Search - Land of the Lost: The Complete Series on DVD

Excitement and suspenceful for a child ( Awesom Memories)

Sean F. Bradish | 04/11/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Growing up in the 70,s was a great time for watching Saturday morning cartoons. I remember waking up every Saturday morning to watch " The Land Of The Lost. " In the beginning when the life raft goes over the waterfall was so exciting and fun it was just like watching it yesterday, If you buy the complete series, anyone who knows or likes this 70's great piece of history will love to have this in their movie library like our family, It gives me a chance to share with my boys a little piece of my life, They love watching these little short stories about what it might be like to be in another time when giant lizards and funny looking creatures walked the planet. Have Fun Watching With Your Boys, It really hits home, Sean B."

How completely appropriate

Echo | Western Hemisphere | 04/12/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"...that the limited edition boxed set comes in a lunch box. (If memory serves, I had a similar lunch box 35 years ago).

The series is great - totally cheesy Sid & Marty Krofft, but with a disturbing "dark" twist very unusual for mid-1970s kids fare. The mom is dead, the Marshalls are forever getting injured (Spencer Milligan's near-electrocution jolts me to this day), pseudo cosmic nonsense, and everyone is put into life-and-death peril in a fashion completely inappropriate for little kids.

Some examples of disturbing nightmare-generating images in this series:

- the Marshalls half-materialized in a rock wall
- looking through binoculars and seeing their own backs.
- Holly nearly disintegrated while orbiting a red rock with an apatosaurus and a picnic basket (gotta see it to believe it)
- Holly, AGAIN in peril, nearly exits a pylon into an explosive jungle
- Various ghostly images of alternate-universe Holly and dead Moms.

In short - it's great! One of those kids shows that adults will need to explain to the little ones."

Marshall, Will, and Holly... and the Land of the Lost

Charles Glover | 11/24/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This will never win any awards for special effects or great acting, but it will forever be one of the best Saturday morning shows ever filmed. The first two seasons, anyway.

Season one was supervised by veteran SF writer David Gerrold (who wrote the Star Trek episode Trouble With Tribbles and the time travel classic The Man Who Folded Himself, among many other fine works) who got some of the best SF names in the business to contribute scripts. The storylines through this season probed the possibilities of what might happen to the family in their "enclosed universe" and introduced some natives such as Chaka, and some dinosaur characters that they kept around as pets and for comic relief. It also addressed themes of peace and integrity that should be instilled into every young person's mind. And what better way to do that than through a format like this... what kid doesn't love dinosaurs? The last episode of this season, written by Gerrold, provided the closest thing to a "satisfying ending" the series ever got.

Season two was much shorter and Gerrold didn't stay with it. I think Ted Sturgeon contributed one script, but most of them were written by studio writers. The series held true to the first season and they explored many of the same themes and kept most of the same characters. At the end of season two, the father was sucked into a time portal. Spencer Milligan didn't want to continue with the series. As a complete series, these episodes should fit into a timeline that took place before the season finale to season one. The first two seasons contained a lot of great writing, some interesting twists, a character named Enid who always seemed to know a little more than he let on and always had something of positive moral value to contribute. There was always the threat of the Sleestaks (which were primitive versions of Enid, whose race had regressed with time), the T-Rex was a constant threat, and of course there had to be a way out... or was there? One problem was that they found a routine and settled in it and spent very little time during this season looking for a way out.

Season three was an embarrassment that violated the rules the show had established for itself. The kids' uncle (played by the guy who was in the short lived Planet of the Apes tv series), while searching for them, got sucked into the Land of the Lost just as the dad got removed. How convenient. Most of the characters disappeared, including Chaka's family (and Chaka looked different) and all of the dinosaurs disappeared except for the ones who kept trying to kill them. They moved into the abandoned city even though it was the place that posed the most danger to the family due to the Sleestaks (who somehow ere able to talk this season, and the Enid character was made to appear weaker than he had before), and the stories grew more and more inane. Human characters appeared without valid explanation, they explored more land (even though the "enclosed universe" had already been established as being a certain small area) and Greek God-like people and the Flying Dutchman and various other "legendary" people kept popping up, and a weird giant kept trying to kill them. Some of the episodes were entertaining, but for camp purposes. The Roddenberryesque life lessons the first two seasons taught were gone. To make matters worst, the last show just ended and there was never any satisfying closure to the series.

I wish the Land of the Lost remake series from the mid-nineties would get released on DVD. It can't be any worse than season three of the original. I would highly recommend seasons one and two to any SF fan who doesn't mind a little camp. Season three and the nineties series I would recommend to completionists only, as some of the episodes weren't really all that bad. And now that you can get all three seasons in one package, why not own them all?"

Missing old extras,but still worth it.

The Wizard | Louisiana,USA | 05/29/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This set does not include any of the bonus features from the Rhino release,just a preveiw of the new movie wich I could care less about. It has 7 discs,not 8 like it says above. Still,all the episodes are there and the picture quality could not be better,and that's all that really matters. I just found out about this show in 2009 and love it. I'm proof that this is a genuinely good show,not nostalgia. I remember the 1991 version,but this 1970s version is way more fun and colourful. I love the look of old shows shot on video like this one,rather than film. The fake looking sets give it a toy feel,sort of like watching Fraggle Rock,which I also love. This has become one of my top 5 favourite shows."