THIS NOW!!
Better than most modern crap
You would think after forty years, producers might have learned a thing or 2 about the importance of good writing. But I have discovered from frequent disappointment that most movies are not worth even five minutes of my time.
Okay, so these "Twilight Zone" episodes are black and white. The shows are old-fashioned and reflect yesterday's fears. You can even say that the sets, filming, and special effects are funny when they don't intend to be. You can also point out that the women appear to be stereotypical Hollywood women.
EVEN SO! There are some gems in this collection. The writing is--with many exceptions--generally, GOOD. My personal favorite is "The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank."
Compare any Twilight Zone episode to a modern mess of a movie called "Primer", and you will see that color film does not really matter all that much!
The price, $80, is a bit dear; I suggest buying USED, because lookit, it's a DVD, the quality's the same no matter how many klods have viewed it. The price/performance ratio influences my rating here.
I remember fondly curling up in the sofa to watch the TZ on TV, back when I was a young whippersnapper. I always looked forward to this show above all others on that wasteland we know as television. How can you not like such a cool exploration into fringe areas and the unknown?