Starring:
Jerry O’Connell as Quinn Mallory
John Rhys-Davies as Prof. Maximillian P. Arturo
Sabrina Lloyd as Wade Welles
Cleavant Derricks as Rembrandt ‘Crying Man’ Brown
Special Features:
Commentary by co-creators Tracy Torme and Robert Weiss on the pilot episode
All 10 episodes from the 1995 season and all 13 from the 1996 season
New making-of featurette
Photo gallery
Other Info:
Fullscreen (1.33:1)
Dolby 2.0 Digital Sound
French and Spanish Subtitles
Running Time: 16 Hours 59 Minutes
Synopsis:
This is the first and second seasons of the TV series “Sliders” that aired on Fox in 1995 1996.
Quinn Mallory is a young genius who has made an amazing scientific breakthrough. He has created a device that opens wormholes to other dimensions. However, disaster strikes when he demonstrates the device to his professor, Maximillian P. Arturo, and his girlfriend, Wade Welles. The wormhole sucks them and passerby Rembrandt ‘Crying Man’ Brown through to an alternate world.
On this parallel Earth, it is the same time in history, but some event in the past has happened differently in order to create a completely different world. Our heroes soon find themselves ‘sliding’ from one alternate reality to the next in order to try and find their way home. Along the way they find a world where the Russians have taken over the US, a world where dinosaurs rule, a world where Elvis is still alive, and more. But will they ever find their way home?
This TV series is not rated.
The Movie:
I only saw a couple of episodes of Sliders when it first aired in 1995, but I didn’t follow it much beyond that. It wasn’t because I wasn’t interested in the show. It was mainly because I wasn’t in front of a TV whenever it aired. I’ve always loved the concept. I’ve been into “What If?” type stories for a long time and this series made the most of that idea. It set the show up for an infinite number of possible storylines and all sorts of fun situations to put the characters into. It was ripe for drama, comedy, cautionary tales, and more.
Of the 23 episodes included here, there are a number of cool worlds that the heroes “slide” to. The dinosaur world was always a favorite of mine. An episode featuring an alien invasion even won an Emmy nomination. Another episode featured a Red Dawn kind of concept where the Russians took over the country. In the end, Sliders was kind of a variation of Quantum Leap. The characters were always in motion and the creators were always able to try new and different concepts. It helped keep things from getting stale.
The cast on this series was first rate (as long as they stuck together). Jerry O’Connell was great as Quinn Mallory. He went a long way from being the fat kid in Stand By Me to being the leading man on this sci-fi series. John Rhys-Davies was also good as Prof. Maximillian P. Arturo. Apparently he was one of the main reasons the show worked and it seemed to go downhill after he left. Sabrina Lloyd was good as Wade Welles. She had a good on again off again romance with Quinn. Finally, Cleavant Derricks was good comic relief as Rembrandt ‘Crying Man’ Brown. The four had a good dynamic together and helped keep the stories interesting.
This series developed a cult following and it’s easy to see why. If you’re any kind of fan of Quantum Leap, X-Files, or sci-fi in general, I think you’ll enjoy Sliders.
The Extras:
There are only two extras included on this DVD set:
Commentary by co-creators Tracy Torme and Robert Weiss on the pilot episode Torme and Weiss deliver a lively commentary filled with jokes, bits of trivia, and more. Since they are so distanced from the series now they are quite candid about some aspects of the show. If you’re a fan of the series you’ll find this well worth listening to.
New making-of featurette – Jerry O’Connell and Cleavant Derricks are the only members of the cast who are interviewed for this feature. They talk about their favorite episodes, challenges of filming, their cult following, and more. They also have interesting stories about John Rhys-Davies and his desire for perfection on the show. This feature is about 12 minutes long and also is pretty good.
The Bottom Line:
This collection should please Sliders fans and is well worth checking out by those who aren’t familiar with the show.
