tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post538558245602175757..comments2024-03-29T04:57:26.162-04:00Comments on John Kenneth Muir's Reflections on Cult Movies and Classic TV: Cult-TV Flashbak: Land of the Giants: "Crash"John Kenneth Muirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15629979615332893780noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-70573393722669650902019-02-25T09:50:17.649-05:002019-02-25T09:50:17.649-05:00LAND OF THE GIANTS is hands down my favorite of al...LAND OF THE GIANTS is hands down my favorite of all the Irwin Allen shows. It had a darker, paranoid feel and didn't resort to outright silliness as LOST IN SPACE did (although I still enjoy LIS despite this). GIANTS seems more 'believable' with its conception of the giants' planet existing in a sort of parallel universe with Earth. I also like the fact that it's by way of sub-orbital flight that the castaways get there. It anticipated the shuttlecrafts that were yet to come. <br /><br />The characters in GIANTS are all appealing and have an engaging chemistry, with more spontaneity in the dialogue than in Allen's other shows. Especially good are the conlicts that erupt between Captain Steve Burton (Gary Conway) and Mark Wilson (Don Matheson) which, again, adds realism to their situation.<br /><br /> Maybe the show didn't address social issues of its day, but in this I feel it succeeds brilliantly as pure escapism and it's the reason GIANTS hasn't dated. One could watch it anytime, anywhere and relate to its straightforward premise of people needing to pull together if they are to survive in a hostile environment. This basic theme is worked into every episode, often rather suspensefully as the Earthlings face one crisis after another. These range from health issues such as "The Creed" and "The Deadly Lodestone", political intrigue in "Underground" and "Sabotage", time travel in "A Place Called Earth", "Home Sweet Home" and "Wild Journey", and even distrust among the little people themselves in "The Unsuspected", "Nightmare", "The Clones" and "The Deadly Dart". <br /><br />One of my favorite episodes is a classic of the series - "Ghost Town". This TWILIGHT ZONE -like entry has our heroes terrorized by a sadistic giant girl in what first appears to be a normal-sized town but is actually a toy playground. "Ghost Town" is unique because it's the only one in which the giants (the little girl and her grandfather) are shown out of their 'normal' environment. <br /><br />LAND OF THE GIANTS was Allen's favorite among his series and he was planning to continue with it, but despite good ratings the costly budget was what ultimately killed the show after two seasons. Today, LOTG enjoys cult status and is quite popular in Eastern European nations. It also has a big fanbase in England, which is home to the Irwin Allen Network website. Anthony Crnkovichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00160375131175653079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-34461475851059868842016-11-09T18:26:33.860-05:002016-11-09T18:26:33.860-05:00SGB,
Thank You for pointing out the recent death o...SGB,<br />Thank You for pointing out the recent death of Don Marshall. I met Mr. Marshall a few years ago, at (of all places) a Doctor Who convention. He was there with co-stars Deana Lund and Don Matheson (who is also, sadly, no longer with us).<br />Don Marshall had written a script which he had with him, and he was trying to get it made. He told me it involved the cast of the show discovering a rocket ship in the giants' possession, and using it to escape the giant world and get back to Earth.<br />"Say a prayer," he told me, "because if this gets made, we'll all get to be in it," referring to his fellow cast mates.<br />The film, of course, was never produced. I always thought it would be neat to see LOTG re-made, with CGI effects, with appearances by the older stars whom the younger cast would help escape the planet, thereby continuing one saga while bringing another to a close.<br />Would that it were so.<br />SteveAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13101722769411384962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-91460041397488326032016-11-09T18:17:34.707-05:002016-11-09T18:17:34.707-05:00John,
Land of the Giants was one of my favorite se...John,<br />Land of the Giants was one of my favorite series as a kid, when I was able to find it. It was syndicated by the local NBC affiliate in Chicago, and always seemed to appear at random, or was listed and then pre-empted or delayed depending on sporting events. One episode I caught - I kid you not - had its ending abruptly cut off because the show ran into a later time slot, and whoever was directing programming cut right to the program that was supposed to air at that time, thus leaving me hanging for years, when I finally saw the episode on USA Network. The same station briefly ran the series at 1:00 in the morning, which wasn't a kid-friendly time slot. I managed to sneak up a few times and watch, to my Mom's chagrin. :)<br />You are correct that the giants lived on their own planet, had a totalitarian government with vaguely 1950's technology. The show was huge in Brazil, where it was seen as a statement regarding their own authoritative rule.<br />Interesting to note the the giants were originally portrayed as aliens with their own spoken and written language. In "The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen," we see actual footage from "The Crash" in which the giant scientist speaks their breathy, throaty words. These were replaced in ADR with "Come back!" The decision to have the giants speak English did not come until several episodes were filmed and in the can.<br />Finally, the novelizations by Murray Leinster are tremendous. He really fleshes out the world of the giants, even giving them their own technology and motivations for trying to capture the Earthlings.<br />If you do revisit the series, I'd like to suggest four of my favorites: From S1, "Ghost Town" and "Deadly Lodestone" and from S2, "The Mechanical Man" and "Doomsday."<br />Thanks for the giant shout-out!<br />SteveAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13101722769411384962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-67773355897555467362016-11-04T11:37:19.757-04:002016-11-04T11:37:19.757-04:00Irwin Allen always delivered impressive sets:
Voy...Irwin Allen always delivered impressive sets:<br /><br />Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea's seasons 2-4 Seaview sets complete with windows rear projection of the ocean in control room and Flying Sub set. In the 4th season a full-scale aft hatch exterior section of the Flying Sub built too, impressive.<br /><br />Lost In Space's Jupiter 2 upper deck and lower deck sets, full-scale Spacepod and working full-scale Chariot.<br /><br />Time Tunnel's Time Tunnel set.<br /><br />Land Of The Giant's oversized "giant" forest with full-scale Spindrift set, impressive.<br /><br />SGBSGBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07137406272001346149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-76908233083132248122016-11-04T11:15:44.276-04:002016-11-04T11:15:44.276-04:00John, nice Review of Irwin Allen's LAND OF THE...John, nice Review of Irwin Allen's LAND OF THE GIANTS. Whereas my favorite IA series Lost In Space was consumed by "camp" in it's second and third seasons both Time Tunnel and Land Of The Giants were not. My second favorite IA series Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea did not become "camp", but did get formula fantasy plots that both Time Tunnel and Land Of The Giants did not. My third favorite IA series TIME TUNNEL was serious like LOST IN SPACE was during it's first season. I wish Lost In Space had remained serious, not "camp", like LOTG.<br /><br />On a sad note, (LOTG's Dan Erickson) Don Marshall passed away on this past Sunday October 30th, 2016.<br /><br />SGB SGBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07137406272001346149noreply@blogger.com