Twin Peaks - Pilot Episode [IMPORT]

Rating:
Summary: Just a plain ole Twin Peaks fan from long ago.
Review: I'm assuming the only people truly interested in Twin Peaks are those of us who loved the show in 1990-91 (Particularly the first season) and still want to see it today. I was a faithful watcher the first season until ABC changed the time slot and the plot got a little too "spread out" after the first season concluded. Un fortunately, I lost interest which may be the case for the rest of the world because the show was cancelled soon after. This review is for all of those who know "Who killed Laura Palmer", own a copy of the "Secret Diary of Laura Palmer" or never saw the show and wish to see what the big deal is about by starting their own Twin Peaks revival. This is also for those who don't over alalyze the show and don't care a bit about the anal details of DVD sound quality and the occasional blip in the picture. I'm a normal guy who likes the show, own a normal tv set and have owned a DVD player for only 6 months. GET THIS DVD. Don't worry about it coming from China, don't fret over the fact that the DVD extras [stink], and don't worry about the sound being out of sequence (what ever that means). Dont let the "import only" sticker on the cover worry you, it works on our TV's here in the USA just fine. Sure the sound is a little hollow but it can't be worse than the original quality over broadcast TV in the early 90's. Sure there are subtitles, but you can turn them off, sure the picture isn't digital quality, so what. We all still enjoy Key Largo and it isn't even in color. This is a good DVD and we're lucky that the good folks in Taiwan have come up with this copy. Now, for those of you new to the show, here's the order to purchasing and watching Twin Peaks. Watch this DVD, The Pilot episode 1st, then the 1st season DVD set, then the "Fire Walk With Me" movie. All are good and this way, you don't start at the end. If you want anal reviews by those folks who get so absorbed in their hobbies and television shows, read some of the other reviews here, go to the many hundreds of web sites on the Internet or find a Twin Peaks reunion festival 1000 miles away, drive two days and surround yourself to the point your friends think you're weird. Either path you choose, you'll enjoy this DVD and the Twin Peaks series.

Rating:
Summary: Great Episode Shame About the DVD
Review: The first thing to say about this DVD is that it is the pilot episode for the series and NOT the "European" version which was had an extra half hour tagged on at the end. Therefore this ends with Sarah Palmer's vision which leads into the series and is not a self contained film.

For those who don't know the story, Twin Peaks is a North-West American town filled with wonderful and quirky characters. The initial impression is of a quiet little town living in a psuedo-50s world. The discovery of the body of local high school girl Laura Palmer shakes the town to the core. The discovery of a brutalised Ronnette Pulaski, classmate of Laura, points to the work of a serial killer which brings FBI special agent Dale Cooper to the town in the hope of uncovering the murderer's identity. Compared with later episodes, the pilot is more restrained, being a simply murder mystery story which gives us a glimpse of Twin Peaks and its inhabitants. As the series progressed, the quirkiness of those inhabitants and the deeper, darker mysteries of the town would be revealed.

Enough has already been said about this DVD but I should mention that I found the sound quality unbearable - the average Joe will have to do a lot of fiddling to get even decent sound from the DVD and the experience is ultimately unsatisfying. The pitcure quality is reasonable but is not up to the standards of the majority of DVDs.

Story wise I would rate this DVD five stars
Picture quality I would rate it three stars
Extras - no stars
Sound quality - no stars

I am a great fan of Twin Peaks and have watched the series every year (I have it on laserdisc and have a rather worn out VHS of the pilot from its original broadcast) but I was very disappointed in this DVD and sold my copy on. My one hope is that its popularity will convince someone to finally release the pilot in proper condition worthy of both the series and the DVD format.

Rating:
Summary: My VHS copy was on the verge of going into the black lodge
Review: My VHS copy was on the verge of going into the black lodge and being stuck there forever. So when I saw this DVD I jumped on it. After getting the Twin Peaks box set as a Christmas gif without the pilot, I was so disappointed. This DVD is definitely better that my VHS copy so I went ahead and bought it. Sound is not great and picture isn't much better. I was thrilled that it cut out the European ending. I can never remember where to stop the tape. That is the best part of this DVD. It is afterall better that nothing. And it is TWIN PEAKS.

Rating:
Summary: and why isnt this packaged with season one?
Review: does anyone know? its not that this isnt a great DVD, it is-its just that its just the 1st pilot-im a wee bit salty to pay 20.00 just for the pilot without any extras

Rating:
Summary: The Sound Stinks!
Review: Okay... It was great to have this on DVD, but I was horrified by the sound. It was not so bad as to make the disc unwatchable, but still very disturbing nonetheless. If you can get the disc used, or borrow a friend's copy, I suggest doing that. If you still have your old laserdisc, hang onto it!

If you have never seen the pilot and are a big TP fan, it is worth it for the story, but it is about 20 minutes shorter than the VHS (and LD) version.

Rating:
Summary: disgruntled of england
Review: twin peaks.
what can i say! mybe one of the most oustanding surreallist comments of a generation, but feeding on extremely realist subject matter. a master piece; of scriptwriting, direction, acting. lighting --- name it, it was/os magnificent.
WHY IS IT ONLY REGION 1
WHAT HAS DAVID LYNCH GOT AGAINST THE REST OF THE WORLD?
when will it be released on region 2?
and for the amtter, when will we get to see mullholland drive?

Rating:
Summary: Who killed Laura Palmer?
Review: You won't find out by watching this but you will be hooked for sure and have no doubt you will wan't to find out. Any one who knows the work of David Lynch knows he is one of the best story tellers of our time or any. Do your self a favor and have a hot cup of black coffee and sit back and feel the flavor of this off beat small town called TWIN PEAKS. This intriguing mystery with all of it's great characters and twists and turns will keep you guessing till you find out...... who killed Laura Palmer. She's filled with secrets. And you will want to know every one!

Rating:
Summary: Will it ever be re-released in better quality?
Review: Having never seen the pilot, this was an unexpected pleasure. I had completely missed Twin Peaks on TV. Later in life I discovered the entire series in the "cult" section at my local video store. I immediately became hooked and watched the whole series three times through over the next couple of years without knowing the pilot was missing.

I read in another review that the original two-speaker sound track is missing and it definitely sounds like it. On two speakers (my only option), the sound is down right annoying, with constant hiss and sound effects that are obvisouly too loud. A slight flange effect is heard throughout, like hiss through heard through a length of pipe. The overall sound is similar to playing an audio tape originally recorded with Dolby NR with the Dolby switched off.

Video quality was also disappointing. Faint, fixed pattern noise appears in the dark scenes and the overall random noise level is arguably worse than a VHS tape. Definitely not worthy of the DVD medium and no comparison the the outstanding first season DVD .

My only regret: I wish I had bought a used copy.

-Roy

Rating:
Summary: The sound is bad
Review: Sorry, but I can't agree with the review I read here. The sound is really bad, mostly coming from the front speakers and is somehow metallic, artificial. It's certainly not to be compared with the fantastic region 1 series box.

Rating:
Summary: All or Nothing?
Review: ...I was very happy to receive my copy but was nervous about just how bad the quality would be.
I have to say, it certainly won't impress anyone where clarity of picture and sound are concerned but for me, just having it is good enough. I am a very big David Lynch fan and an even bigger fan of Twin Peaks specifically. So for me, while I would certainly love to have a copy of the pilot that looked and sounded as good a the first season DVD set, it really doesn't matter because I'll take any way I can get and right now this is the only way to get it.
I watched it with stereo sound on a system capable of producing 5.1 channel sound (currently the center and rear channel speakers are not connected) and while there was A LOT of distortion it was not so bad as to make the disc unwatchable. So, in my opinion some of the criticism here may be a little harsh.
The picture does fare better than the sound but is far from usual DVD quality. I would have to agree with another reviewer's description of the picture quality as somewhere between VHS and DVD. It's not at all offensive but is disappointing.
While the disc may not be of great or even pretty good quality the one thing it is is an important part of any Twin Peaks fan's DVD collection. If you already have a nice VHS copy you may be able to afford to wait and see if we ever do get a better DVD release but if you don't and you're a fan there's really no reason not to go ahead and order this.
Personally, I like knowing that if I have someone over who's never seen the genius that is Twin Peaks I won't have to start them two hours into the fun.