La terra dei giganti

Irwin Allen produced series about a spacecraft crashing on a land of giant people, animals, insects, etc.

The last of Allen's four science fiction TV shows of the 60s. Personally, I liked the other three (Voyage, Time Tunnel, Lost in Space) more but Giants is still one of my favourite TV shows ever.

The Allen directed, John Williams scored opening episode - The Crash - is perhaps 50% of what makes Giants special. Seriously, if the series did not begin with such a knockout opener it is quiet possible I would not rate the series so highly!

I am not bashing the rest of the series but it is true that eight of the 51 episodes were total stinkers. Nearly all those stinkers came from season two when the once deadly serious tone of the series was transformed into something less interesting.

There are two ways to watch the series: in production order and out of production order. Go for the production order on the DVDs (atleast the Australian DVDs). The first seven or so hours begin with the giants being mostly silent (as seen in The Crash) and this is the best of Land of the Giants.

Season two had three very memorable time travel episodes (A Place Called Earth, Home Sweet Home and Wild Journey) written by Time Tunnel's William Welch. These are must see hours with quality guest stars like Warren Steven and Bruce Dern turning up!

This review might come over as a bit confusing as I say this is one of my favourite TV shows ever then I say eight episodes are trash?? Let me just repeat that I have a very special fondness for the opening hour, The Crash. From the way Valerie (Deanna Lund) behaves, to the energetic John Williams score, to the epic Allen direction and even having the giant land covered in mist (no mist in the other episodes) - this is what makes it special.

The Crash is without question one of the very greatest hours of film ever made! Enjoy.

Recently,I got a chance to see some of the episodes on a local cable channel,and this was my favorite Irwin Allen series of them all. Several people including the dog,have crash-landed on earth,but its not the same planet that their ship was from. The special effects here are unforgettable which involved the characters to find themselves in some odd situation after another (especially in one episode where they are in a little girl's room where they take refuge in a doll house,only to be stalked by a giant cat!) Basically everything went just right with this series which didn't last long when it ran on ABC from 1968-1970,but it was a classic worth seeing.

After "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea," along with "Lost in Space" had made their four-year and three-year runs, respectively, Irwin Allen returned to television with this ambitious show about seven travelers (eight, if you count the dog) lost on a world wherein they are "six inch oddities" amongst giant EVERYTHING. The pilot episode, appropriately entitled "The Crash" was, by far, the best of the entire two-year life of the show. Featuring spectacular set pieces, a brilliant John Williams' score, and good (for the budget and the era) special optical effects, though the giant spider didn't work so well.

It's a shame, however, that the show didn't live up to the promise of weekly adventure as exhibited in the pilot. It's obvious that Allen was looking for another Will Robinson/Dr. Smith pairing with the characters of Barry and Commander Fitzhugh. Though actors Stefan Arngrim and Kurt Kaszner did their best, the scripts and the interplay between the two was not convincing.

As far as the other characters, they fit the typical stereotypes: the spoiled rich girl (Deanna Lund), the self-centered businessman (Don Matheson), the brave captain (Gary Conway), the dependable stewardess (Heather Young) and the "token" co-captain (Don Marshall). The latter has the distinction of being the sole African-American to star in an Irwin Allen television production; obviously, the producer was buckling, deservedly so, to have a better representation of the real look of America, as well as the world.

Of the four shows produced by Allen during the 60's, "Land of the Giants" possibly is the most difficult to categorize or even to recommend. It's not campy enough to be remembered as fondly as "Lost in Space"; it's not as adventurous as the underwater adventures of the submarine Seaview in "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea"; and neither is it as innovative as the time travelers in the shorter-lived "The Time Tunnel" It's just a nice trip down memory lane for those of us that happened to have been around when Sunday nights meant "Lassie," "The Ed Sullivan Show," "Bonanza," and, of course, for two years, "Land of The Giants".

Having just read all the comments I had an idea of why this show made such a strong impression on so many.

It seems many of the people that were fans were kids when this first aired (I was six, probably became truly imprinted on my neural circuits in early syndication). I believe this show connected so much with its audience because as young children we all felt in some way that we were living in a Land of the Giants and so we identified very much with all the characters.

Anyway, sorry for the cheesy pop psychiatry, but that's my theory and I'm sticking with it.

Now if I can only figure out why I loved so many other 60's/70's TV sci-fi (Star Trek, Lost In Space, UFO, Space 1999, etc)

Scientists may not approve ( I don't think it was aimed at them anyway! ) but in the U.K. in 1969 'Land Of The Giants' was a smash hit. At school on Monday mornings, the number one talking point in the playground was the latest episode of 'Land'. I would try to steer the conversation towards the ongoing saga of 'Dr.Who' in 'The War Games', but it was no use. 'Land' had Britain's children ensnared in its grip. It was kind of like 'Planet Of The Apes' in that it too featured a group of humans who, after passing through a 'space warp', find themselves marooned on a strange world where evolution has taken a different turn. As you'd expect from an Irwin Allen series, characterisation was barely in evidence, but the show boasted some amazing S.F.X. sequences, intriguing story lines such as 'Ghost Town', and the excellent Kevin Hagen as the sinister Inspector Kobick of the S.I.D. As was the case with a lot of U.S. sci-fi shows, the novelty soon wore off - 'Land' was cancelled after two seasons.