Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Vol. 2 [3 Discs]

"Volume Two of the first season of Voyage To The Bottom of the Sea is superior to its predecessor as a body of episodes -- the first volume had some very good ones, but the second half of the season was where the show began to hit its stride, with the two best episodes of the entire run of the series, ""Mutiny"" and ""Doomsday"", side-by-side, and probably their best pure sci-fi show, ""The Invaders"", present as well, and hardly a weak moment anywhere else in the package. The array of guest stars is also fairly interesting, including Henry Silva, Tom Skerrit, and Robert Duvall (in one of the stranger roles of his career). As with the earlier package, each episode gets a generous 12 chapters, and each double-sided disc opens automatically to an easy-to-use menu. The transfers are the real delight here. The series often featured process shot involving the submarine underwater, and these have always looked a bit flat in the Sci-Fi Channel presentations. This DVD package evidently uses new transfers, because in episodes such as ""Mutiny"", the special effects shots now push the upper limits of their effectiveness -- the giant man-o-war is at the outer range of what worked on camera in 1964. The box also comes with enough special features to keep even the most jaded fan interested -- the David Hedison interviews are extremely honest and revealing, in terms of his evolving perceptions of the series (which he turned down twice before he accepted, and that was on the basis of Richard Basehart having taken the role of Admiral Nelson), and one only wished that he spoke longer or that one or two other surviving cast members were interviewed as well. The other bonus features are a still-frame gallery that is mostly an array of covers of the Gold Key comic book adaptation of the series; and a blooper-reel that's mostly lines and cues being blown, and one shot, from the episode ""Doomsday"" in which Hedison can't get a key in a lock. It's all just about as amusing as the Star Trek blooper reel material, but a lot less familiar."