User reviews

The Outer Limits was a television show from the mid-1960s. Like the Twilight Zone, unitary fictional stories with unexpected endings were presented. But the difference between both series was that this one was much more ambitious, its episodes were 1 hour long, the FX more sophisticated and the stories more elaborated. This 90s remake keeps the essence of the original alive. Some episodes are truly superlative, the cast and the direction are perfect, also everything that happens here is widely related to the scientific advances of the time, although all the episodes may be somewhat disparate, the vast majority are of a almost cinematic quality.

No, I have not seen the original series and I won't compare the two if I had. This series is filmed in Canada in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia. The series is well-written in a different story each week. Some are little out there but most of the time it is the quality of the story telling. I loved the Afterlife episode with Clancy Brown and Barbara Gerrick and the Deprogrammers episode with the irresistible Brent Spiner as a Deprogrammer in a world where humans have become slaves to a lizard reptilian species. It's funny how the lizards and reptiles are our favorite evil aliens like V but anyway he has three days to program a man who is totally brainwashed in serving the alien species on earth. The stories are usually a little out there but very entertaining to watch.

What can I say about the series dubbed the NEW OUTER LIMITS...Hmm.... Only that this was one of the best TV series ever assembled!! You have actors of all ages, The actors that are somewhat known and that time forgot. Everyone playing their part to exact perfection! These shows always have some type of moral story to them which most of the time (if not all the time) is very true! You can feel that the man whose voice is dubbed over the credits and in the beginning and ending believes what he is saying wholeheartedly! Not only do these shows have great story lines, they also throw you into them, get your mind racing, and your blood pumping. The original outer limits was a black and white in the 60's right, These shows made a triumphant comeback the likes of which I have never seen! The new twilight zone with Forest Whitaker was fun to watch, but the New OUTER LIMITS is where it's at! If you have not seen: I implore you to please check these episodes out, and you will see exactly what I mean! LONG LIVE THE NEW OUTER LIMITS!!!!!!!!!!!!

I viewed the original Outer Limits in real time, when first broadcast and have since viewed the entire original series again and again in re-runs and complete on DVD. I find the New Outer Limits WELL MORE than just a remake of old retread episodes, as some of the more adolescent commentators have suggested.

With seven (7) years of programs versus just the two (2) years of the original series, the producers and writers have certainly added considerable new original stories and philosophical lines to a much longer running and very well produced (cable) TV series. Plots are intelligent, scientifically accurate projections of the unknown possibilities of the sometimes frightening and imminent future.

While most producers and directors in Hollywood ignorantly view Sci-Fi as indistinguishable from Horror and Fantasy, this series returns to the origins of Science Fiction in the logical, moral and philosophical projections of current new technologies into their possibly fearful near term realizations. This series does this very well and remains unique in its avoidance of the "shoot-em-up" video game monster mentally of much of the current generation. It has brains, history, a message and good entertainment. It is an adult series without unbearable teenage know-it-all fantasies. Hurray!

Now, if we can only get MGM to release the entire New Outer Limits series on DVD instead of just the six poor teaser discs and the 1st season now only available.

If they can renew Twin Peaks and the X-Files after 10-15 years, why not The Outer Limits?

As a kid, and even now (watching the ones I missed back then), this was always one of my favorite shows. Too bad it didn't have more episodes.

I discovered The Outer Limits in mid-2001 while it was in syndication. Sadly, I didn't realize that they had just wrapped their final season. I've been trying to catch all of the episodes on Sci-Fi, which has an erratic schedule for this show, to say the least!

I must say that I disagree with most of the negative comments that I've read so far, regarding this program. The series did indeed have some dud episodes -- especially the episodes which pieced together parts of other episodes to somehow make a "new" story. However, for the most part, the show ran 7 seasons with some very original, creative, and fresh concepts that in most cases held my attention until the very end. In fact, I felt sorry at the end of certain episodes that I wouldn't get to see more of the story, as each episode is a self-contained. Unlike many shows than ran for 7 seasons, I did not find a degradation in quality as the show wore on. In fact, my second-favorite episode ("A New Life") was from the final season.

While many writers were involved with the stories shown in The Outer Limits, a few were responsible for the majority of the episodes. It's interesting to take a look at some of the "themes" behind the show in general. The main (and stated) theme of The Outer Limits was to explore human nature and the consequence of human mistakes. However, a viewing of all episodes also reveals a disdain that the writers seem to hold for both the American military and Christianity. There were several episodes in which the military was either the villain, or the protagonist whose mistakes lead to the destruction of mankind. Christianity was frequently shown as the vehicle used to brainwash unsuspecting earthlings into helping aliens accomplish their evil goals. I am neither Christian nor involved with the military, but I found this apparent bias by the writers to be annoying, and sometimes ruined otherwise good episodes.

I liked how The Outer Limits mixed its endings between happy and catastrophic. That made things a bit less predictable, unlike many movies of today where you know in advance that the hero will survive and triumph.

If you're looking for a great episode, try "The Refuge". I won't detail any of the plot for you, since it's best watched without knowing anything in advance. It's from season 2, so I believe you can find it on the Season 2 DVD.

I first started watching The Outer Limits back in 95 when I was 10, and it just blew my mind every week with each episode, every episode had a twist and each week I couldn't wait for the next. How the writers managed to do every episode so well and make it different from each over a course of 7 seasons is beyond me. This show manages to teach us about life, robotics, Alien and human encounters, and an insight into more of the paranormal, and how it affects the people. What really makes this a good show are the characters in each episode, they really show emotion and are really good actors. What you'll also notice each week is an actor/actress you'll know from a past show which is pretty neat in its own way.

If you wanna chill out, and sit back with a good Sci-Fi show, then the Outer Limits is for you

One of the best sci-fi tv shows I have ever seen gas a great cast of American and Canadian actors make and female and great stories and a great scripts, sad it ended like it did, love it so dang mush. Great characters as well.

It's a revival of the old series from 63 to 65. It's similar to The Twilight Zone except the stories are sci-fi based. It's mostly technology and aliens. It's not all an anthology show. Sometimes there are sequels to some episodes on a later date and some clip shows that tie some episodes together in the same world.

I don't like the clip shows. It feels like a waste of time. It's not good as a highlight show and it's unconvincing creating an unified world. And it's not a minor problem. There are quite a few of these shows and I have to downgrade the series from 7 to 6. I really like quite a few of these episodes. Some of them are not particularly compelling. It's also good to see some stars doing work when they're not as well known.

The original The Outer Limits was an incredible science fiction series. A lot of people compare it unfavorably to The Twilight Zone (and I mean the original Twilight Zone from the same era as this show, not the movie or remake series that are quite honestly very inferior to the original). But this show is in my opinion as good (or at least almost as good, so much so that it's practically equally) to Rod Serling's classic. Definitely check this show out, it's on DVD now. And this, the remake of The Outer Limits is also fantastic (not as good as the original but much better than say the remake of Twilight Zone). Check them both out if you like dark TV sci-fi. There's a lot of great actors you will certainly recognize and this is a great example of Canadian sci-fi at its best. Also check out the original movie The Cube (the sequels of that movie stink, skip them).

In the mid-'90's, B.B.C.-2 screened 'The Outer Limits' in the slot vacated by the ratings-busting first season of 'The X-Files'. They gave it a 'Radio Times' cover and loads of publicity, but unfortunately shot themselves in the foot by opening with the execrable 'Blood Brothers' instead of the excellent pilot episode 'Sandkings'. Ratings plummeted, and the show eventually disappeared. It was a shame because 'Outer' had some good stories, special effects and performances to offer. By far the best episode was 'A Stitch In Time' in which Amanda Plummer played a time-travelling scientist who executes the men who will one day become serial killers. On the down side, the show featured gratuitous nudity and sex ( particularly 'Caught In The Act' ), something the original managed to do without. A number of episodes from the old show were remade; 'I, Robot' was passable, but the less said about 'The Inheritors' the better. The quality varied, but overall it was worth watching.

I actually started watching the series when I was 14 with the syndicated version being on my local CBS channel on Saturday...so didn't get much of the "content" that was being shown on showtime till I found it on DVD...the stories were always told in a mature way and I'm not referring to content but how the writing was never taken to feel juvenile or anything like that...was actually a fan of episodes that were interesting to me like the quality of mercy and sand kings episodes in particular...would recommend anytime I am asked about the show.

Always really good...at least most of the episodes I saw...

But the show has nothing on the original. While the original may have been low-budget and often hokey, it always held the attention. It also was notable for adapting several popular sci-fi stories of the era. The new show appears slightly higher in budget, but often the episodes run out of gas long before they should. The show sports some familiar faces (C. Thomas Howell is an example) but it is not presented with the intensity and passion of the original. At least there are a lot of episodes to sort through, as this version was on the air considerably longer than the original. OK for a very slow Saturday night, when you need something to put you to sleep.

I watched the original version back in the 90's and it was great. I would give that version a 10. However, since Showtime sold it, it has become less than half of what it was and is no longer watchable. The original version which aired on Showtime was R-rated and had "colorful" language. Most of that has been edited out. The original had nudity, but not this version. The current version available on disc or on MGM+ are PG rated at best, and is mostly not watchable.

After finally finishing what MGM+ calls the "complete" series, there 3 episodes missing from what they are streaming.

Season 2 Episode 5 - Mind Over Matter Season 2 Episode 19 - Falling Star Season 2 Episode 21 - Vanishing Act

It would be wonderful if someone could bring back the original version as that was what the people who loved it enjoyed about the show.

The Outer Limits is a unique show that includes material that appeals to a very large/diverse audience without "selling out" like many Hollywood movies. The science fiction aspect is authentic and detailed while simple enough and explained well enough to be understood by any interested viewer. Each episode will provoke ongoing thought. The cast changes from episode to episode, however there are a couple stories/characters which are revisited time and again. You will also recognize some known faces. It seems almost every time I see the show there is a famous actor/actress playing one the main characters. I remember Alyssa Milano, Kevin Nealin, Natashia Henstrich, Ryan Reynolds and many others that fail to come to mind (sp?). There are many great episodes; I recommend finding and watching the episode "Ship". I do not know which season it is from.

I can be a bit of a sucker sometimes for anthologies, I always love the fact that they have as many stories as you want, it's true that quantity doesn't always equal a great amount of quality, but sometimes quality really does help.

This is another sci-fi gem I think is under the radar. Yeah I know I lot of people say, this revival isn't as good as the original; but lets face it it's a tough act to follow. What I really like about this version of the anthology is isn't trying to one up it's predecessor, but it's trying to simply do it's own thing while staying true to the spirit at the same time, which I feel is what a good revival should do. I remember seeing this show when I was about 12 so in a way this show is one of the final relics of my childhood at it's end, also if it wasn't for this show I never would of known entirely about the original. It was also to me one of the last really good anthologies before they became a lost practice, not to say there aren't anymore but they've became few and far between.

There are a lot of things I feel this revival has going for it. I really like the theme song which I think is very good and memorable, it has a really eerie and spooky tone to it. The production value I thought was on par, it was done on a higher budget but it was used well. From the make up of the aliens/monsters, certain special visual effects which hold up, well may'be not all some CGI effects do look dated.

The pacing I personally thought was better, each of the stories like it's predecessor are an hour long but I hardly noticed the time. I really liked the into narrator, he has that storyteller tone which is both wise and kinda creepy.

Even liked the use of cast members, each of them were a mixed bag from unknowns, experienced actors/minor leaguers you might have seen here and there, and some familiar faces from TV shows or movie you might know about. Each of them are different ages and I like that they all look like regular people, which I like because it makes them more easier to emphasize or relate to, than anyone from the CW whom look ridiculously good.

And this show has a lot of good and memorable stories. It's true this show does have a lot of bad apples, but that's the same fundamental truth about most other anthologies out there, it's a matter of sorting out the bad ones in order to find the really good ones, and the good ones really are tasty. I really like how most of them are morality tales that really do deal with the fallibility's of man and science, the danger of uncontrolled progress, conflict between man and mechanization, fear of what is unknown or what we don't understand, and the importance of being human and humanity triumphing.

There are plenty of memorable stories, I'll let you make your own lists and be the judge of them. But then again that's the point of most of these anthologies anyway. A couple of them for me are one "Stream of Conciness" which was about an internet technology completely running the show and books and literacy have became almost obsolete. Another which is my favorite one "Tribunal" which is an emotional story on a lawyer (played well by Saul Yurik from TV's "Warehouse 13") traveling in time to gather sufficient evidence, to try and convict a wanted Nazi.

Overall this show was a solid sci-fi, I wouldn't mind another revival, or at least some other anthology based on sci-fi to form. Anthologies are something the sci-fi community needs more of right now. Like any story in an anthology this show is worth checking out.

Rating: 3 and a half stars

Very good and thought provoking science fiction. The first six seasons ran on showtime and then the last was on the Sci-fi Channel (before they sold out and changed their name Syfy and started airing CSI reruns).

Top five episodes you should start with. 1. The Sandkings 2. A Stitch in Time 3. Afterlife 4. Quality of Mercy 5. Valerie 23

I caught this show a few times when I was young and it was playing tilt, My parents loved it and now in syndication I feel what they feel. This show did what the original limits and twilight zone (new and old) couldn't do. This show used some old ideas and some truly original ideas.

I still cannot believe Jonathan Glassner and brad wright did this. Those guys were producers on stargate sg-1. The show kept the audience entrenched in the story and set a truly scary atmosphere. This is what was not there in the new twilight zone. Rod serling coming in added to the scariness, forest coming in lightened the mood.

The ending whether good or bad made for a scary time. You could never predict what was going to happen. I am still trying to find the seasons on DVD.

The six episodes here reflect the very best, and worst, of the series.

Since The Outer Limits always preaches a moral. I would like to offer my own. Starting with the most entertaining to the flops.

Favorite Number 1. Afterlife: As an institution, The U.S.A. military-industrial complex is both evil and paranoid, not to mention plain stupid. However, individuals with great integrity do serve our country, and they will obey their conscience even at a mind-boggling cost! In the end, the aliens don't need to say a word. Those without a conscience are fools who are to be held in utter contempt! A truly subversive episode! One that should be shown on prime time television for all to see! This might be a revelation for some, but folks without a conscience should not be allowed to serve in our military! Nor do the ends justify the means!

Favorite Number 2. Relativity Theory: A good person may be forced to make a split-second decision between good or evil in order to save the lives of defenseless intelligent beings, and at great cost to one's self. What makes this decision all the more difficult is the stark choice: Being marooned with exotic alien strangers who you can't even communicate with except through gestures, or going along with a group of people you think will keep you safe from unknown dangers even if they are ruthless, and devoid of compassion! This episode is brilliant! What fuels this depravity is good old fashioned greed. This episode is one of the most scathing indictments of capitalism, transnational corporations and raping the environment, I have ever seen in my lifetime! Unlike real life, justice here is served - and swiftly! One of the most memorable lines is when the ruthless corporate thug said something to the effect, "We did the same thing in the Amazon Rainforest War." Alluding to the killing of Amazonian Indians who were attempting to protect their rain forests from being strip mined, as justification for killing again literally in the name of the "survival of the fittest." Something Darwin never meant to be taken literally!

Favorite Number 3. Alien Shop: Tremendous power can be used for good, even from an exotic alien. This power can be used to heal instead of destroy. Mere mortals can learn from their mistakes! Even a criminal can see the light if given enough opportunity to do so.

Sometimes it takes strong medicine, but we all can wake-up and change our self-destructive ways!

Favorite Number 4. The Grell: An alien can be a Christ-like figure! In the distant future, slavery can be justified, once again, in the name of expediency! Basically good people can be corrupted. Sometimes a person needs to be experience great shame in order to see the evil he/she is committing. Children are closer to the truth than adults. Those with political power have tremendous responsibility! Another work of genius! As a species, "Do human beings learn from history?"

Flop Number 1: Quality of Mercy: Loose Lips, Sinks Ships! When in war kindly keep your mouth shut about important military plans. Gee, did I really need to watch an hour-long soap opera in order to figure this out?!! I wonder, did the makers of The Outer Limits run out of ideas, or did corporate pull the plug? Dark and ugly, serving no purpose, but despair!

Flop Number 2: Beyond The Veil: So bad there is no moral but this: When locked-up in a mental hospital, use some common sense, please! This episode is so bad it disgusts. What an X-Files rip-off! Don't waste your time on this one! You'll thank me later!

It's a sad commentary that The Outer Limits went down the tubes toward the end of its run. Subversive episodes, like the first four, could not last forever! It was a miracle they were made at all! Hopefully, someday, other brave souls will follow the subversive Outer Limits tradition into new territory! If you happen to be such a daring person, a good place to start is with one unique book: "Anatomy Of Wonder: A Critical Guide to Science Fiction," edited by Neil Barron! As far as I'm concerned, one of the most comprehensive books ever written on the subject!

I remember when The Outer Limits first aired in The UK when I was.about 8 years old. It was one of those late night shows I was not allowed to watch but would sneak a VHS Recording to watch later anyway🤣. Along with my VHS copies of the original Star Wars trilogy & Hellraiser, Reading Comics and watching Star Trek & The X-Files on TV, the 1995 Outer Limits series also contributed a massive amount of getting me interested into Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror genres. I loved the self-contained OL episodes that were like weekly mini-movies and a great platform for brand new Writers, Directors and even Actors to get a start not to mention the wealth of Acting talent you can surprisingly find in various episodes from some Hollywood greats. This is such an underrated show as it has great writing, direction, acting and some very thought provoking ideas about Humanity & the Future.

I've only seen about 20% of the Outer Limits series. Some episodes are great, others just mediocre. However, "Think like a Dinosaur" stands in a league of its own. Never have I thought so much about an episode of a sci-fi series. The greatest aspect of this episode is its ability to elicit intense introspection; to imagine yourself in the protagonist's shoes and know you must make such a difficult decision. The clear, warming humanity of the "unbalanced equation" is overwhelming, which is why the choice is so painful. The ending still gives me chills. Imagine what the protagonist must be feeling when he sees her again. This episode is a brilliant depiction of morality and ethics clashing with science. I haven't yet seen the topic handled better.

I haven't seen all the Outer limits episodes, but when I have tuned in I've seen some quite good episodes almost like a one-hour movie with good (if lesser known) guest stars. Others have been embarrassing to watch or just plain average, it seems the way they did things was to have mostly low budget "filler" episodes and save up for a great, blockbuster episode every now and then.

The Outer Limits seems to offer both the best and worst of TV, I say overall it's not a bad effort but viewers like me may lose patience when it starts to seem like a long time between good episodes. I'm surprised the show ran as long as it did, with every science fiction-themed show outside of Star Trek and Stargate being cancelled at the first opportunity.