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The Twilight Zone: Vol. 3

The Twilight Zone: Vol. 3

List Price: $14.99
Your Price: $4.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good acting but Volume 2 is better
Review: This third volume of Collection One is not as impressive as Volume 2, but still features great writing and acting. "Steel" is a futuristic episode where humans are not permitted to box, but androids are. In "A Game of Pool," a poolplayer gets his wish to play the best pool player he knows. In "Walking Distance," an executive decides to walk to his old neighborhood where he learns that nothing has changed. "Kick the Can" is the final episode and features a group of residents at a seniors' home. One of them goes on a quest to regain his youth.

While Volume 3 has some fine acting and writing, the stories themselves are not Rod Serling's best work. Nonetheless, this DVD is still a good buy for any Twilight Zone fan.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good acting but Volume 2 is better
Review: This third volume of Collection One is not as impressive as Volume 2, but still features great writing and acting. "Steel" is a futuristic episode where humans are not permitted to box, but androids are. In "A Game of Pool," a poolplayer gets his wish to play the best pool player he knows. In "Walking Distance," an executive decides to walk to his old neighborhood where he learns that nothing has changed. "Kick the Can" is the final episode and features a group of residents at a seniors' home. One of them goes on a quest to regain his youth.

While Volume 3 has some fine acting and writing, the stories themselves are not Rod Serling's best work. Nonetheless, this DVD is still a good buy for any Twilight Zone fan.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One Good Episode, Three Classic Ones
Review: Vol. 3 of the Twilight Zone DVD series is one in which every episode is a winner. The worst of the four, "Steel," is a very good tale of what men think they can do themselves to bring themselves out of a difficult situation. "Kick the Can" is a touching episode that makes us reflect on fleeting youth and the idea that you are only as old as you feel. "A Game of Pool" is an example of superb acting. Jack Klugman and Jonathan Winters deliver more tension and excitement than any current television drama. Finally, "Walking Distance" is a brilliant look at trying to recapture youth and going home again.

On most other Zone DVDs, buyers are forced to stomach at least one lousy episode along with their favorites. This disc is an exception. Sure, the extras are not very "extra," but for your money, Vol. 3 contains some of the best Twilight Zone episodes on one disc.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One Good Episode, Three Classic Ones
Review: Vol. 3 of the Twilight Zone DVD series is one in which every episode is a winner. The worst of the four, "Steel," is a very good tale of what men think they can do themselves to bring themselves out of a difficult situation. "Kick the Can" is a touching episode that makes us reflect on fleeting youth and the idea that you are only as old as you feel. "A Game of Pool" is an example of superb acting. Jack Klugman and Jonathan Winters deliver more tension and excitement than any current television drama. Finally, "Walking Distance" is a brilliant look at trying to recapture youth and going home again.

On most other Zone DVDs, buyers are forced to stomach at least one lousy episode along with their favorites. This disc is an exception. Sure, the extras are not very "extra," but for your money, Vol. 3 contains some of the best Twilight Zone episodes on one disc.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One Good Episode, Three Classic Ones
Review: Vol. 3 of the Twilight Zone DVD series is one in which every episode is a winner. The worst of the four, "Steel," is a very good tale of what men think they can do themselves to bring themselves out of a difficult situation. "Kick the Can" is a touching episode that makes us reflect on fleeting youth and the idea that you are only as old as you feel. "A Game of Pool" is an example of superb acting. Jack Klugman and Jonathan Winters deliver more tension and excitement than any current television drama. Finally, "Walking Distance" is a brilliant look at trying to recapture youth and going home again.

On most other Zone DVDs, buyers are forced to stomach at least one lousy episode along with their favorites. This disc is an exception. Sure, the extras are not very "extra," but for your money, Vol. 3 contains some of the best Twilight Zone episodes on one disc.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The classic "A Game of Pool" and 3 other solid episodes
Review: Volume 3 of "The Twilight Zone" DVD collection offers four solid episodes from the beloved television series, although only the second offering is one I would consider a classic. "Steel," adapted by Richard Matheson from this short story and directed by Don Weis, is the better of Lee Marvin's two appearances in the series. Once a heavyweight who was never knocked down "Steel" Kelly is now the manager of Battling Maxo, an outmoded B2 robot who needs money for repairs. Only androids are allowed in the ring since prizefighter was banned in 1968. Kelly pretends to be an android to get a fight to raise the cash. "A Game of Pool" is one of George Clayton Johnson's best scripted episodes, featuring Jack Klugman as pool shark Jesse Cardiff who gets the game of a lifetime against the legendary--and late--Fats Brown, played by Jonathan Winters. This episode, directed by Buzz Kulik, is one of those moments that reaffirms how good comedians are as dramatic actors. In Rod Serling's "Walking Distance," Martin Sloan (Gig Young) leaves his car at the gas station and walks into his hometown, where everything is as it was when he was a child. In fact, he encounters his younger self (Michael Montgomery). The episode, directed by Robert Stevens, is one of Serling's best evocations of nostalgia, with a cast that includes Pat O'Malley and young Ronnie Howard. "Kick the Can" was George Clayton Johnson's final script for the series, and was the episode adapted by Steven Spielberg in "Twilight Zone: The Movie." Charles Whitley (Ernest Truex) and his friend Ben Conory (Russell Collins) are residents of Sunnydale Rest, a home for the aged. Charles becomes convinced that the secret to being young is acting young, and one night he begs the others to join him for a game of kick-the-can. Everyone agrees to join in the game, except Ben. Because this is the Twilight Zone, this is a tragic mistake.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The classic "A Game of Pool" and 3 other solid episodes
Review: Volume 3 of "The Twilight Zone" DVD collection offers four solid episodes from the beloved television series, although only the second offering is one I would consider a classic. "Steel," adapted by Richard Matheson from this short story and directed by Don Weis, is the better of Lee Marvin's two appearances in the series. Once a heavyweight who was never knocked down "Steel" Kelly is now the manager of Battling Maxo, an outmoded B2 robot who needs money for repairs. Only androids are allowed in the ring since prizefighter was banned in 1968. Kelly pretends to be an android to get a fight to raise the cash. "A Game of Pool" is one of George Clayton Johnson's best scripted episodes, featuring Jack Klugman as pool shark Jesse Cardiff who gets the game of a lifetime against the legendary--and late--Fats Brown, played by Jonathan Winters. This episode, directed by Buzz Kulik, is one of those moments that reaffirms how good comedians are as dramatic actors. In Rod Serling's "Walking Distance," Martin Sloan (Gig Young) leaves his car at the gas station and walks into his hometown, where everything is as it was when he was a child. In fact, he encounters his younger self (Michael Montgomery). The episode, directed by Robert Stevens, is one of Serling's best evocations of nostalgia, with a cast that includes Pat O'Malley and young Ronnie Howard. "Kick the Can" was George Clayton Johnson's final script for the series, and was the episode adapted by Steven Spielberg in "Twilight Zone: The Movie." Charles Whitley (Ernest Truex) and his friend Ben Conory (Russell Collins) are residents of Sunnydale Rest, a home for the aged. Charles becomes convinced that the secret to being young is acting young, and one night he begs the others to join him for a game of kick-the-can. Everyone agrees to join in the game, except Ben. Because this is the Twilight Zone, this is a tragic mistake.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The classic "A Game of Pool" and 3 other solid episodes
Review: Volume 3 of "The Twilight Zone" DVD collection offers four solid episodes from the beloved television series, although only the second offering is one I would consider a classic. "Steel," adapted by Richard Matheson from this short story and directed by Don Weis, is the better of Lee Marvin's two appearances in the series. Once a heavyweight who was never knocked down "Steel" Kelly is now the manager of Battling Maxo, an outmoded B2 robot who needs money for repairs. Only androids are allowed in the ring since prizefighter was banned in 1968. Kelly pretends to be an android to get a fight to raise the cash. "A Game of Pool" is one of George Clayton Johnson's best scripted episodes, featuring Jack Klugman as pool shark Jesse Cardiff who gets the game of a lifetime against the legendary--and late--Fats Brown, played by Jonathan Winters. This episode, directed by Buzz Kulik, is one of those moments that reaffirms how good comedians are as dramatic actors. In Rod Serling's "Walking Distance," Martin Sloan (Gig Young) leaves his car at the gas station and walks into his hometown, where everything is as it was when he was a child. In fact, he encounters his younger self (Michael Montgomery). The episode, directed by Robert Stevens, is one of Serling's best evocations of nostalgia, with a cast that includes Pat O'Malley and young Ronnie Howard. "Kick the Can" was George Clayton Johnson's final script for the series, and was the episode adapted by Steven Spielberg in "Twilight Zone: The Movie." Charles Whitley (Ernest Truex) and his friend Ben Conory (Russell Collins) are residents of Sunnydale Rest, a home for the aged. Charles becomes convinced that the secret to being young is acting young, and one night he begs the others to join him for a game of kick-the-can. Everyone agrees to join in the game, except Ben. Because this is the Twilight Zone, this is a tragic mistake.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I just wanted to come back and hear the calliope.
Review: When purchasing a DVD on any of the "Twilight Zone" episodes, I think it is safe to say that in the majority of cases the buyer knows those stories by heart. The main concern is one of quality. How does the picture measure up? In this case I have never seen better transfers. The images are excellent. They are sharp, clear and maintain consistent contrast. The laserdisc versions had a problem with black & white contrast. That problem has now been corrected.

Volume 3 contains A GAME OF POOL, KICK THE CAN, STEEL and WALKING DISTANCE. This volume is one of the best containing all solid episodes. WALKING DISTANCE is probably the best episode ever produced. Gig Young acts out Serling's prose so perfectly that he speaks for every man that ever wished he could go home again. Very moving. Bernard Herrmann's score intuitively picks up the emotion and heartfelt sincerity that Serling wrote into this story. This was Rod Serling's, Bernard Herrmann's and Gig Young's finest work for any medium. I think it is the finest piece of work ever put on film. KICK THE CAN is thematically similar and also very moving. Again one of the best. A GAME OF POOL and STEEL pits man against the legends he makes and the machines he builds. STEEL is an episode that doesn't instantly hit you. It has to grow on you and that may take years.

Rod Serling was a man of great literary and social intellect, somewhat ignored because of the genre he worked within and was famous for. "The Twilight Zone" frequently bordered on the edges of science fiction if not immersed in it. Society's values being what they are, science fiction has never been thoroughly embraced by conventional thought as a legitimate literary or cinematic art form. That is society's loss and Serling's heartbreak. However, "The Twilight Zone" still endures. WALKING DISTANCE will remain in the heart forever.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: 'Walking Distance' and 'Kick the Can'
Review: [a] 'Walking Distance' [Rod Serling's personal favourite episode - and mine too!] is an emotionally devastating and engrossing story of a disillusioned man who wanted to go back to his 'wonderful' childhood. Own it at any cost and watch it every few months for the rest of your life!!! The music was composed by Bernard Hermann who also did such fantastic scores for the films 'Vertigo' and 'Taxi Driver.'
[url] viewer rating 8.09/10

[b] 'Kick the Can' great performances and a beautiful story.

The remaining two episodes are not too bad and you may watch them once a year or so:
[c] 'A Game of Pool'
[d] 'Steel'

'Next stop, the Twilight Zone!'


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