If you're looking to watch the earlier Rod Serling "pilot", the Desilu Playhouse episode for The Time Element, it's on the TZ season 1 Blu-Ray as a special feature.

Whatever happened to cinematography?  One of the best images in the pilot episode was a long shot when he exited the diner and walked off into the distance as a large, solitary tree loomed in the background.  Then there was the heavy foreshadowing when he was startled by the giant eye of the optometrist's sign.

I've never seen the movie, but I don't think there's a lot of significance to the choice of Battle Hymn.  They needed a recent movie about a pilot to prod the main character's recollection, as evidenced by the crappy fake movie poster they threw up.  I expect they used that movie because this episode of TZ (unlike the…