Tales of Tomorrow, Collection 2
by Franklin J. Schaffner
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DVD details
Actor: Cameron Prud'Homme, Edith Fellows, Leslie Nielsen, Olive Deering, Theo GoetzDirector: Franklin J. Schaffner
Brand: Image Entertainment
Writer: Mann Rubin
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 277 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-11-01
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Image Entertainment
DVD Reviews of Tales of Tomorrow, Collection 2
DVD Review: "Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I kinda like ya, Tomorrow!"
Summary: 3 Stars
I reviewed the previous DVD volume of Tales of Tomorrow last year, and I gave a very favorable critique. I said it was a fascinating window into early television and early science fiction and that I was greatly looking forward to another installment. However, after watching this new second volume, I'm afraid I didn't quite feel the same sense of wonder and enjoyment that I did before. The proceedings felt less fresh and innovative and the plots seemed unwieldy, like they were just treading water. Am I too cynical? Did the novelty just wear off? What exactly happened? Today I'm taking a closer look into "Tomorrow" in order to find out.
Over all, I really do feel that this set of collected episodes just didn't pass muster with me. Two episodes, "Dark Angel" and "The Children's Room", have nearly identical plots about a new race of preternaturally powerful men and women born from ordinary Homo sapiens (As a dedicated fan of the X-Men, you have to work really hard to impress me with stories like that). Then there's "Time to Go" which involves a humorless woman storing her spare time in a bank (No, seriously). After that there's "The Duplicates" which is about an engineer from Jupiter who's ordered to murder his clone on Earth (No, seriously) and it features a wacky surprise twist ending that anyone can deduce after watching the first three minutes. In three separate shows you can witness Earth's triumph against the "Plague from Space", the horrible "Red Dust" from space, and the "Dune Roller", an evil moving rock, from space (perhaps if they had all joined forces with the "Ice from Space" from the last volume, they just might have prevailed). It's a pretty sorry bunch, to be sure.
Not every show is a downer, though. "The Crystal Egg", which is apparently adapted from a short story by H.G. Wells, is a rather terse thriller about a college professor who discovers that a crystal trinket from his friend's curio shop is actually a portal into an alien world (but how it got to the shop and why the aliens suddenly want it back is not explained). "The Golden Ingot" tells a tale of familial love and desperation and comes complete with a real O. Henry-style kick at the end. Lastly, "Appointment on Mars" is a Twilight Zone-caliber emotional drama which I'd call the far-and-away best installment in this set. I won't ruin any of the plot for you, except to say that star Leslie Nielsen does not play a bumbling incompetent buffoon with a name like Dick Dix (and how often does that happen anymore?).
I guess my final verdict is that while I still greatly respect the fact that I'm seeing such a venerably old TV milestone as clearly as when it first aired, this second volume is quite a bit poorer than the last. Many of the plots are recycled in other episodes, plus I was admittedly getting tired of seeing the same two commercials about watchband and carpet companies that are likely out of business now (fortunately you can skip them through the scene selection) and I was really hoping to see some documentaries or extras that just aren't here. I will however apologize for razzing the line misreads in my last review and claiming that the creators "weren't big advocates for reshoots" as I did not realize that the shows were actually shot live until I read BillfromCalif's adjoining review. I suppose that would also explain all those long fades-to-black that intersect every scene change. Mea culpa.
Regardless, I still think that Tales of Tomorrow V2 is a good buy for classic TV and sci-fi fans, but if you only have enough capital for one set, I'd stick with the first. See you next time, everybody.
More Tales of Tomorrow, Collection 2 reviews:
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Description of Tales of Tomorrow, Collection 2
Studio: Image Entertainment Release Date: 12/02/2008Bestsellers in DVD
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