Land of the Giants: The Complete Series [9 Discs] [Special Packaging]

"FoxVideo has delivered the Irwin Allen-created and produced science-fiction series Land Of The Giants in what has to be either the most grotesquely over-produced DVD set yet seen on such a short-run series (two seasons), or the ultimate immersion package for admirers of the program. Or perhaps it's both, with some unfortunate design flaws that potential purchasers should be concerned about. On the plus side, the film-to-video transfers are about as good looking as this series is ever likely to be, short of a Blu-Ray release. And they are truly amazing -- this reviewer saw the series on its original broadcast, and the transfers here capture a level of detail and a depth of color that no one ever would have hoped to see on even the best television sets in use in 1968, when the series went on the air. Perhaps it was the fact that many of the program's sets all had to be built twice (or even three times) -- once normal-size and once twelve times larger than normal, and perhaps once in a while one-twelfth normal scale, depending on what shots were needed -- but the attention to color, and the lighting and the detail on this series are about the best that one would find in an Irwin Allen series, or almost any television program of its period. There are feature films of the same vintage out on DVD that don't look as good as what we get here. And not only is every episode of the series' two season run here, but so is the never-before-seen unaired version of the pilot episode. In terms of the presentation of the shows, the nine two-sided discs each open to dual-layer menus, offering access to individual episodes without a ""play all"" option -- and each episode is broken down into the 12 chapters standard to Fox for hour-long series. The full-screen (1.33-to-1) images look beautiful, and the sound is a match for the picture, for a change, good and loud and detailed. The major bonus features are confined to disc nine -- in addition to the original unaired pilot, these include interviews with five of the six surviving cast members (Heather Young isn't represented, and Kurt Kasznar passed away in the 1980's). The interviews are all fun and informative, about either the actor or the series, and usually both -- Stefan Arngrim, who played the young character Barry, reveals that as a director on the pilot episode, producer/creator Irwin Allen did not concern himself at all with portrayals or the actors' approach to dialogue, leaving that entirely to the performers, but focused entirely on the elaborate action sequences and the camera, and the special effects sequences -- that speaks very well for the cast, as watching the pilot again (twice, in two different forms) for the first time in 40 years, this reviewer was struck by how good and suspenseful it still seems, four decades later, especially the acting. The unaired pilot is similar to the version that did go out, but with some important differences in characterization and dialogue that was later trimmed or moved around in the editing; and the presence of far less music, but the near-total reliance on music from the Lost In Space library (some of which still shows up in the aired version) when any underscoring is needed; plus a different main title theme (composed by Alexander Courage), much more dramatic and ominous than the John Williams title music that eventually was used. And amazingly, the un-aired pilot looks and sounds as good as any of the official episodes, which is usually not the case with archival discoveries such as this. As to the interviews, they cover familiar ground, for anyone who has seen the Sci-Fi Channel specials on Allen's series. But they are good to have here, accessible in one place. There is also a fascinating ""presentation reel,"" apparently done for network affiliates and sponsors, hosted by series co-star Don Matheson (who, in his interview sequences, looks amazingly good for an 80 year old man) -- here we get to see the story-boards for the program and early conceptions of the characters, and the outline for the entire first episode, scored to the music from the Lost In Space library (with spaceship designs using a similar jumping off point, later abandoned). And finally, there is the only real flaw in the set, the actual packaging. If all FoxVideo had done was assemble the video material related to the series in some coherent manner, packaged neatly and simply, one might have no basis for criticism, But instead, they've packaged this set in a wooden carrying case, made to look like one of the specimen cages in which the ""little people"" of the series were often imprisoned. That case has slots for slim double-DVD jewel cases, which is all very fine, except for the fact that those jewel cases tend to permit the discs to jar loose -- and as these are dual-sided discs, that ensures that discs will end up dinged up and damaged, as was the case with the sealed set that this reviewer got. The damaged sides took some cleaning up to play properly, and ultimately they did with a few glitches, but considering the premium list price ($225), this is a flaw with which one should not have to contend, and has been reported by other recipients as well. The other extras include a miniature reproduction of a ""Land of the Giants"" comic book, uniform patches, and other paraphernalia. The one advantage to the packaging, thanks to the need to accomodate these bits of ephemera, is that one can put some of the discs into single-platter slim jewel cases, to protect them from further damage, and there is room for at least two additional such cases in the box."