Review of Twilight Zone, The: Vol 17

Introduction

This Twilight Zone collection has the theme of “Justice Applied…In the Twilight Zone”


"What You Need", Episode 12 - December 25, 1959: An old sidewalk salesman who has an uncanny ability to tell people what they need the most becomes the key to a better life for a two-bit thug.


"What’s in the Box", Episode 144 - March 13, 7, 1964: Joe Britt (William Demarest) sees his secrets and its consequences revealed on his newly repaired TV set. Frantically he tries to alter his fate by confronting his wife (Joan Blondell).

"The Mirror", Episode 71 - October 20, 1961: Peter Faulk is the ambitious Central American farm worker who after overthrowing his country’s tyrannical leader becomes obsessed by the threat of assassins everywhere. The mirror reveals his most dangerous enemies.

“The Old Man in the Cave”, Episode 127- November 8, 1963: A tiny community survives after the Bomb destroys much of the Earth, but only with the help of a mysterious guardian. Spurned on by a bullying outsider Major French (James Coburn), the towns people become an angry mob bent on learning the secret of the “Old Man in the Cave”.


These Twilight Zone DVD’s keep on coming and there is no let up in quality episodes. Here we have another great collection of stories all with the theme of people being brought to justice for their actions. The stand out episodes here are “ The Mirror” featuring Peter Faulk of ‘Columbo’ fame which features a very good script and some great acting. It really doesn’t feel like a Twilight zone episode at all and I’m sure could have been expanded to a feature length film about the tyrannical insanity of the revolutionary farm worker. This is one of the episodes from Serling which features an obvious reference and comment on the political happenings of the day i.e. Fidel Castro

After this little break away from the usual style of episode your brought back to the norm with “The Old Man in the Cave”. This has the old ‘Zoned out’ style feeling in spades and concerns itself with the arrogance and greed of man and the inevitable consequences of these actions. In addition, you must remember nuclear holocaust was the nearest it has ever been to the American people at this time in history. With the little twist in the tail, I am sure that this will remain a memorable episode for those people who are new to the Twilight Zone and a nice trip down memory lane for the rest of us.
The other two episodes here are fairly good but not up to the same quality, although in “What you need” the idea of the old salesman who has the ability to tell you what you need is an interesting and intriguing one and is well worth some consideration and thought. It is only let down by the fairly standard and obvious plot.
“What’s in the box” is the weakest here although its still worth a viewing if only for the guy that did the Winnie the Pooh voice.

Video

The picture quality seems to be a little lacking here especially in the first two episodes. There is quite a bit of grain which detracts from the otherwise decent print and there are a few scratches and bits of dust which occasionally appear. Don’t get me wrong its nothing really appalling or unwatchable it’s just not up to the usual standard. The picture always has good contrast though and some really deep black levels with no compression problems.
The other episodes seem to fair better with less grain and a clearer print but again suffers from the occasional fleck of dust or dirt. Remember these are old made for TV episodes and so are restricted by the source material. If you’ve seen the other Twilight Zone DVD’s and were happy with the quality then there is nothing here that will worry you.

Audio

Again with the first episode it is not up to the usual standard. The noise level is quite high although speech and music remain clear. The other episodes fair better with the usual clear dialogue and effects. Again the noise floor is slightly higher here than you may be used too but considering what it was originally mixed for it does the job admirably.

Features

Like the rest of the Twilight Zone volumes on DVD this edition contains various notes and essays about the series in general and the specific featured episodes. Inside the Twilight Zone contains a Rod Serling biography, a season by season commentary, history of the twilight zone and a review and credit section for each episode on the disk. This section is written by the author of “The Twilight Zone Companion” Marc Scott Zicree.
You also get the small postcard set that have a brief synopsis and picture of each episode printed on them.

Conclusion

Although the audio/visual quality on the first episode may not be up to the usual high standard the disk still remains essential viewing for the Zone fans out there. Considering the age and source material these disk really show off the series in the quality it deserves. Good episodes, decent price, a classic series. What more do you want?