The Outer Limits (TV Series) Cold Hands, Warm Heart (1964) User Reviews

Yes, Venus is closer to Earth than Mars

[Striderswife · 7/10 · 20 June 2018]

I'm only writing this review to give a little education, in response to mikesinclair. At their closest, Venus and Earth are 38 million kilometers away. Meanwhile, Earth and Mars come only 56 million kilometers apart.

As far as this episode, I found it a delight. We love watching the older episodes of The Outer Limits on the Comet channel, and seeing a young William Shatner was a treat.

First Venus, Then Mars

[AaronCapenBanner · 7/10 · 15 March 2016]

William Shatner stars as astronaut Jeff Barton, who has successfully completed a solo mission to Venus and back. Upon return, he is hailed as a hero, and promoted to Brigadier-General, but while working on the next mission called Project Vulcan, a trip to Mars, he begins to exhibit unpleasant side effects like being constantly cold, and needing increasing heat sources, much to the alarm of his wife Ann(played by Geraldine Brooks), especially when Jeff starts to grow webbed hands, and a short temper. Can the medical field find a cure in time? Shatner is perfectly cast here, in this highly emotional role, which suits his talents perfectly. Interesting and fun, though never really pays off that much dramatically. Venusian creature is a real hoot though!

It's worth a look, not one of the best though.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 6/10 · 29 September 2023]

Astronaut Jeff Barton returns to Earth with a hero's welcome, following a trip to Venus, his adoring wife leads the cheer, but it isn't long before she sees a chance in him, haunted by nightmares, and permanently cold, Jeff is back, but something's changed.

I'm comparing this to most of the episodes from the first series, and if I'm honest, I think it's a somewhat average episode, it feels as though the show has lost some of its bite, some of its creativity.

It's a good story, how many sci fi horrors have we seen over the years with a similar plot, astronaut goes into space, something returns with him....maybe not original, but a good setup for a bit of horror.

Geraldine Brooks is very convincing as the concerned wife, I found her very sincere, the problem for me, Shatner, don't curse me for this, but I think he's wooden here, sure he's insanely handsome, and has a degree of presence, those opening sequences of him in uniform, talk about film star looks, but compared to his more familiar roles, I found him somewhat raw here.

The ....monster, I thought the out of focus shots were decent, once they focused on it, they lost me.

It's alright, it's not one I'd rush to again.

6/10.

William Shatner & Geraldine Brooks

[StuOz · 13 July 2014]

After being in space, Shatner needs warming up all the time.

Shatner and Brooks are two favourites of mine, to me Brooks is best known for a colour episode of QM's The Fugitive titled: The Ivy Maze! Shatner seemed to be warming up for Captain Kirk in Star Trek. I think I can forget some issues with this episode simply because the two leads are so known and liked by me.

The story is not all together bad as well. But having said all this, I can say this episode required repeat viewings before I became a fan.

It really is amazing how many Star Trek cross overs there are in The Outer Limits, I wonder if these cross overs are all known by the "Trekkers"?

Project 'Vulcan'

[lockwood-10 · 7/10 · 1 October 2017]

I just wonder if this episode had anything to do with Mr. Spock and his being 'Vulcan'. This episode concerns 'Project Vulcan' and this was before Star Trek got started. This episode was made in 1964 and Star Trek started in 1966. Overall, not a bad episode about astronaut who returns from Venus trip who can't get warm. Liked Geraldine Brooks and William Shatner as the astronaut. Look for James Sikking from Hill Street Blues and Malachi Throne. Not as bad as some reviews have this episode.

better than expected, but I read other reviews first, before watching

[talonjensen · 7/10 · 20 June 2018]

First, to clear up a misunderstanding by several reviewers. Venus is usually closer to Earth than Mars, but not always. Sometimes Mars is closer because planets orbit the Sun out of sync with each other. So, William Shatner telling the reporters that Venus is closest to Earth is usually correct.

For the time, especially for a low-budget TV series, the effects are not bad, actually better, in general, than I expected.

SPOILER: Making the ship's leading edges glow when it entered Venus' atmosphere and Shatner scratching his hands before they visually changed were nice, unexpected touches.

The resolution was a little bit of a let down. I've often wondered how many of these older show's story line was written to be in line with the Television Code? Personally I hope for an unexpected twist at the end of these type of shows.

Regardless, not the best episode, but not as bad as many of the reviewers rate it. And, I did enjoy the mentions of "Project Vulcan".

"It was the way to lead the way to new worlds, to new life..."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 7 June 2022]

If I didn't know better, one might almost consider this episode a pilot for the original "Star Trek" series that launched a couple years following this program. Especially when you take into account Colonel Jeff Barton's (William Shatner) childhood recollection of what he wanted to do with his life, which I've put in my summary line above. Other references abound as well, and I have to wonder if Gene Roddenberry took some inspiration from this show when it came to creating the Enterprise's Science Officer after hearing about Project Vulcan. Barton's webbed hand could have been a variation of the Vulcan greeting to 'Live long and prosper', and even though I might be stretching things here a bit, I still find it 'fascinating' (Spock's word) how the Outer Limits series in general presaged so many of the situations that eventually found their way into "Star Trek".

But if you allow me to switch gears for a minute, I also want to mention what could have been a spin-off of William Shatner's appearance in an original Twilight Zone episode about a year before this show aired. In 'Nightmare at 20,000 Feet", his character freaked out over the appearance of a 'gremlin' on the wing of a passenger plane he was traveling in. Kind of like the vision Colonel Barton had when he had the recurring nightmare of that alien being haunting his dreams. And at what point did it occur as he flew over the Venusian landscape - 20,000 feet! Coincidence? You can be the judge.

In any event, I didn't find this episode to be as boring as a number of reviewers here, as I was summoning up memories of those other programs and making the connections I found to be eerily similar. Sure, Shatner has a way of over-emoting as the situation calls for, but in this case, his performance might have landed him the role of Captain Kirk. Who knows, but connecting those dots is what makes these old time television programs fun for me.

Interesting premise

[ndrgd · 9/10 · 2 July 2022]

Having watched OL in reruns, I thought the 1st season was interesting, early sci-fi (and I like early sci-fi). Season 2 presented different story lines with more monsters and such which really didn't do it for me. But with Cold Hands Warm Heart the script was more thoughtful without crazy monsters. Yes the Venus doll was odd in seeing the strings attached, but whatever. And Bill did some superb screams that got him ready for the Star Trek role. All in all, I gave this episode a 9 for the interesting script, acting and the lack of crazy ass monsters :)

How Bad Could It Be?

[kyrn123 · 5/10 · 3 November 2021]

I agree with most of the reviews on here. The acting was fine especially Geraldine Brooks, a very talented actress. Even scene chewing Shatner is good in his role. While I found the concept interesting, going to Venus and suddenly he can't stay warm, but it's never explained what happened to cause this, and where /why does the Venusian (looks like Beaker from the Muppets) cause him such terror?? I don't know why his hands got webbed and in the end he returns to normal? How, by the power of love? Too many things are left unanswered.

Captain Kirk and Project Vulcan

[xenolambrose · 8/10 · 1 November 2023]

William Shatner as Brigadier General Jeff Barton and his wife, Ann, played by actress Geraldine Brooks, star in season 2, episode 2 Cold Hands, Warm Heart. After successfully landing on Venus and given a hero's welcome on return he is determined to win funding for a proposed Space flight to colonize Mars...until things go terribly wrong with his body. Aboard Venus 1, he attempts to orbit Venus but begins to lose control and his craft seemingly crashes as he notices a bizarre Venusian gazing at him. Apparently, he passed out inside a Steam Room and was only dreaming about the weird creature. His temperature rises to over 150 degrees and he begins to grow grotesque scales on his arms and fingers become webbed. His wife can only watch and wonder what else he has brought back with him. And yes, Project Vulcan was Jeff Barton's "Baby." Starring William Shatner, Geraldine Brooks, Lloyd Gough, Malachi Throne, and Dean Harens. Produced by Ben Brady, directed by Dan Ullman, and directed by Charles Haas, and executive producer Leslie Stevens.

All rather pointless

[fjaye · 3/10 · 14 May 2012]

I must agree with the other reviewers: this episode is exceedingly tedious. And all of the major plot points are left dangling.

Shatner's character returns from an orbital trip to Venus, where (apparently) something happens. We know he sees a stick puppet outside his craft window, but we never know if he actually makes contact.

Shortly after his return to Earth, Shatner's blood chemistry changes and he acquires an incredible tolerance for heat. Why? We never find out.

There's a lot of talking back and forth as his condition worsens.

Finally, he seems to overcome whatever his condition was, and we don;t know how. But everyone's delighted, and the credits roll.

Obviously, not one of my favorites.

BTW, neither of the other reviewers has mentioned that Shatner's character is involved in "Project Vulcan."

It Left Me Cold! Ha Ha!

[Hitchcoc · 4/10 · 16 January 2015]

This is the pre-Star Trek Shatner. He's been to Venus and some stick figure has done something to him that makes him frigid (no--not that way, but actually cold) to where he has to stay in a steam bath at 200 degrees to remain sane. In the process the military begins to worry about the continuation of its space program: i.e. the colonization of Mars. The show goes on as the erstwhile Captain Kirk goes bonkers, trying to stay warm. His wife, played by Geraldine Brooks tries to be supportive while he starts growing webbed fingers and insisting that there is nothing wrong. His refusal to do anything about this but to keep the stiff upper lip (it's probably frozen) is ridiculous. Eventually, he tries to get the help he should have had all along. Any interest I had in the story drops by the wayside as we get to the sappy, underinspiring conclusion.

This pace is dead, Jim

[TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews · 5/10 · 31 January 2010]

I haven't watched an awful lot of episodes of the original The Outer Limits show(and hardly any of the newer, mid-nineties one), but I have to believe that this is among the worst. Let's get one thing out of the way right off the bat; Shatner is not responsible for the negative of this. He is charming as usual. Say what you will about his pause-acting and how he does fake pain... well, it's probably true. Nevertheless, he's one of the best things in this. I suppose the rest of the performances are reasonable enough, although I find the wife rather irritating. The characters are decent enough, if they could use more development. Dialog as well as the rest of the writing is varied. The real issue here is how tedious and boring the story is, especially in its *slow* progression. Also, for a potentially interesting science fiction concept, this isn't all that compelling. Finally, the effects are underwhelming, to put it mildly. Even for the time and what may not have been a huge budget, they're unimpressive. The editing and cinematography being average add to how uninspired and phoned in this feels. I recommend this solely to the biggest fans of Captain Kirk. 5/10

One example of the second season decay of this series

[ObscureAuteur · 3/10 · 30 April 2009]

One of the weakest episodes in this outstanding series both in terms of a slight and tedious story line, poor science fiction premise and production values. The chintzy rag doll Venusian is a bit of an embarrassment even by low budget TV series standards of the day, and compared to other episodes in this series. This is William Shatner's only episode in this series but he bears no blame for its defects.

There are a few even weaker ones, all in the second season. All the same, the hit to miss ratio for the Outer Limits in the 60's is far better than in its successor in the 90's despite the technical advancement on display of the latter. For a direct comparison examine the The Inheritors or Nightmare, where I think you will find that the better look and snarky attitude pale against the superior writing, direction and acting of the original. However, the I, Robot revision was a worthy effort, and I recall Feasibility Study as being about even.) And the original series NEVER blew off an episode by recycling other episodes with a flimsy story line as the later series did at least once per season, reaching a peak in a two-part recycle episode (Final Appeal).

pretty silly....

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 3 July 2012]

This is an amazingly silly episode of "The Outer Limits"--one that is a serious letdown for an otherwise exceptional series. Like they often say 'you can't win 'em all'....and that is definitely the case with "Cold Hands, Warm Heart".

This episode stars William Shatner as an astronaut recently returned from his orbiting Venus--yes, Venus, the incredibly inhospitable planet that is well beyond our capability to ever visit. Regardless, he's seen an a national hero and is quickly promoted to general. However, through the course of the show, it's obvious that Willie just ain't right. He's constantly cold, consumes hot coffee like it's ice cold and his personality becomes odd to say the least. In fact, apart from a goofy script with a silly dolly on wires, the episode is seriously flawed because it demands that Shatner emote--a lot. And, boy, does he over-emote. In fact, later in the show it becomes almost laughable how he reacts. You just have to see it to believe it. As a result, this is a definite dud in an otherwise great series.

Another extraordinarily benign episode

[hung_fao_tweeze · 5/10 · 5 January 2015]

After the underwhelming 'Soldier', it was hoped that this episode would pull out of the slump. It starts off promising enough - A manned voyage to Venus where there is a block of time that they can't account for at mission control and the astronaut (good ol' William Shatner) cannot recall as well. The special effects are not great but then again Outer Limits was never necessarily ground breaking in this department (with a few exceptions). It was always the story we fans lived for. We could overlook the usual bleed-through in the matte work, the obviously painted planetary terrain (in this case, the Earth clearly shows up in the space over Venus - dreadful), or the 1950ish flame exhaust of a spaceship's rockets. Let's focus on the story! Well, Shatner begins to recall what happened to him while orbiting Venus in his dreams. His craft dipped into the clouds and he encountered a floating alien being. The creature does have some eerie qualities and at first it would appear to be back-to-form for the series. I recall being frightened when I first saw this episode late at night when I was 7. However, the more the creature is on the screen the less it frightens as its movements yield the all too obvious groan 'it's a marionette' probably suspended in water. But that's not necessarily bad - or shouldn't be when it comes to Outer Limits. The story should save the day. Right? So, we become a bit intrigued as Shatner becomes very sensitive to the cold and soon begins to transform (hands only, apparently) into a Venusian. That his arm begins to burn as he sits too close to a fire and he doesn't notice is a good effect. We are believing that some kind of great plot twist is about to produce itself as we watch the clock and realize that the episode is almost over. But no. He is simply cured. The end. We are left with nothing to deal with after the episode. There is no compelling thought provoking exit speech by the control voice to make us reflect on our place in the Universe - or at least it seems not entirely joined to the episode we just saw. Even at 7 years old I was unimpressed. Basically what you have here is pretty much slightly better than standard 1950s drive-in theater fodder. It's not terrible but it simply isn't better than disappointing. Strike two for the second episode of the second season.

Nightmares, romance and much silliness at 20,000 feet

[edinburgh_girl · 5/10 · 5 December 2022]

One of the sillier episodes of The Outer Limits it has to be said. As is usually the way in TOL, a top-notch cast play it completely straight however loopy the storyline or however many 'aliens' (men in cheap rubber masks) stagger into view. It also helps that the script is generally intelligent and transcends the woeful 'special effects'.

However, in this episode, you get the feeling the writers are having a laugh. Why else reference the classic William Shatner/Twilight Zone episode 'Nightmare at 20,000 feet' (which aired in the previous year) by showing astronaut Shatner having nightmares - you guessed it - at 20,000 feet? Admittedly, the crazy rag-doll-like alien has more in common with the later Twilight Zone - The Movie than the teddy-bear gremlin from the TZ TV show, but the encroaching menace and the face looming in at the spacecraft/airplane window is familiar in all three offerings.

In the fine cast, Geraldine Brooks (as the astronaut's loving wife) is particularly convincing. William Shatner does - well, William Shatner and gets his shirt off a few times.

There are many references to love, including the planet Venus, so it's no surprise emotions, devotion and the all-conquering power of love dominate the action. And while this is touching at first, it soon tips over into trashy soap opera territory.

A final, and silly, thought (for Brits and followers of the British royal family): The Shatner character is overjoyed when it's shown that he can sweat. I wonder if Prince Andrew would like to take that test... ?

A highly unprofessional astronut is NASA's only hope... Wut?

[fedor8 · 12 September 2021]

An astronaut (not an astrodummie this time, thank God, at least not entirely) returns from Venus, and finds himself suddenly reacting strangely to normal temperatures. Venus, of course, is an extremely hot planet so I'm glad they got this right, because it'd be ludicrous if he found himself sweating excessively upon his return i.e. The opposite.

Of course, it's a little goofy that there can even be a debate i.e. Any uncertainty over whether Venus is a habitable planet (since not even machines can survive the temperatures and pressures there), but that isn't a real criticism because this is just a sci-fi story. Admittedly, in 1965 they did know about Venus being a hellish planet, but they picked it over Mercury or Mars anyway.

What is a little more iffy is that the Mars mission, which is up next, will again feature Shatner as the explorer. NASA can't find any other men they can send? Shatner's the only one capable of flight in a tin can? NASA sends GENERALS into space? Why didn't General Schwartzkopf attack Iraq from space then? But this too is a very minor point, and not any major criticism. Nor am I going to make a big stink over the fact that NASA only sends a single-man crew each time, which is far riskier than sending a proper crew. Judging from the aircraft, they could easily have crammed one more person in there, a move which would drastically improve the odds of mission success. (Though I do realize the writer chose this option because otherwise there might not be a story, or it would be too complicated for a 50-minute format to include another crew member.)

What is more troublesome is that Shatner lies to his doctor that he is "regularly examined by his (NASA) medics" which means that not only is he a big fat liar (just like the real Shatner, funnily enough: there's some realism for ya!) but he isn't getting any follow-up check-ups. It takes his WIFE'S urging to finally discover the changes such as the low temperature!

Why is he even withholding so much information from his bosses? He doesn't even tell them about the strange creature he has in his visions.

The WHOLE POINT of a manned mission is to INFORM the scientists and engineers of EVERYTHING you'd gone through, not keep silent about things, otherwise they could have sent a chimp instead, or even better - a robot. (A robot programmed to tell the truth, i.e. An anti-Shatneric android.) I don't understand how a serious professional astronaut such as this guy could possibly expect to be approved for the upcoming Mars mission if his health was so dodgy and if he was proven to be dishonest and secretive. This make little sense. Wouldn't Kirk, I mean Shatner, be concerned about his own health - precisely because he so badly wants to fly to Mars? His behaviour is highly unprofessional, given the circumstances and not very intelligent either because so reckless. His personal physician advises him to get checked by his "space doctors" yet he refuses to do this time and time again. Even after he starts turning into an amphibian he still doesn't turn to his NASA team for help and advice! Unlike the other minor issues, this is a major script problem.

As is his knocking out of a security guard.

Nor does it make sense that Kirk "disregarded procedures, disobeyed orders and went off course" - which is why he disappeared for those crucial 8 minutes. Why NASA would spend millions sending such an undisciplined man to Mars is beyond me.

Shatner: "Right then he understood his purpose, it was to lead to new worlds, to new life..." where no man had gone before?...

This line isn't the only weird similarity to "Star Trek". The mission to Mars is called "Project Vulcan". It isn't impossible that Roddenberry had seen this episode while casting for ST hence decided to make Spock a "Vulkan".

Or how about "you are going at 20,000 feet, repeat - 20,000 feet." An intentional allusion to the famous TZ episode?

The fact that Project Vulcan is completely reliant on Shatner is utterly absurd. The NASA people and the military say that the project wouldn't be possible without him. So are lead to believe that one man is engineer, program chief, rocket designer and astronaut for a space mission??? You frigging kidding me? No space mission is reliant on just one astronaut nor ever will be, except in pulp fiction. Space exploration is a huge team effort, not some one-man-genius extravaganza.

Also illogical is his wife's insistence that the project not be postponed unless absolutely necessary. It makes no sense that this dedicated wife is even slightly interested in the Mars mission considering the extreme situation her husband is in. I mean, he was morphing into an alien being, yet she is worried about the next mission not getting funded! Which next mission? The one he would head as an amphibian alien crossbreed?

Eventually, all it took for Kirk to be fixed is to undergo a sort of "emotional exorcism" of sorts, after which he starts reverting back to normal. It's rather absurd that he is sent to the important meeting with project investors while still with amphibian hands.

Let's recap. This great hero disobeyed orders which lead to a Venusian alien implanting him with its own DNA. Then, upon returning to Earth, Shatner fails to inform his bosses of crucial info, refuses to go to his medical team until the very last moment... Yet, somehow, Project Vulcan can't do without him? I believe he'd betrayed the trust of his colleagues and superiors enough to be banned from any future missions. Get him a desk job already, frcrrsakes...

Hang On A Minute!

[TondaCoolwal · 5/10 · 3 September 2022]

I thought the story looked familiar and then it struck me. This episode is simply a tweaked version of British writer Nigel Kneale's classic sci-fi serial The Quatermass Experiment. Originally shown on the BBC, in the 1950s, the serial featured three astronauts on an exploratory space mission who are suddenly overcome by an invisible force. The surviving astronaut returns to Earth and gradually mutates into an alien creature which sucks the life out of its victims. It is finally defeated when the project leader appeals to its remaining humanity. Watch this episode and note the similarities.

Having said that, the character's plight well suited William Shatner's strobe-lit style of acting!

Cold Hands, Warm Heart

[Prismark10 · 5/10 · 25 October 2023]

Colonel Jeff Barton (William Shatner) is an astronaut who orbited around Venus and has returned. He has become a celebrity and is also promoted to a General.

The next mission is to land in Mars and Barton will head Project Vulcan.

However his wife Ann (Geraldine Brooks) notices something strange. Jeff drinks a cup of coffee that is piping hot. He then feels cold all the time, turning up the heating really high.

Later his hands become webbed and he has nightmares of a Venusian creature.

Shatner and Brooks are great. The story though is not so great. Barton has been affected by something in the Venusian atmosphere but the space medics seem to be unbothered until it is too late. You would think he would had been monitored more by them.

The ending seemed to be unnecessary pat.

Venus is closer to Earth than Mars?

[mikesinclair-30063 · 1 October 2017]

I know it was the 1950's but I believe we knew the position of the planets in relationship to Earth.....

Early in the episode when Shatner is being interviewed by the press he makes a reference to Venus being closer to earth as preparation for the next step in project Vulcan which is the colonization of Mars.