La valle dei dinosauri

As a child of the 70's I watched this show religiously! It use to scare me to death every time I saw the dinosaurs or the Sleestak! I recently saw an episode and it brought back so many wonderful childhood memories when I would get up early on Saturday mornings just to watch Marshall, Will and Holly! Oh yea, can't forget the Sleestak and Chaka!

This was an intriguing Saturday morning TV series created by Sid & Marty Kroft. The Marshall family;father Rick,son Will,& daughter Holly are out on a camping trip when the raft ride they take plunges down a waterfall & into a crevasse following an earthquke.In this unknown world they encounter prehistoric animals,the remains of a very old city carved out of stone,a race of humanoid lizards,& mysterious pylons located throughout the jungle.Wonderful stop motion animation was used in this show,a special fx rarely seen on television shows.There was also some terrific matte work depicting this lost land.The actors were appealing,& David Gerrold,Larry Nivan,D.C.Fontana,& Theodore Sturgeon were some of the top flight talent contributing scripts to the show.It was a kids show that aspired to bring spectacle,nifty fx,& quality writing to each episode.

I love Land of the Lost! I was gripped by the Marshalls attempting to return to the 70s, and I'm sure Marty McFly could have helped them out big time. Anyway, sure the effects were cheesy but still, you were never let down by the suspense in this series.

The Land of the Lost was an excellent science fiction series-- especially given that it aired on a Saturday morning. Granted, the third season wasn't as good as the first two, with writers ignoring much of the internal logic that had previously been established, but even the third season was better than much of the Saturday morning fare today.

To clear up some misconceptions about the series, the Marshall family did not travel back in time; they fell through a time doorway which transported them to a small, closed universe, which included, among other things, three moons in the sky. In this small universe, a balance was maintained. In order for anyone to enter, the same number of people had to leave (and vice versa).

The presence of the dinosaurs (one of the attractions of the show for many) may be why people think the Marshalls went to Earth's past. But other features, such as the Lost City and the pylons, which TARDIS-like are bigger on the inside than the outside, are signs of a highly advanced culture; one, which we later learn, built the Land of the Lost. The pylons controlled the environment of the land, and some contained time doorways leading to other dimensions.

Oh, and for the record, the dinosaur named "Alice" is called that because she's an allosaur. It's a nickname.

There was a later version of Land of the Lost in 1992, and while it had better effects and slightly better acting, the original was "Masterpiece Theatre" by comparison. While the original Land of the Lost does have some flaws, it at least had interesting scripts and looked like it was another world; and it had a certain quality to it that the remake-- which was filmed in some park-- lacked.

There are currently eight episodes available on video, with four of them re-released to DVD. Like I said, the Land of the Lost isn't perfect (though many of the eight episodes available are considered among the better ones, especially "The Stranger", "Elsewhen" and my personal favorite, "Circle") but it's better than a lot of the stuff on today.

Rick

Yes! This is the BEST Sid and Marty Kroft show that ever was. The first two seasons are brilliant from the great theme song ("Marshall, Will, and Holly on a river expedition ran into the greatest earthquake ever knoooooooown....." to the above average scripts, special fx, and acting.

However, the third season really fell apart and the two kids on the show starting singing these horrible musical numbers. Also, their dad left the show to be replaced by their uncle and the scripts got hokey and contrived.

All that being said...My overall of the opinion of the show remains really favorable though. The Sleekstacks scared the doo-doo out of me as a kid although they never could move any faster than in a shuffle. For a kid's show, this one was REALLY good and I will remember it forever.

Forget the 1991 remake...It is stupid beyond belief isn't even worth comment.