Lost In Space: The Complete Adventures (Blu-ray) Available for Preorder (1 Viewer)

[B-ROLL]

Goddard, Lockhart, Kristen and Cartwright only. Harris turned down a cameo as the one who recruits Smith because his ego was still demanding he actually play Smith. But the failure to consider Bill Mumy as the "old Will" character prevented that plotline from registering with me.

Mumy was considered for a part. But Jonathan Harris advised him not to do it and so they used Jared Harris (not a relative of Jonathan but one of Richard ...)

 

[ScottRE]

Mumy was considered for a part. But Jonathan Harris advised him not to do it and so they used Jared Harris (not a relative of Jonathan but one of Richard ...)

Mumy tells a different story. He said he was offered a part, but wanted to play Old Will. He was told that they felt it would pull audiences out of the movie. Instead of seeing Old Will, they would see Bill Mumy.

To be frank: I agree. And because of that, since no other original series cast member was playing their original character, I was fine with Jared Harris as Old Will.

 

[Carabimero]

It's nuts how there was never a reunion movie with the original cast while they were still alive. There were no shortage of scripts, even one by Mumy, which finally got performed as a cool table read in the special features of the BD set. But still, what a colossally wasted opportunity.

 

[Mark McSherry]

Allen M. Steele is a 'hard' SF writer who published his first story back in 1988. And much of his work since has led many to call him the successor to Robert A Heinlein.

In 2000, Mr Steele wrote "Warning, Warning". It is included in his short story collection, AMERICAN BEAUTY (2003). In the introduction, Mr Steele wrote---

"When the Sci-Fi Channel started carrying re-runs of "Lost in Space" in the '90s, I caught up with my childhood favorite... this is my take on "Lost in Space," and an explanation for why there's such a dissonance between the first season (the good one) and the second and third seasons (the bad ones). It's also an homage to lost adolescence, and the terrible truths we learn as we become older."

The first sentence of the story is "The first interstellar expedition was doomed from the beginning." And five pages later, the last sentence is a heart-breaker.

 

[BobO'Link]

The thing that bothered me most about that movie was Matt LeBlanc (aka Joey from Friends) playing Don. I couldn't get "Joey" out of my head so his character just never worked. I recently purchased a copy and watched it again after years. It wasn't as bad as I recalled, but I still feel LeBlanc was miscast in the role.

 

[Jack P]

Mumy tells a different story. He said he was offered a part, but wanted to play Old Will. He was told that they felt it would pull audiences out of the movie. Instead of seeing Old Will, they would see Bill Mumy.

To be frank: I agree. And because of that, since no other original series cast member was playing their original character, I was fine with Jared Harris as Old Will.

I have to be honest, I don't agree with that "it will pull the audience out of the movie" thinking. If anything, my view is that it would make the audience accept the plot device. Without the presence of Mumy to justify it, then the weakness of the plot device became more evident.

 

[ScottRE]

I guess it's all subjective, but I know it would have pulled me out. I was looking at Mark Goddard and thinking "they got Mark Goddard to play this!" So, really, I was totally okay with recasting older Will

 

[Blimpoy06]

Goddard, Lockhart, Kristen and Cartwright only.

Don't forget Dick Tufeld. The original voice of The Robot provided the voice for the 1998 film as well. I thought that was a nice touch.

 

[Ron Lee Green]

I just noticed while perusing Amazon today that another Lost in Space set was released again last week--but this version is in widescreen format! I didn't see any mention of the release here on this forum, so thought I would bring it up.
I'm a purist, and I already own the blu-ray set, so I won't be getting this new set.
BTW, one of the extras on the buy-ray set is a widescreen presentation of Condemned of Space from Season 3.


Here's a review from Amazon:

Serious Critic
5.0 out of 5 starsLOST IN SPACE: THE CLASSIC SERIES -- IN WIDESCREEN DVD
February 4, 2019
Format: DVD
For those of you who are concerned about the cropping that was done -- in order to adapt "Lost in Space" from its original "square" aspect ratio to the more modern "widescreen" format, please know this: the original "Lost in Space" was shot in 35mm and the original aspect ratio was 1.37::1. 1960s TV sets showed LIS in 1.33::1 (more square) so, in that respect, they were ALWAYS SLIGHTLY CROPPED on the sides. In 2015, the original 35mm elements were painstakingly remastered, color-corrected and digitally restored in 2K (which was state-of-the-art at that time). A Blu-ray version was released by Fox that same year in a lavish package and with lots of bonus elements. The original 1:37::1 aspect ratio was preserved -- giving fans an even wider picture than they ever saw on 60s TV sets or on the previous (and highly inferior) DVD release of the 90s. The new "Widescreen" DVD release was made from the 2K masters and was slightly cropped on the top and bottom (but not the sides) so that it would fit within the aspect ratio of today's 16x9 widescreen televisions. So, instead of LIS being shown with black bars on the sides (aka, “pillar boxed”) which many younger viewers hate - LIS will look better (and, hopefully, "newer") on modern TV sets. Of course, a 16x9 Blu-ray release would be ideal, but Fox wanted this release to be released at a very low cost. This is why many of the bonus extras from the Blu-ray set are not included in the DVD release. Bottom line: for perfection, buy the Blu-ray. For great new packaging and a 16x9 release — plus the now out-of-print 1998 Syndicated TV special, "Lost in Space Forever" (which features Jonathan Harris, Bill Mumy and Bob May performing together for the last time) — you cant beat the low-cost DVD version.

 

[B-ROLL]

I just noticed while perusing Amazon today that another Lost in Space set was released again last week--but this version is in widescreen format! I didn't see any mention of the release here on this forum, so thought I would bring it up.
I'm a purist, and I already own the blu-ray set, so I won't be getting this new set.
BTW, one of the extras on the buy-ray set is a widescreen presentation of Condemned of Space from Season 3.


Here's a review from Amazon:

Serious Critic
5.0 out of 5 starsLOST IN SPACE: THE CLASSIC SERIES -- IN WIDESCREEN DVD
February 4, 2019
Format: DVD
For those of you who are concerned about the cropping that was done -- in order to adapt "Lost in Space" from its original "square" aspect ratio to the more modern "widescreen" format, please know this: the original "Lost in Space" was shot in 35mm and the original aspect ratio was 1.37::1. 1960s TV sets showed LIS in 1.33::1 (more square) so, in that respect, they were ALWAYS SLIGHTLY CROPPED on the sides. In 2015, the original 35mm elements were painstakingly remastered, color-corrected and digitally restored in 2K (which was state-of-the-art at that time). A Blu-ray version was released by Fox that same year in a lavish package and with lots of bonus elements. The original 1:37::1 aspect ratio was preserved -- giving fans an even wider picture than they ever saw on 60s TV sets or on the previous (and highly inferior) DVD release of the 90s. The new "Widescreen" DVD release was made from the 2K masters and was slightly cropped on the top and bottom (but not the sides) so that it would fit within the aspect ratio of today's 16x9 widescreen televisions. So, instead of LIS being shown with black bars on the sides (aka, “pillar boxed”) which many younger viewers hate - LIS will look better (and, hopefully, "newer") on modern TV sets. Of course, a 16x9 Blu-ray release would be ideal, but Fox wanted this release to be released at a very low cost. This is why many of the bonus extras from the Blu-ray set are not included in the DVD release. Bottom line: for perfection, buy the Blu-ray. For great new packaging and a 16x9 release — plus the now out-of-print 1998 Syndicated TV special, "Lost in Space Forever" (which features Jonathan Harris, Bill Mumy and Bob May performing together for the last time) — you cant beat the low-cost DVD version.

Wal*Mart had this for $20.00 in my store ...

 

[Doug Wallen]

I am not a fan of the later, color seasons. I wouldn't mind owning the bluray of season 1, but that is not available. As I am watching my budget, I opted for this new release. I have to admit, the "widescreen" is perfectly acceptable to me due to my limited interest and excellent price point, $19.99 at my WalMart.

Sorry for not remaining a purist !

 

[Ron Lee Green]

I am not a fan of the later, color seasons. I wouldn't mind owning the bluray of season 1, but that is not available. As I am watching my budget, I opted for this new release. I have to admit, the "widescreen" is perfectly acceptable to me due to my limited interest and excellent price point, $19.99 at my WalMart.

Sorry for not remaining a purist !

That is an excellent price! I remember buying the old Columbia House Subscription Library VHS tapes in the 1990s for $19.99 each--and you only got 2 episodes per tape!

 

[B-ROLL]

That is an excellent price! I remember buying the old Columbia House Subscription Library VHS tapes in the 1990s for $19.99 each--and you only got 2 episodes per tape!

Keep in mind it's 17 Single-Sided DVDs in one clamshell keepcase ...

 

[Jeff Flugel]

I am not a fan of the later, color seasons. I wouldn't mind owning the bluray of season 1, but that is not available. As I am watching my budget, I opted for this new release. I have to admit, the "widescreen" is perfectly acceptable to me due to my limited interest and excellent price point, $19.99 at my WalMart.

Sorry for not remaining a purist !

$20 for the entire series is a pretty great deal, widescreen or no. And like you say, you can sample some of the better S2 and S3 episodes when you feel like it.

 

[bmasters9]

Wal*Mart had this for $20.00 in my store ...

Likewise for me!

 

[BobO'Link]

I am not a fan of the later, color seasons. I wouldn't mind owning the bluray of season 1, but that is not available. As I am watching my budget, I opted for this new release. I have to admit, the "widescreen" is perfectly acceptable to me due to my limited interest and excellent price point, $19.99 at my WalMart.

Sorry for not remaining a purist !

Don't apologize... I am a "purist" and normally prefer OAR for everything - but I've come to somewhat accept certain TV shows reformatted in WS just as long as it doesn't hurt shot integrity. I've found that *if* the show was framed properly using the "Magic Triangle" method it will usually yield acceptable results when cropped for WS. Surprisingly, many are properly framed and you have only the occasional shot that's somewhat tight on headroom. I watched the WS episode on the BR set and felt it wasn't too badly done.

To that end, I went to WM this morning and purchased a $19.96 DVD copy of Lost in Space remastered in WS. For that price I'll gladly put it in my collection next to the remastered BR copy. At the very least my granddaughters who sometimes complain about things shot in BW may at least accept S1 if it's in WS. That's also less for the *entire series* than I paid for S1 *on sale* many years ago.

I'd checked Brickseek before I headed out and used the UPC as reported by camelcamelcamel from Amazon's entry for inventory tracking. It showed no stores in my area had copies. I went anyway. WM has a new UPC sticker on this set covering the original. To check with Brickseek for copies local to you this is the UPC you need: 02454360629. Or use this SKU: 479668630.

 

[Lecagr]

Not me, I'm not in for this Lost In Space widescreen release with the hideous looking black bars at the top and bottom of the picture. I'm gladly staying with the original fullscreen DVD releases.

 

[BobO'Link]

Not me, I'm not in for this Lost In Space widescreen release with the hideous looking black bars at the top and bottom of the picture. I'm gladly staying with the original fullscreen DVD releases.

No "hideous looking black bars at the top and bottom of the picture" on my set... but it's a 16:9 HDTV. When I watch the BR I have "hideous looking black bars" on the side.

 

[Lecagr]

No "hideous looking black bars at the top and bottom of the picture" on my set... but it's a 16:9 HDTV. When I watch the BR I have "hideous looking black bars" on the side.

Top and bottom or on the sides, black bars are hideous looking to me and I much prefer a fullscreen picture. I still use the old school style TV's, I don't have a 16:9 HDTV.

 

[BobO'Link]

I've never been bothered by letterboxing as long as that's the OAR. Pillarboxing on WS also doesn't bother me. If I were watching on a 4:3 set I'd absolutely not want that set in WS.