Would I like "Voyage To The Bottom of The Sea"?

[S. Gomez]

I ask because I remember watching Lost In Space many moons ago (and enjoying it quite a bit) and although I haven't actively sought out other Irwin Allen shows this one keeps calling to me, asking me to check it out some time. The only problem is this: the DVDs aren't in the local library and they aren't in any rental stores. Not the TV show or the original movie. I've even tried some, uh, illicit means and that didn't pan out because I don't live in the U.S. That leaves...<shudder>...buying it blind on DVD. Considering it's kind of pricey, especially for only half a season at a time, that isn't the nicest prospect I can think of but it looks like it would be the only way (I could also put it on my Christmas list, I suppose...)

Seeing as how I liked Lost In Space (or at least what I remember of Lost In Space), and that I can really enjoy good cheesy fun, would it be a reasonably safe bet? Or should the fact that it appears to be one of the few sci-fi cult classics without a modernized remake in the pipeline be a warning for me?

P.S. That submarine looks mighty sweet!

 

[clint g]

I remember liking it quite a bit and I was also a fan of Lost in Space as well so maybe our tastes are similar. Here is the catch however, the last time I watched either of these shows was in the early to mid 90s when I was in elementary school so who knows how good my taste was. I did enjoy trek and Babylon 5 as well though so maybe my taste was good after all lol.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

I have nostalgic recollections of watching VTTBOTS from my childhood days. Howver, even at the age of 8, I thought many of the episodes in seasons 2 and 3 were silly with similar plotlines, daft monsters, and cheesy effects. The flying sub was cool though -- pity it didn't appear in the first season (IIRC), and pity that season wasn't in colour (again IIRC). I also recall my Grandmother's consternation at what she thought was the constant sound of chickens clucking on a submarine.

Can you not rent the discs via post?

 

[Forbin]

I seem to recall the writing was almost as silly and campy as Lost in Space. It's been years since i watched any episodes of Voyage, but I remember having a hard time taking it as an adult.

Ss I kid i loved it, of course. But I always liked Irwin Allen shows more for the ships and hardware than for the writing. When I was a kid I didn't realize the writing was crap, but the Seaview and the flying sub were SO freakin cool.

 

[Admiral2]

Find the movie first and watch it. It's much more entertaining than the series.

 

[Klaus]

Too bad Hulu doesn't work work in the frozen north...

It runs here in the US on a new fringe network called "American Life", and I've seen a few episodes for the first time since I was a kid... the Lost in Space comparison is an apt one, along with early Dr. Who... it's notably cheesy but fun if you approach it with the right attitude.

The movie's just as cheesy lol, though it does have a great cast... watching Barbara Eden walking around a sub in high heels is hysterical! And the Van Allen Belt catching on fire, and snuffing it out with a nuclear blast, is one of the great WTF??? ideas in sf history lol, even given the ignorance of the times. Yeesh!

 

[Admiral2]

I didn't say you could teach a science class with it. I just liked it better than the series. (Although I did build a model of the minisub from the series once.)

 

[Klaus]

^^Oh, it is probably better than the series, but it's not anything cast members were going to list on their resumes lol...

 

[Steve Roby]

Seeing as how I liked Lost In Space (or at least what I remember of Lost In Space), and that I can really enjoy good cheesy fun, would it be a reasonably safe bet? Or should the fact that it appears to be one of the few sci-fi cult classics without a modernized remake in the pipeline be a warning for me?

I loved Lost in Space when my age was still in single digits. Saw it again as a teenager and found it impossible to watch. As for Voyage, I liked the original movie (saw it when I was maybe 12) and liked a lot of the TV series when I was just a little older, but then noticed that some episodes were significantly better than others. Then I read a Starlog series guide and found out that they'd started the series trying to be reasonably realistic as SF goes, but eventually threw that out the window and started to make it about werewolves and monsters and general silliness. I haven't seen it since the late 1970s and haven't missed it.

Caveat emptor. It's not something I'd recommend buying without seeing first. And it's certainly not a lost classic, imho.

 

[igrokbok]

Voyage is great fun. The first season, not unlike Lost in Space, is black and white and is more serious, focusing on espionage. After all, it was the height of the Bond explosion. Then it drifted into action aventure and eventually, in its third season, it went toe to toe with the later seasons of Lost in Space and was wonderfully campy with werewolves, leprachauns and killer toys. Great fun, all of it.

 

[S. Gomez]

Too bad Hulu doesn't work work in the frozen north...

Exactly. I saw that notice and was all like "What? Come on!".

The same situation applies to the movie as the TV show in this case. And I'm very leery of those rental-by-mail services for some reason.

I have a feeling I was about 9 or 10 (or maybe 11) when I saw Lost In Space, so going by what several people here have said I'm going to try watching that again; fortunately there's copies of Season 1 in the library (there's even The Time Tunnel in case I want to try that as well). If I don't like it anymore, or if I get bored out of my skull, I might just pass on Voyage until I can check it out in a less risky way.

 

[Klaus]

^^sounds like a sensible plan!

 

[Shawnster]

Too bad Hulu doesn't work work in the frozen north...

Apparently there is something you can download that will make your PC appear to be "region free."

I've been watching some things on tudou.com. It's a Japanese site. I have no idea if it will work for everyone though. Nor do I know if they carry Voyage but the site does have a search feature.

 

[TGTheodore]

It's classic Irwin Allen Formula. It starts off somewhat seriously and then, as the ratings slip, it becomes more and more outlandish and stupid.

It's the only reason I'm glad The Time Tunnel didn't last over a season. And even THEN TT still had two stupid alien episodes.

--Ted

 

[mostly_nameless]

I love Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, but I wasn't a big Lost in Space fan. By the last season, it was just silly, but it was a fun kind of silly.

I always wondered if the same stunt man was in the monster suit each week. Did he come to work each week looking forward to what they had done to his rubber monster costume? "Ooh, look this week I have tentacle suckers!"

If you decide to check it out and you like the good cheesy stuff, start with season 2. Season 1 was a lot more serious, with spies and whatnot.

 

[LaxScrutiny]

I love it when I was a kid, the last time I watched the movie I couldn't get past scenes where Walter Pidgeon would be smoking a cigar on the bridge and then walk across the room and he was smoking a cigarette.

I agree with other posters, the first season was fairly serious and then it got silly. The flying sub was one of the coolest craft ever. I had the model as a kid and probably played with it more than any other toy.

 

[DWF]

The first season of the series is in B&W and it's a pretty serious and well done season after that ABC wanted a lighter show and it showed, however there are some good eps. thoughout the series.

 

[Forbin]

I wonder if Batman was solely responsible for the deterioration of sci fi shows in the 60s. I know LiS was made into a psychedelic kiddie show because the network wanted it "more like Batman." I wonder if Voyage and the rest turned into camp crap for the same reason.

 

[S. Gomez]

I like spies and B&W as well.

 

[Kelso]

Great show... esp. season 1.