Steven Spielberg Presents: Amazing Stories / The Complete First Season (DVD, New)
Steven Spielberg's mid-'80s foray into television, Steven Spielberg Presents Amazing Stories, was based loosely on a pulpy sci-fi magazine from the '40s and '50s--much as his rollicking hit Raiders of the Lost Ark had been based on movie action serials of the same era. Yet despite the retro concept, Amazing Stories brought high gloss and state-of-the-art production values to their yarns of horror, sci-fi, and fantasy. The boxed set of the first season (which debuted in 1985), contains all 24 episodes, as well as more than 20 minutes of deleted footage. Spielberg himself was very hands-on in the series, and directed many episodes and wrote most, and some themes from his later films show up here. In The Mission, a special hourlong episode (most are half an hour), stars Kevin Costner and Kiefer Sutherland play World War II bombers whose plane is hit during a routine mission, and who face a dire choice, with one young colleague's life hanging in the balance. Spielberg's visceral direction of the wartime violence, camaraderie, and anxiety is pitch-perfect, and presages some of the most moving moments in Saving Private Ryan. Part of the fun of this collection is seeing the stars and guest directors Spielberg cajoled into service, including Martin Scorsese, Sam Waterston (with a head of bushy '80s hair), Tim Robbins, Clint Eastwood, Harvey Keitel, and John Lithgow. The storytelling is crackerjack, and the trip down TV memory lane priceless. --A.T. Hurley
Product Description
Enter the extraordinary, supernatural world of Steven Spielberg with all 24 episodes of the complete first season of "Amazing Stories." Created by and featuring some of the greatest talents in Hollywood, these original tales delivered a groundbreaking and imaginatively unique show every week. Digitally remastered and presented in Dolby 5.1 surround sound for the first time ever, the DVD release also includes 20 minutes of deleted scenes. The 24 episodes from the 1985-86 season include performances by Kiefer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen, Tim Robbins, John Lithgow, Kevin Costner and many more. 1 Ghost Train; 2 The Main Attraction; 3 Alamo Jobe; 4 Mummy, Daddy; 5 The Mission; 6 The Amazing Falsworth; 7 Fine Tuning; 8 Mr. Magic; 9 Guilt Trip; 10 Remote Control Man; 11 Santa '85; 12 Vanessa in the Garden; 13 The Sitter; 14 No Day at the Beach; 15 One For the Road; 16 Gather Ye Acorns; 17 Boo!; 18 Dorothy and Ben; 19 Mirror, Mirror; 20 Secret Cinema; 21 Hell Toupee; 22 The Doll; 23 One For the Books; 24 Grandpa's Ghost.
Retail Value: $50
Starting Bid: $20
Donated by Meg Rothstein
