Customer Reviews

Lost in Space, Episode 1: The Reluctant Stowaway [VHS]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I saw the original in 1965 when I was 5 years old. After 35 years, the technical and plot flaws are painfully obvious. Of course, I didn't notice any of those back then--all I saw was the cool technology (spaceships, cryo-tubes, spacesuits, computers, huge displays, mission control, wow!) that fired an interest in science and space travel that has stayed with me ever since. Even now, watching it invokes some of that old excitement. What made "Lost in Space" special was that, unlike more "adult" SCI-FI fare like Star Trek, it involved a kid almost my age (Will Robinson) which made it much easier to relate to. Perhaps the best part of buying this tape was watching my own son view it and seeing the same reaction on his face that I had all those years ago.

I was five years old when this show aired for the first time. I didn't understand a thing. Then, after numerous reruns, the show grew on me as I grew up.

Owning this video brought back that magic a kid sees! I was so taken by the video, that I remembered how I really believed the robot was going to destroy the ship. I began to believe robots that walked and talked really existed.

Now, having had a career in computer science, I realized what got me started in the field: I was so involved with the goings on during the ship's launch and the ship's travels through the meteor belt that I began dreaming of mastering computers. No one realized that today we would have color monitors to look at instead of rows of blinking lights.

This show was the spark that built a career out of a dream. My children were equally captivated with the show. We highly recommend it. Buy it.

Excellent premise, great special effects for 1965, suspenseful. One needs to overlook some factual errors about space flight and facts about space/space travel in general, but this is the only flaw. Superior acting conveys the desperation of the characters, and the truly sinister characters of Dr. Smith and the robot. Excellent sci-fi.

In the begining the screen tells you it's 1997. It tells you what the Robininson family is about to do. Dr. Smith sneaks on board and sabotoges the ship. And the rest is history.

The Reluctant Stowaway is my favorite episode of the entire Lost In Space (LIS) saga. Actually, the two primary characters that steal this episode are Dr. Smith and the robot.

Plot: Evil government agent, Dr. Zachary Smith (Jonathan Harris in his best role of the entire series), plans to sabotage space ship that carries Earth's first family into orbit for colonization. All in all, this episode of LIS could have survived as a story on The Outer Limits or The Twilight Zone, but CBS insisted that the series undergo three dreadful years.

Pros: Jonathan Harris, robot, special effects (for its time)
Cons: Characters, story

Overall score: 75 (out of 100)

"The Reluctant Stowaway", is the first episode of the hugely popular 1960's sci fi series "Lost in Space" that premiered in 1965 and is still constantly seen in reruns around the world to this day. To see "Lost in Space", at its dramatic best you need go no further than is wonderful episode which sets up the whole story line from which the series would develop. Always remembered for its campy, comic approach, nowhere are those characteristics evident in this action filled, suspensful and exciting episode which represented clearly the serious approach the series took for its first season.

"The Reluctant Stowaway" chronicles the story of the Robinson family who have been selected to spearhead a mission to the far reaches of space in the hope of colonising a distant star, Alpha Centauri. However the episode tells us that other forces are at work to sabotage the efforts of America in the form of one Dr. Zachary Smith who has the assignment of reprogramming the Robot to destroy the Spaceship once it is 8 hours out into space. This premise is where all the excitment of this episode comes from as we find Dr. Smith actually trapped on the Space Ship as it takes off from Earth thus joining what he had planned to be a doomed mission. At this stage in the series Dr. Smith was still a cold blooded killer which added greatly to the dramatic slant of the story . Only later on when his character mellowed and became a comic individual did the series begin to lose steam along with its serious reputation. With Dr. Smith's added weight on board the space ship soon finds itself off course and heads straight into a huge meteor storm which seriously damages the flying capacity of the ship. Awakened from their suspended animation the family attempt to decide what to do when, as programmed the Robot begins its descruction of the ship and in the confusion the ship is pushed into a hyper drive which takes it right out of the galazy into a state of now being hopelessly lost.

For a 1960's program this is television at its very best. The sight of the launcing of the Jupiter 2 Space Craft, the Robinsons and Major West being sealed in their freezing tubes, and the spectacular Meteor Storm which the ship goes through are all grade "A" special effects which along with the dramatic storyline make first class entertainment. Aided by a seasoned cast of great actors "Lost in Space" at this time offered much promise for as long as the serious element was kept in the story. "The Reluctant Stowaway", is one of the better episodes of the series and gave good dramatic moments to most of the cast during its running time. For an exciting journey back to the beginnings of a classic 1960's science fiction series you cannot get better than this initial installment in the long running series . I highly recommend you take a look at this episode to see what the serious "Lost in Space" was all about, you wont be disappointed.

This is the classic episode one where the Robinson's blast off to colonize Alpha Centori....

This episode should be set aside from the rest. Johnthan Harris puts in his best acting talents in this one. The rest of the cast is equally as professional.

This series came out right after i was born and I grew up watching it with my father. i still love the series, but the pilot episode out ranks all but 2 or 3.

This was the one that started it all (besides the pilot, but that wasn't aired until it got on the Sci-Fi Channel). Kinda slow, but the ones that follow are really excelent!