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The Outer Limits - The Original Series, Season 1

The Outer Limits - The Original Series, Season 1

List Price: $79.96
Your Price: $63.97
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: If you're into sci-fi, how can you miss?
Review: I was a short-sighted individual who bought the episodes on VHS. I enjoyed them a lot. This is classic sci-fi, and there's probably an entire generation of sci-fi fans out there who are only familiar with the current 90's high-budget color Outer Limits.

These are just as good. Sure, the effects aren't as fancy, but the stories are interesting and captivating. Great writing!

So, when I find someone to take all my VHS copies, I'll buy this. It may be a while.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Things beyond our understanding.....
Review: Okay, I have watched this entire collection, and am so ecstatic that I needed to write about it. I encountered no flaws in the discs themselves, but maybe I got lucky. Hopefully, anyone who does experience a flaw will be able to get a full refund, or exchange from wherever they bought it.

Is this set worth buying? YES! A few years ago, this series was out in two volumes on Laserdisc (a dying format now, I realize) for about 100 dollars each. This is true. On video, each episode was available ... (and still may be available). But think of the savings when you buy the entire season on [DVD!!!] You get 32 ONE HOUR episodes (50 minutes each without commercials. They did have less commercial interruptions back then.) ... This is one of the all-time greatest deals ever.
The show itself is excellent, and out of 32 episodes, there were only about 5 or 6 that I found were less than stellar. The others were fantastic.
Major standouts are: "The Galaxy Being", "100 Days of the Dragon", "The Invisibles", "Nightmare", and "The Chameleon" but many more are just as great.
For those people that would rather be watching Twilight Zone remember this, Twilight Zone tried the one hour format, but after 6 episodes returned to the 1/2 hour format for the rest of its run. The Outer limits did nothing BUT Hour long episodes in its two years, and I for one find both series near the very top of my favorite science fiction programs on television. Don't miss out on THE OUTER [LIMITS!!!]

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Spellbinding-Eerie-Captivating-Haunting-Classic Sci-Fi!
Review: I've never read so many negative reviews! Hey! Update your equipment - you can't enjoy dvd technology on VHS era home theatre equipment! This dvd collection is PERFECTLY remastered in every sense for the era during which it was produced, and I'll add that it appears and sounds SUPERIOR to what I recall watching the series as a child. It was definitetly one of the most intriguing and fully entertaining TV shows ever produced and aired during their era...and this collection fully reestablishes the IMPACT the series had on sci-fi and horror film fans. I've played the dvd set on all three of my dvd players(two cheapies!)-TV-Stereo reciever combos; etc, also on my PC,and encountered absolutely NO PROBLEMS whatsoever during the playbacks. This collection, along with the AVENGERS original TV Series dvd collection both bring back memories and flashback me to my childhood. Both in Classic BLACK & WHITE, perfectly remastered in all their original legendary small screen glory! Now I'm remembering WHERE I saw alot of those eerie monsters and aliens I'd recall every now and then since my childhood. They don't make Sci-fi films like this anymore...everything is so generic and predictably produced run of the mill now. The OUTER LIMITS dvd collection transports you back to a time when you were being transported to what was a conjured up and imagined distant future on earth and other galaxies. Amazing what the creative mind can produce for entertainment.The OUTER LIMITS Original Tv Series is a must have for your collection.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent vintage TV sci-fi...
Review: Please, MGM/UA, release the remaining 16 episodes on DVD.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Volume three had errors coding errors.
Review: I have a Dell PC with a three giga hertz processor and 1.5 giga bytes of RAM. When I played either the epsisode "Invisibles" or the episode "Second Chance" the first parts of each episode on that DVD are badly coded. They freeze PowerDVD and then when other parts of the episode are selected it works fine.
I find it very irritating.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Utter bliss! Baby Boomers line up....
Review: With talents like Joseph Stephano and Leslie Stephens as producers, some of the best Sci-Fi Writers and a lot of talented 60's actors and even actors that went on to great fame like Robert Culp, David McCallum, Sally Kellerman, Robert Duvall and Martin Landau, this was one of the first quality Sci-Fi series.

Twilight Zone was out there, but at times it was not really pure Sci-Fi, often more mysterious and horror, Thriller hosted by Boris Karloff (PLEASE PUT THESE OUT on DVD) were pure horror and the long running Alfred Hitchcock Present was straight mystery, so SCI-FI fans were captivated from the opening line with that mysterious voice telling you your telly has been taken over for the next 60 minutes. The acting was top notch, the writing literate and thought provoking, and you will even see many of the episodes were later cannibalised later to make movies, such as SOLDIER with Michael Anshara, repackaged in the 80's as The Terminator. To think you get 32 original episodes on 4 double-sided discs is just amazing.

There are a few puppies in the series...In the second year of the series Stephano played a less controlling interest. He believed in thoughty mind twisting Sci-Fi, while Stevens wanted the monster of the week, so some monsters did get a little Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea-ish (Think they even shared a couple with monster doing double time!). But all in this in one super buy is a must for all those Baby Boomers that would once more would like their telly taken over.

Warning to those who have not seen the series, these are vintage, high quality Black & White episodes. I think it adds to the spookiness as they could film in lower light, creating those sinister shadows.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: For the next few minutes, sit quietly while you read...
Review: After receiving The Outer Limits a couple of weeks ago I started watching it in earnest, fearing that some of the disks might be faulty after reading some of the other reviews.

Although one of the disks had a scratch, it played without a problem. Out of all 32 episodes (thats over 27 hours), one episode jumped for a single second and another jumped during the opening credits.

I would agree with others that the packaging, although VERY compact, could result in the disks getting scratched. I would advise anyone upon receiving this box set to put a couple of sheets of paper into the case to prevent the disks from touching.

Although I had to turn the sound up a bit, the quality of both the sound and picture was good.

If anyone is thinking of buying this box set because they remember the show to be great...don't. Some of the episodes are great. Some are boring and slow. Most are average.

There are a number of episodes here that I wouldn't be in any rush to watch again. Having said that, I did enjoy watching them all. Even the slow episodes had some scenes that would merit a second viewing. I would also advise anyone watching to read The Outer Limits Companion at the same time. Its great for getting some background material on the production of the show, such as problems with the censors and just what the producers wanted to say.

If you are about to start watching The Outer Limits, I would recommend that you look at the sets used in individual episodes. Its amazing how many times the same staircase or corridor turns up. Look at the staircase in The Special One and The Guests; its the same one.

The vehicles are another thing to look out for. Most are very dusty. Just where did they store them?

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Collector's Anthology in Every Sense of the Word
Review: It's hard to believe that 40 years have passed since this landmark series was telecast for the first time. The original "Outer Limits" was truly a remarkable achievement in its era for network television, occasionally borrowing themes and premises from Rod Serling's "Twilight Zone", but frequently with darker and more cynical commentaries on humanity's frailities, shortcomings, and cultural narcissism.

"Outer Limits" was big on the interplay between the ethical ambiguities of scientific progress and the capability of human beings to make choices that are both rational and compassionate, often by introducing aliens ("The Architects of Fear") or mutants ("The Mutant") or social misfits ("The Man with the Power") to drive home a subtle (and sometimes obscure) moral lesson. The series was not so big on production values and technical credibility. But in an age that was still early for television and in an era of general scientific illiteracy among much of the American public, these were forgivable sins for a TV program.

And if you were an awestruck 12-year-old like me, you didn't care about all that anyway. Each episode was like peering into a strange new Orwellian world, forboding and dangerous but seductive because of its fantastic possibilities. The eerie score and background music by composer Dominic Frontiere made the stories even more compelling.

I am truly grateful to MGM for producing this set of DVDs. I has been like a step backward in time! And I hope that the second season will be on its way in the near future...

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Great Series! Lousy Mastering...
Review: I purchased my favorite Outer Limits episodes on VHS a couple of years ago before they were released on DVD. I am still impressed with the high quality of these first season television shows. The original ideas, great writing and top-notch acting make this my favorite TV sci-fi series.

I would have eagerly bought the DVD version so I could enjoy the superior picture, sound and convenience. Unfortunately the decision makers chose to place these programs on double-sided disks which are quite inconvenient. It would have made much more sense to use dual-layer DVDs. I have a Pioneer F727 300+1 carousel DVD player. It would be quite annoying to have to take out each DVD, turn it over and replace it to see all the programming.

I don't understand why anyone would think that consumers prefer double-sided DVDs to dual layer...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Very Impressive!!
Review: When this series premiered in 1963, I was a curious 5 year old boy seeking a sense of watching things which knowingly, scare me to death(which was why I slept at night with my head under the covers). Each week I would be eager to tune in to hear the control voice to see what monsterous creature was lurking on The Outer Limits. Since recently purchasing this DVD, it was refreshing to see these classic episodes and even those I had missed during its original run. The picture quality is clear and crisp, with the sound being superb like the series was produced within a last few months. If you are a true fan of the awe and mysteries of science fiction, you won't be disappointed with this DVD. My only question now is when the heck will the second and final season of The Original Outer Limits be coming to DVD?? I can hardly wait!!


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