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DVD Lost in Space - The Complete First Season
Lost in Space began life in 1965 as a science-fiction take on The Swiss Family Robinson. Produced by Irwin Allen, then in the midst of his run of spectacular-but-childish TV sci-fi (before he became the master of big-screen disaster movies), the show featured a family of all-American space colonists cast away on a mysterious planet. Gradually the whole thing devolved into a silly (but sometimes fun) exercise in childish camp. This boxed set includes all 29 black and white episodes from the first season (with a burst of color at the end of the last show--a foretaste of the garish look of the remaining two seasons) along with "No Place to Hide," the expensive pilot show that sold the series but prompted Allen to revamp the whole premise in comic mode when network execs responded best to its unintended humor.
"No Place to Hide" has action scenes that cropped up in the first six regular episodes but is missing several of the show's trademark aspects, most notably that infectious theme from Johnny Williams (later, John Williams of Star Wars fame) and the scheming presence of Dr. Smith (Jonathan Harris) and his alternately menacing and comical robot ("It does not compute"). As the series progresses (or degenerates, depending on your taste), Harris's Smith changes from pantomime villain, a saboteur who is trying to kill the family, into pantomime idiot whose foolishness, cowardice, and avarice are an endless source of plots. It mostly makes do with the regular cast plus an array of shaggy-suited, snarling aliens, but you do get sterling ham from visiting astronauts such as Warren Oates ("Welcome Stranger"), Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet ("War of the Robots"), and a very young Kurt Russell ("The Challenge"). Stories about surviving on an alien world give way to lifts from fairy tale, myth, and old movies as Smith gets hold of a wishing cap, becomes a giant, is chosen as a sacrificial king, turns the children over to an alien zoo, squeaks in fright as a werewolf approaches, or is cursed with a platinum Midas touch. --Kim Newman
Review(s): DVD Lost in Space - The Complete First Season
Haven't seen in 35 years and still it impresses
I was 12 years old in the fall of 1965 when Lost in Space first came out, and I can still remember being riveted to my bw tv on Wednesday nights. It is hard to describe the youthful awe and excitement that this show inspired in me---a unique and exciting spaceship, a wonderful sense of adventure on alien worlds, ocasionally spooky and really scary aliens, etc. Over the years images and events from the series were still stuck in my mind: a ship in space with strange aliens capturing the Jupiter II, a crash landing on an alien planet, a raging storm in the "Chariot" on an alien sea, an invisible alien called "Mr. Nobody", an alien zookeeper, a cyclopean giant, and more.
I hadn't seen the series at all since that time, until I came across the DVD on Blockbuster and rented the first 4 episodes of Season 1: "The Reluctant Stowaway, The Derelict, Island in the Sky, and There Were Giants in the Earth". When I put it in I was telling myself that all these years later as a mature adult that I would surely be underwhelmed.
And boy was I wrong!
Lost in Space, at least the first season, still inspires and fascinates. Everything that I remembered from my childhood was still there.
Although there are periods of somewhat sappy dialogue, the stories are entertaining and filled with wonder and adventure. The show really hits its stride in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th episodes. Who can forget the image of the Jupiter II circling the alien ship in space, and how it is captured, and the strange creatures inside. The shots of the Jupiter II swooping down over the alien planet are still jaw-dropping today. The scenes of the Chariot moving over the alien landscape and the deserted alien city at the end of episode 4 still thrill and fill me with a sense of wonder.
Allthough the first season was in black and white, for some reason it seems to enhance the aura of mystery and alien-ness of the show. On the DVD I rented (which is part of the larger 1st season package) most of the episodes were clear and crisp. There is some grain and fuzziness to the second episode "The Derelict" as though it was not made from a Master negative.
All in all, I highly recommend this dvd set to fans of the show. It would also make a good gift for a youngster who likes sci-fi.
One of the best I've ever owned.
I was very well pleased with the "1st Season" of "Lost in Space", but I also wanted to be given the choice of seeing it in "Color" (Colorized), This is the only thing I felt disappointed about was not being given the choice between "Black and White" or "Color" (Colorized). One source said along time ago that 20th Century Fox had considered it and I wish we would have had the choice to decide. Yes "Classic Black and White" is an original, but I also like "Color" (Colorized), and I would like to hope that they will still consider it down the road. I now own all 3 season of the entire series and I still give it a 5 star rating with all the bonuses that are in it. I hope this review helps.
Great Start to Evolving Series
I've always been a Lost in Space fan. From the days when I was very young when Mr. Keema scared me when he revealed himself, to rediscovering it in the late 80's to watching it now for "warm fuzzy" memories, the show has always entertained me. At my younger age, I loved Season 2. As a teen, I loved Season 3 and now, I find that Season 1 was simply the best.
Season 1 opens with 5 dramatic and suspenseful episodes that rival some of the best sci fi / adventure stories out there. While this isn't "good" science, it is fun. Lost in Space rarely, if at all, came close to the adventure and true danger shown in the first 5 episodes of season 1. They go from nearly being killed in an asteroid belt, to almost destroyed by the Robot and ultimately fighting the elements on a strange planet. I won't go in the "science" of the show because it wasn't good and logic and continuity (what happened to the dog they found?!?!) were not closely followed. This show was about a close family and their adventures in outer space. Period.
Lost in Space started out as a serious survival story and most of the first season deals with that. Despite a road bump with "Welcome, Stranger", the first half of Season 1 was very dramatic in its impact. The family had to find food, shelter, water at the same time as battling the unknown and sometimes hostile creatures. Then, the show takes a lurching turn with The Sky Pirate and rarely looks back. From that point on, the main focus of the show was "comedic villain" of the week and how Will, Smith and the Robot deal with the issue with Dad coming to the rescue most of the time.
Despite the format change, the remaining first season episodes still had a lot of charm and excitement to them. "All that Glitters" shows a remorseful side of Smith that we rarely see. "Follow the Leader" is one of the best "alien possession" episodes of the series. And the "Magic Mirror" has a very surreal mood that the series never approached again.
The cast was generally consistent in their performances. Guy Williams was solid, Angela Cartwright (when given a good story) could melt your heart, and June Lockheart was one of the best TV moms. Who know that Jonathan Harris' Dr. Smith would become one of the most memorable characters in television history?
Season 1 doesn't feature anything in the way of interesting extras. We do get the unaired pilot which is only interesting in the fact it has no Robot or Dr. Smith. The rest of that pilot was cut into most of the first 5 episodes. The back and white quality of the DVD's is crisp and excellent.
Lost in Space will always have a place in my heart. Each season of the show had its own unique personality. Season 1 was about survival and adjustment to their situation and it is the very best of the three season series.
Related DVD's Lost in Space - The Complete First Season
While Lost in Space may never enter the pantheon of great television programming, the 1960s sci-fi show certainly has its charms, all of them in evidence on this first volume of episodes from the second season. Produced by Irwin Allen, who would later be responsible for blockbuster disaster films like The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure, these 16 episodes from 1966-67 (spread out over four DVDs) find the show undergoing some changes, both technically (from black & white into color) and in terms of tone (more campy and tongue-in-cheek, especially as the season goes on). The latter is due in large part to the performance of Jonathan Harris as Dr. Zachary Smith, who puts the "arch" in archvillain (it was his meddling that got them all lost in the first... More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 14 September 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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As its second season progressed, and as these 14 episodes from 1967 attest, Lost in Space continued to swap science fiction for comic fantasy, and the show's ratings went into orbit. While Star Trek satisfied a smaller audience of serious sci-fi fans on NBC, Lost in Space (airing Wednesday nights on CBS) delighted a younger audience with the cheesy adventures of "Space Family Robinson," stranded on an isolated planet that nevertheless played host to an abundance of alien visitors. Here they include operatic Vikings, a disembodied mechanical head, a spacefaring buccaneer, a Scottish bagpiper in a haunted castle, and, in the deliriously entertaining episode "Revolt of the Androids," a silver-painted super-being whose primary purpose is to "Crush...Kill...Destroy!!" It's... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Guy Williams DVD Release Date: Released the 30 November 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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For fans of the 60's series, the release of first fifteen episodes of the third (and final) season of Irwin Allen's sci-fi/fantasy is a revelation. All the wild colors, campy situations, over-the-top Jonathan Harris histrionics, limited scenes and stereotypical roles for the women, and futuristic gadgetry are here in this abbreviated release. The best of the show's last season are presented wherein a second disc containing only nine episodes is available separately.
That makes for the major complaint against Twentieth-Century Fox. Obviously, the company realizes that we fans will fork over the bucks necessary to obtain the show, in whatever form it takes, much to our own chagrin. However, it would've been more appreciative to us had the entire season been released... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Guy Williams DVD Release Date: Released the 01 March 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Here we finaly have the last episodes of Lost in Space.The only problem is that there is no formal ending to the series.But this is well worth buying and owning.The episodes are crisp and clear(as is the sound).
Get this one becouse among others this is the set that has the most talked about episode"The Great Vegetable Rebellion"! More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Guy Williams DVD Release Date: Released the 19 July 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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In the first season of The X-Files, creator Chris Carter was uncertain of the series' future, so each of the episodes is a self-contained suspense story; they do not delve deep into the ongoing X-Files mythology or turn to self-parody and humor as do episodes in later seasons. Yet, these episodes display the elements for which the show would become famous: the cinematic production values and top-notch special effects, the stark lighting of the Vancouver sets, the atmospheric halo of Mark Snow's score, and the clever plots dealing with subjects ranging from the occult, religion, and monsters to urban legends, conspiracy theories, and science fiction. Most importantly, season 1 introduces FBI agents Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) and Fox "Spooky" Mulder (David Duchovny), two of... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): X-Files - David Duchovny DVD Release Date: Released the 09 May 2000 Usually ships in 24 hours
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