Product Details

• Actors: Ricardo Montalban, Hervé Villechaize, Christopher Hewett, Kimberly Beck, John Gavin
• Directors: Michael Preece, Don Chaffey, Joseph Pevney, George McCowan, Georg Stanford Brown
• Format: Box set, Color, Dubbed, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
• Language: Portuguese (Dolby Digital 2.0), English (Dolby Digital 2.0), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0)
• Subtitles: Spanish, Portuguese
• Dubbed: Portuguese, Spanish
• Subtitles for the Hearing Impaired: English
• Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
  PLEASE NOTE: Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on RCE, click .
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: November 15, 2005
• Run Time: 775 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000B8IA3U
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,046 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Fantasy Island - The Complete First Season" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

One of the definitive TV shows of the 1970s originally aspired to the dark moral complexity of anthology shows like The Twilight Zone. Even diehard fans will have to admit Fantasy Island fell short of its goal--but that didn't stop it from becoming hugely popular, lasting for seven powerhouse seasons. All the most iconic elements were present from the beginning: Diminutive Tattoo (Herve Villechaize, The Man with the Golden Gun) shouting "De plane! De plane!"; infinitely gracious Mr. Roarke (Ricardo Montalban, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) commanding "Smiles, everyone, smiles," before delivering pages of exposition with his implacable Latin gravitas; the white suits; the tropical island that somehow has all the vegetation and weather patterns in the world; the pageant of celebrities from Jim Backus to Karen Valentine, Barbi Benton to Don Knotts--it all added up to sneakily addictive television. After all, wish-fulfillment--be it a schlub who wants to be irresistible to chicks or kids who want their separated parents to reconcile or a former cheerleading team who want to relive their high school glory days--had a built-in narrative hook, even though the resolution (various versions of "be careful what you wish for") was never in doubt. Almost every episode bubbled over with sex, revenge, ambition, and regret, delivered with a shameless lack of subtlety. Over the course of the first season, the interplay between Montalban and Villechaize--each armed with an intriguing exotic accent--became more and more prominent, with Mr. Roarke becoming increasingly supernatural while Tattoo oozed the mortal sins of greed and lechery. Turn on any episode; you'll find it hard to stop watching, no matter how cheesy or ludicrous the storyline. This four-dvd set includes the original TV movie pilot, its sequel, and the 16 episode first season, as well as a couple of largely bland featurettes enlivened by the occasional barbed comment from executive producer Leonard Goldberg. --Bret Fetzer

Product Description

Ricardo Montalban delivers as Mr. Roarke, the host for the experience that people dream about in their wildest fantasies the impossible wish they pray will come true and are willing to pay for it! Look for the "da plane, da plane" and relive the fantasies that came true on this megahit show's debut season. Also stars Herve Villechaize as Roarke's assistant Tattoo. Includes all 16 first-season episodes. 1978 (12 hours 46 minutes).

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

113 of 118 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Smiles, everyone! Smiles! September 30, 2005

By Lulu

Format:DVD

It's about time! Finally, some of the fine work of Aaron Spelling is being released on DVD. Charlie's Angels came out a few years ago to coincide with that dire movie, then we had a long dry spell until August '05, with the release of T.J. Hooker. Hart to Hart is due out in October, then in November...Fantasy Island! My picks for next Spelling shows on DVD: Matt Houston and Family. Oh please, oh please!

Fantasy Island was a mid-season replacement, so its first season ('78-'79) only had 14 episodes and one two-hour TV movie, "Return to Fantasy Island" (the original TV Movie "Fantasy Island" aired in January '77). The episodes in the first season are as follows:

ESCAPE / CINDERELLA GIRLS Diana Canova, Bert Convy

BET A MILLION / MR. IRRESISTIBLE Henry Gibson, John Schuck

THE PRINCE / THE SHERIFF Ed Begley Jr., Lisa Hartman

FAMILY REUNION / VOODOO Juliet Mills, John Gavin, Lauren Tewes, Howard Duff

LADY OF THE EVENING / THE RACER Christopher George, Jerry VanDyke

TREASURE HUNT / BEAUTY CONTEST Gene Barry, Louis Nye

THE FUNNY GIRL / BUTCH AND SUNDANCE James MacArthur, Marcia Strassman, Christopher Connelly

SUPERSTAR / SALEM Leslie Nielsen, Gary Burghoff, Vera Miles

TROUBLE, MY LOVELY / THE COMMON MAN Don Knotts, Nancy Walker, Bernie Kopell

THE OVER THE HILL CAPER / POOF! YOU'RE A MOVIE STAR Ray Bolger, Foster Brooks

REUNION / ANNIVERSARY Michele Lee, Jim Backus, Lucie Arnaz

KING FOR A DAY / INSTANT FAMILY David Doyle, Theodore Bikel, Adam Rich

FOOL FOR A CLIENT / DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE Ken Barry, Rich Little, Lana Wood

CALL ME LUCKY / TORCH SINGER Richard Dawson, Dick Butkus, Edd "Kookie" Byrnes

Now, just look at that list of luminaries! I mean, you won't come across Natalie Wood's sister Lana just anywhere. Marcia "Mrs. Kotter" Strassman? Gary "Radar" Burghoff? Normally you'd have to watch at least a month's worth of Match Game to see all these stars. But not with the advent of Fantasy Island on DVD. Now all you have to do is pop in one of these discs and you'll soon see Herve Villechaize once again ascending the spiral staircase, ringing the bell, and calling out, "De plane! De plane!" then scampering back to Mr. Roarke's side just in time to oversee Ken Barry being handed his fruity rum drink.

I tell ya, they just don't make 'em like this anymore.

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Welcome to Fantasy Island December 26, 2005

By Bennet Pomerantz VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

One of my favorite shows of the late 70's was Fantasy Island. Coupled with Love Boat, this was a one-two punch for ABC in its heyday of the 1980's.

From The waterfall seen during the opening sequences which is the real-life Wailua Falls in Kauai, Hawaii to Mr Roarke's sly "Welcome to Fantasy Island" as he lifts his glass to toast this guests, this show was class.

The DVD of the first season which includes the two pilot movies is wonderful. It barely dates itself and is still a lot of fun to watch. This 13 hour collection has sixteen great episodes. The DVD extras include the end caps (Next week on Fantasy Island) and two short features. The only thing that is missing a Ricardo Montalban audio commentary

on an episode or two

I can wish Love Boat (with its 3 pilots), Vegas (with Robert Urich) and Matt Houston appear on DVD soon

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "When I accepted your check, I accepted your fantasy!" December 2, 2005

By M. Newton

Format:DVD

This is a great TV DVD collection. The shows are fun to watch, with their fun, but often silly, adventures. With some of the 70's fashion, the show offers a lot to laugh at, err, feel nostalgic about. While the series isn't exactly the most high quality drama in the world, it is based on an extremely creative concept. The never ending line of great guest stars and the breathtaking scenery add great elements for the viewers enjoyment.

At the center of the show is the host, Mr. Rourke, played to perfection by Ricardo Monteblan. He does so well, it's impossible to imagine anyone else in the role. He represents a consistent anchor each episode of the series, which otherwise varies dramatically from week to week, depending on the various guest stars and their fantasies.

The typical episode goes something like this:

1) A few guests arrive with unique fantasies.

2) Mr. Rourke delivers a fantasies of sorts.

3) The fantasies aren't exactly as requested.

4) However, the fantasy Mr. Rourke gives each of them turns out to be exactly what they REALLY needed.

5) Everyone leaves the island as a satisfied customer.

Although the formula is very consistent each week, the variety of the guest stars and the uniqueness of each fantasy make this a very entertaining show. Also, the beginning of each episode starts you wondering as to how Mr. Rourke will fulfill each fantasy with his own special twist. This was one of the better sitcoms of the 70s.

While there are a couple of special features included, this package doesn't have an overwhelming supply of special features that some packages have. Nonetheless, this is a DVD collection that is worth owning.