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17 out of 18 people found the following review useful: Excellent science fiction series, 26 April 2003 Author: Rick_66 from Midwest, U.S.A.
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
12 out of 12 people found the following review useful: The story counts..., 7 May 2001 Author: The_Core from Seattle, WA. USA
Cheesy music, sets and acting don't detract from the excellence of some of the stories in this TV series, some co-written by Science Fiction greats like Larry Niven. This series was one of my favorites as a kid and helped spark a lifetime interest in Science Fiction... and eventually science as well. I didn't end up a scientist per-se, but some of these stories are great and still watchable (and some are just plain dumb). No specific names or numbers to recommend... watch 'em if you can find 'em and try not to wince at the cheese of the "special effects" and weird mix of banjo and synthesizer music.
13 out of 15 people found the following review useful: This thing is almost thirty years old now!, 10 June 2001 Author: richard.fuller1
I used to argue with my brother over this show. I wanted to watch 'Valley of the Dinosaurs' and he wanted to watch this one. To tell the truth, he was in the right, and I never did watch Valley on a regular basis. It still has some corn to it, the acting was over the top from all three players, but I just took it that they took after their father. This was about the only show that it never bothered me that there were unanswered questions about things that happened, like the pylons, the skylons and sleestax (the way it was written on the wall). I used to think they had enough to contend with with Grumpy and Big Al and Big Alice without getting sleestax on top of it. Definitely one of the better of the Sid & Marty Krofft shows, if not the best, better than Pufnstuf. The show may have held on if Spencer Mulligan, as Dad, had not left. It wasn't the same show.
12 out of 14 people found the following review useful: This show rules - forget the crappy 1991 remake!, 7 September 1999 Author: xman1974 from United States
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.
8 out of 8 people found the following review useful: a fun place to get lost in, 22 November 2004 Author: powersroc from United States
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.
8 out of 8 people found the following review useful: Loved it!, 31 May 2002 Author: seventag from North Carolina
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!
8 out of 9 people found the following review useful: Talk about Must See TV, 1 September 2003 Author: travis-74 from Frostburg MD
NBC would be proud of the Fact that this show was most definitely Must See TV for me in the 70's. I absolutely Looooovvvvveeeed Kathy Coleman as Holly. Wesley Eure (also Mike Horton on Day's of our Lives at the time) sang the title song.I felt it had great special effects with the stop motion animation on the dinosaur scenes. Although recently On VH1's 70's tribute, I saw some scenes, in pretty bad video chroma-key.Easily the best Kroft show. Remember, HR Puffenstuff (for crying out loud.) I would hang up on anyone who called me when LoTL was on. In season 3 when Chaka started speaking English and Spencer Mulligan was gone the show went straight into the crapper. But that Kathy Coleman. Love her, Love her, Love her! I last saw her on TV in an Arthur Treachers Advertisement, (God give me strength.) Good times, fer sure. According to imdb she hasn't acted since and tribute sites say the same.Shame, she was HOT!
4 out of 4 people found the following review useful: Beware of the Sleestak!!, 14 January 2005 Author: jsfmt99 from Pennsylvania
This was my favorite Saturday morning program by Sid and Marty KrofftOn a rafting expedition, the Marshall family (Holly, Will and father Rick) fall down a waterfall into a time portal which sent them to the Land of the Lost. The land of the lost was a prehistoric world. Each week, the Marshall family faced many challenges and shared many learning experiences in the Land of the Lost. It was a story of survival. They dodged dinosaurs and befriended Cha-Ka, who was a prehistoric simian humanoid. Cha-Ka could speak in his native language Pakuni, which was learned by the Marshall Family. It is my understanding that a Pakuni dictionary has been written for those of you who want to learn Pakuni.For its time the special effects were very good but the acting sometimes was overkill and really fake which made me laugh just because it seemed so stupid. But then again, the actors were often acting to a blue screen and the special effects were added later.The thing that I remember the most about this show (other than my crush for actress Kathy Coleman who played Holly Marshall) was the Sleestak. Remember the Sleestak? Those giant walking hissing lizards with those big bug eyes? A few of the Sleestak were played by professional basketball players. They really scared me as a kid and I always remembered that to get rid of them all I had to do was to touch a blue and green crystal together to create a force field. The settings of the Land of the Lost were very imaginative and unique such as the lost city and the pylons. The background music was both a little corny but eerie too!There were also many other memorable characters in this show including the Zarn, Enik, Ta, Sa and Malak. The Zarn was the most mysterious and scariest character in the series. The Zarn was often invisible and his presence could be heard and it sounded like wind chimes cutting through the eerie silence.You can find more information about the show on the Land of the Lost website: www.landofthelost.comThis program had 43 episodes and ran for 3 years (1974-1977). It has been released on DVD. You can buy the DVD series on Ebay.
3 out of 3 people found the following review useful: Available on Netflix, 3 May 2006 Author: brannentaylor from United States
We ordered this on Netflix for our 8 year old who loves dinosaurs. He loved it just as much as we did, back in the day. My nine year old daughter liked it too. Tried doing a lookup on the main character actors - doesn't seem they did much in the way of movies or TV after the show. Can't believe we made our parents watch this - love the special effects now ... how the three of them are in a raft and the size of the river looks to be about 8 inches across, and the bricks slam down on it, then they're in the same jungle scene time after time, and its always dusty ... :D Didn't know that Walter Koenig wrote an episode - his commentary is on the Disc 1 features - kind of funny to here him without a Slovak accent. Brings back some nice memories.
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful: A great science fiction program; not just for kids., 22 October 2000 Author: jeezycreezy (tj_@attcanada.ca) from Ontario, Canada
Often dismissed as little more than a cheesy children's show, Land Of The Lost was actually an outstanding science fiction program. Early seasons saw noted writers of the genre such as David Gerrold, Larry Niven, Theodore Sturgeon, Dick Morgan, D.C. Fontana and Ben Bova writing episodes. Sadly, none of these writers were present for the third season which saw a drop in the quality of the writing and the show turned into a visitor-of-the-week dreck-fest.If you haven't seen this show since you were a kid, I highly recommend volumes three and four of the videos which feature some of the fan favourites. (The episode selection on volumes one and two -- the same episodes which are on the DVD -- isn't the greatest)
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