Lost In Space: The Complete Classic Series

I hesitated to purchase this Widescreen version but did so after reading some reviews that the loss of image on the top and bottom of the screen was minimal.I am very glad that I made the purchase and have enjoyed watching every episode. And that the quality was excellent, and the price was great. That said, please be aware there IS a difference between Widescreen and the original version.I do not have the Blue Ray or other 4:3 (Original) format to compare with this Widescreen version. As a result, I did not notice much difference until I watched "Invaders from the Fifth Dimension" with the famous blooper where The Robot's legs (Bob May's human legs) are visible for several seconds while he is walking (it is near the end when the Robinson's are attempting to rescue Will). Well, in this Widescreen version the bottom is cut-off so the blooper is not visible!Since Amazon just made Lost in Space available on Prime Video, I was able do to several random screen "pauses" to compare various scenes. The Prime Video (streaming online video) version has much more image on the top and bottom of the screen and actually a fraction more on each side.I am not a technical person, so I do not know how the conversion to Widescreen was made. If/when I purchase a Blue Ray player I may spend the $160+ for the Original 4:3 version! But until then, I am happy with this Widescreen version.LOST IN SPACE REVIEW:Lost in Space is by far My "Favorite TV Show of All-time"!I watched it as a child in the 1960s, watched the re-runs of most episodes many times in the 70s and watched all episodes again over the last few months.To properly appreciate Lost in Space, it may be best to recognize the time it was made and the outlet it was made for: 1965 -1968 TV. Space Travel was a significant event. We would watch the first man land on the moon in 1969. Lost in Space overlapped b&w TV and color TV and the culture was changing. Please remember that context when watching.My recommendation is to start with the first episode and watch in the order they aired. A big part of the reason for that is you can see how Dr. Smith develops from a cold spy, there to sabotage the journey, to eventual sneaky, cowardly, crooked (but sometimes likeable) buffoon. One of the most iconic TV show characters of all-time.The entire cast is top-notch (as are many of the guests). Many with familiar faces. If you watch closely, there are many nuances between the family members that make it special.It seems to best to review each Season individually. I also created Ratings and Reviews for each episode on IMDB.My Ratings: 34 (of 83) episodes as "10" or "9" (Gem or excellent) 18 (of 83) episodes as "8" or "7" (Very Good+) 13 (of 83) episodes as "4" - "6" (watchable) 18 (of 83) episodes as "3" or below (watch only if you want to view every episode!)Season One:The first season (as is well known) is in b&w. It is the best season and IMHO, the best season of any TV show ever made.The back-ground music in just about every episode in top-notch. Possibly the absolute best of any TV show, ever! The plots are great, the acting is great, the guest stars are great, yes Dr. Smith starts to soften up mid-season (or so), but buffoonery is in check. The personalities are developed.Of the 29 Season One episodes, I Rate 25 as either a "10" or "9", with only one (The Space Croppers) below a "7".The first five episodes rely heavily of the pilot and are gems. Just about every episode from the first season is excellent.Season Two:Season Two definitely has some low quality episodes, primarily in the back half of the season, but that is not always the case. Some attribute the drop in quality to Dr. Smith's buffoonery and the shift to "Dr. Smith, Will and the Robot" themes. However, that is just part of it. The significant change was from Si-Fi or fantasy to episodes that resembled a nonsensical dream, as well as some that are just terrible by any measure.Of the 30 Season Two episodes, I Rate 4 as either a "10" or "9", with 11 episodes in the "3" or lower bucket.The best are: "The Prisoners of Space", "Wreck of the Robot" and "The Astral Traveler". "The Questing Beast" ("9") is a must-watch. The first half is a super campy, then it gets serious and the back half provides some of the greatest Lost in Space moments ever!Season Three:Season Three is an improvement over Season Two. The opening and theme music are great!!! However, some of the same issues of Season Two remain (or creep back in). Inconsistent may be the best way to describe Season Three.Of the 24 Season Three episodes, I Rate 5 either a "10" or "9", with 7 episodes in the "3" or lower bucket. There are four straight duds ("3" or below) in the middle of the Season. However, it recovers somewhat after the mid-season duds.The best episodes are: "Visit to a Hostile Planet", "Hunter's Moon", "Flight Into the Future", "Space Creature" and of course "The Anti-Matter Man" (which is one of the very best).If you are interested in a deep-dive into every episode (all three seasons), please read the Lost in Space books (V1-V3) by Marc Cushman.PS: Never fear, Smith is here!!!

DVD: The quality of this DVD transfer far exceeds my expectations when I ordered it. So many Television-To-DVD transfers are poor. Not so here. To get the proper aspect ratio and optimum picture clarity some of the picture (mostly the bottom as far as I can tell) was sacrificed to maintain the quality. It's a great picture in all respects if you don't mind that small modification.SOUND: The sound seems very high quality just using my standard Sound Bar. The addition of Closed Captioning availability is also a much appreciated feature.SERIES ITSELF: It seems very well done for 60's TV. Special effects are very good for its era. The stories are well written and well acted. I never saw this show on TV, as I was living overseas in the '60s, but I am enjoying them for what they are; better than average 60's TV. (One complaint about the show. If the father, Captain Robinson, would have given his son Will a good thrashing in episode 1, they might have avoided most of their troubles in the ensuing 82 episodes. But then I guess they would not have had the emergencies that seemed to define each episode.) I give it 3 stars out of 4.

A great collection and I’m so happy I finally bought the entire series.

Nostalgia and simple.

I loved what I saw of the reruns on tv in the early 1970s I always wanted to watch the whole series.I purchased the set ,it arrived new and well packaged ahead of time IExpected it to come.This is a family sci Fi I recommend it.

I was a little skeptical at first. $27.99 for the complete LIS series in widescreen? I just wasn't sure and I read a few reviews here. There aren't many reviews yet for this recently released widescreen edition of Lost In Space, but I was curious. I own the Blu-Ray complete set and I have been absolutely satisfied with it. Because the price was so low, and because I thought I would really enjoy seeing the series in widescreen, I ordered it. Boy! My expectations were surpassed. I didn't know exactly what quality I would find, but I am blown away. I began by watching a second season episode and I was amazed at the clarity, crispness, and overall quality of what I was seeing. And the widescreen is incredible. I then watched a season three, and finally a season one episode with the same satisfactory results. Now, mind you, I am playing this through a Sony Blu-Ray player, which I'm told will upgrade the picture quality a bit, but I am completely happy with the job they've done in restoring this, and at such a reasonable price. I love the wide screen look on my 50" flat screen.I love watching the series in Blu-Ray, but this is a close second to the Blu-Ray, and I think I even prefer it due to the widescreen presentation. The packaging is okay with me. It's not first-rate, but very easy to manage. All of the discs are clearly labeled with the season and disc number, and there are no pesky cardboard sleeves to wrestle with like the Blu-Ray set has.I highly recommend this set for the price and especially the quality. And I think you'll love the widescreen presentation, too!

Es muy agradable poder ver series viejitas.

Tive a infeliz surpresa de descobrir que este pack de dvds não pode ser assistido em aparelhos brasileiros. Por se tratar de dvds importados e utilizarem a região 1 que abrange os Estados Unidos, não é possível assistir no Brasil por conta de restrição legal. Acabei ficando com o produto por uma questão de coleção pois sou fã da série. A Amazon deveria advertir os compradores em relação a este problema que, ao meu ver, é grave.

I liked the box presentation, all 23 discs handy, remastered; but the season 2 video quality not as good as B & W season 1, production must have been lower quality master tapes ??Dr Smith & Robot's iconic exchanges timeless .... "Bubble-headed booby !!! "I would be fascinated to see how these master tapes fare on blu-ray discs, maybe DVD is the limit.

While Lost in Space may never enter the pantheon of great television programming, the 1960s sci-fi show certainly has its charms, all of them in evidence on this volume of episodes from the second season. Produced by Irwin Allen, who would later be responsible for blockbuster disaster films like The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure, these episodes from 1966-67 (spread out over 8 DVDs) find the show undergoing some changes, both technically (from black & white into color) and in terms of tone (more campy and tongue-in-cheek, especially as the season goes on). The latter is due in large part to the performance of Jonathan Harris as Dr. Zachary Smith, who puts the "arch" in archvillain (it was his meddling that got them all lost in the first place). Harris's portrayal of Smith as cowardly, duplicitous, pompous, and not a little fey often goes right over the top, but the other characters (including Guy Williams as Prof. John Robinson, June Lockhart as his wife Maureen, and young Bill Mumy as Will) are so bland and generic that Harris, the family robot, and guest stars like Strother Martin and Wally Cox offer the only available relief. Guy Williams, June Lockhart, Bill Mumy. The Robinsons continue their bumpy ride through space in the first 15 episodes from the second season, including Blast off into Space," Wild Adventure," The Ghost Planet," Space Circus," The Green Dimension" and more

I first bought this series two 'Lost in space' for my son (age 9) and he loves it (it is packaged just like the series 1 set). We watch about an episode or two a week (so have weeks to go). The series 2 was 'Lost in space' as I remember it: classy and very bold colourful sets, funny, with an increasingly camp Dr Smith having more catch phrases than Arthur Askey ("Spare me the barbs Major", "You posturing ninny"). In fact the robot's tagline 'It does not compute' was a favourite phrase of mine during my schooldays. I did vaguely remember the B&W first series as well (particularly the excellent first few episodes concerning leaving Earth eg. 'The reluctant stowaway') and knew Dr Smith, the Jupiter II and the crew were all present and correct. However I had forgotten how dark, menacing and calculating Dr Smith was compared to this second series. My son found series one too frightening to watch past the first few episodes, and was particularly disappointed with the B&W TV images - although I found these episodes far more interesting than those in the second series - but even I did miss the series 2 gaudy colour, although the B&W sets and effects are just as 'good'. By this second series the title should have been changed to 'The Dr Smith, Will Robinson and Robot show', where the comic talents of Jonathan Harris, Billy Mumy and Bob May (inside the robot) are increasingly in evidence (nicking some of competitors Batman's camp visual style) - this is reflected in this DVD set's cover art. The third series corrected this imbalance a little, giving other short changed cast members better parts.So if you are buying for your children I would miss series one and skip straight to this series two, giving a two minute intro. But if you want a bit more bite then go for series one as well. Be warned though there are around thirty episodes in this 8-disk DVD collection - over twenty hours of prime time TV from 1966/1967 (Series One is the same length but from 1965/1966 and in B&W). So very good value at least, and the picture quality and production values of these series 2 (and 1) DVD's is top notch. The set has English language and English subtitles only. No extra's, although in both the very nice packaging includes a cute little pull-out booklet of the episodes and characters. In 2008, when we get through all 50+ episodes from series 1 & 2, we may risk series three despite the very poor DVD picture quality warnings from other reviewers. The expected fourth season of Lost in Space was ironically cancelled despite high ratings, due to Fox's financial disaster with Cleopatra reducing the available budget of Lost in Space to a point where creator, Irwin Allen, refused to continue.