Customer Reviews

Land of the Giants

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"Land of the Giants" was the last and, in my opinion, least of producer Irwin Allen's great sci-fi TV series of the '60s. Like his other shows -- "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea," "Lost in Space" and "Time Tunnel" -- "Giants" was a rip-roaring futuristic fantasy with lots of action, incredible (for its day) special effects and cliff-hanging excitement, usually with a lot of silliness thrown in to boot. For the most part, the adventure stories worked well and the overall concept was unique, even though the science was usually laughably implausible. The show's biggest drawback, though, was that the Fitzhugh-Barry relationship tried to mirror too closely the Dr. Smith-Will Robinson dynamic from "Lost in Space."
Those who grew up with the show will certainly enjoy the sense of nostalgia watching these episodes again will engender. And there will probably be quite a few unintended laughs and a few grimaces at just how corny it all was. But a generation of people, myself included, will love to have this series on DVD.
If you're dying to see "Land of the Giants" once again, there is good news. According to the "TV Shows on DVD" website, Fox is planning to release the entire series (all 51 shows of its two seasons) in one big package later in 2007. As with the other Irwin Allen series that Fox has released, the episodes will look sharp and the set will probably include a handful of interesting extras. But mainly, the Fox set will be authorized (ie. not a bootleg), the episodes will be restored to decent quality, and it won't cost $235! So be patient, TV lovers, the real deal will be coming soon.

Of all the series of his I grew up with, it seemed to be that after the typical Allen cliches, series continuity techniques (no one ever changes clothes except in this series..), and implausible science, the cast and direction shines through remarkably. The entire cast is MUCH, MUCH stronger than in previous series outings, and despite the pressure to reenact the boy-buffoon-robot triangle from LIS (which mercifully dissipated as the series went on..), all the characters are used intelligently, with much more maturity, a dash of depth and even grittiness, with the occasional conflict and fist-fighting among the leads. Don Matheson simply rocks in this area, his character maintaining an appropriate amount of visual intensity and pressure in climatic scenes that would have otherwise gone limp and laughable.

I have the fondest memories of this series, and especially the themes they built on in the second series (anti-war, tolitarian society intrique, etc). A truely classic show which has aged very, very well, worthy of many hours of enjoyment. Gary Conway definitely brought a sophisicated sense of pressure and depth to his role, definitely being the COOLEST commander around, bar none. Enjoy!