Customer Reviews

Land of the Lost: Season 2

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When I first ordered these DVD sets, I did so with great trepidation. Would seeing the shows again after a 30 year hiatus live up to my memories of it being a deep, compelling and thoroughly entertaining experience? Or, would I be disappointed and feel foolish for thinking so highly of the 70's fare?

I can say happily that I am not only not disappointed, I even enjoy the shows more now. The sci-fi in these shows is original, deep and thought provoking. These are not just a re-hashed Gilligan's Island with dinos - these shows are so well thought out, even by today's standards. After seeing such technological feats as Gollum and the dinos in Jurassic Park, it's easy to get judgmental over the special effects, but the special effects in these TV shows trumped anything else on TV at that time by leaps and bounds. It was a forward thinking show that appealed (and still appeals) to children and adults.

Not only are the shows awesome - the commentary tracks and interviews are pure unadulterated GOLD! I caught myself laughing out loud to some of the comments by Wesley Eure (Will Marshall) and Kathy Coleman (Holly Marshall). I was tickled by the interview with Walker Edmiston, who was not only the voice of Enik, but the voices of Sigmund, Burp, Slurp and Big Daddy on Sigmund and the Sea Monsters (among others) and he gives demos of those voices - what a joy! My face hurt after watching these episodes from smiling so much during the commentaries and interviews.

This set is so well done, I feel like sending a box of chocolates to everyone at Rhino. They even put an Easter Egg in the DVD - if you're in the Extras section and hit the menu button on your remote (not on the screen), you get a blow-up of an 8-track cassette showing Wesley Eure's greatest hits!

I would have liked to have seen the stars show photos of themselves (and/or home movies) at different ages, with various stars out of makeup, etc. I loved the fact that the stars appreciated the shows as much as the viewers. This Season 2 set is purely awesome!

I have to confess the second season of Land of the Lost is my favorite. Partially, because it introduced my favorite villain of the series--the Zarn.

I don't know why the Zarn, wasn't continued on into the third season, but I loved that creature of lights, who could be harmed by humans just getting emotionally wound up. Whoever thought up the concept should be commended big time. It's little touches like these that make the program ahead of its time in so many ways, and though the special effects seem a little obsolete today, the writing and character development were top notch.

While the extras on this set are not nearly as elaborate as on the first season, the commentary and subsequent interviews are fantastic, and really helps to give the show a history that the original viewers in the seventies were unaware of.

Rhino is to be commended for the work they've put into these sets. They didn't have to go through all this work, but to their credit they did. And hopefully, they will continue to bring us more goodies from the seventies and eighties. Bring on season three, the Bugaloos, and Lidsville.


Sincerely,

JThree
carolyn@dia.net

I've been waiting for literally two decades to see these episodes again. Buying the first four episodes of "Land of the Lost" on a bootleg VHS at a science fiction convention in Chicago in 1996 only worsened my pain -- the first jolt of seeing those special effects that I loved as a kid, rendered fuzzy and cheezy-looking in glorious nth-generation NTSC-o-vision, made me almost regret loving this show as a bespectacled 6 year-old. These DVDs provided much needed salvation, and made me again recapture the awe I felt watching the earthquake strike the Marshalls' tiny raft in the opening credits when I was six.

What helps make "Land of the Lost" essential viewing even now is the care with which these DVD sets have been put together. These episodes look great all cleaned up, bearing in mind that most of us only ever saw them on non-cable TV in the 1970s or on UHF in the 1980s. The DVD producers have added lively commentary tracks on five of the episodes, the best of which feature Will (Wesley Eure) and Holly (Kathy Coleman) all grown up. They alternate their tracks singing the theme tune, praising each other's non-Emmy caliber performances, and making fun of some of the less plausible moments in each story. Eure also hosts an interactive trivia game on the final disc.

Not only do these discs perfectly recapture the nostalgia value on "Land of the Lost", and celebrate the now cheezy look of the model dinosaurs and the old school chroma-key overlays, but they do something else: they display just how much thought went into the scripts for these children's shows.

Think about it: "Land of the Lost" Season 1, script edited by "Star Trek"'s David Gerrold, brilliantly introduced the audience to a world of dinosaurs, reptilian Sleestaks, and missing-link hominid Pakuni. Season 2 continues the trend of strong SF scripts, but also goes a step further, by growing the characters and revealing more mysteries. We learn more about the Sleestak and more about the Pakuni; more about the mysterious Pylons that regulate day, night, entry and exit into the Land. The Marshalls have more tools and more luxuries, and the characters of Will and Holly are both seen to mature. They're even learning how to speak Pakuni, the language designed just for the show (and this is before America learned Klingonese).

Character growth from season to season on a low-budget kids' show in the mid 1970s. Amazingly, this show was able to do some of the same things that "Lost" does so incredibly well for adults in prime time right now. I'm so glad I have all of this show on DVD, and my older nephew, almost six himself, has just a few months left before he too enters the Land of the Lost.

Although the special effects were improved for season two, the stories were not quite as strong as in season one. I did enjoy some of these episodes, especially The Pylon Express. And listening to the commentary on The Longest Day may have been worth the price of the DVD set alone.

If you enjoyed Land of the Lost or want to share it with your own children, I'd recommend Seasons One and Two.

With the second season of Land of the Lost it is easy to scream `decline in quality'. The great DC Fontana was no longer script editor, there were only 13 episodes, and there were no writers of note, save for legendary Theodore Sturgeon. The decline in quality, of course, was happily not the case. Sure, the hard science may have taken a bit of a back seat, but there was still much to be enjoyed. A new, character, Zarn, was introduced who was made up entirely of light (and windchimes!). Watch for his spaceship-it's all light as well! A special feature of each one of these episodes that is always impressive is how it tries to teach something to the viewer, presumably a child viewer. With the Sleestak episodes, a lesson about the scientific side of human nature (thinking, reasoning, etc.) is usually given; with the Pakuni, we learn about the more instinctual side of being human; with pylon (and sometimes Sleestak) episodes we usually learn a little bit of science. Episodes worth watching again: "The Zarn"-an unforgettable and bitter-sweet first introduction of another recurring character; "One of Our Pylons is Missing"-a wonderful episode about being dangerously trapped in an alternate dimension (very worthy of a former Twilight Zone episode); "Gravity Storm/The Babysitter"-these two episodes reveal more . . . and nothing . . . about Zarn where it seems to be implied (also with Enik to a certain extant) that with more evolution comes more progress, but always at a cost and sacrifice of something, in this case humanity and compassion; "Black Out"-in plunging the Land of the Lost into eternal darkeness, the Sleestak learn a valuable lesson in cause and effect in regards to their ecosystem, a lesson that is extremely pertinent today! As for the extras, it almost seems that with less episodes you get less extras. With the commentary tracks, there is also a good interview with Walker Edmiston, the voice and actor behind the many of unforgettable characters throughout the Kroffts' various shows. Wesley Eure gamely hosts the Season 2 Land of the Lost Quiz, and offers some trivia for each answer. With the second season of the Land of the Lost, it was full steam ahead for the series, even if it was only 13 episodes. Viewed today, these episodes still beat anything on Saturday morning television these days hands down.

I spent around $100 on a set of VHS tapes of this series on Ebay back in the '90s, thinking that they would not be released for some time on DVD. Finally, here they are. The second season is quite possibly the creepiest season, as the show had developed a following and more writers seemed interested in creating stories for it. Fantastic tales like "The Zarn" and "Gravity Storm" showcased the series' advanced technical effects and stop-motion animation, features that were a novelty on Saturday Morning television. Two of my favorites dealt with the Pylons and their control over the Land of the Lost: "The Longest Day" occurs when a Pylon malfunctions and Rick Marshall must convince the Sleestak that the pylons are to blame, while "Black Out" revolves around the Sleestak's subsequent knowledge of the workings of the clock pylon and their attempts to keep it dark all the time. As mentioned in other reviews, the commentaries are spectacular. Wesley Eure and Kathleen Coleman alternate between making fun of each other's (and Spencer Milligan's) acting capabilities and expressing true respect and awe for a series that was trying to push the boundaries of Saturday morning entertainment.

I only got to see this show when I was six and then when I was eighteen. When I was a kid it came on just before Masters of the Universe. It was in syndication at the time. Anyways, I watch both the first and second seasons on dvd when I eat my lunch. Makes me feel young again. I recently showed two episodes to my ten year old nephew and he got the biggest kick out of them.
I think that this is a wonderful series to show a kid. Take a chance, not all kids these days are cynical.
The dvds themselves look great. The pictures have really been preserved well. Sound is decent too. I wish there a few more extras, but what's offered is still good. If you are a fan of this show, or just a fan of classic tv in general, then buy this set. It's a great value.
By the way, I read on another website that the third season is scheduled to hit retail on March 1st. Hope this alleviates any anxiety, lol.

Going back into time and being 6 years old again...what a feeling! I did not remember season 2 as well as season 1, but I loved it! The quiz (hosted by Wesley Eure aka Will...he is still nice looking even if he is 30 years older!) on the special features was fun. I didn't remember as much as the first season's questions, but I still got a lot right! I loved the special effects and the story lines. It was fun to watch the show with my 6 year old. She can't get enough of the show. It is playing on the DVD player every day. Come on Season 3!! Thanks Rhino for doing this for us! These shows are great for younger kids to watch without their parents having to be in the room all the time too.

The second season of "Land of the Lost" was in many ways the best season. The Marshalls had settled in and made real beds, cooking utensils, knives, even fishing poles. Sure, the special effects were still cheesy and some things were left unexplained - like how did the Marshalls keep their clothes so clean and unwrinkled when they wore them 24 hours a day (even sleeping in them) and how did Holly manage to braid her hair so perfectly every day. But cheesiness was part of the fun of "Land of the Lost" and there were some truly outstanding episodes in the second season. The Zarn, a creature made out of lights that changed colors depending on his emotions appeared in several episodes and was a great addition to the show. One outstanding episode is "One of Our Pylons is Missing" in which Chaka, Holly, and Rick fall through a hole in the ground into what is basically the heart of the Land of the Lost. This episode shows how good the show was for a Saturday morning low budget kid's show. Other very good episodes include "The Musician" and "Blackout".

As with the first season, the bonus features are also good, especially when Wesley Eure and Kathy Coleman (Will and Holly) do the commentating. Eure also hosts a fun trivia quiz based on the first two seasons. The interview with Walker Edminston (Enik) was very interesting, especially when he talks about how uncomfortable the Sleestak outfits were and why Enik wore a vest in each episode.

The second season of "Land of the Lost" is great nostalgic fun.

The creators of this show had the good sense not to tamper with what worked, and kept the series more or less in its original form.

It also added The Zarn, and some really cool sets. The Pakuni language developed farther, and both Cha-Ka and the Marshalls are developing some ability with each others' languages. There is more exposition on the lives of the Pakuni and the Sleestack, and less proselytizing than in Season 1.

Season 2 has the best cast commentaries, too.