"It was a modern day version of Gulliver's Travels."
-Gary Conway, Starlog Magazine #151, p.16-
Irwin Allen for a time went BIG and bold and did so through television with four consecutive, remarkable science fiction series. First, Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea (1964-1968; four seasons; 110 episodes), followed by Lost In Space (1965-1968; three seasons; 83 episodes. These two gems were followed by lesser known successors in Land Of The Giants (1968-1970; two seasons; 51 episodes) and The Time Tunnel (1966-1967; 30 episodes).
Currently enjoying a deep dive of all things Irwin Allen this writer thought it might be nice to deliver you a look at one of his series outside of Lost In Space in the form of Land Of The Giants (available on DVD only).
Still, looking back at Allen's always ambitious efforts, we find with Land Of The Giants, Season One, Episode One, The Crash, there was nothing short of spectacular television to behold once again.
It is truly impressive just how strong his launch episode of The Crash holds up even today as a television experience.
The Crash was written by Irwin Allen and Tony Wilson (who also worked on Lost In Space), and directed and created by Allen. Land Of The Giants is a massive, epic undertaking that stands tall in the pantheon of science fiction television as one might or should expect from that mammoth series title. It's underappreciated by comparison to his other series but there are reasons for that as the series progresses. Still, as a visual exercise The Crash is stunning work.
Allen always launched his series in impressive style and created pilot entries that still genuinely stand the test of time in terms of quality.
Allen directed Eleven Days To Zero in black and white, the series opener for his Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea with some rousing action sequences following his full color film of the same name from 1961 (here).
Allen got behind the camera for series opener Rendezvous With Yesterday for his The Time Tunnel series.
And of course no one can forget the cinematic feat of his pilot for Lost In Space, No Place To Hide (here).
What Allen achieves on teleprint here for The Crash and Land Of The Giants is indeed impressive.
Hinted at in Lost In Space entry The Oasis (S1, E9) and even There Were Giants In The Earth (S1, E4) with the Cyclops, Allen had BIG ideas and a land of giants is where he was taking them. Land Of The Giants is ultimately the materialization of those ambitions and germination of those initial seeds (S1 E14 Attack Of The Monster Plants).
Well cast the opening episode, The Crash, is indeed a thrill ride in the tradition of the master of disaster's action approach. Low on characterization and BIG on thrills he inserts viewers quickly into an alternative universe of sorts as the crew of a space flight vessel, the curvy, sub-orbital Spindrift (a ship that curvaceously reminds us of the FS-1 Flying Sub from Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea but in red), enter a kind of space storm warp and crash land, not on Earth, but another unknown planet of giant humanoids.
The year is 1983 and the downed Spindrift crew utilize the ship as a kind of home base like the Jupiter 2 was established as such for The Robinsons in Lost In Space. The futuristic Spindrift is an odd, seemingly alien-like design in and of itself, but still interesting.
Allen wastes no time to establish an adult/child relationship much in the vein of Will Robinson and Dr. Zachary Smith in the form of Barry Lockridge (Stefan Arngrim; brother of Alison Arngrim a.k.a. Nellie Olsen of Little House On The Prairie) and Alexander Fitzhugh (Kurt Kasznar). It's undeniable that Allen was looking to tap into some of that Lost In Space magic here. Though clearly its not entirely electric in that way. Bill Mumy was a tough act to follow along with Jonathan Harris, and the latter were just that good. The cast is infinitely likable enough to start here but Kasznar and Arngrim would have some work to do.
Gary Conway (I Was A Teenage Frankenstein) plays the hunky Captain Steve Burton along with co-pilot Dan Erickson, played by Don Marshall. The familiar Marshal appeared in Star Trek: The Original Series entry The Galileo Seven (S1, E16). He also guested on The Bionic Woman (The Vega Influence S2 E9), The Incredible Hulk (The Hulk Breaks Las Vegas S1 E8, Mystery Man S2 E15/16, Deathmask S3 E20), Buck Rogers In The 25th Century (Planet Of The Slave Girls S1 E3/4) and Little House On The Prairie (Death Sage S8 E4).
War veteran and purple heart recipient Don Matheson who had featured in Lost In Space episodes The Sky Is Falling (S1, E10) and Revolt Of The Androids as well as some Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea (The Deadly Amphibians S4 E13) plays Mark Wilson.
Two gorgeous women round out the wayward family in Deanna Lund (Batman; actually married to Don Matheson in the 1970s) as Valerie Scott and Heather Young (Batman, Galactica 1980 The Night The Cylons Landed E7/8, The Time Tunnel Town Of Terror S1 E30) as Betty Hamilton. And these two are indeed the male eye candy for the series.
Stefan Arngrim has appeared in a host of genre television shows including The X-Files, Fringe, Caprica, V and Millennium. He also starred in the films Fear No Evil (1981) and The Class Of 1984 (1982). Doctor Zachary Smith's Land Of The Giants' counterpart Fitzhugh would be played by Kurt Kasznar who came with an impressive stage and film degree.
The theme is composed by none other than John Williams (Lost In Space, The Time Tunnel, Star Wars) and builds upon the epic-sized potential of the series.
Like the unaired pilot for Lost In Space, No Place To Hide, The Crash does an exemplary job of launching the series and establishing the setting of a group of survivors living in a world of shadowy, creepily silent giants (in this first entry) surrounded by giant everything. Kids, scientists, cars, spiders, cats, dogs, safety pins, books, cages, thread, jars, egg cartons, light bulbs, curbs and the list goes on. What a production feat! There is no shortage of impressively cool props and film tricks to juxtapose and contrast the tiny cast against a land of giants. The Crash gets a huge, BIG fat thumbs up from The Sci-Fi Fanatic.
So while thrilling, the question is would the series develop beyond a series of epic sized action set pieces and would we get to know these pint-sized characters? Or would they be but mere two dimensional action figures, like the toys of our own childhood, brought to life in a land of giants to run from one place to the next? To start though I won't hold character deficiencies against the launch of this giant-sized series with its grand visual aspirations more than compensating as grand adventures go.
The Crash: A
Writer: Anthony Wilson/ Irwin Allen.
Director: Irwin Allen.
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