Night Stalker (2005) DVD Review and Discussion thread

[Guest WaveCrest]

Have watched the first five out of the six aired episodes of Night Stalker so far, along with the teaser from the first part of the two-parter called "The Source". Want to watch that and the first unaired episode "The Sea" tonight.

After the very good pilot the second episode was disappointing. "Three" was good, then the show picked up a bit with "Burning Man" and "Malum".

Edited December 27, 2008 by WaveCrest

[Guest Laurent.]

The Sea was one of the best episodes in the series, because it perfectly blends the pop-corn/cool action side of the series with the Millenniumistic mythology. The last unaired episode What's the Frenquency, Kolchak? is my personal favorite (and in my opinion, one of the best hour of television ever)... I'm eager to hear your opinion on these two!

[Guest ZeusFaber]

I think "Malum" was one of my favourites, and also "Timeless," as well as both of the above. Only really "Burning Man" felt below-par to me.

I too will be eager to see your thoughts on the remaining episodes, as well as the unproduced entries.

[HighPlainsDrifter]

Malum is my all time fav

[Guest WaveCrest]

Watched "The Source" and "The Sea" last night along with the first few minutes of "Into Night".

I thought "The Sea" was the best episode of the two-parter although it was very frustrating at times. A few questions arose from the story but there were no answers. The bikers' attack on the motel was excellent, along with the disappearing building. I can see what is meant by the popcorn/Millennium mythology balance. It has that marketed at teens look and feel, with the X Files/Millennium-style mythology. It also has a feel of Millennium in LA and the look of the sadly short-lived TV series Robbery Homicide Divison and the film Collateral (with the digital camera film look).

Did they just film the pilot with digital cameras or did they carry on with that look for the rest of the filmed episodes?

I thought there was just the Darin Morgan scripted episode which wasn't filmed. But checking the DVD-ROM page on the DVD on my TV there was an episode scripted (but not filmed) before Darin Morgan's episode.

I liked the new female character introduced in "The Source", Ed Head.

Edited December 28, 2008 by WaveCrest

[Guest ZeusFaber]

You're spot on with your identifications of the cinematography touchstones - Robbery Homicide Division which Frank Spotnitz worked on and used the Genesis camera for the first time, and Collateral which of course was also helmed by Michael Mann (and incidentally featured Klea Scott!). Have you listened to any of the commentaries already, or are you just remarkably observant?

To answer your question, I believe the Genesis camera was indeed used for the majority of the episodes, although IIRC there were the few odd bits shot on film due to limited availability at the time.

As for the unproduced scripts, the first one was "Ascendant" by Melissa & Joy Beth Blake, which preceded Darin Morgan's "The M Word". Both are indeed viewable/printable from the DVD. A nice way of rounding out the package of the all too short-lived series.

It's probably also worth baring in mind that some of the episodes were written to be shown in a different order, but switched at the eleventh hour by ABC. "Into Night" was intended to air after the pilot, but was swapped with "The Five People You Meet in Hell".

[Guest WaveCrest]

I finished watching the unaired episodes tonight, watching the rest of "Timeless" and the whole of "What's the Frequency Kolchak?". The first was very good and the latter was excellent.

I was hoping to read the first of the two unproduced scripts just now but my DVD won't play the DVD-ROM. I'm sure when I tried the second disc in my computer when I bought the DVD boxset, it worked. I had to change the DVD region settings for Windows Media Player (it said I have 4 changes and after that I can't change the DVD region settings for my computer). There was audio but no picture. I could hear the Buena Vista music and the menu screen music but couldn't see any picture. I'm sure the scripts were completely separate from the menus.

1.) How do I change the DVD settings back from Region 1 to Region 2?

2.) Can I get the scripts to appear on my computer screen?

[Guest WaveCrest]

You're spot on with your identifications of the cinematography touchstones - Robbery Homicide Division which Frank Spotnitz worked on and used the Genesis camera for the first time, and Collateral which of course was also helmed by Michael Mann (and incidentally featured Klea Scott!). Have you listened to any of the commentaries already, or are you just remarkably observant?

To answer your question, I believe the Genesis camera was indeed used for the majority of the episodes, although IIRC there were the few odd bits shot on film due to limited availability at the time.

As for the unproduced scripts, the first one was "Ascendant" by Melissa & Joy Beth Blake, which preceded Darin Morgan's "The M Word". Both are indeed viewable/printable from the DVD. A nice way of rounding out the package of the all too short-lived series.

It's probably also worth baring in mind that some of the episodes were written to be shown in a different order, but switched at the eleventh hour by ABC. "Into Night" was intended to air after the pilot, but was swapped with "The Five People You Meet in Hell".

I knew beforehand that they shot the pilot on a digital camera. Having watched the Frank Spotnitz interview after watching the final produced episode I heard it was a high definition camera. I saw 3 or 4 episodes of Robbery Homicide Division on Sky One a few years ago (when is that going to get a DVD release?) and Collateral a few years ago, and am sure I remember reading somewhere or realising that Night Stalker was going to have a similar look. I wish a cable channel could pick Night Stalker up, but with Frank Spotnitz developing this new show with Gabrielle Union it's not going to happen. I just love that realistic look in Night Stalker. The use of colour, the city of LA..it's well done.

It did seem like some episodes should have been shown in a different order. But there did seem a consistency with how Perry acted towards Kolchak. In the early episodes she was less of a believer yet more of a believer as the episodes went on.

Cotter Smith who played the editor reminded me of Don Murray in Knots Landing. They look similar.

Edited December 29, 2008 by WaveCrest

[Guest ZeusFaber]

1.) How do I change the DVD settings back from Region 1 to Region 2?

I'm not entirely sure about this, but presumably however you changed it the first time! Not very helpful, I know. Perhaps there's an option in WMP somewhere? As for why you're getting audio but not picture, this could be a codec issue, although I was under the impression that shouldn't be an issue for a DVD. Sorry, can't help you out too much on this one - perhaps someone with more audio-visual club savvy.

2.) Can I get the scripts to appear on my computer screen?

This should be relatively easier. After you put the disc in your DVD-ROM drive, if anything starts to auto-play, just cancel it and close whatever program it might be. Then go into My Computer or Windows Explorer, or whatever drive navigation interface you prefer to use. Click on you DVD-ROM drive (e.g. "E:") and expand each folder until you find one containing .PDF files. They should be labeled with their relevant episode names, IIRC. Provided you have Acrobat Reader, it should then simply be a matter of double-clicking the file to open and view. This should be the case regardless of what region your drive is set to.

Hope that helps!

[Guest WaveCrest]

Thanks for your help ZeusFaber.