Featured TV on DVD Review: The Twilight Zone: Season One

February 17, 2020

Twilight Zone: Season One - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray

When Jordan Peele announced he was going to remake The Twilight Zone, there were a lot of responses. Some were very excited about seeing his take on the classic TV show, while others were worried that it simply couldn’t compare to the original. Which side was correct? And is the Blu-ray release worth picking up?

The Show

The Twilight Zone is an anthology horror series, so there’s not overall plot to talk about. There’s not even any real recurring characters to talk about, as Jordan Peele is the only one in every episode. He plays the same role Rod Serling, played in the original as the omnipotent and every-present narrator, but that’s hardly a plot dependent character that needs to be explained. I guess I’m done with the plot.

Review

Both Get Out and Us are considered absolute classics. In fact, Get Out is one of the rare horror films to earn multiple Oscar nominations. Because of this, Jordan Peele’s reboot of The Twilight Zone had to deal with very high expectations, which can be a blessing and a curse. People were certainly interested in seeing the show, but it needed to be an instant classic to live up to these expectations. It isn’t an instant classic.

There are three main complaints I’ve seen levied at this show, starting with the pacing. I have to agree with this one, as the show does have pacing issues. Nearly every episode needed to be at least a little longer, while some episodes would have been better off as 30-minute episodes instead of stretched to 45 minutes. The second main complaint I mostly agree with is the style of horror, which is more low-key dread than major scares. There’s not a lot here that will get your heart pounding, but whether or not this is an issue is up to your personal taste in horror. Fortunately, even the weaker episodes have an impressive enough cast that they remain engaging, while the best of the episodes have solid replay value.

There is one last complaint that I saw repeatedly. A certain segment of the audience complained that the show was too political, which is a laugh if you know anything about Rod Serling. Rod Serling repeatedly got into trouble with networks and censors because his shows were so overtly political. He was very anti-war due to his experiences in the military and had strong opinions about racial equality, so anyone complaining about the political aspects of the reboot either never saw the original, or wasn’t paying attention when they watched it. This show fits right in with Rod Serling’s work in that regard.

The Extras

Each episode has Opening the Door, a very short making of featurette, as well as a promo. There is also a 37-minute long featurette on Rod Serling on Disc One and a two-part making of featurette for the full season on Disc Three. Disc three also has three minutes of outtakes and a short look at all of the Easter Eggs in season one. Disc four has all of the episodes in Black and White... why? This reminds me of The Lucy Show, which was shot in color, even though the first season was originally aired in Black and White. The DVD release for the first season included instructions on how to watch the season in the “original” Black and White. You just turn your color saturation to zero. You don’t need separate discs to do that. There are also Deleted / Extended scenes on six episodes and audio commentary tracks for three: Replay, Not all Men, and Blurryman. Finally, there’s a music video for “The Wunderkind”. This is an impressive selection of extras.

The Verdict

The first season of the Twilight Zone reboot doesn’t live up to the high expectations many had for it, but it is still entertaining enough to check out. If you have seen the show and liked it, then the DVD or Blu-ray has more than enough extras to be worth picking up.

C.S.Strowbridge

Filed under: Video Review, Jordan Peele, Rod Serling