Starring: Rod Serling, Robert McCord, Jay Overholts, Vaughn Taylor, James Turley Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Audience Rating: Unrated Binding: DVD Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: April 03, 2001 Running Time: 90 minutes Studio: Image Entertainment Theatrical Release Date: October 02, 1959
Please help! ^ All of the Twilight Zones are great! But - two of my all time favorite episodes - I can't seem find anywhere. Perhaps I am just overlooking them somehow. Can someone plese tell me where I can find the TZ DVDs that include the episodes "The Masks" and "The Howling Man"? I am very frustrated at not being able to locate these! Thank you so much...
This DVD contains four excellent episodes of an exceptional series which has not been matched over the decades, but some series have come close to the quality of the original Twilight Zone. Listed below are my personal reflections on these episodes since I watched them when they originally aired between 1959-1963.
"The Monsters are Due on Maple Street" aired on March 4, 1960. March 4 was a day which saw Lucy filed for divorce from Desi. The first family of television became a broken statistic of society. Down in Havana at 3pm, the French ship - La Coubre' was unloading munitions. As Fidel Castro hovered near by in his helicopter, the ship exploded killing and injuring many. Of course, Castro blamed the CIA and the growing tensions between the two countries were heading for a nuclear showdown.
However, as we watched the program, we felt the fear experienced by the normal people on a common street in an average town in America. There were too many uncertainties in 1960. We had heard that there were spies among us. Since the Roswell episode, looking at the stars at night from the front porch one had to wonder if there were aliens among us as well as the "godless Communists" which we heard about from our teachers and pastors each week. We had some neighbors on our street who were a bit odd. And we wonder if they were who they appear to be-just simple Americans living their lives in 1960 or were they sinister agents of a foreign power either across the sea or from one of those night stars.
"Time Enough at Last" on November 20, 1959 caused my fellow first graders to walk down the block to the Carnegie City Library to see if there was a vault. We knew there were thousands of books to give us something to do, but would it be safe. The librarian reassured us that the basement was certified as a Fallout Shelter, and we would be protected. Now, we know that the Fallout Shelters in public buildings were a psychological ploy to comfort the people. Radiation fallout would not have cared about schools, libraries, etc. Radiation poisoning would not have spared the children across the world.
"Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" on October 11, 1963 was an episode that we elementary students could not relate to since none of us had ever flown in a plane. However, the image of the goblin on the wing was an image that haunted us for years to come. We did not quite understand that the real goblins were those men who hid in windows and dark corridors waiting for their moment of infamy. We would see this reality in a few weeks on our black and white screens of a young leader gunned down and the funeral procession as a nation dressed in black mourned. Black and white images were appropriate for our lives in late November, 1963.
"The Odyssey of Flight 33" on February 24, 1961 caused us to imagine what it would be like lost in time on a plane, even though, we had never been on a plane. For that matter, time travel was a theme which we pondered on as much as our young minds could so, especially when our teacher, Mrs. _____ , was in one of her moods and decided to punish one of us for the sheer enjoyment of it. We all hoped that Mrs. ____ would take a plane trip soon.
Anyway, it was an unusual and fearful time for us elementary students growing up in the shadows of the Cold War and the ever lingering prospect of the destruction of our civilization. The Twilight Zone brought us some time to escape these vestibules of life.
In addition, some of these episodes scared us where a glass of hot milk and cookies were no comfort for our nightly repose. A hug or an encouraging word from a parent that there would be a tomorrow always helped us kids get through the school week. Of course, there would be another episode of The Twilight Zone to watch and experience.
Please enjoy these episodes and see what lessons you can gain from these intriguing stories for your life in 2009.
Best Episodes of the Series ^ These are undoubtedly the best episodes of the series. "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" was adapted from the 1951 radio script "The Button Pushers" also scripted by Serling. "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" almost gave director Richard Donner a heart-attack when Edd Byrnes and William Shatner played a practical joke on the director. The name of Henry Bemis' wife, Helen, was an in-joke to Burgess Meredith's real-life ex-wife.
Trivia supplied not from the DVD, but from the book, "The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic" because the 800 plus page book is a P-E-R-F-E-C-T companion to the DVD. Before or after you watch an episode, you can use the book to uncover the in-jokes, bloopers and trivia that make viewing these episodes fun. Both are available on Amazon.
Great Volume in a Great Collection ^ So much of what we see on the classic TZ episodes has been redone to death these days. These are some of the ORIGINAL stories from a classic age of sci-fi suspense. This volumes includes four of the best episodes ever. It really is odd that they put such complete quality on one disc. This volume will not disappoint! Highly recommended.
A perfect collection of TZ episodes! ^ Ever since the New Years/4th of July Marathons on SciFi channel started, I have been hooked on The Twilight Zone.
This dvd is a great array of representative episodes: Time Enough at Last, The Monsters are Due on Maple Street, Nightmare at 20,000 Feet and The Odyssey of Flight 33 are the episodes featured. Burgess Meredith, William Shatner, over-reacting, mob mentalities, the unexplainable, the ironic, and the human are all here. Everything TZ embodies in every episode and in its overall ideal is here on this dvd.
A good choice for a first time buyer/viewer. This one is sure to please.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tailipoe
Tony's Online Tips
Trevor
