As others have already commented on the technical features of the set and the individual episodes, I just wanted to make a few comments on the series as a whole and perhaps how it was influenced by the cultural milieu of the time.
It was the drab 50s and then turbulent 60s, and the Cold War, with its threat of possible nuclear annihilation, was in full swing. Perhaps that explains the pervasive film noir ambience and dark mood that often hangs like a pall over many of the episodes. Although the characters are drawn from all levels of society and from all walks of life--from two-bit criminals to the rich and famous--many are just various and sundry low-lifes, riff-raff, criminals, and grifters. And then there are the simply down and out--the bored or emotionally overwrought, middle-aged and overstressed, desperate housewives, the dyspeptic, dispossessed, or depressed, and your average guy just down on his luck.
Almost every human emotion or character flaw or neurosis is explored: loneliness, depression, euphoria, greed, obsession, gambling addiction, hypochrondria, the lust for power, the fear of death, feelings of inferiority, failure, and inadequacy, feelings of ugliness and beauty, the stress of modern life, the old and unwanted, the young and neglected, the dispirited but still hopeful, the dispirited who have abandoned all hope, the highly successful who find their success and fame empty and meaningless, the losers who find their failures just as galling and damning, the boredom of a comfortable marriage, the boredom of the single and lovelorn, the boredom of a respectable middle-class existence, the boredom of grinding poverty, the desire to live forever, and on and on. Modern civilization and its discontents (or more like 20th-century America and its malcontents) seem to march by in all their false and meretricious glory. If this was the dull and malaise-ridden 50s and early 60s, one can only wonder what Serling would make of our frenetic and divided and paranoid post-9/11 world.
One funny aspect of the episodes is how unflatteringly writers themselves are portrayed. The episodes starring Keenan Wynn (in the first season) as a America's most famous (but philandering) playwright and Richard Haydn in the second season as a snobbish, effete, arrogant, spiteful, and verbally abusive wine and food writer with a short temper and a sharp wit and tongue, don't exactly portray writers in a positive light. :-)
In fact, overall, the series is notable for how many unsympathetic, unprepossessing, and even despicable characaters where often in the lead roles. :-)
So all in all, a truly unique piece of Americana from a long lost era whose themes and stories have held up better than I expected.
Nightmare on Twilight zone vol 2
"Submited for your aproval" we can find here in these vol 2 :
4 gems of the old show.
Nightmare at 20.000 feets, probably one of mst revered and beloved episodes of twilighT, and the most parodied, (in the simpsons treehouse of horror No 8, Johny Bravo, & Tiny Toons i thinks ..and of course the 80's version movie with John Lightowsegment
The others episodes are interesting for example Burgues Merdith performance in "Time enought at last", when i was child and i watched in 1983 the movie Twilight zone, I heard the dialogue between Dan Akroyd & Albert Brooks in the car about favorite episodes and this is one...
I remember when i read another review of the 1st seasen where is included originally this chapter t " The monster are due on maple street" with Claude adkins ( Aldo in planet of the apes last movie / & Sherrif Lobo).. that the aliens that appears in "monsters" were the inspiration behind Kang and the other alien from the Simpsons show.
The other episode about another nightmare with planes that have all the pasengers who travelled around time is interesting
Unfortunaly doesnt have subtittles
see Ya.
Franz
"The Twilight Zone Volume 2" = The Best "Zone" DVD! Four Superior Episodes!
Volume #2 in the series of "Twilight Zone" DVDs is what I consider to be by far the best individual volume. It offers four classic "TZ" programs, including two of my all-time favorites -- the two airplane-related episodes ("Nightmare At 20,000 Feet" and "The Odyssey Of Flight 33").
The other two half-hour shows on this DVD are also extremely good as well -- "Time Enough At Last" and "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street".
The picture quality is very good within the "Twilight Zone" series of DVDs. Audio is good too (in Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono). There are a minimal number of Chapter Stops included on all four programs, too (3 breaks per show), but they certainly could have placed the breaks in more appropriate spots throughout each episode. Some of the chapters begin in mid-sentence. And there's no break right after the opening credits, which would have been nice.
A "Play All" option is also provided, although it's not labelled "Play All". Selecting "Feature Presentation" from the Main Menu will play all four shows back-to-back.
No subtitles are included.
Not much in the way of extra features here. But there are some text-based "Inside The Twilight Zone" items.
Since this second volume is one of the earliest (1999) TZ discs put out by Image Entertainment, you'll have to put up with the annoying "animated eyeball" Menu design (and repetitive "Zone" music that never stops) -- but it's a minor annoyance. The quality of these four episodes overcomes the aggravating and slow-transitioning Menu system. ;)
I have enjoyed nearly all of the TZ volumes, but this "Volume 2" tops 'em all for great episode selection, IMHO. The only thing that could have possibly made this volume better would have been by adding a fifth program to the disc -- that being another William Shatner classic, "Nick Of Time". Volume 9 contains that one.
As others have already commented on the features and technical aspects of this set (which were generally well regarded), I thought I would make a few comments more on the episodes themselves.
This series aired for a few years in the early 60s (although it started in 1959) and immediately passed into pop culture and TV legend. Many famous actors and actresses, or soon to be famous, appeared in the show. I especially remembered the episode with Robert Redford, who was probably in his mid to late 20s but who looked 18, playing Mr. Death who had come to get an old woman.
In addition to Serling, the main writers for the show were Charles Beaumont and Richard Matheson, who had already established reputations as fantasy writers, and who wrote many of the episodes. There... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Ida Lupino - Alvin Ganzer - Richard Donner - Allen Reisner - John Rich DVD Release Date: Released the 03 April 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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I just wanted to make a few comments comparing the two main editions, and also on the series in general, since others have already commented on the individual episodes.
Although the Definitive Editions are nice in that they have all the Bonus Material and features, it's not necessary to get those to enjoy the series. The most important thing is to have the episodes themselves. These will be more important for the truly diehard fans. However, for those who are interested, besides containing the 37 episodes, the Bonus Material on DVD five is:
This is by far the best volume in the 1-5 set! It deals with themes of Artificial Life and a twist on the origins of man!
"Long Distance Call" -- a chilling episode about a little boy and his dying grandmother. [**]
"I Sing the Body Electric" -- an robotic nanny is built to take care of some children. They grow attached to her... [**1/2]
"The Lonely" -- Perhaps the best TZ episode ever? A prisoner on a lifeless planet is given a robot companion. He is at first reluctant to buy into this illusion, but this illusion becomes his reality... [*****]
"Probe 7, Over and Out" -- Great episode written by Sterling about a man who crashes his spaceship on a (seemingly) uninhabited planet. He later discovers his home planet destroys itself... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Ida Lupino - Alvin Ganzer - Richard Donner - Allen Reisner - John Rich DVD Release Date: Released the 03 April 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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