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LOST IN SPACE:
THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON
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.
"Never
fear, Smith is here!" Now there is one of the most quotable
lines from the classic television series, which best describes the
sentiment behind the arrival of LOST IN SPACE: THE COMPLETE FIRST
SEASON ($80) on DVD. If you are like, me and grew up when LOST IN
SPACE either first aired, or went into syndication, then you are
amongst the generation that has been eagerly anticipating the show’s
arrival on little digital discs. LOST IN SPACE was a fun show for a
kid, because it depicted a "regular" family living on a space
ship; having adventures in outer space, plus they had robot that issued a "warning"
every time a dangerous alien was approaching. Of course, as I grew older,
I came to recognize the campy excesses of the show- but that only made me
appreciate it even more, especially the overripe performances of Jonathan
Harris, who turned the initially villainous and despicable character of
Dr. Zachary Smith into an intergalactic comic treasure. Now, LOST IN
SPACE: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON comes to DVD in an eight-disc set
that feature twenty-nine episodes that aired in year one.
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.
Disc
one contains the episodes The Reluctant Stowaway, The
Derelict, Island In The Sky and There Were
Giants In The Earth. The Reluctant Stowaway is set
in 1997 and introduces the show’s premise. Due to the overpopulation of
the Earth, an American family named Robinson has been selected for the
first mission to colonize a habitable planet orbiting Alpha Centauri. With
competing factions on Earth vying to reach the new world, Dr. Smith is
induced to sabotaging the environmental control robot- thus destroying the
Jupiter 2 spacecraft, while in flight. However, Dr. Smith’s plans go
awry, with the saboteur accidentally becoming a reluctant stowaway on the
Jupiter 2- with his added weight throwing the craft off course and causing
it to become hopelessly lost in space. The Derelict
opens with Professor John Robinson (Guy Williams) being rescued from a
space walk by his wife Maureen (June Lockhart), then the Jupiter 2 is
drawn inside another spacecraft, where Professor Robinson, pilot Major Don
West and Dr. Smith investigate the interior of the craft. Island In
The Sky turns out to be the planet where the Space Family Robinson
sets to make much-needed repairs. There Were Giants In The Earth
shows the new planet to be inhospitable in regards to its constantly
changing climate and strange inhabitants.
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Disc
two contains the episodes The Hungry Sea, Welcome
Stranger, My Friend, Mr. Nobody and Invaders
From The Fifth Dimension. In The Hungry Sea,
the Robinsons try to return to the recently abandoned Jupiter 2, but now
have to cross a formerly frozen inland sea. Welcome Stranger
has the Robinsons encounter another traveler from Earth, who could
possibly take children Will (Bill Mumy) and Penny (Penny) back home. My
Friend, Mr. Nobody is Penny’s imaginary friend, who turns out to
be not so imaginary and somewhat dangerous. Invaders From The Fifth
Dimension want to use Dr. Smith’s brain to replace their burnt
out computer (most likely a downgrade).
 .
.
Disc
three contains the episodes The Oasis, The
Sky Is Falling, Wish Upon A Star and The Raft.
The Oasis finds Dr. Smith eating alien fruit
and growing to enormous proportions. The Sky Is Falling has
the Robinsons encounter an alien family of space explorers, but can’t
understand their language. Wish Upon A Star has Dr. Smith
discover an alien device that materializes anything one could wish for,
and he uses it to worm his way back into the good graces of the Robinson
clan. The Raft is a small spacecraft constructed to take two
people back to Earth, however Dr. Smith hijacks the ship, but doesn’t
land where he expects to.
 .
.
Disc
four contains the episodes One Of Our Dogs Is Missing, Attack
Of The Monster Plants, Return From Outer Space and The
Keeper - Part 1. One Of Our Dogs Is Missing has the
Robinsons discover a suspended animation test dog, which is blamed for
general mischief around the camp, until the real culprit shows its face. Attack
Of The Monster Plants finds Judy Robinson (Marta Kristen) being
duplicated by the plant life that wants to devour the Jupiter 2 fuel
supply. Return From Outer Space has Will discover a matter
transporter that returns him to Earth, but no one there is willing to
believe who he really is. The Keeper - Part 1 features guest
star Michael Rennie as a zookeeper, who wants to add Will and Penny to his
collection.
 .
.
Disc
five contains the episodes The Keeper - Part 2, The
Sky Pirate, Ghost In Space and The War Of The
Robots. The Keeper - Part 2 finds the planet overrun
by the dangerous creatures set loose by Dr. Smith and the robot, while the
Keeper is still eager to acquire the Robinson children. The Sky
Pirate has Will befriend a buccaneer that escaped his alien
captors after two centuries. Ghost In Space finds Dr. Smith
believing that a non-corporeal alien presence is really the ghost of his
long dead uncle. War Of The Robots has the Robinsons
discover an alien robot (Robby of FORBIDDEN PLANET fame), which
they regret repairing, when it tries to take over the Jupiter 2 and turn
them into slaves.
 .
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Disc
six contains the episodes The Magic Mirror, The
Challenge, The Space Trader and His Majesty
Smith. The Magic Mirror has Penny discover a mirror
that transports her to a strange dimension inhabited by a lonely boy
wanting companionship. The Challenge features Michael Ansara
and Kurt Russell in a story of Professor Robinson and Will finding
themselves unwilling participants in an alien test that becomes a battle
to the death. The Space Trader deals with the Robinson’s
food supply being wiped out, and Dr. Smith trading away the robot for
additional provisions. In His Majesty Smith, the good doctor
becomes the ruler of a group of aliens that intend to make him a human
sacrifice.
 .
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Disc
seven contains the episodes The Space Croppers, All
That Glitters, The Lost Civilization and A
Change Of Space. The Space Croppers features the
arrival of some space hillbillies, who may provide Dr. Smith with a way
back to Earth. All That Glitters has Dr. Smith discover a
device that gives him the Midas touch, thus allowing him to turn anything
he touches to platinum. The Lost Civilization is what the
Robinsons discover beneath the surface of the planet. A Change Of
Space has Will test-drive a spaceship that enhances his
intelligence; when Dr. Smith takes the ship out for a spin, he grows
considerably older.
 .
.
Disc
eight contains the episodes Follow The Leader, plus the
unaired pilot episode No Place To Hide. Follow The
Leader finds Professor Robinson being knocked unconscious and an
alien presence taking control of his body, in an effort for the alien to
return to its own planet. No Place To Hide offers up a very
similar premise for the LOST IN SPACE television series, as was
depicted in The Reluctant Stowaway. However, there are no
Dr. Smith or robot characters in this version of the story. Instead, the
Space Family Robinson leaves Earth and their spaceship is thrown off
course by asteroids, which leads to their crash-landing on a remote
planet.
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20th
Century Fox Home Entertainment has made all of the episodes that comprise LOST
IN SPACE: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON available on DVD in their proper
full screen aspect ratios. For the most part, the black and white
transfers are very good, with only minor inconsistencies. However, for
some reason, the episode The Derelict appears softer than
the rest in the set, plus it also has some contrast problems. The other
episodes appear pretty crisp and provide a good level of detail. Blacks
are deep, whites are clean and the contrast is generally very good. The
film elements display only minor blemishes and a bit of grain. Digital
compression artifacts are not a problem, but in a couple of places, I did
notice some video noise that could be described as a "screen
door" effect. The Dolby Digital monaural soundtracks for the episodes
are very good. There are the expected limitations in fidelity, but the
music still manages to sound just fine with a bit of amplification.
Dialogue is always clean and intelligible. Spanish language tracks are
also provided, as are English and Spanish subtitles. The basic interactive
menus allow one access to the standard episode/scene selection and set up
features. Extras are limited to the unaired pilot and a five-minute
network promo film for the series.
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I
have to say that I am amongst those who will be absolutely delighted by
the arrival of LOST IN SPACE: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON on DVD. Fox
has done a really good job with the presentations, giving fans very little
to complain about. If you are a not a bubble-headed booby, then you will
want to add this set to your collection. Recommended. P.S. Let us hope for
the swift arrival of seasons two and three of LOST IN SPACE on DVD.
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This DVD review
is brought to you by
THE CINEMA LASER
Lost in Space - The Complete First Season (1965)
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