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The Twilight Zone

The Cold Equations

  • Episode aired Jan 7, 1989
  • 25m
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
263
YOUR RATING
S3.E16
  • S3
  • E16
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All
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
The Twilight Zone (1985)
  • Drama
  • Fantasy
  • Horror
Marilyn Lee Cross may not survive after she stows away on board a spacecraft.Marilyn Lee Cross may not survive after she stows away on board a spacecraft.Marilyn Lee Cross may not survive after she stows away on board a spacecraft.
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
263
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Martin Lavut
  • Writers
    • Rod Serling
    • Alan Brennert(teleplay by)
    • Tom Godwin(based on a story by)
  • Stars
    • Terence Knox
    • Christianne Hirt
    • Barclay Hope
Top credits
  • Director
    • Martin Lavut
  • Writers
    • Rod Serling
    • Alan Brennert(teleplay by)
    • Tom Godwin(based on a story by)
  • Stars
    • Terence Knox
    • Christianne Hirt
    • Barclay Hope
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 8User reviews
    • 1Critic review
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos

    Christianne Hirt and Terence Knox in The Twilight Zone (1985)
    Add photo

    Top cast

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    Terence Knox
    Terence Knox
    • Thomas Bartinas Thomas Bartin
    Christianne Hirt
    Christianne Hirt
    • Marilyn Lee Crossas Marilyn Lee Cross
    Barclay Hope
    Barclay Hope
    • Gerry Crossas Gerry Cross
    Michael J. Reynolds
    Michael J. Reynolds
    • Commander Delhartas Commander Delhart
    Nicky Guadagni
    • Records Clerkas Records Clerk
    Robin Ward
    Robin Ward
    • Narratoras Narrator
    • (voice)
    • Director
      • Martin Lavut
    • Writers
      • Rod Serling
      • Alan Brennert(teleplay by)
      • Tom Godwin(based on a story by)
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      This story was first produced as a radio play on the radio program "X Minus One" which aired on August 25, 1955.
    • Quotes

      Narrator: On the frontier, any frontier, there can be little margin for error. Just as the first covered wagons making their way across the American desert had a finite supply of food and water, so too on this even vaster frontier are there laws that must be strictly observed. Thomas Barton has been piloting Emergency Dispatch Ships for five years. He has never been faced with this particular law of the frontier until now. Thomas Barton is about to discover firsthand that there are limits, even here in the boundless reaches... of the Twilight Zone.

    • Connections
      Version of Out of This World: Cold Equations (1962)

    User reviews8

    Review
    Top review
    8/10
    The episode that stayed with me over the years
    Well, without saying too much, or writing an episode synopsis, I'll try to explain why this episode of The New Twilight Zone was the one that will always stay with me.

    I was in my early teens when this show started airing in the late 80's. It was on after episodes of some new werewolf show whose name escapes me... I have almost no memory of any New Twilight Zone episodes other than this one, and another one involving shopping store mannequins. This one stayed with me because of how powerfully it evoked such a variety of emotions. Without going into too much detail, I remember instantly being interested in this episode, as the star/ co-star was the Sergeant from Tour of Duty (Terrence Knox). Anyway, before too long, we're introduced to the other star/ co-star, Christianne Hirt. Needless to say, I fell in love with her in a flash.

    The episode itself examines the tough choices Terrence Knox faces when he realises that he's not alone in deep space. Christine Hirt plays her character flawlessly, and both of them made a deep and lasting impression on me, as this was the first time I had ever been exposed to a situation where every choice one makes, will turn out to be the wrong choice. Despite that neither character (Knox/ Hirt) is inherently 'in the wrong' and that neither character is a/ the 'bad guy', both characters find themselves in dire straits, where their lives depend on choices that are both already made for them, and yet have to be made by one or the other of the unlikely duo.

    The scenes where Knox and Hirt are examining the cold hard facts that beset their ill-fated voyage, were the first of their kind that I had ever seen, and were acted perfectly. They evoked such powerful feelings of isolation and helplessness in me, in a way that no other movie (or such) had done before. It was the first time I'd been moved to tears by a medium other than real life (with the notable exception of David Bowie's song Space Oddity), and though I may have long since forgotten most of the details of this episode, I can still recall with such clarity, the myriad of emotions that this episode woke up inside me. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to see the best that the New Twilight Zone had to offer.
    helpful•18
    3
    • Razar_C-1
    • Aug 12, 2010

    Details

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    • Release date
      • January 7, 1989 (United States)
    • Language
      • English
    • Production companies
      • CBS Broadcast International
      • Atlantis Films
      • London Film Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      25 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Stereo
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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