Viagem Fantástica

A group of boat castaways get lost in time or lost in vortex on a mysterious island.

Strong shades of Irwin Allen's Time Tunnel (1966), Irwin Allen's Lost In Space (1965) and classic Star Trek (1966) in this production.

The disco theme music gets ten out of ten. The pilot is well done. Note the music when the boat is sucked into the mysterious sea cloud. Note the photography in this opening scene. If only this level of film-like production remained for the whole ten episodes.

This series shined in the episode titled, Beyond The Mountain, this is the one where Roddy McDowall was introduced and he was a horrible guy at the start. He became nicer after this hour. Too bad the writers did not spend more time "beyond the mountain" as this setting was just so powerful, all thanks to the acting talents of McDowall.

Another episode about children making trouble for adults (Children of the Gods) was well done as well.

I am not sure exactly why the series was axed after such a short time (ten episodes) but I am guessing some viewers ran into problems with the okay-but-not-great closing four hours. Towards the end the premise of a group of people appearing in some oddball zone (amusement park, weird house, etc) was starting to repeat itself too much. And while the travellers were indeed pleasing enough, the viewer was not drawn to them the way we should. I am not suggesting "Journey" should have gone the way of more recent sci-fi shows (like Stargate) where the characters are drawn out in every detail. But they need to have some sort of spark that is missing here. The Lost In Space (1965) castaways were not drawn out too much be we cared about them.

Go on this journey for McDowall's acting and shades of 60s Irwin Allen/60s Star Trek. Nine of the ten episodes are very watchable, the only hour I felt like turning off was Turnabout where the tired old sci-fi plot of a female dominated world (led by Joan Collins) was used.

Another reviewer has compared "Journey" to the Stargate (1997) series but I would have to say I like "Journey" more.

Watched entire series during the first week of Sept/2022.

Loved it! Good stories, serious tone (in a 1970s family drama way). I think it stands the test of time and viewable today. I found it interesting that a few episodes had a Star Trek: TOS feel to them (maybe this was D. C. Fontana's influence).

If you decide to watch and find you enjoyed this, I highly recommend Otherworld (1985). The thematic setting, serious tone and character styles are similar enough... with 'Otherworld' feeling more modern (1977 vs 1985).

Sometimes you watch an older series and think... these guys really seemed to want to produce something good. Today... sometimes it feels like - these guys were in a hurry to make some money and to move on to their next project as quickly as possible.

'The Fantastic Journey' is old school. They were focused on creating the best series they could.

Tip: The entire 10-episode series is available on YouTube for free.

Fantastic Journey was an exceptional fantasy about a group of disparate characters who were trying to return to their own dimension after being lost in the Bermuda Triangle. They encountered a new dimension in nearly every episode. In one of the earliest episodes they picked up an ill-tempered scientist, wonderfully played by Roddy McDowell, who walked a line between villain and hero. School teachers and television critics hailed the show, and Roddy McDowell appeared on talk shows trying to get people interested, but the show was cancelled for poor ratings.

A previous reviewer compared The Fantastic Journey to shows like Stargate SG-1 and Sliders. He listed 8 similarities between the shows. He should have listed a 9th. Which show, you ask? What about Lost? You have a doctor, (Fred in TFJ, Jack in Lost), a psychic, (Liana in TFJ, Desmond in Lost,) a man of faith, (Varian in TFJ, and Locke, in Lost,) see the similarities? If you don't, I do. In TFJ, you have a scientific expedition lost in the Bermuda Triangle. In Lost, you have 48 survivors from a plane crash on an island somewhere in the South Pacific. In TFJ, our little group of travelers is trying to get back to their times. In Lost, that's not so clear. Jack wants to go home in the first three seasons. Locke doesn't. When you consider the similarities between the two shows, you can't help but recognize the fact that this '70s show was an influence on Lost. J.J. Abrams and Co., say that the game Myst, was one of the influences. Did I leave someone out? I did? Well, my bad. You also have another man of science, in Jonathan Willaway. Did I leave anyone else out? I don't think so. If I did, too late to change it now.

This show has some striking similarities to other television shows, which did become successful series, Stargate SG-1 & Sliders. Moreover, the formats are quite similar as well: 1. The viewer "travels" with the hosts to different worlds.

2. All involve scientific experiments which produce danger.

3. Both Sliders and Fantastic Journey are about travel to parallel universes.

4. All three involve different planets accessible only to a select team.

5. Both Sliders and Fantastic Journey are about people trying to find their way home.

6. Both Fantastic Journey & Stargate SG-1 have an alien in the cast.

7. Both Fantastic Journey and Stargate SG-1 are scripted by Katharyn Powers.

8. All three shows have a movie actor in the cast who played a supporting role in a big picture but was never an outright "star".

So for those who would like to see Fantastic Journey on TV again, don't fret! Technically, it did come back, just in a different skin!