Twin Peaks rules
Added 8/14/2009
I just had to have this rather rare item, as the pilot for the series was NOT included in the Season 1 DVD package. I had watched it (in poor quality) online, but wanted to "complete my collection". I love this series.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Misleading Review of Twin Peaks - ATTENTION
Added 5/12/2008
The review of this movie by Lawrence Bernabo is incorrect and misleading. Bernabo states that this version is not the alternate version. In fact, it is. Please read the Amazon editorial review above and take note of the language and runtime in the description. Save both yourself and the seller the headache and lost money by NOT buying this movie thinking it is NOT the alternate version.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
This is the Best Show That has EVER been on Television.
Added 7/10/2005
Mindblowing...mezmerizing...incredible. This is the best show that has ever been on television.
4 out of 7 people found this helpful.
|
Laura Palmer is dead . . . wrapped in plastic . . .
Added 6/8/2005
I am taking a trip to the Seattle area this week and decided that I wanted to have lunch at the Great Northern Hotel, owned by Benjamin Horne (est. 1927). The hotel, which offers its guests a spectacular view of Whitetail Falls, is located slightly north of Twin Peaks, just below the base of Black Lake. The Great Northern is actually the Salish Lodge, perched on a hillside just above Snoqualmie Falls. To prepare myself for the experience, and to indoctrinate my oldest daughter into yet another cult television show, we watched the first season of "Twin Peaks" together starting with the two hour pilot episode that originally aired Sunday, April 8, 1990 on ABC. Fifteen years later, this pilot episode written by Mark Frost ("Hill Street Blues") and David Lynch ("Blue Velvet") still stands up.
Washington State is rocked when the body of Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee), the homecoming queen, is discovered dead (wrapped in plastic) by Pete Martell (Jack Nance). F.B.I. Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) is called in when another high school girl, Ronnette Pulaski, is found wandering on a bridge before lapsing into a coma. When Cooper discovers a small piece of paper with the letter "R" on it shoved under one of Laura's fingernails, he has a connection between her death and that of Theresa Banks, a year earlier. There is a serial killer in Twin Peaks. Sheriff Harry S. Truman (Michael Ontkean) arrests Laura's boyfriend, Bobby Briggs (Dana Ashbrook), Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn) ruins a business deal her father Benjamin Horne (Richard Beymer) has been working on, and Laura's best friend Donna (Lara Flynn Boyle) and Laura's secret boyfriend, James Hurley (James Marshall), comfort each other. Things are just starting to get interesting in Twin Peaks the home of fantastic fir trees, great cherry pie, and damn fine coffee.
I can especially appreciate Lynch's impact on the pilot as a director because I got my hands on an earlier draft of the script (revisions as of February 21, 1989), and could see how key scenes were improved. Most notably is the scene early on when Leland Palmer is on the phone with Sarah and Sheriff Truman shows up at the Great Northern Hotel to tell Leland that Laura is dead. The final version achieves its dramatic impact because it has replaced sound (dialogue) with images (actors reacting). Several of Leland's lines are cut, including an entire conversation with Janet, to set up the juxtaposition of the look on his wife and the sound of Sarah's grief over the phone. The deletion or alteration of a single word can affect the mood of the scene (e.g., Truman now calls Leland by name, rather than as "sir," which makes the scene more personal). Some claimed the resulting effect went over the top, or lasted too long, but certainly it was a most memorable scene. Lynch commented at the time that he wanted the audience to be uncomfortable after watching this scene, and most viewers would certainly that the directed had achieved his goal.
There ended up being only 30 episodes of "Twin Peaks," which covers roughly a month in the lives of this peculiar collection of characters. In retrospect the problem was that the question of "Who killed Laura Palmer", which was intended to be the hook for the series, ended up being the raison d'etre, so when that was finally revealed it essentially finished off the series. The great irony was that for a television series that was being lauded by viewers, especially those on college campuses, for a being a show where you had to watch and pay attention, that so many were outraged when the first season ended and they were not "told" who killed Laura. They were "shown" it instead, which should have been enough, but was not. I understood the clues and how they made the killer obvious, but all of my classmates in graduate school said I was wrong (I was not).
When you watch this pilot again, or for the first time, you can see why it the quirky characters and compelling story won its time slot (it finished #5 for the week) and captured the imagination of the nation. The pilot won its time slot and finished #5 for the week. The pilot episode was nominated for eight Emmy Awards in 1990, including Best Drama, Best Writing, Best Directing, Best actor (MacLachaln), Best Supporting Actress (Fenn), and Best Production Design. Duwayne Dunham won the Emmy for best editing and Patrica Norris won for best costume design for this episode. Honorable mention goes to the music by Angelo Badalamenti and the singing of Julee Cruise (who sings "Falling" and "The Nightingale" in the pilot, music by Badalamenti and lyrics by Lynch), which provided the show with a sound as distinct as its look.
Warning: Do not confuse this pilot with the "Twin Peaks" movie, which has an alternate ending that suddenly solves the murder of Laura Palmer. Released on video in Europe, and eventually in the U.S., the movie ends with the One Armed Man contacting Cooper about Bob, who confesses. Then we jump twenty-five years ahead to Cooper finding himself in a red room with Laura and the Man from Another Place. Also, the pilot is not the same as "Episode One," which is the name of the second episode (i.e., the one after the pilot). It only sounds confusing, but this is "Twin Peaks." What did you expect?
14 out of 17 people found this helpful.
|
Start here.
Added 5/31/2004
This is pretty much what any fan of the show or David Lynch needs to start with. It's the original movie/pilot, and is a great piece of work. The story, the characters, and the whole northwest environment really make for an interesting and sometimes creepy watch. Many cool actors showed up in "Twin Peaks", among them Kyle McLachlan, Lara Flynn-Boyle, Sheryl Lee, Jack Nance, and the sexy Sherilyn Fenn. If you enjoy this, seek out the VHS collectors series, episodes 1-7. Or the DVD first season, which is also episodes 1-7, minus this pilot.
3 out of 3 people found this helpful.
|
Agent Cooper finds out more about Laura Palmer & Twin Peaks
Added 6/19/2005
To be clear, "Episode One" of "Twin Peaks" is not the two-hour pilot movie but the first regular episode. That is why "Episode One" is often listed as the second episode of "Twin Peaks," with the "Pilot" movie being the first episode, unless you have a list that counts the "Pilot" movie as "Episode Zero." "Episode One" is also known as "Trace to Nowhere," although that title does not come from the show's writers, but, from being shown in Germany. So "Trace to Nowhere" is the English translation of "Spuren ins Nichts."
"Episode One" (Written by Mark Frost & David Lynch, Directed by Duwayne Dunham, First aired April 12, 1990) finds FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper enjoying the comforts of the Great Northern Hotel before finding out more about the secret life of Laura Palmer when Doctor Hayward releases her autopsy report. Bobby Briggs and Mike Nelson are released from jail and are intent on taking vengeance on James Hurly. Meanwhile, Big Ed Hurley figures out he was drugged at the Roadhouse, Catherine Martell reveals her plans to take over the Packard sawmill, and Doctor Jacoby is hiding information about Laura. Cooper and Sheriff Truman interview Josie Packard, Donna Hayward and Aundrey Horne are determined to track down Laura's murder, and, most importantly, Sarah Palmer has a vision of a wild looking man.
This is also the episode where Cooper has his first "damn fine cup of coffee" at the Double R Diner. I was "there" last week (it is really Twede's Diner in Great Bend, Washington) and while I had the cherry pie I went with milk because I do not drink coffee (but my wife does, and did, in a mug proclaiming "Home of TWIN PEAKS Cherry Pie and 'A Damn Fine Cup of Coffee'." The episode is something of a let down after the pilot movie, which is to be expected given how compelling our introduction to "Twin Peaks" was in the first place. In retrospect you can see that the episode is trying to get us interested in other mysteries besides "Who killed Laura Palmer?" But what was just supposed to be the hook for the series overwhelmed everything else. There is much more out there. As Agent Cooper poses to Diane: "What really went on between Marlyin Monroe and the Kennedys? And who really pulled the trigger on JFK?"
4 out of 4 people found this helpful.
|
David Lynch created Laura Palmer
Added 6/12/2000
There is a short flash-back intercut in this episode that made me love the world of Twin Peaks. The flash-back when James remembers Laura, starring Sheryl Lee. She was the one.
1 out of 22 people found this helpful.
|
Absolutely enchanting & nerve tingling!
Added 7/8/1999
This movie is one of the best! from Laura Palmers day to day good girl, bad girl personas to "BOB's" nightly visits to the small seemingly innocent town of Twin Peaks this is a must see for horror, fantasty movie lovers. a definate 5 star movie. David Lynch has a way to catch his veiwers attention with the exploits of Laura Palmer & the town of Twin Peaks & the evils that lay under it! this is a mix between Twilight Zone & the X-files
3 out of 18 people found this helpful.
|
