Giants Land on DVD

The last of Irwin Allen's 1960's science fiction TV series comes to DVD this summer.

Following the DVD releases of Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and Time Tunnel, Land of the Giants makes it back to the small screen either loved or hated by fans of Irwin's work.

Many fans consider Giants the worst of the four television series and others like Irwin Allen fans in the UK regard it as the high watermark.

I tend to put it below Space, but above most of Voyage and Tunnel.

It's not that it's a great show, none of Irwin's TV is "great". What makes the shows interesting is the vision Irwin had.

Cool spaceships and gadgets abound in his shows, and most of it is stuff you can relate to. Years later I still don't understand the layout of the Enterprise, but I can sketch you a three deck diagram of the Jupiter 2 or a layout of the cabin, engine and passenger area of the Spindrift in just a few minutes.

Even if you don't consider the main ships, the space pod from Lost in Space and the flying sub from Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea are probably the coolest of the smaller ships on TV. I still think Trek's Galileo looks like a flying box, but the space pod looks like it would fly. Heck it even looks like the Apollo lunar lander.

Needless to say, I love the look of Irwin's shows. He may not have surrounded himself with great writers, or even a decent budget, but he had the best prop designers in the business.

Fox has gone all out for this set, issuing it in a commemorative "cage" with reproduction comics, gum cards, uniform patch, and even a Spindrift key chain. Cool. Why didn't they do this for Lost in Space?

'til Deanna Lund gets a space burn

Keep the Adventure alive,

AT