A Perfectly Bizarre Night for 'Twin Peaks'
17 Jul, 2014 By: Chris TribbeyHOLLYWOOD, Calif. — To introduce nearly 90 minutes of deleted and alternate scenes from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (included on the Twin Peaks: The Entire Mystery Blu-ray Disc collection, available July 29) director David Lynch chose to talk about wood.
“There is an abundance of fish in the sea, but tonight I would like to talk about wood,” he said July 16 before a packed theater audience. And wood was all he talked about. “It is only natural that trees are growing and are made of wood. Quite often when we are talking about beauty, we are talking about wood,” he said.
He then thanked the audience for their attention, and much like his intro, the crowd was treated to something you’d usually only encounter during a fever dream. The long-awaited missing pieces from the original version of the film are just as brilliant and bizarre as the film itself. The feature-length experience, directed and edited by Lynch exclusively for the Blu-ray, is immediately followed by a sit-down conversation between Lynch and the three members of the Palmer family (never mind that two of them have been dead for decades).
After the screening, the audience was left confused, sitting around waiting for someone to tell them to leave. Then those invited to the after-party arrived at a nearby bar with animal heads on every wall.
In other words, it was a smashing success for the upcoming Blu-ray release from CBS Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Media Distribution. In addition to the 1992 film, the release includes every episode from the complete TV series; both the U.S. and international versions of the series’ pilot; newly transferred Log Lady introductions for each episode; picture upgrades to shots in the TV series; and hours of never-before-released material.
“People have been waiting for more than 20 years for this,” said Ken Ross, EVP and GM of CBS Home Entertainment. “We wanted to do something very memorable to commemorate this event.”
That meant bringing out most every major “Twin Peaks” actor, including Mädchen Amick, Catherine Coulson, Mary Jo Deschanel, Miguel Ferrer, Peggy Lipton, Sheryl Lee, James Marshall, Victor Rivers, Kimmy Robertson, Russ Tamblyn, Lenny von Dohlen, Ray Wise and Grace Zabriskie.
“There’s just nothing I’ve ever done with ["Twin Peaks"] that hasn’t been positive,” said Wise (Leland Palmer). He said the feature-length bonus of deleted and extended scenes includes “some pretty far-out stuff. Some of the more bizarre moments we filmed,” he laughed.
“Log Lady” Coulson — who, yes, brought a miniature log as a prop — said none of the cast knew at the time how successful and adored the franchise would become. “It’s about telling the truth of the underbelly of a small town, and it was something that had never been seen on television before,” she said.
“It was so original and had so many layers to it,” said Zabriskie (Sarah Palmer). “Even when things were revealed, there were still things we didn’t understand, and it was done in such a beautiful, creative way. And it still hasn’t been surpassed, in my opinion.”
The massive Blu-ray set also includes “Moving Through Time: Fire Walk With Me Memories,” a retrospective documentary featuring interviews with cast and crew; high-def versions of the Log Lady episode introductions; three "Twin Peaks" photo galleries with more than 130 behind-the-scenes images from Lynch’s personal collection; 10 vignettes of iconic "Twin Peaks" themes called “Atmospherics”; and pre-existing special features, some re-mastered in high-def, including the four-part documentary “Secrets From Another Place: Creating Twin Peaks.”