I’m
a cybernetic hero… After the rather silly second season, year
three of LOST IN SPACE seemed to get the show back on track by
moving towards more adventure oriented storylines and away from the
campier escapades of the sophomore season. Of course this isn’t to say
that the third season of LOST IN SPACE wasn’t without its silly
moments, just that the general direction of the show had moved somewhat
closer to that of the first season. With that said, perpetual Special
Guest Star Jonathan Harris continued to shine in comedic role of Dr.
Smith, who traded barbs with show’s other highly recognizable icon- the
Robot (voiced by Dick Tufeld and performed by Bob May). I also have to
comment that I really like action/adventure styled theme music that was
composed by "Johnny" Williams for the series third season.
For
those unfamiliar with TV classic LOST IN SPACE, the show’s basic
premise follows an American family named Robinson that had been selected
for a mission to colonize a habitable planet orbiting Alpha Centauri.
However, the Robinson’s find themselves and their spacecraft, the
Jupiter 2, hopelessly lost in space, after a reluctant stowaway
tries to sabotage their mission. The cast of LOST IN SPACE also
features Guy Williams as Professor John Robinson, the mission leader and
head of the clan, June Lockhart is John’s wife Maureen and matriarch of
the space family Robinson, Mark Goddard is the Jupiter 2’s pilot Major
Don West, Marta Kristen is the eldest Robinson daughter Judy, Bill Mumy is
Robinson’s only son Will and Angela Cartwright is youngest daughter
Penny.
LOST
IN SPACE: SEASON THREE, VOLUME ONE ($40) comes to DVD in a four-disc
set that features the following fifteen episodes that were aired in the
first half of show’s third year: Condemned Of Space, Visit
To A Hostile Planet, Kidnapped In Space, Hunter's
Moon, The Space Primevals, The Space
Destructors, The Haunted Lighthouse, Flight
Into The Future, Collision Of The Planets, The
Space Creature, Deadliest Of The Species, A
Day At The Zoo, Two Weeks In Space, Castles In
Space and The Anti-Matter Man. Personal favorites
from this collection include: Visit To A Hostile Planet,
which finds the Robinsons transported back to Earth circa 1947; The
Space Destructors, in which Dr. Smith plans to take over the
universe after discovering an alien apparatus that creates cyborgs in his
image; Flight Into The Future find Will, The Robot and Dr.
Smith somehow transported hundreds of years into the future; The
Space Creature invades the Jupiter 2 and Will has to battle his
own personal demons to get his family back; The Anti-Matter Man
finds Professor Robinson trading places with his evil counterpart from
another dimension.
20th
Century Fox Home Entertainment has made all fourteen episodes that
comprise LOST IN SPACE: SEASON THREE, VOLUME ONE available on DVD
in their proper full screen aspect ratios. Again, I must comment that the
visual quality for the episodes is pretty respectable, but it is far from
as good as it could have been. The overall release of LOST IN SPACE
on DVD would have been markedly better had the shows had been given new
high definition transfers. For the most part, sharpness and detail are
perfectly adequate, however, some sequences are better defined than
others. Colors are also a bit inconsistent, from episode to episode, and
sometimes within the same episode. Generally, the hues appear fairly
vibrant, but sometimes they come across subdued, or in need of some more
color correction. Blacks are reasonably accurate, and the whites appear
stable. For a television production, contrast is fine, but it too could be
improved. The film elements from which the episodes were mastered don’t
show excessive signs of age, with blemishes and scratches remaining fairly
minimal. Even with four episodes per side of a DVD, digital compression
artifacts are well concealed.
All
of the episodes contained in the collection feature perfectly acceptable
Dolby Digital monaural soundtracks. Considering that LOST IN SPACE
is a vintage, mid-sixties television series, sonic fidelity is somewhat
limited, but fortunately, the musical component of each episode never
sounds harsh or brittle, even with a bit of amplification. Heck, even that
cool season three theme music manages to sound pretty darn good. The
dialogue is always clean and remains completely understandable. A Spanish
language track has also provided, as have English, French and Spanish
subtitles.
The
basic interactive menus allow one access to the standard episode/scene
selection and set up features, as well as a couple of extras. Lost
In Space Memories offers about ten minutes of brief clips
featuring LOST IN SPACE cast members talking about some of their
favorite moments from the series. Third Season Network Bumpers &
Tags close out the extras.
For
me, the third season of LOST IN SPACE is a lot more satisfying than
season two. The episodes look and sound respectable, although they could
be better. If you are a longtime fan LOST IN SPACE: SEASON THREE,
VOLUME ONE is well worth checking out.
I’m
a cybernetic hero… After the rather silly second season, year
three of LOST IN SPACE seemed to get the show back on track by
moving towards more adventure oriented storylines and away from the
campier escapades of the sophomore season. Of course this isn’t to say
that the third season of LOST IN SPACE wasn’t without its silly
moments, just that the general direction of the show had moved somewhat
closer to that of the first season. With that said, perpetual Special
Guest Star Jonathan Harris continued to shine in comedic role of Dr.
Smith, who traded barbs with show’s other highly recognizable icon- the
Robot (voiced by Dick Tufeld and performed by Bob May). I also have to
comment that I really like action/adventure styled theme music that was
composed by "Johnny" Williams for the series third season.
For
those unfamiliar with TV classic LOST IN SPACE, the show’s basic
premise follows an American family named Robinson that had been selected
for a mission to colonize a habitable planet orbiting Alpha Centauri.
However, the Robinson’s find themselves and their spacecraft, the
Jupiter 2, hopelessly lost in space, after a reluctant stowaway
tries to sabotage their mission. The cast of LOST IN SPACE also
features Guy Williams as Professor John Robinson, the mission leader and
head of the clan, June Lockhart is John’s wife Maureen and matriarch of
the space family Robinson, Mark Goddard is the Jupiter 2’s pilot Major
Don West, Marta Kristen is the eldest Robinson daughter Judy, Bill Mumy is
Robinson’s only son Will and Angela Cartwright is youngest daughter
Penny.
LOST
IN SPACE: SEASON THREE, VOLUME ONE ($40) comes to DVD in a four-disc
set that features the following fifteen episodes that were aired in the
first half of show’s third year: Condemned Of Space, Visit
To A Hostile Planet, Kidnapped In Space, Hunter's
Moon, The Space Primevals, The Space
Destructors, The Haunted Lighthouse, Flight
Into The Future, Collision Of The Planets, The
Space Creature, Deadliest Of The Species, A
Day At The Zoo, Two Weeks In Space, Castles In
Space and The Anti-Matter Man. Personal favorites
from this collection include: Visit To A Hostile Planet,
which finds the Robinsons transported back to Earth circa 1947; The
Space Destructors, in which Dr. Smith plans to take over the
universe after discovering an alien apparatus that creates cyborgs in his
image; Flight Into The Future find Will, The Robot and Dr.
Smith somehow transported hundreds of years into the future; The
Space Creature invades the Jupiter 2 and Will has to battle his
own personal demons to get his family back; The Anti-Matter Man
finds Professor Robinson trading places with his evil counterpart from
another dimension.
20th
Century Fox Home Entertainment has made all fourteen episodes that
comprise LOST IN SPACE: SEASON THREE, VOLUME ONE available on DVD
in their proper full screen aspect ratios. Again, I must comment that the
visual quality for the episodes is pretty respectable, but it is far from
as good as it could have been. The overall release of LOST IN SPACE
on DVD would have been markedly better had the shows had been given new
high definition transfers. For the most part, sharpness and detail are
perfectly adequate, however, some sequences are better defined than
others. Colors are also a bit inconsistent, from episode to episode, and
sometimes within the same episode. Generally, the hues appear fairly
vibrant, but sometimes they come across subdued, or in need of some more
color correction. Blacks are reasonably accurate, and the whites appear
stable. For a television production, contrast is fine, but it too could be
improved. The film elements from which the episodes were mastered don’t
show excessive signs of age, with blemishes and scratches remaining fairly
minimal. Even with four episodes per side of a DVD, digital compression
artifacts are well concealed.
All
of the episodes contained in the collection feature perfectly acceptable
Dolby Digital monaural soundtracks. Considering that LOST IN SPACE
is a vintage, mid-sixties television series, sonic fidelity is somewhat
limited, but fortunately, the musical component of each episode never
sounds harsh or brittle, even with a bit of amplification. Heck, even that
cool season three theme music manages to sound pretty darn good. The
dialogue is always clean and remains completely understandable. A Spanish
language track has also provided, as have English, French and Spanish
subtitles.
The
basic interactive menus allow one access to the standard episode/scene
selection and set up features, as well as a couple of extras. Lost
In Space Memories offers about ten minutes of brief clips
featuring LOST IN SPACE cast members talking about some of their
favorite moments from the series. Third Season Network Bumpers &
Tags close out the extras.
For
me, the third season of LOST IN SPACE is a lot more satisfying than
season two. The episodes look and sound respectable, although they could
be better. If you are a longtime fan LOST IN SPACE: SEASON THREE,
VOLUME ONE is well worth checking out.