The Outer Limits. Episode 1. "The Galaxy Being" Radio-station owner snags an alien in a signal and - when the power is boosted - it runs amok.
Cliff Robertson is a terrific lead in this engrossing tale. It's a fast-paced hour, which packs a lot of story into it's running time. The first quarter introduces the key characters: a tech-obsessed guy in search of alien contact, his frustrated wife and the brother who runs the family business - a radio station - with him. Most of the second quarter is devoted to a conversation between the hero and his alien friend: a creature from a distant galaxy who isn't supposed to make contact with anyone on Earth. Their checklist of Big Questions is suitably profound. And very engrossing. Try and you might you really can't pull yourself away.
By the third quarter things have started to go wrong: a meddling DJ uses too much power and the alien signal is boosted, bringing the creature to earth where (without meaning any harm) his jaunt causes many deaths.
Leading to... the big showdown in the final quarter. There's a very strong speech and a surprisingly touching ending and when the credits roll you feel like you've seen a classic.
Cliff Robertson is surround by a strong cast, and the visuals are great. Sometimes there's low camera angles to keep things interesting and when the alien appears on screen the camera finds inventive ways to make him look different every time. Sometimes he is in extreme close-up, sometimes he's away in the distance behind something. There's one great moment where he looks through some binoculars and the eye pieces light up like mini suns.
Superb stuff, from start to finish. It was A+ all the way for me, by the voice-over narration at the very end, as the camera pulled away, made it even better somehow.
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The Outer Limits. Episode 1. "The Galaxy Being"
