"Twin Peaks" Pilot (1990)

User Rating:

8.7/10   

Director:

David Lynch

Writers:

Mark Frost (written by) &
David Lynch (written by)

TV Series:

"Twin Peaks" (1990)

Original Air Date:

8 April 1990 (Season 1, Episode 1)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

A Mystery That Holds Its Secret To The Very End

Plot:

Twin Peaks, 1990. A popular teenage girl in a strange town is murdered, and a stranger FBI agent is sent in to investigate.

Plot Keywords:

Agent | FBI | Murder | Investigation | One Armed Man

Awards:

Won 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Kyle MacLachlan	...	Special Agent Dale Cooper
Michael Ontkean	...	Sheriff Harry S. Truman
Mädchen Amick	...	Shelly Johnson (as Madchen Amick)
Dana Ashbrook	...	Bobby Briggs
Richard Beymer	...	Benjamin Horne
Lara Flynn Boyle	...	Donna Hayward
Sherilyn Fenn	...	Audrey Horne
Warren Frost	...	Dr. Will Hayward
Peggy Lipton	...	Norma Jennings
James Marshall	...	James Hurley
Everett McGill	...	Big Ed Hurley
Jack Nance	...	Pete Martell
Ray Wise	...	Leland Palmer
Joan Chen	...	Jocelyn Packard
Piper Laurie	...	Katherine Martell

Runtime:

94 min | USA:113 min (video version) | 90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Norwegian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Ireland:15 | South Korea:18 | Spain:T | UK:15 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

North Bend, Washington, USA

Company:

Lynch Entertainment

Trivia:

This movie was originally a pilot episode for "Twin Peaks" (1990) but since it was unsure whether they would create a whole series, the ending was rewritten to create an individual movie. (The major change was that it was revealed who the killer was.) This way, they could profit on it by selling it as a self-contained movie even if the full series was never made. When the series was in fact made, it became so popular that it was decided to release the movie anyway.

Goofs:

Continuity: Not long after the class scene where Donna starts to cry and James breaks his pencil when they have a premonition about Laura Palmer being dead, Principal Wolchezk makes an announcement. With the previous scene in mind, he tells about Laura Palmer as their classmate, whilst actually the announcement is meant for the whole school.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Pete Martell: She's dead. Wrapped in plastic.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Le son de Lynch (2007) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Falling

as good as TV gets

Twin Peaks is unique in every way. It is almost unbelievable that a series so near-perfect and daring like Twin Peaks could be shown in nationwide TV. David Lynch didn't sell-out as he turned to the small screen, instead he took TV to new forms: never before and after have I seen a TV series that made such a lasting impression. I love each and every character, the brillant dialogues, the beautiful cast (Lara Flynn Boyle! Kyle MacLachlan!) and - best of all - a storytelling so absurd, obscure and perfect that you can only wonder how they made it. Its not only my favourite TV series, it has some of the best scenes ever filmed (the second murder, BOB, etc). And BOB scared me to death, ten years ago and also nowadays - I've seen the Twin Peaks Series now 5 times in its entirety and it is as good as the first time.