Earlier this month we brought you
Image Entertainment's announcement formally scheduling
The Twilight Zone - Season 1 on Blu-ray Disc for
September 14th. At the time all we had was package art (shown again below) and technical info for this 5-BD set; no bonus material. Now Image has given us the scoop on all of the extras for this high-def release of the 1959 television series!
For the first time ever, Rod Serling's classic groundbreaking series, exploring the fantastic and the frightening, will be available on Blu-ray...and it is LOADED with bonus features! You'll get over 50 hours of bonus features including commentaries, interviews, isolated scores, sponsor billboards, radio dramas, original pilot, alternate opening and closing narration, Rod Serling lecture, promos, including many extras not seen anywhere else.
As we predicted in our last report, Image begins the supplements on their
Season 1 Blu-ray release with nearly all of the extras found on their 2004 "Definitive Collection" release of the first season:
- Audio Commentaries by actors Earl Holliman, Martin Landau, Rod Taylor, Martin Milner, Kevin McCarthy, and CBS executive William Self.
- Vintage Audio Recollections with actors Burgess Meredith and Anne Francis, directors Douglas Heyes and Richard L. Bare, producer Buck Houghton and writer Richard Matheson.
- Rod Serling Audio Lectures from Sherwood Oaks College.
- Rod Serling Promos for "Next Week's" Show.
- Original Unaired Pilot Version of "Where is Everybody?" with Rod Serling's Network Pitch.
- Footage of the Emmy Award wins for the series.
But of course, the Blu-ray set adds more. Besides pristine HD remastering that Image bills as being "
a huge step up even from The Definitive Collection, mastered from new 1080p film transfers using the original camera negatives and magnetic soundtracks," the new BD versions will also contain extensive new special features not available anywhere else. They include numerous newly-recorded commentaries and interviews, and much, much more. The
The Twilight Zone - Season 1 Blu-ray set includes these EXCLUSIVE NEW BONUS FEATURES:
- Extremely rare, never-before-released unofficial Twilight Zone pilot, "The Time Element," written by Rod Serling and hosted by Desi Arnaz - presented in glorious high definition!
- 19 New Audio Commentaries, featuring The Twilight Zone Companion author Marc Scott Zicree, author and film historian Gary Gerani (Fantastic Television), author and music historian Steven C. Smith (A Heart at Fire's Center: The Life and Music of Bernard Herrmann), music historians John Morgan and William T. Stromberg, writer/producer David Simkins (Lois & Clark, Dark Angel), writer Mark Fergus (Children of Men, Iron Man), actor William Reynolds and director Ted Post.
- Interviews with actors Dana Dillaway, Suzanne Lloyd, Beverly Garland and Ron Masak.
- Tales of Tomorrow episode "What You Need."
- Vintage audio interview with Director of Photography George T. Clemens.
- 1977 syndication promos for "A Stop at Willoughby" and "The After Hours."
- 18 Radio Dramas
- 34 Isolated Music Scores featuring the legendary Bernard Herrmann, Jerry Goldsmith and others!
Image Entertainment is certainly aware that they will need to go far in order to tempt fans to upgrade their collections once more, and if any release fits that bill then this is clearly the one. We're pleased and excited by how far they've gone with the bonus material, as well as with word that they went with brand-new high-def masters using the most recent remastering technology (rather than the years-old HD masters they already had in the vaults for the "Definitive" releases). A pat on the back to the studio for going as far as they have! We're looking forward to seeing this for ourselves. We're sure you are, too, so be sure to place your pre-order right away with the Amazon button link provided just below!
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