Starring - Scott Bakula (Star Trek: Enterprise), Dean Stockwell (The Dunwich Horror), and Deborah Pratt (Airwolf)
Release Date - 1989
Genre - Sci-Fi/Drama
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)
Rating (out of 5):
When I was little I was an inside kid. I went out and played football, rode my bike, roller-bladed, and climb trees but my favorite thing to do was play video games and watch t.v. I loved watching movies and television. My dad was a western fan but we would usually watch Dukes of Hazard, The Musters, The Addams Family, Tales from the Crypt, and so on. However, He would usually go out of town for work about two or three times a week. On these nights I would stay with my grandmother and we would watch a different set of programs. We would usually watch Lexx, Sliders, Star Trek, and Quantum Leap. She loved watching these shows and that somewhat rubbed off on me. I loved all those shows but once they stopped circulating I quickly forgot about them. That was until recently when Mill Creek Entertainment announced that they would be releasing season 1 and 2 of Quantum Leap on DVD. I had to review that so I reached out to them and they were kind enough to hook me up with a review copy. Thanks guys!
The show follows Sam Beckett (Bakula) who is a quantum scientist who is stuck in another time after a science experiment goes wrong. He leaps from person to person to fix historical tragedies that affect people and families such as being a southern black man in the 1950s and a city woman during the same time fighting sexual harassment in the work place. Once he fixes the social injustices he then leaps to the next person to help them with their situation. Along the way he has his best friend Al to help him along the way. Al is a hologram and can only be seen by him.
Quantum Leap is one of those shows that people either loves or hates. My grandmother and I loved watching the show. Sure, there is a religious undertone but it was still fun and really submerged the viewer in period pieces and drama wrapped around sci-fi. My dad hated the show and refused to watch it when it was on. I had to wait until I was at my grandmothers to see it. This show was just as good as I remember and I want to thank Mill Creek once again for letting me check it out. The acting in this one is fun but far from perfect. Scott Bakula is a solid lead but at times his character, or characters in time, seemed forced and not completely worked on. His friend Al, played by Dean Stockwell, is tremendous. This sleazy little man is always the show stealer when he appears. He does a great job and the show would have not worked if anyone else was cast. The supporting cast is always fun and always changing. This makes it fun and keeps things fresh. The story for this one is a clever approach to the anthology series. The show's main story arch is fun but it takes season after season before it is just touched upon briefly. More of that would have made the show fun. As of this review this is just based on the first 2 seasons. Other seasons may touch on this more but the first two seasons just touched upon this briefly. With that being said, the actually episodes do get somewhat competitive. Season 2 did try to mix it up some but making him a woman and so forth but it still feels the same. Finally, the film is full of visual effects and humor. The visual effects are very dated but I'm sure for the time they were still very low grade. Considering the quality of effects in films and other television shows at the time I wonder why they went the route they did. The humor for this show is pretty dry and almost embarrassing but it still works. It pulls the viewer in and they sit mindlessly watching it regardless of how cheesy their jokes are. Overall, Quantum Leap season 1 and 2 is a huge part of my childhood and thanks to Mill Creek entertainment I can now share that part of my childhood with my children. The show may not be perfect but it is pure fun and nothing can change that. This DVD set is well worth the price so check it out.
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