When are We going to see a Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea Blu-ray Release?! (1 Viewer)

[JeffT.]

This is the official VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA (ABC 1964-68) DVD release discussion thread!
I just checked Amazon.ca and VOYAGE which has just been placed for preorder already has a customer sales rank of 94 while THE TIME TUNNEL (ABC 1966-67) similarly listed (a few weeks earlier) currently has a sales rank of 1307!
That's absolutely incredible!
So which is the most popular Irwin Allen 1960s SF tv series?
VOYAGE rules!
Jeff T.

 

[Jeff Willis]

Hey, JeffT...
Can't argue with the #"s
I love TT but you're right about "Voyage" with the Pre-orders. I can't wait for "V" since I haven't seen any V eps since 'way back somehere in the 70's, I think. That will make it a blast to view them on DVD. But, I still love that "TT" series I hope those pre-order #'s come up some as well.
"Now all we need are those "Invaders" to land"
BTW, JeffT: I read your "TT" and "Voyage" reviews on Amazon U.S. Great job!
How many "Voyage" episodes were in the series?

 

[FrancisP]

There were a total of 110 episodes with 32 b&W episodes in season 1 and 78 color with 2-4 seasons having 26 episodes each. While the pilot was shown in

b&w, it was shot in color unlike the other first season episodes.

I also heard that the color pilot ran around 65 minutes. I was wondering if it was true and if it is, would there be any chance of getting this in the boxset.

 

[JeffT.]

According to the advance word reported on the TV Shows on DVD website 2 versions of the pilot episode "Eleven Days to Zero" (14/09/1964) will included in the VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA - FIRST SEASON, VOLUME ONE 4-disc box set but of the 3 variants that will (ultimately) be packaged it's not clear whether the colour pilot will be one of the (aforementioned) 2 in the volume one set or not.
If correct apparently an "unaired" black-and-white version of "Eleven Days to Zero" will included as a special feature so this leads me to suspect that the hour length colour pilot (currently seen in tv syndication and previously available through the Columbia House collector's edition VHS series) will be handled as part of the actual (initial) 15 first season (1964-65) episodes in the volume one release.
Ironically it is now the original black-and-white televised version of "Eleven Days to Zero" that has become the rarity not the actual unaired colour pilot that was screened for the ABC Television Network programming executives.
Another special feature to look forward to in the volume two set will be Irwin Allen's original colour promotional introduction short for VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA along with his own personal home movies taken during the filming of the colour pilot.
Pertaining to the actual running times of the 3 "Eleven Days to Zero" pilot presentations as far as I know they are all uniformly an hour in length.
Lastly I hope that there will be no inherent problems in evidence with VOYAGE (and very likely THE TIME TUNNEL as well) being minted in the doublesided disc format (ie. ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS - THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON 3-disc set).
Jeff T.

 

[FrancisP]

Thanks for the info. Why is Werner Klemperer in the first part of the pilot and Theo Marcuse in the second?

 

[Harry-N]

^Conjecture answer several pages back in this thread:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...99#post2794899
Harry

 

[RickER]

I thought it was not a double sided release?

 

[JeffT.]

Oh yes my friend! 4 doublesided discs with 2 episodes per side. Whether this is better than cramming 4 episodes on a singlesided disc I can't really say but it seems that these relatively thin discs are being exploited to their upmost capacity and that can't be good.
But there's even more to tell!
Just wait until you see the (intended) packaging design for THE TIME TUNNEL, VOLUME ONE 4-disc box set.
I honestly believed in that respect there was no possible way that 20th Century-Fox Home Entertainment could bungle that up.
Boy! Was I ever wrong on that account.
I really have to give Fox Home Entertainment credit in that respect for they've truly accomplished the impossible with what is most likely the worst box art possible I've ever seen for a DVD release.

Is that supposed to represent THE TIME TUNNEL (ABC 1966-67) tv series? This is a (bad) joke right?
I think that I can wait to see what the VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA (ABC 1964-68) packaging design will look like.
Jeff T.

 

[Harry-N]

I really don't think I'd care if the box were plain brown cardboard and scribbled on with a red crayon:

If the discs look and sound great - that's all I care about.
But I have to agree that they should have at least used the official TIME TUNNEL logo-type for the box.
Harry

 

[RickER]

Well hell, i will buy it anyway. Nice cover art Harry.

 

[michael_ks]

I think the intent here with the box cover art for TT was to create broader consumer appeal and not allow it to be pigeon-holed within the '60's SF landscape. Whereas "Lost in Space" has that inescapable connection to the era it's from (even for those who grew up in the '80's), "The Time Tunnel" is a bit more hazy in the minds of the masses and this, IMO gives Fox the opportunity to present a more "generic" product, potentially reaching a wider market.

We don't know what the back cover looks like at this point, but I'd say that between the Science fiction-y title, blended with floating bodies and a TZ-like B/W spiral pattern, that this will tempt the curious and un-initiated with a set they might otherwise pass on if they saw a typical '60's looking publicity shot of the TT cast, as was done on LIS, season 3. I do wish they would have at least retained the "trapezoidal" TT logo at least--that's just the purist in me. As Harry alluded to, if the transfer is of high quality, I'll be grateful enough and considerably more pleased than I was with LIS S3, which featured a great cover and lousy transfer.

Something tells me that the "Voyage" covers will be similar in appearance to the LIS releases as the series title has the unmistakable connection to the 1960's, just like LIS. At any rate, if the picture/contrast of the episodes is spot on, I won't let a generic looking box cover bother me. Just having pristine looking prints of "The Fear Makers", "Sub Sunk Here", "The Price of Doom" and others will be enough to make S1, vol 1 and 2 the most coveted entry in my classic tv DVD collection! With its gritty, B/W "Outer Limits-like" feel thanks in part to the directing talents of OL alumni John Brahm, Gerd Oswald and others, and its tense and serious cold war/saboteur/natural disaster plot lines, S1 of "Voyage" should be awesome in all respects.

 

[Harry-N]

I rewatched my late '90s VHS tape of "Submarine Sunk Here" today, after the mentions of the episode in this thread. I'd forgotten just how good that episode was - tense, moody, and populated with more actual speaking crewmen than most other episodes of the series.

Those prints that SciFi was cablecasting back in the '90s were brutal, though. I can't wait to see an unedited pristine copy. Looking forward to Season 1, Volume 1, and others beyond.

Harry

 

[michael_ks]

The first two seasons of "Voyage" are a must-have, IMHO. Both unique and exceptional for different reasons. Season 1 for its noir-ish, tense and claustrophobic tone, season 2 for the exceptional cinematography and color, especially for those scenes involving the Seaview, Flying Sub and diving bell and the perils that befall them. The Seaview being rocked by a giant lizard man and the FS-1 being toyed with by a bug-eyed seaweed creature are oddly memorable. My 5 year old is going to absolutely LOVE season 2.

 

[michael_ks]

The prints shown in 98-99 on SciFi certainly were quite poor. At the time I had not seen episodes of the first season in over twenty years and I recall thinking how finely crafted and different they were in comparison to "The Fossil Men" and others of that type. I remember also at the time realizing how much more riveting the image of an oversized sperm whale ramming the Seaview ("Ghost of Moby Dick") would look with a clean, relatively unblemished print. Now that I think about it--that whale was what...2 or 3 times the size of a normal one??

 

[Harry-N]

As we mull over the impending releases, I thought I'd ask a few Irwin Allen fans what their favorite themes are from the four shows.

Recall that VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA had two different themes, the one main one by Paul Sawtell used most of the time, and the alternate one composed by Jerry Goldsmith for the "Jonah And The Whale" episode that was supposed to be the new theme from Season 2 on, but was only used that once.

LOST IN SPACE had two main themes, the first one used for the 1st and 2nd seasons, with a new one used for Season 3, both composed by John(ny) Williams.

TIME TUNNEL, which only had one season, had just the one theme tune, also by John(ny) Williams.

Finally LAND OF THE GIANTS weighs in with two more from Mssr. Williams, each one from its own season. There was an alternate LAND OF THE GIANTS theme in that FANTASY WORLD OF IRWIN ALLEN release that was composed by Alexander Courage. I don't think it was ever officially used.

My personal preference is for the third season LOST IN SPACE theme. It's a rousing tune with that start-off countdown. It alone may have been good enough to have kept me watching the show back then, just to hear it on a weekly basis.

I'm also partial to the LAND OF THE GIANTS themes (both of them), and I think the Sawtell VOYAGE theme is perfect for the show it appeared on, and I'm glad they kept it for all four seasons.

Though I love the show TIME TUNNEL, I have to admit that musically, it's among the worst here. Still, over the years, I've become accustomed to it and wouldn't want it changed for anything.

Harry

...54 days to TIME TUNNEL on DVD...

 

[michael_ks]

Of all the Irwin Allen shows, the original "Voyage" theme by Paul Sawtell is my favorite. I never tire of hearing this stirring, nautical melody which perfectly captures a sense of adventure and the dangers that lurk in the deep sea.

It's odd, in a way that I would prefer Sawtell's theme over all the John Williams themes, since as far as their musical compositions skills are concerned, Williams is leagues beyond Sawtell. I wish Williams had scored several of the VTTBOTS espisodes, as he did with "Lost in Space". In view of the fact that the four scores he wrote for LIS were recycled throughout the series 3 year run to wonderful effect, one wonders why he wasn't commissioned for VTTBOTS.

Sawtell's score for "Eleven Days to Zero" is really substandard material, more in keeping with B-movie type film scoring, and actually diminishes the quality of the episode. If only someone like Bernard Herrmann had scored it! As for Goldsmith's second season title theme (used just once), I rather dislike it--it has such a dirge-like downbeat atonality that I find works counter to the series concept. It doesn't help that the visuals poorly match up to the theme. I do, however love his underscore for "Jonah and the Whale" and wish he had been commissioned for more episodes. VTTBOTS had few scores that are standouts, but this is one of them. My "dream team" of composers for VTTBOTS (had I been so blessed with being in charge of this) would have consisted of: Jerry Goldsmith, George Duning, Fred Steiner, Hugo Friedhofer and Bernard Herrmann.

 

[michael_ks]

Oops! And John Williams...

 

[Harry-N]

Williams score for TIME TUNNEL's "Rendezvous With Yesterday" was recycled a lot during that series one-season run - also to great effect.

Harry

 

[michael_ks]

On a discussion thread at the "Film Score Monthly" site there is some good news regarding the quality of transfers for both TT and VTTBOTS (and a tidbit or two about what's on the TT release).
http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/boar...1603&forumID=1

 

[Mark_TS]

The season one opening titles were great-the announcer with his "VTTBOTS"

The theme music, credits, and the only scene I ever remember which had so many rising bubbles which gave the Seaview an illusion of great size...

Gee, I hope they include blueprints of the Seaview-the Japanese laserdisc box had excellent, accurate, detailed bluprints-probably cribbed from FOXs Art Dept.

Dont know why-but Ive always been fascinated by the design of the sub-especailly the movie and season one.