DVD Review: Twin Peaks: The Definitive Gold Box Edition

Twin Peaks was one of those shows that started with a bang and quickly went out with a fizzle. When things first started, it was the show to watch. Cult followings of friends would gather in droves to watch the show and dwell on what had happened in past episodes and what might happen in future ones.

Shortly after things were getting good for Twin Peaks, there would be an audience low enough to warrant cancelation. Despite the fact that it would be canceled in just over a year from the first air date, Twin Peaks was able to make a lasting impression and become one of the most intriguing shows in television history. Whether you’ve seen it or not, you know something about Twin Peaks; everybody does.

Twin Peaks begins with a murder in the small town of Twin Peaks. It’s a mystery, who could have killed the homecoming queen, but someone murdered Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) and the police and FBI are going to find out who killed her. The FBI is represented by agent Dale Cooper (Kyle Maclachlan – Sex and the City, Desperate Housewives), who, like the rest of Twin Peaks, has some incredible oddities about him that are too much to ignore.

Release Information:
Twin Peaks: The Definitive Gold Box Edition was released on October 30, 2007 courtesy of Paramount Pictures. The set includes everything that a Twin Peaks fan could ever need. Every episode of the series is included as well as a large set of special features. For fans of the series, the Definitive Gold Edition will be a must have set.

It should be noted that this set is incredibly significant to any Twin Peaks fan because it also contains the pilot with the episodes. The pilot sets up the entire series, but it has never been included in any other set until now.

The Twin Peaks Plot:
Twin Peaks was created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. The secrets that came from each episode are what caused so many people to watch. It was increasingly interesting to watch the strange things that happened in Twin Peaks. It was even more interesting when you asked what was going to happen next. Nothing was ever normal in Twin Peaks. Whether you were considering the deputy who liked to sob at crime scenes or the highly interesting Laura Palmer who did cocaine and much more, nothing was ever normal.

The big theme in Twin Peaks for the longest time was who killed Laura Palmer. The thing that allowed the mystery to drag on was the fact that so many characters came into play. They all blended together and all of them were important in their own way. There was a long list of highly capable actors and interesting characters. To give you an idea of the talent and characters there was, Sherriff Harry S Truman (Michael Ontkean), Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn), Donna Hayward (Lara Flynn Boyle), Shelley Johnson (Madchen Amick), Norma Jennings (Peggy Lipton), Bobby Briggs (Dana Ashbrook), and many other characters and actors.

Season one of Twin Peaks was phenomenal. People wanted to discover who killed Laura Palmer. Of course, therein lies the problem. As season two rolled on in, without a conclusion, people began getting antsy. They continued to drag things on and people just wanted to know at that point. However, you can’t have things both ways. When the killer was revealed and all was said and done the story was over and people were at odds, unsure of what to expect or where the series would go. That was the unofficial ending point for Twin Peaks.

This caused things that weren’t as interesting to be placed in the role of the item that was carrying the show. The mystery had been solved so the little things were not enough. The various love affairs and drama was just not as exciting or dramatic during the second season. Once this happened, Twin Peaks jumped tracks and went from odd to out of this world. Supernatural aspects were brought into play and it offered less than favorable results.

The sad thing is that by the time things got back on track, the show was ending so there were many new seemingly interesting plot options that were left as never-ending cliffhangers for fans. Things like Cooper dealing with an old nemesis or a new love interest were tossed out the window and left people to make their own conclusion as to what happened because nobody would ever know otherwise.

Twin Peaks had a bump or two along the way, but all in all the show offered amazing storylines, good character development, and superb acting. Twin Peaks was able to pave the way for all of those off beat yet completely interesting shows that have come and gone in the last decade. Understandably so, Twin Peaks has earned its spot in the Television hall of fame for its creative efforts that raised the bar for all other primetime shows of a similar caliber.

Audio/Visual:
The Twin Peaks video is offered in full screen format with a compression ratio that equals 1.33:1. This is the original video format for the show. At times, the colors are strong and crisp. However, there are moments in certain episodes where the colors are faded and the picture looks dull. The inconsistencies are only slightly bothersome, as the picture is far better than it is worse. The audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. There were not any problems with the audio. No volume adjustments were necessary and everything came through perfectly clear.

Special Features:
There are quite a few special features included in this Twin Peaks Gold Edition box set. For starters, upon opening your box set you will find 12 Twin Peaks postcards. The addition of the postcards was a nice idea as it’s so rare to find a feature or added offering that is not on the actual DVD. There are many other special features that are on these discs. Among the special features, you will find deleted scenes and production documents. There are also several featurettes.

The featurettes include “A Slice of Lynch”, “Secrets From Another Place: Creating Twin Peaks“, and “Saturday Night Live”. The “Saturday Night Live” feature is interesting because it spoofs Twin Peaks while Kyle MacLachlan is hosting SNL. The Black Lodge Archive and Twin Peaks Festival are also included in the special features lineup.

Bottom Line:
The only thing that this set does not include is some awesome special features from the season two box set that would have been a nice inclusion. However, if you are not worried about special features you will find Twin Peaks: The Definitive Gold Box Edition to be the complete package for all of the weird television viewing that you could ever need. Twin Peaks was a great show. Fans will absolutely love this box set. Fans will want to run right out and pick up a copy. If you haven’t seen the series, check it out first, and buy it once you fall in love with the weird town of Twin Peaks.

Category	Stars
Storyline/Plot:
Replayability:
Acting/Directing:
Audio:
Visual:
Special Features:
Enjoyment:
Overall Rating:

Technorati Tags: Twin Peaks, Definitive Gold Box Edition, Laura Palmer, Mystery, DVD Box Set, DVD Review, Movie Review, Kyle MacLachlan

If you like this site, Donate to help keep us going!

---------------------
Written by Shayne - Visit Website
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am the proud Papa of a son, Dylan Michael Keller. Other than spending time with my son, I have two main obsessions in life; video games & movies. Often, the two accompany time spent with Dylan. I've been married to Andrea for 13 years this December. One thing I've learned about married life is to always expect the unexpected. After nearly eleven years with just the three of us, and our Golden Retriever, Braeden, I've just found out I'm going to be a dad again. In my professional life, I'm a bit of a cyber geek. I enjoy D&D, writing stories, role-playing, computer games, working on websites, and just hanging out. I work for a computer firm doing computer-tech type work and that's all I can really say about my job. In my fantasy life, I escape to the world of film. I'm not ashamed to admit that I've seen The Return of the King at least 37 times. I signed up to review movies, and you can guarantee I'll do the job right. I hope you enjoy my reviews and always remember kids...Make Love, Not Warcraft.