This may be one of the shortest, easiest reviews I've written for DVDTalk. If you're a regular reader of some of the forums on DVDTalk, you'll have noticed that there's a small but vocal group of readers who feel that "opinion" and "commentary" by the reviewer - in other words, that reviewer's personal feelings about a particular show or film - have no place in a review that should just concentrate on the technical aspects of a particular DVD release. I strongly disagree with that view, but I can understand their point. Those readers may have already made up their mind about a title, and they just want the specs on the disc. Or maybe they don't go by what "egghead" critics like me think, anyway; those readers go their own road, and they just want to know what the disc is like.

Now if you've read some of my other reviews, you already know that's not my method of reviewing at all. My main approach has always been to discuss the content of the material first, and what it means to me, and then discuss the technical aspects of the disc second. And certainly, the chance to discuss The Outer Limits would seem to be a perfect fit for me. I used to catch The Outer Limits reruns every Saturday, either in the afternoon right after Sir Graves Ghastly on Channel 50 out of Detroit (rest in peace, Lawson J. Deming), or late, late at night, when that ominous narrator telling me that he was now in control of our ghostly black and white TV seemed eerily real. Watching The Outer Limits today, it's still a superior collection of science-fiction and fantasy-related stories (I prefer it even to the classic The Twilight Zone), told with a verve and economy that are rather startling when you consider how little money the storytellers had at their disposal.

But if I could ever really truly agree with the small minority of readers who say, "Shut up, and just tell me about the disc only," it would be for The Outer Limits: Volume 1 - The Original Series. That's because there's absolutely no reason for this two-disc, double sided box set to exist. The vast majority of readers who are going to click on this particular review already know about the previous DVD release of The Outer Limits back in 2002, and all they want to know from my review is: have they fixed the transfers, and are there any bonuses? The short answer to both questions is, "No." Despite my first instinct to go on and on about how great a show The Outer Limits was - and then at the end, spring it on you that the transfers are unchanged from the previous release - I'm not going to waste your time. For this DVD release, I concede my review to the loyal opposition.

As with the first release of The Outer Limits, eight episodes are put on one disc: four per side, and the same compression issues and aliasing are there: plenty of stair-stepping jaggies. As for cleaning up the original elements or remastering the transfers, if MGM and 20th Century-Fox had really done so on this new set, they would have made some kind of mention of it on the box as a selling point ("Now, remastered in Hi-Def!"). So if improved image isn't a selling factor, how about some extras? Nope. None. No interviews, no commentary, no original bumpers, no promo spots - nothing. So if superior image and bonuses are off the table, what, exactly, is the point of buying The Outer Limits: Volume 1 - The Original Series? If you're thinking of saving money, forget that angle, too. You can buy the entire first season of The Outer Limits - the 2002 release - on Amazon for about $32 bucks. This new The Outer Limits: Volume 1 - The Original Series set only gives you half as many episodes as the 2002 release, and it's going for $23, so do the math. If you get both volumes (and you'll have to wait for the second one to be released), you'll wind up paying $14 dollars more overall. All in all, The Outer Limits: Volume 1 - The Original Series is a totally useless release.

Final Thoughts:
There's no earthly reason to buy The Outer Limits: Volume 1 - The Original Series. It sports the same transfers from the 2002 release, there are no extras, and it costs more in the long run. Skip it.