Are there any Irwin Allen movies/shows you do like? My entire exposure is "The Towering Inferno" and 3 1/2 episodes of LIS, that's it.
How do you rate LIS (60's), the film, and the Netflix show?
Lost in Space: original vs. the 2 remakes
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How do you rate LIS (60's), the film, and the Netflix show?
Really liked Series 1 of the 60s show- the rest is meh. Really liked the 98 film, sad there wasn't more. Really liked the Netflix show until I found out that they were cutting it short- made it really hard to get into Series 3 knowing they would be rushing to wrap up. The Robinsons pilot- meh.
Should I give the original more than 3 1/2 episodes?
The movie was supposed to get a sequel where they make it to the colony world, but find out they're still in the future due to the space-time bubble with Jeb's abandoned spider-infested ship. Dr. Smith would be showing signs of Spdier-Smith. Blarp would start growing into bigger Blarp. The colony world would be controlled by the Sedition and not the good guys.
I think Netflix's S3 was cut by 2 episodes so they could put that budget toward the 8 episodes they did make. This is pure speculation, though.
Are there any Irwin Allen movies/shows you do like? My entire exposure is "The Towering Inferno" and 3 1/2 episodes of LIS, that's it.
I believe I answered that with "His sci-fi series usually had strong pilots and the occasional good, early episode," but I could not say I like most of any of his 60s sci-shows. They were just too repetitive and often dumb. Allen was far better as a film producer, at least with his biggest disaster films, but the rest, such as The Swarm, and the unnecessary Beyond the Poseidon Adventure tried too hard to capture 1972 & '74 all over again in terms of big concepts, but they were abysmal efforts.
The original series: the episodes I recommended upthread. Beyond that, I cannot bring myself to watch the rest of it.
The movie was such a departure from the series, that its a different animal to me, so I do not even compare it to Allen's TV series. I do think it would have been better off as a miniseries, so there would have been more time to develop (sort of the way episode 2 of the 60s series was pretty much a second hour for the pilot, though unofficially).
I've not watched the Netflix series yet (not enough free time, so I can barely follow a couple of series right now), so I cannot give you a rating yet.
#1 Did you at least like "The Towering Inferno?"
#2 I generally don't watch "select episodes." If I have to skip half a dozen episodes to see a good one, I bail completely. With a series, I'm an all-or-nothing guy.
#3 Miniseries of the 90's were mostly awful due to low budgets. It would have been trash. I'm glad it was a movie.
#4 When you do find the time, it's 3 seasons or 28 episodes, and WE FINALLY GOT AN ENDING!!! Ahem.
Definitely. There was a lot of TV miniseries I enjoyed in the 90s. The Odyssey immediately springing to mind (damn was that violent at the end too).
But, the difficulty with the Lost in Space film is that it set up about five different threads, and only really resolved one of them. What happened to the Earth? Why in the world do they trust Smith? What the hell happened to the other pilot and why?
The time travel plot felt so unnecessary and forced that I can't really recall enjoying this movie. The production design was really nice though.
It was all building to a sequel until New Line Cinema nailed on that.
The time travel stuff was the best part of the movie! 
Time travel largely belongs in Back to the Future, and a handful of other films (Outlander isn't bad either).It was all building to a sequel until New Line Cinema nailed on that.
Not a fan of it otherwise. Definitely not in this movie because it basically takes agency away from the rest of the cast so Dr. Robinson can save the day (sort of). It is dramatically off-putting.
Time travel can be in space movies. Why not?
It can.
It's not always good. It's not always enjoyable. Sometimes it is. For me, this is one instance it is not.
Fair enough. What did you think of the scene about Will pleading to Robot to be his friend and Robot defying Smith-sabotage to save Will? Cheesier than the moon, but I love it.
Cheesy but fine. I don't mind cheese or kid actors.Fair enough. What did you think of the scene about Will pleading to Robot to be his friend and Robot defying Smith-sabotage to save Will? Cheesier than the moon, but I love it.
3 is funnier and thought out better. All you really need is 1 and 3. 2,4 and 5 pander shamelessly.
I dunno, I like all 5 films, to be honest. I'd see the movies before I got the Blu-ray set, I think the 4th being my proper intro to the world of Rambo. When I watched all 5 films proper on Blu-ray, I found each film had something to offer and proved quality entertainment.
I love the 1998 movie and the Netflix series. I've tried watching the original series on Hulu. I gave it the 2 pilots, the first regular episode, and got halfway through the 4th episode. I can't.
The original series gets worse, as everyone who isn't named "William", "Zachary", or "Robot" becomes more or less generic stick figures and the tropes get way too repetitive way too quicky. Season 2 stinks. Season 3 clearly tries a course correction but glaring plot holes and a return to lazy writing after a few episodes (on top of the already lazy plot holes) ruin a lot of it.
That said, if you're of the right mood and/or age, it DOES have a weird camp value, and some cast commentaries on the blu-ray give those episodes a new lease on life, but the show's premise is largely "meh". I like the reboots better* for the fixes put in, but I still don't go out of my way for them either.
I would probably recommend "The Anti-Matter Man", "Visit to a Hostile Planet", and "Time Merchant" as they are highly regarded, even for a kid show that's a bit lower on the bar than other kid shows that treat kids in the audiences a tad better, but before I digress: "Condemned of Space", despite its faults, is a fairly decent escapade and a surprisingly solid season opener that mops the floor with the bulk of season 2's drek - one whose plot has arguably influenced sci-fi since as it is a fairly original idea, even if imperfectly utilized... so plug your proverbial nose and dive into season three, of "Lost in Space".
* shhh, don't tell anyone that
Yeah, add in the letter "Z" being used (way too often) to describe alien beings' names or planets and it gets eyeroll-worthy too quickly. Among other things.
Season 1 is more "serious" (despite being dated and imperfect in ways) and season 2 ramps up the ridiculousness beyond watchability. Sci-fi is, on a level, ridiculous in technical ways, but plot content, getting audiences to suspend disbelief and how they're treated in other ways, and a slew of other factors keep them watchable rather than risible. LiS increasingly just didn't bother, part of which is because the number of writers for the show was shockingly few. 24~30 episodes per season to pen is fairly monstrous, especially considering all they had were a couple of typewriters and that icky correction fluid stuff. But season 3's opening readily shows the makers knew season 2 was utter trash and made an attempt to fix things. Shame it didn't last, but the episodes I'd mentioned a moment ago I've found to be more watchable than all of season 1. IMHO, YMMV, of course.
Context: I'm 40, but when I was Elementary / Middle school age, I didn't watch kid shows, I watched the really hard (then anyway) sci-fi dramas that aired at night. I loved that stuff so much more than kids programming. Star Trek, Stargate, The X Files, Viper, The Sentinel, Roswell, Sliders (what little I saw), Smallville (came just before I turned 18), and whatever else was born in the late 80's, the 90's, and early 00's. There was also the RoboCop show which was a bid deal for a kid, but lame as an adult.The original series gets worse, as everyone who isn't named "William", "Zachary", or "Robot" becomes more or less generic stick figures and the tropes get way too repetitive way too quicky. Season 2 stinks. Season 3 clearly tries a course correction but glaring plot holes and a return to lazy writing after a few episodes (on top of the already lazy plot holes) ruin a lot of it.
That said, if you're of the right mood and/or age, it DOES have a weird camp value, and some cast commentaries on the blu-ray give those episodes a new lease on life, but the show's premise is largely "meh". I like the reboots better* for the fixes put in, but I still don't go out of my way for them either.
I would probably recommend "The Anti-Matter Man", "Visit to a Hostile Planet", and "Time Merchant" as they are highly regarded, even for a kid show that's a bit lower on the bar than other kid shows that treat kids in the audiences a tad better, but before I digress: "Condemned of Space", despite its faults, is a fairly decent escapade and a surprisingly solid season opener that mops the floor with the bulk of season 2's drek - one whose plot has arguably influenced sci-fi since as it is a fairly original idea, even if imperfectly utilized... so plug your proverbial nose and dive into season three, of "Lost in Space".
* shhh, don't tell anyone that
I do love comedy, but more comedy films and half-hour sitcoms. When I'm watching a 1-hour drama, I don't mind comedy mixed with the humor, like Stargate or Voyager, but it's gotta be done right.
"The Anti-Matter Man" would have made a HELL of a movie. 
Pity we never saw the alternate Dr. Smith...he's probably a good and decent man.
Pity we never saw the alternate Dr. Smith...he's probably a good and decent man.
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Its okay--not the best of the 1970s disaster movie cycle, but its watchable, while McQueen and Newman elevate the material (including the two novels the screenplay adapted). Williams' score is underrated, but I believe its one of his best.
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