Stars: Scott Bairstow, D.B. Sweeney, Terry O'Quinn, Rachel Hayward, Samantha Mathis

Director: Daniel Sackheim

Summary: On returning from Sarajevo, Lt. Thomas F. Hobbes' hopes of settling down with his fiancee, Sophie, are dashed when he tests the military's latest training tool, a virtual reality world called 'Harsh Realm'. Trapped in the game, he finds the virtual world has been taken over by the renegade soldier Omar Santiago. A mysterious woman named Florence approaches Thomas believing him to the saviour the virtual characters in the game have been seeking to end Santiago's rule.

An action-packed sci-fi ride, the TV series HARSH REALM is the ultimate in virtual reality, written and produced by X FILES creator Chris Carter. Scott Bairstow (THE BONE SNATCHER) plays Lt Thomas Hobbes who volunteers to use a virtual reality system (codenamed Harsh Realm) to test the latest military technology. Omar Santiago (Terry O'Quinn), a renegade soldier of the VR world, has seized control of Harsh Realm, so Hobbes must take him on and kill him to regain power for the military. Contains eight episodes plus the original pilot episode.

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The dark and fantastic Harsh Realm, a science fiction series about a war fought by flesh-and-blood humans trapped inside virtual reality, was launched by The X-Filescreator Chris Carter in 1999 and died a regrettable, premature death on the Fox channel after three episodes. The remaining six shows found sanctuary on the FX network, and then Harsh Realmslipped into history, its wild story, based on a comic book, far from resolved. Perhaps Harsh Realm's ratings failure had something to do with its broad similarities to the hugely popular The Matrix, released only a few months before, or, for that matter, David Cronenberg's 1999 eXistenZ, in which characters fight for their lives inside a video game. Whatever the reason, enough time has passed to take an objective look at Harsh Realm, and there is a lot to be admired in its high level of imagination, complex plotting, and cutting-edge production values.

Scott Bairstow stars as U.S. Army Lieutenant Tom Hobbes, a decorated hero who risked his life rescuing a buddy, Major Mel Waters (Max Martini), during a peacekeeping mission in the former Yugoslavia. Set to return to civilian life and marry his fiancée, Sophie (Samantha Mathis), Hobbes is summoned by a mysterious superior (Lance Henriksen) and asked to test-run Harsh Realm, a virtual reality war game devised by the Pentagon. Once he begins, however, Hobbes is mentally imprisoned in the dangerous game (his body, along with those of hundreds of other "volunteers," is cared for in a secret military hospital), where he is identified by other, desperate captives as the savior they've been awaiting. D.B. Sweeney is very good as another soldier, Mike Pinocchio, whose sense of mission is re-awakened by Hobbes and who becomes a partner in an endless effort to defeat a madman named Santiago (Terry O'Quinn), who rules Harsh Realmfrom within. As with The X-Files, the nine episodes in this boxed set are each very striking on their own terms, with post-apocalyptic sets, constant surprises, and that special Chris Carter touch (fans of his Millenniumwill like Harsh Realm, too) that makes every story look and feel like a collision of a nightmare and a crisis of faith. --Tom Keogh

Aspect Ratio:	16:9 Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Commentaries On Selected Episodes, Inside Harsh Realm Featurette, Creating The Logo And Title Sequence, Five TV Spots
Subtitles:	French
Release Date:	July 26, 2004
Runtime:	405 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	27302 D V D
Keywords:	Season, One, Box, General, Series, Realm, Wide, Screen, Three, Fiction, Set, Science, Tv, Horror, Complete, Discs, Sci, Fi, Harsh
Genre:	Science Fiction