Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea...can't go home again?

[Robert D. Robot]

^ Actually, they did run into both a big-ass octopus and a big squid: the giant octopus that grabbed Seaview deep in the Mariana Trench, and earlier a large squid (although it looked to me like a giant cuttlefish) that attacked Crane & the other diver while they were out on the sea floor trying to tap into that underwater cable so they could call the U.S. President.....

 

[Silvercrest]

The problem is - they encountered the same octopus (ie reused the footage) MULTIPLE times during the run of the TV series.

Did they electrify the hull every time, or did they (for no reason) have to keep coming up with new ways of defeating it?

You know, I'm not sure which option is worse.

 

[Warped9]

The last handful of episodes I've watched weren't horrible, but boy are they sloowly paced. The best part (other than gorgeous shots of the Seaview) Have been some of the guest stars such as June Allison, James Doohan (twice) and Carroll O'Connor.

 

[Warped9]

I went to pick up Volume 2 of Season 1, but it was sold out---bummer! Anyway while there I picked up Volume 1 of Season 2.

Whoa! Colour makes a huge difference and more of the image really comes alive. That said I much prefer the 1st season's opening and closing theme music. The first episode is "Jonah And The Whale." Let's get the silly aspect out of the way first: a diving bell gets swallowed by an oversized sperm whale? And the crew go in through the mouth to rescue those trapped aboard the bell inside the whale? And they attach a cable to the diving bell and the Seaview yanks it out of the whale's mouth? !!!

I'll give them credit for imagination, but the scenes inside the whale look ludicrous and so plastic!

On the positive side the Seaview sequences look even better and the writing seems to be improved and less awkward. I'm curious to see how this season progresses. The Flying Sub is cool, but best not to think of how much space it would really take in the nose of the sub.

 

[Warped9]

"Time Bomb." Admiral Nelson playing a Bond like role? There were just too many things in this that made me laugh out loud!

"...And Five Of Us Are Left." The notion that a group of men could survive for twenty-eights years trapped in a cave is a bit hard to accept, but the story isn't badly told. Again shots of the Seaview and the Flying Sub are sweet.

"Cyborg" about a scientist's plan to take over the world using cyborgs to govern. They play it straight, but it really is just one absurdity after another. The only genuine SF idea was that of copying consciousness and personality of a person and downloading it into an artificial body. This whole execution had to be absurd even in the '60s. TOS did this idea better in "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" and comedically in "I, Mudd" with better results.

I'm noticing more interior changes to the Seaview such as you seem to be able to go directly from the control room to the forward observation deck.

 

[Galileo7]

I'm noticing more interior changes to the Seaview such as you seem to be able to go directly from the control room to the forward observation deck.

Here are links to the Seaview changes and the Flying Sub.
http://nimr.org/seaview3.html
http://nimr.org/techno.html

 

[AJBryant]

I'm noticing more interior changes to the Seaview such as you seem to be able to go directly from the control room to the forward observation deck.

Here are links to the Seaview changes and the Flying Sub.
http://nimr.org/seaview3.html
http://nimr.org/techno.html

Man, those are some cool resources. I just wish the image quality were higher. Oof.

 

[Warped9]

I'm lovin' the Seaview, but I gotta say that it must also have Tardus technology because even for a submarine it's size it's got some awfully spacious interiors with rather high ceilings.

Ten episodes into Season 2 and I've got mixed feelings. Except for now having colour, some redesign for the Seaview and getting the flying sub and some really nice f/x of the sub I'm not seeing any improvement over Season 1. The acting performances can still be there, but the writing veers wildly from decent to awkward while usually being mediocre. And the preponderance of so many Cold War type stories doesn't suit the show. Of course those were probably cheaper to make, but I find them so predictably and plodding. And out of these first ten episodes I've found only two episodes to be tolerable.

 

[scotpens]

. . . Irwin Allen produced both, so the Flying Sub was reused and renamed the Hydrofoil.

Aquafoil! A hydrofoil is one of these babies.

. . . I'm noticing more interior changes to the Seaview such as you seem to be able to go directly from the control room to the forward observation deck.

In the movie and the first TV season, we assumed the control room was on the upper deck and directly under the sail, as it would logically be on a real submarine -- hence the spiral staircase leading down to the observation lounge in the nose. Starting with the second season, the control room and observation deck were combined into one single-level set. This was done both to speed up the story action and to simplify production -- the camera could dolly straight from one room to the other without necessitating two different set-ups.

Of course, this meant that the periscope island in the control room was now dozens of feet away from the “real” periscope. And the Flying Sub access hatch in the floor couldn't possibly have worked -- it was only four feet from the nose windows!

 

[Warped9]

Lost In Space and Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea both suffered from this problem of large sets that realistically couldn't fit into their respective vehicles, even as cool as they were.

One can more clearly appreciate the thinking on Star Trek which gave them a very large ship that could more easily accommodate the large sets. Even so all three series were hampered by the fact of bulky filming equipment of the era. Today it wouldn't be a problem.

Still, ya gotta say that the '60s was a great period for gadgetry.

 

[Galileo7]

Lost In Space and Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea both suffered from this problem of large sets that realistically couldn't fit into their respective vehicles, even as cool as they were.

One can more clearly appreciate the thinking on Star Trek which gave them a very large ship that could more easily accommodate the large sets. Even so all three series were hampered by the fact of bulky filming equipment of the era. Today it wouldn't be a problem.

Still, ya gotta say that the '60s was a great period for gadgetry.

I agree with the Irwin Allen large sets versus small crafts(but it did not matter because the sets made the series better) and '60s science-fiction was definitely an awesome period for gadgetry technology.

 

[Galileo7]

. . . Irwin Allen produced both, so the Flying Sub was reused and renamed the Hydrofoil.

Aquafoil! A hydrofoil is one of these babies.

I know what a Hydrofoil is.
I have not seen the movie since I was a boy, but I just could have sworn that in CITY BENEATH THE SEA 1971 movie the Flying Sub was called Hydrofoil. Even in this review the writer states it:
http://www.dailyread.com/?q=node/11739