DVD: Buy Twin Peaks - Pilot Episode [IMPORT] Online

Average Rating:

Audio:

The audio has received a FULL aggressive 5.1 remix. Lots of the sound effects are appropriately panned to the rear surround speakers. One thing you definitely want to do is turn your back speakers down a bit, as they can often be distracting. The bass seems to be a bit much at times, but again, a slight adjustment on your Home Theater system can easily correct this. One specific moment that was a good use of the rear surround is when the translator mentions how "Health und Industry They Go Hand De Hand". The response laughter of the Norwegians are panned to the back speakers and give a "Room Full of Laughing Norwegians" effect. It is clear that whomever remixed the sound did so from a sound reel master.

Now the DOWNSIDE. There are a few things that bother me about the sound. First off, when comparing it to the Laserdisc, I noticed right away it seems that whoever mastered the movie (I assume) transferred it from a PAL Master. It's the only explanation I can think of for why the pitch of the sound is about a half step too high. Also, the sound although pretty good for the most part, sounds definately out of phase in the Center Speaker during parts with music in the background. Although it is annoying at times, it is not completely a loss. So be warned !

Supplements:

Well, there's not a lot here. You get a nice Scene Access menu, along with Character Biographies for Joan Chen and Kyle MacLachlan. You also get treated to some awful Republic Pictures trailers for "One Against the Wind", "Class Cruise", "Live Nude Girls", and "Witchboard 2: the Devil's Doorway". My advice... skip them.

Parting Thoughts:

All I can say is that I was very surprised by this release. Although 4% faster than it should be, is a nice addition to a Twin Peaks Fan's collection. The DVD comes only with a 5.1 soundtrack, as the original 2-Speaker Surround soundtrack is absent. The picture is great minus the artifacting, and the sound is bad, but not a total loss. Expect lots of phase problems in the center speaker. Finally having the Pilot as it aired on Television as opposed to the extended European version is a Twin Peaks Fan's dream come true. I would recommend this to any Twin Peaks fan that wants to get a clean copy of the Pilot on DVD. For now, this is as good as it gets. At this point, who knows when Paramount will be getting their act together.

What you ARE getting: The original pilot episode of Twin Peaks that aired on television in the United States. This is good because it maintains continuity and most importantly the suprise of the series. In other words if you have never seen the show you should watch this version of the pilot, the 29 episodes of the series and then Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me in order to experience it in the way you would have had you been watching the material as it was released. This is the best way for a newcomer to get the Twin Peaks experience.

What you are NOT getting: This is NOT the European version of the pilot. In David Lynch's contract he was required to make the pilot into a close ended feature which could stand alone to sell in European markets and possibly the US if the series were not picked up. That version is basically a Cliff's Notes for the series, showing you the end and culprit without any of the fun of arriving there from the series. I would recommend renting this version after you have seen all of the other material out there however, it has some good moments.

QUALITY: Like I said before this is an import from Republic and not the best quality. The video quality is about equal to if the pilot played on TV yesterday and I taped it on a regular VCR. That being said, the video and sound are adequate, but one should not expect the amazingly crystal clear transfer from the Season One set. (In fact I read that the Season One set having been remastered, has better quality than the master tapes that ABC has in its vaults!)

FINALLY: So again, I stand by my five star rating because though the quality is not superb, the pilot is a necessary part of any Twin Peaker's collection. I recommend purchasing this because as anyone can see from New Line Cinema's decision to not only NOT include the sought after deleted footage from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, but also delay its release for a year when they really had no intention of paying for the rights to the footage in the first place that Twin Peaks is not high on the list of priorities for the studios involved. Don't expect an American release anytime soon.

For those of you who are truly fans, I would recommend getting the VHS release of the pilot. Stay away from this release and insist that the producers come up with a domestic DVD release of higher quality. And if you're hankering for some Twin Peaks but can't wait to make a purchase, buy the upcoming DVD release of "Fire Walk With Me" on February 26th. This is the one for which I have been waiting, for quite some time now. Apparently Lynch personally supervised its making, remastered the audio, etc., so I doubt that it will disappoint.