How is the quality of the Twin Peaks Pilot?
 

I am looking to buy this, but I can only get it from Ebay. How is the quality? Also, is it required viewing or could I just buy season one and start from there?

The quality is just fair. Picture is somewhat murky and dark; and the 5.1 has a bit of echo. It was converted from PAL to NTSC.

It is still a recommened purchase though. The first season blows the pilot out of the water but who knows when we will see a proper release of it.

There are many posts on this but here goes.
HK Pilot by Catalyst is the only available DVD of the pilot. The quality is seriously lacking sound and video wise when compared to the truly stellar 1st season effort from Artisan (that is basically a superbit release) On a small set 27 and under it looks fine but on big screens and widescreens it shows its origins, the sound is also sped up 4-5% I have actually taken the soundtrack and slowed it down onto a wave to make it sound right. This is nit picking since it really is crucial viewing for the series. It is basically a David Lynch film and in that regard you should own it.
Don't pay too much though.

Um, I do believe these folks are nitpicking this disc far too much.

It looks much, much better than the pilot ever did on VHS. The visual imperfections are minor and the sound issues were totally nonexistent on my copy.

If you can find it, go ahead and purchase it. It's well worth the investment, since an R1 release of the pilot seems not to be forthcoming any time in the near future.

There is a good and thorough review at dvdfile

http://www.dvdfile.com/software/revi...aks_pilot.html

You may have to pay a little more, but it is also available at Poker Industries for $21.99 (use DVDTalk coupon DVDTK03 for 10% off). At least one can pay by credit card and the company is in the states (faster delivery).

http://www.pokerindustries.com/

I can get it for $19.99 shipped from Ebay. Should I go ahead with that?

SWEET!!! Just scored it for $14.50 shipped from HiViZone. Can't wait!

Agree. I thought the pilot looked pretty good -- especially for a region-free import. I haven't gotten S1 yet, so I can't compare, but I'd have to rate the quality of the pilot as decent, if not better.

Anyone who wants it ought to pick it up now, because who knows if we'll ever see a R1 release. And if we do, it might not even be the proper pilot, but the "theatrical" version.

Double-SWEET!! Thanks Mr. Quake, good find!
I really wasn't planning on getting this at all until I read your message.

...I've just completed ordering it...

It is interesting on the commentaries for Seas 1 Fran Byers I think says how incredibly lush and fluid the Pilot looked shown on film for the first time. I find it pale and washed out on DVD especially when compared with the 1st season set, comparing the two during the "last week on Twin Peaks" part of episode one really makes it clear.

That said I can ignore the faded colors and pixelation but the sound issue is most noticable to me.
Agent Cooper sounds comedic at moments like he is on helium, "Well if you didn't, who did" during Bobbie's interegation makes me laugh everytime. The music also really suffers from the %5 sound speed up not to mention that the speed up has it clocking in at a shortened running time. That said I am very glad to own it and that is is available at all.

A comment and a question on the Twin Peaks pilot (which I watched last week).

First off, there are some serious sound problems on this release. During many of the scenes, there is a constant "whooshing" sound, which is rather annoying. It kinda sounds like some sort of jet-airplane flying by overhead. More accurately, for those familiar with music sound-effects processing, I'd best describe this sound as the result of some kind of flanger effect.

Question: How long, exactly, is the pilot supposed to be? I don't exactly recall how long it was when I watched it, but it didn't seem to be much longer than an hour-and-a-quarter or so.. Isn't it supposed to be 2-hours long? I know because there aren't any commercials it's not going to be a full 2-hours, but still, it seemed shorter than I was expecting it to be.... perhaps a result of the apparent speed-increase?

Yes, this is a well documented problem with the disc. The flanging effect actually goes away if you listen to the disc in full 5.1, but the surround mix is terrible. Just about every single sound effect has been routed to the rear speakers for no good reason.

When originally aired on television, the pilot filled a 2-hour slot. Minus commercials, it should be about 90 minutes. However, the DVD is mastered from a PAL source so is sped up 4%, cutting a few minutes further off of that time.

The "Euro Pilot", the only version previously available on home video, had an additional half hour of footage tacked onto the end in a desperate attempt to wrap up the whole storyline in one episode. That alternate ending contradicts information in later episodes, and is not considered part of the official continuity. The "Euro Pilot" has not been released on DVD yet.

Thanks, Josh.... appreciated.