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Lost in Space - The Complete First Season

Lost in Space - The Complete First Season

List Price: $79.98
Your Price: $59.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: DVD's lack in picture quality
Review: Lost in space is a great series, however I was disappointed in the picture quality of the DVD's. The quality is not up to where DVD's are. It is not horrible, but I can tell that it comes nowhere near other black and white DVD's in sharpness, quality, etc. Does anyone else concur that these are not up to Par where they should be? Seems to be a pattern overlaying the video, almost as if it was transferred from laserdisc or something else. This does not look like remastering in its finest hour. However, it does blow away VHS tapes.

Also, on the final episode, there is a preview for the next episode in color. So you can get a preview of what the color episodes will look like. It is episode 29 "Follow the leader" at the end.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Through the Eyes of a 10 Year Old Boy
Review: I was born the year and month Lost in Space premiered so I did not get to experience it until the early 1970s. Oh how I remember being so excited when I was a little boy because every summer Lost in Space was was rerun. I was glued to my tv set. Sure the f/x are dated and can be cheesy looking...but when I watch Lost in Space I still watch it through the eyes of a 10 year old boy.

It is so cool having it in DVD format. Although it does not have very many extras other than the unaired pilot and a presentation film to the sponsors, it is well worth the money. Most tv shows have only 22 episodes per season but back in the 60s more were produced so this collection has 29 (plus the unaired pilot). Come to think of it, LIS had 83 episodes so that would be around 4 seasons now instead of the three years it ran in the 60s. Anyhow, this dvd is well worth the purchase to this man still watching Lost in Space through the eyes of a 10 year old boy.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Sensors Indicate An All-Around Winner
Review: Back in my younger days, I used to dream that some time in the future I would be able to obtain my very own set of un-cut LOST IN SPACE episodes to watch whenever I wanted. Well, all these years later, the dream has finally come true.

The new DVD set of the complete first season is absolutely outstanding. All 29 black & white episodes are here, crystal-clear and with unaltered cliffhanger endings. (Even the cliffhanger/preview for "Blast Off into Space", the premiere episode of the second season, is included -- in color!) The set also features the unaired pilot as well as a fascinating short promotional film that was shown to CBS executives. As for the DVDs themselves, the discs are packaged in very slim separate plastic cases rather than one of those awkward fold-out albums, which is a major plus.

One mystery: At least one episode, "Return From Outer Space", is missing some brief footage. I compared the DVD version to a tape of the episode I recorded off a local station back in 1985. In the scene where Will grabs the bottle of carbon tetrachloride and runs out of the store, the original version shows Will bumping right into the sheriff, who says, "Wait a minute, wait a minute...I thought I left you with Miss Ruth!". The DVD version, however, jumps from the storekeeper saying "Hey, wait a minute" to the scene outside where the sheriff is looking down at the stolen bottle. Trivial, of course, but it makes one wonder why any parts were removed at all.

All things considered, though, this set comes as close to perfection as any fan could have hoped. Bravo to the folks at Twentieth Century Fox for doing a superb job of preserving one of the best television series ever made.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Awesome
Review: I just bought this set today. The choice of packaging is great! It is eight discs, with each disc in it's own sturdy plastic slim line case.

The menu's are really well done, and the picture quality is very good. Over 1400 minutes of pure viewing pleasure!

I REALLY CAN'T WAIT for seasons two and three!

If you are a fan, go out and buy this today!

As my title for this review states: AWESOME!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Take that you bubble headed booby!
Review: The Robinson Family (Guy Williams, June Lockhart, Billy Mumy, Angela Cartwright, Marta Kristen) and Major Don West (Mark Goddard) are sent on their adventure because of concerns about over population. Their goal is to arrive at Alpha Centuri within 5 years. They'll be unaware of the passage of time as they'll be in suspended animation for the duration of the voyage and their auto pilot will steer them on their clear course.

There's one gadfly in the whole plan. Dr. Zackery Smith (Jonathan Harris)has been hired by a foreign government to sabotage the mission. He programs the Robot to go beserk 8 hours after taken off and destroy the Jupiter 2 spacecraft. Unfortunately, Smith becomes trapped on the Jupiter 2 and when the ship goes off course and arrives smack dab in the middle of a swarm of meteorites, Smith must wake up West to pilot the ship out of the bombarding chunks of rock.

Like Star Trek, Lost in Space originally was intended as a five year mission and like Star Trek it became a three year one. The shows first season has a number of stellar episodes written by some of the top television writers (some of them also science fiction writers)of their day. The pilot was originally written by Shimon Wincelberg (Star Trek)and Irwin Allen while many other episodes were written by S. Bar David (another Star Trek alum), Barney Slater, Peter Packer and Wincelberg. Directors included Nathan Juran (The 7th Voyage of Sinbad), Allen himself (only on the previously unreleased pilot episode)and other television directors of the time (including Leo Penn which, I believe, is Sean Penn's dad). The incidential music included music written for "The Day the Earth Stood Still" by Bernard Herrmann but the original theme music and music written for the first season was quite effective as well.

While the future isn't what it used to be, Lost in Space still works as fun space opera. The actors all gave solid performances with television vets Guy Williams (Zorro)and June Lockhart (Lassie)leading a great cast. While the series would later evolve into silliness, the first season had strong writing and material to work with. The first five episodes (which had elements of the original unaired pilot spread around in them)are still entertaining and can capture the imagination even if the look of the series is dated.

The picture quality varies from o.k to exceptional. Occasionally the transfers look a bit dark (particularly during the pilot episode)but part of that could be the way the show was lit, too (my memory doesn't serve me all that well here). One of the drawbacks of the high resolution aspect of DVD is the fact that you can see the wires during the weightless sequence during the first episode "The Reluctant Stowaway".

It's a pity that Fox chose not to do a commentary track for the series. Bill Mumy, Marta Kristen, Angela Cartwright and Mark Goddard probably would have been up for it. I don't know that they'd remember much specific about each episode but it would have been fascintating to hear them discuss the series. There's also got to be test footage or audition footage from the series somewhere in Fox's vault. Hopefully with future releases we'll get more extras although you'll have to allow for the silly nature of parts of season 2 & 3.

Although there's no extras really mentioned on the box or the review here, the set includes the original 29 episodes on dual layered discs with the pilot as a bonus. The pilot was, of course, eventually aired on the Sci-Fi Channel during a Lost in Space marathon but like lots of folks, I missed much of it. There's also athe original "Lost in Space" presentation from the network executives to advertisers included on the last disc.

It's a pity that a color copy of the original pilot isn't available as it would have been nice to have as an extra on this disc as well.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: First Season is No Doubt the Best
Review: Fans of this series about a family stranded on an alien planet, coping with a different danger each week, will love this box set. It contains all 29 episodes of the first season (black and white) in one neat little package.
The first season started off very seriously. The spaceship hits a meteor storm, crashes on an uncharted planet (great effects), and fights to survive giant monsters, earthquakes, blistering heat waves, droughts, you name it. About halfway through the season, the Doctor Smith character (a stowaway spy) changed from dangerous to foppishly ridiculous and cowardly. The series tone became much lighter (probably CBS worried about the effect on children) but overall the first season is great.
I applaud Fox's decision not to colorize these episodes. Black and white gives them a moody atmosphere.
However, the unedited pilot WAS filmed in color. It was chopped up and spread out over the first five episodes. The unaired pilot DID NOT INCLUDE Smith or the ever popular robot. They were added in after the pilot was included (wisely, I might add).
This package gives you the unedited pilot, but in black and white (it would have been interesting to see it in color). A ten minute CBS promo is also included but it contains just scenes from the show (the extras are disappointing).
Fox is waiting to see how this sells, then they will go foward with season 2 (which is nowhere near as good as 1).
The screen quality of this season is excellent. Crystal clear with little grain. If you've only seen these in syndication, you'll get about 8 minutes of additional scenes per episode you haven't seen due to broadcast channels cutting out footage to add extra commercials!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Don't forget the brazillian fans...
Review: I'm sure that here in Brazil there are a lot of fans waiting for this first season of LIS, or, "Perdidos no Espaço" in portuguese. We also grew up with the robot saying danger, danger and I just can't wait to show the episodes to my kids... So please, don't forget us.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: SIMPLY CAN'T WAIT!!
Review: I just can't wait for the first season to come out. A litlle bit of what happen that Wednesday here in Columbus back in 1965.
"Lost in Space" aired for the first time on CBS at 7:30 in B/W.
"Beverly Hillbillies" started their 4th season on CBS at 8:30.
"Grenn Acres" aired for the first time on CBS at 9:00 in color.
"The Patty Duke show" started it's 3rd season on ABC at 8:00.
"Gidget" aired for the first time on ABC at 8:30 in color.
"Big Valley" aired for the first time On ABC at 9:00 in color.
And one of my favorite "Dick Van Dyke" shows aired for the first time that night at 9:30 on CBS..."Coast-to-coast big mouth". That was a super night. I'm not sure of the order on the DVD's, but here are the episodes and their air dates along with the date that they were rerun for the summer of that season.
"No place to hide"...(pilot episode) ******
"The reluctant stowaway" 9/15/1965
"The derelict" 9/22/1965
"Island in the sky" 9/29/1965
"There were giants in the earth" 10/6/1965
"The hungry sea" 10/13/1965
"Welcome stranger" 10/20/1965
"My friend, mr. nobody" 10/27/1965
"Invasion from the fifth deminsion" 11/3/1965 rerun 8/31/66
"The oasis" 11/10/1965
"The sky is falling" 11/17/1965
"Wish upon a star" 11/24/1965 rerun 9/7/66
"The raft" 12/1/1965
"One of our logs is missing" 12/8/1965 rerun 8/24/66
"The attack of the monster plants" 12/15/1965 rerun 5/4/66
"Return from outer space" 12/29/1965 rerun 5/11/66
"The keeper"...(pt. 1) 1/12/1966 rerun 5/18/66
"The keeper"...(pt. 2) 1/19/1966 rerun 5/25/66
"The sky pirate" 1/26/1966 rerun 6/1/66
"Ghost in space" 2/2/1966 rerun 6/8/66
"The war of the robots" 2/9/1966 rerun 6/15/66
"The magic mirror" 2/16/1966 rerun 6/22/66
"The challenge" 3/2/1966 rerun 6/29/66
"The space trader" 3/9/1966 rerun 7/6/66
"His majesty, smith" 3/16/1966 rerun 7/13/66

"The space croppers" 3/30/1966 rerun 7/20/66
"All that glitters" 4/6/1966 rerun 7/27/66
"Lost civilization" 4/13/1966 rerun 8/3/66
"A change of space" 4/20/1966 rerun 8/10/66
"Follow the leader" 4/27/1966 rerun 8/17/66

I loved the sixties. And this show. Buy it and be happy.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Remembering Dr. Smith
Review: I saw LIS ... in the late sixties as reruns. I became facinated with Dr. Smith and his interaction with the Robot. I used to keep a written list of all Smith's insults as the shows aired . Last year I actually found that list in my Grandmothers attic and had some good laughs with my wife reading them out loud. I have used some of them for 35 years and found more than a few fans that recognized them! I have ordered the set and plan a whole LIS weekend even if it drives my family out of the house! Lets get out and buy this so we can get the other two seasons soon.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the best TV space shows...
Review: Lost in Space and Star Trek created a huge following in the 1960's. Lost in Space became a little too silly towards the end, mainly to compete with the then popular Batman TV series. Wrong move obviously, but what great adventures the Robinson's had!

This is one of my all time favorites. I loved watching these shows more than anything else as a kid and even now they are something special. Cheezy at times but special.

This is the first season and hopefully they will continue with the 2nd and 3rd. Great series and a great set of DVD's of classic sci-fi. (Just don't let the rubber alien masks turn you off).


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