Product Description

You hold in your hands an artifact from a time now vanished forever – a compendium of portals into worlds unknown. A three-disc set that controls over 14 hours of transmission from the 1964-65 series, this vessel has sought you out for one specific purpose: to expand your mind to "The Outer Limits"!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #50885 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-09-02
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 870 minutes

Amazon.com
Despite forced changes in executive and creative personnel, plummeting ratings and the constant threat of cancellation, the truncated second season of The Outer Limits (1964-65) yielded some of the series' finest episodes. While The Twilight Zone was fading fast on CBS, the bean-counters at ABC used focus groups and ratings statistics to enforce their previous mandate for a "monster of the week" format for their flagging science-fiction series, and after a few promising episodes early in the season, Outer Limits settled into a regrettable routine of reduced budgets and rubber-suit creatures that wouldn't pass inspection at a drunken Halloween party. A former network executive with minimal creative input, Perry Mason producer Ben Brady struggled to keep the doomed series alive while coproducer Seeleg Lester sought legitimacy by courting respected writers and material.

As Harlan Ellison observes in David J. Schow's indispensable book The Outer Limits Companion, weak ratings allowed quality episodes to slip under the radar of ABC executives. Ellison's own classic teleplays--"Soldier" (which would later inspire The Terminator and subsequent legal squabbles) and "Demon with a Glass Hand"--yielded the season's finest stand-alone episodes, while the two-part "The Inheritors" (featuring the young Robert Duvall) fulfilled the series' neglected potential for longer-form plotlines. While these highlights redeem the season, "Wolf 359" (a title that would later factor in Star Trek: The Next Generation) is eerily effective despite low-tech restrictions, and "Behold Eck!" is the "best" (relatively speaking) of the tepid monster-themed shows that ABC demanded. It wasn't enough: After 17 episodes against the Saturday-night dominance of The Jackie Gleason Show, the greatest science-fiction anthology series of the 1960s was mercifully canceled, primed for phenomenal success in syndication and eventual revival as the "new" Outer Limits in 1995. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Episodes reviewed, not nostalgia
I grew up with this show, as many of you have I suspect. It would be easy to review this in a nostalgic haze and give it 5 stars "just because". However, I have taken a step back and have reviewed each episode rationally, based on budget, cast, writers, etc. Along the way, it may appear as though I am overly concerned with the "not-so-special-effects" of the series but trust me, it is a point of minor contension. Still, since great effect based movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Planet of the Apes are barely three years away, I can't shake the notion that if the purse-strings were relaxed a little and it would have paid off big for a show that seemed doomed from the start. Often, the show could rise above it all, with superb acting, like in the first seasons "The Mutant", but why make a show work harder than necessary and potentially leave an accomplished actor looking foolish and silly?

Picture/sound/packaging: 4/5 Dissappointing yet predictable lack of 5.1 DD remastered sound. Original Star Trek seems to have proven to be the exception and not the rule in so far as sound. The picture is often nice, but varies from scene to scene on certain eps. I have no problem with the way the packaging is put together. So many complaints about the two sided discs? None here. And I think the packaging color scheme is an excellant compliment to Season One. My only real complaint is the cancellation of this series in the middle of season two, gosh, at least let the season finish!

--Episodes--Season 2--

(I consider 3 and above good, 2 or below poor.)

Soldier: 5/5
Cold Hands, Warm Heart: 2.5/5
Behold Eck!: 1/5
Expanding Human: 2.5/5
Cry of Silence: 3.5/5
Demon With a Glass Hand: 3/5
Wolf 359: 4/5
I, Robot: 4/5
The Invisible Enemy: 1/5
The Inheritors 1&2: 5/5
Keeper of the Purple Twilight: 3.5/5
Counterweight: 2/5
The Brain of Col. Barham: 1.5/5
The Premonition: 2.5/5
The Duplicate Man: 3.5/5
The Probe: 2.5/5

Wrap-up:
Still, in spite of all the hokey props, there lurks delicious camera angles, glorious sound, odd lighting, and most importantly, a fun sense of adventure that has all but since evaporated from the airwaves. In spite of the 3 stars, I cannot reccommend this set enough. Not because I'm caught like "the enemy" in the never-never, but because I'm trapped in a time period that uses "effects" to convey awe and mystery instead of imagination. The Outer Limits is a welcome look back at a future gone by.

Sony replaces bad disks; newly remanufactured April 2006
As others have noted, apparently all Outer Limits Original Series Season 2 sets were flawed when they left the factory. In 12/05 I contacted Sony through their web site, with little hope of getting a response. Imagine my surprise when, in 5/06, a new set arrived in the mail, with a letter of apology. So take heart, you CAN watch "I, Robot" and "The Inheritors" after all.

I encourage owners of bad sets to contact Sony Home Entertainment at sphe_customer_service@spe.sony.com to ask for a replacement.

I review the shows, not nostalgia
--Episodes--Season 2--

(I consider 3 and above good, 2 or below poor.)

Soldier: 5/5 Off and running in Season 2. Despite how cheesy the outfit looks, this episode has a sort of undefined magic. Micheal Ansara should have won something for his portrayal of the soldier, I honestly believed he was a soldier from the future. Although, I never have understood the effect of "the enemy" being trapped, it looks odd even today. I often wished this script could have been reworked in which the Soldier never comes home with Kagen, I think it loses some of its believeability once he does. However, even here it has brightspots like Quarlo's interest in the cat Mcbeth, and the reason for the interest. Think-speak? Odd.

Cold Hands, Warm Heart: 2.5/5 This ep. has elements that make it watchable, particularly, Shats insistance on the keeping warm. I think this is a decent ep. that could have been better, barring better effects. I always laugh at the term "Project Vulcan"... a precursor of things to come? This ep. is a great example of why Shat refers to himself as the Ham-o-saurus.

Behold Eck!: 1/5 Despite Eck! being a memorable character, well outside the usual gloom and doom of sci-fi, I find the story to be proposterous (um, a spectacle), yes, even for sci-fi. The "building effect" on the news looked neat-o though:) A glaring problem with this ep. stems from Season One's "Galaxy Being", that is similar to this but much, much better. Just watch that instead.

Expanding Human: 2.5/5 Not a bad ep. but considering the cast it should have probably been better. It's nice to see James Doohans suspicious wit and sarcasm formulating in this. I think this ep. was fair but not one I'd watch over and over, middle of the road. I wish James had a larger role, he is quite good.

Cry of Silence: 3.5/5 I really like this one. It has a forboding quality to it that still is effective today. And oddly enough this ep. opens with city-boy Eddie Albert wanting to give it all up to become a farmer... sound familiar? His wife in this gives a fine performance as a frightened woman just wishing it would all end, convincing but not overdone.

Demon With a Glass Hand: 3/5 I like Robert Culp in this quite a bit, unfortunately, the story, even though it's Ellison isn't very good. I am probably in the minority here, but I think this ep. is average at best. This always seems to come off like a "pilot" for a new series, similar to how Assignment Earth for Star Trek does, probably because Culp is so darn good. Tell it to the hand!

Wolf 359: 4/5 Great Sci-fi. This is a finely balanced episode that is interesting and yet doesn't try too hard. The effects are of coarse primitive, but the point is made. I like the cast, they are also well balanced and believeable. The subject matter is interesting but this show loses a point for slow pacing. Looking through the scope at the created world was quite effective.

I, Robot: 4/5 Even though I give this show a pretty high rating, I think the cast is primarily strained and wooden. The high rating is given in large part to the character Adam Link. The odd tone in his voice and the look of sentimentality may be all robot, but to me Adam is more human than most of the actors. Nimoy is fair in this, but nothing terribly memorable, a bit overzelous.

The Invisible Enemy: 1/5 There are few Outer Limits with no redeeming qualities, IMO, this is close to being one of them. Typical, predictable, and stale are words that come to mind. Adam West heads a cast of astronaughts that refer to women as "dames and broads". The rocket effects appear to be 50's quality and even though there is some tension near the end, it's far too little, too late.

The Inheritors 1&2: 5/5 I struggle with this dual episode despite the score. I think it is superbly acted, wonderfully directed, but what worries me is the conclusion one draws from the ending. Are we to understand that people can only truly be happy if they are "normal"? Even though I ponder the conclusion, I marvel at the great acting along the way, probably the best. Great story, also. MGM should have seen fit to put these on the same side of a disc however!

Keeper of the Purple Twilight: 3.5/5 In terms of dialogue, there's quite a bit to like here. Some meaningful exchanges about the meaning of love and life seem heartfelt. The acting is more than adequate although I must say the rubber suit costumes are again, just not very good. Even in '65 they were probably barely passable, and now they seem silly and are a bit distracting. Certainly, not the worst ever, but the immobile eyes and mouth take away from the reality of fantasy greatly.

Counterweight: 2/5 A show of this nature lives and dies depending on how well defined the individual characters are drawn up ( as in 5 Characters in Search of an Exit 5/5), in this case, it's a true failure. I think a redeeming factor is the soaring "vocal" score that gives it a dreamy essence, the odd ending of the reintroducing of characters, and a few other small factors, but this show just lacks any insight or punch.

The Brain of Col. Barham: 1.5/5 Some of the Outer Limits fail because of one simple reason; they are attempting to perform concepts 40 years ago that couldn't even be attempted now, when that unravels, the jig is up. They should have at least draped the set in a futuristic aura in hopes of pulling this off. On top of that the actors never seem to deliver lines with any sort of spontenaity. The sets aren't even half bad, but the concept is ridiculous, and the characters are hollow and vague.

The Premonition: 2.5/5 Ahhh... the obligatory "freeze frame" episode, which actually exceeds expectations in so far as the effect. Some really clever uses of the technique actually one ups the mighty TZ uses (not the picture stills though). However, having said that, this story has many, many holes. Far more than I could expound on here. And I never have understood why the title was used. The term "premonition" really doesn't apply in this case. Fair acting abounds, but doesn't cover the huge plot holes. Ok, I can't resist, why not tie the childs feet around the bike? Tying the bike in some way would have been far easier. Too easy? :)

The Duplicate Man: 3.5/5 There's quite a bit to like about this one. The sets, props, and feel are just right for the subject matter. The acting is quite good, the plot is interesting, and the payoff is rewarding. Had this been a typical monster hunt it wouldn't have worked. The Megasoid is as amusing as it is menacing and for a creature that is so "evolved" it isn't very bright. I would have liked to see this ep. as a two parter like The Inheritors, but as it stands, it's well crafted. For a series that had to cut corners on costumes, I'm surprised an attempt wasn't made to show the creatures as little as possible, it would have helped.

The Probe: 2.5/5 Not really out with a whimper or a bang. Nice cast, nice acting jobs all around, but the mood is quite sterile and ineffective. The concept of this last episode is interesting but the direction never rises above ordinary The "germs" design seems to be a pre-Horta from Star Trek.

Wrap-up:
Still, in spite of all the hokey props, there lurks delicious camera angles, glorious sound, odd lighting, and most importantly, a fun sense of adventure that has all but since evaporated from the airwaves. In spite of the 3 stars, I cannot reccommend this set enough. Not because I'm caught like "the enemy" in the never-never, but because I'm trapped in a time period that uses "effects" to convey awe and mystery instead of imagination. The Outer Limits is a welcome look back at a future gone by.