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“Lost in Space: Season 2, Volume 2”
Reviewed by: Wayne A. Klein
Genre: Science Fiction
Video: 1.33:1 Full screen
Audio: Dolby Digital Surround 2.0 (mono)
Languages English
Subtitles English
Length 726 minutes
Rating NR
Release Date 11/30/04
Studio 20th Century Fox Home Video
Commentary: None
Documentaries: None
Featurettes: None
Filmography/Biography: None
Interviews: Vintage interviews
Trailers/TV Spots: None
Alternate/Deleted Scenes: None
Music Video: None
Other: None
Cast and Crew: Guy Williams, June Lockhart, Jonathan Harris, Bill Mumy, Mark Goddard, Marta Kristen, Angela Cartwright, Bob May, Dick Tufeld
Written By: Norman Lessing, Bob Duncan, Peter Packer
Produced By: Irwin Allen
Directed By: Paul Stanley, Leo Penn, Sobey Martin,
Music: John Williams, Bernard Herrmann (uncredited)
The Review:

This is where “Lost in Space” got too stupid even for a six year old. The first season of Irwin Allen’s “Space Family Robinson” had just enough intelligent writing and suspenseful sequences to make it memorable science fiction. Although “Lost in Space” still couldn’t hold a candle to the more adult “Star Trek” during its first two seasons, it got about as absurd as “Trek” did during much of its third season except that the series crossed the line from comic to camp. Jonathan Harris, the Robotm (Bob May) and Bill Mumy continued to be the primary focus for much of the juvenile and, at times, infantile stories produced in the latter half of the second season. When episodes like involving revolutionary vegetables become the highlight of a season either Salvador Dali has taken control of your television set or the head writer had a full frontal lobotomy. ---

Image and Sound: Like the black and white season one and the first half of the second season (which for marketing reasons was broken up in the US although it wasn’t anywhere else in the world), “Lost in Space” looks stellar. The rich cartoon colors of the wardrobe and outlandish costumes look vivid, sharp and crystal clear in these exceptional good transfers. There’s little to no analog defects or digital defects that you can detect and clearly most of the money for this set went into obtaining as pristine a transfer as possible. ---
The Extras:

The only extras included here are vintage interviews with Guy Williams, June Lockart and Jonathan Harris. It’s kind of quaint seeing these interviews nearly forty years on kind of like looking at old newsreel footage. While there aren’t any relevations (it was, after all, done to publicize the show), the trio of actors are quite charming and come across as quite warm in these interviews. It’s a pity that Fox has chosen to release this set without a retrospective featurette on the series. I know that the cast had choice words about the direction of season two (there’s one episode here where June Lockhart and Guy Williams couldn’t stop laughing due to the absurd scene they were shooting. A pity that none of those outtakes survive) many of which were voiced on the extras for the “Lost in Space” extras for the feature film and in interviews from around that time. What about a featurette on the Jupiter 2 and the optical effects for the series. Surely there’s outtakes and test footage that still exists somewhere in the Fox vaults? ---

Commentary: I’m sure Dr. Smith would have something insulting to say on the commentary track but, sadly, he’s silenced. Actually, Jonathan Harris passed away last year but Mark Goddard, Marta Kristen, June Lockhart, Bill Mumy and Angela Cartwright could have provided some insight and amusing stories on the production of the series. ---
Final Words: Unlike most of the boxed sets that Fox has released, “Lost in Space” got the bum’s rush. There’s no retrospective Featurettes, no documentary on the marketing and toys of the series and no commentary tracks. That’s a pity because, although the series did become increasingly surreal and absurd by the second half of the second season, it did provide the first introduction to many science fiction fans to the genre. The frequently infantile plots undermined much of the second season although there were a number of minor highlights with more adult orientated adventure material.

 

 
 
 
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