7.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A remake of the 1960's sci-fi series about a family struggling for survival in outer space.
Starring: Toby Stephens, Molly Parker, Parker Posey, Ignacio Serricchio, Taylor RussellSci-Fi | 100% |
Coming of age | Insignificant |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.00:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.00:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Three-disc set (3 BDs)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
As I mentioned in our now long ago Lost in Space: The Complete Adventures Blu-ray review of the original Irwin Allen production which ran for three seasons on CBS, the relatively short lived series might strike some viewers as seeming like two different shows, with the first black and white season notably more dramatic and less campy than its subsequent years (especially the third and final year). Another perhaps more subliminal way in which the original Lost in Space was "bifurcated" was with regard to its wonderful theme music by a guy who was back in those days still billed as Johnny Williams. As I mentioned in the coverage of the supplements on the huge Fox set devoted to the original series, true fans know that Williams actually wrote two themes for the series, the first utilized for the first two seasons, and the second used for the last (and arguably silliest) season. In a kind of interesting “one from Column A, one from Column B” approach, this newish reboot of Lost in Space adopts the substantially more serious tone of the original’s first season, while also utilizing, if only in passing, Williams’ wonderful theme music from the third season, for this version’s closing credits crawl.
Lost in Space: The Complete First Season is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.00:1. The IMDb lists some interesting technical aspects for this production, including the fact that it was captured by the RED Weapon 8K camera, though the IMDb does fail to list what resolution the DI was finished in. The IMDb also lists Dolby Vision and HDR10, along with Dolby Atmos, which may beg the question as to why Fox hasn't released the series on 4K UHD (at least as of the writing of this review). The visual presentation here is often quite striking, with abundant detail levels even in less than optimal lighting, and some really precise gradations in fairly neutral tones, as in the huge snowscapes that make up a large part of the first episode. Fine detail on elements like the fur on Will's parka, Don's ribbed, rubbery looking spacesuit, or even the sinewy mechanics of the robot (one of the more effective CGI concoctions in a show where some of the CGI is a bit fake looking) are typically excellent. The palette is kind of surprisingly tamped down a lot of the time, though it does tend to favor cooler tones like blues. Occasional scenes are graded or lit intentionally kind of strangely, but detail levels only rarely falter.
Lost in Space: The Complete First Season features a nicely immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix. The surround channels are regularly engaged in any number of effects sequences, and there are both fun directional effects as well as some rumbly LFE that regularly dot virtually every episode. Ambient environmental effects are recurrently utilized throughout the first season, and some sequences, as in a monsoon like storm, feature a glut of well placed elements that really help to create a believable sonic environment. Dialogue is always presented cleanly and clearly throughout each episode.
As I mentioned in the review of the original Lost in Space linked to above in the main body of this review, I grew up on that version and spent three years or so wishing I could magically transform into Bill(y) Mumy so that I could wear cool ski pants and a velour shirt and hang out with my own personal robot (like Will Robinson, I had two older sisters in real life, so felt I was already equipped to ignore Judy and Penny). The depiction of Will in this version was actually one of the things that kind of chafed at me personally, but others without the history with the original version may of course have a completely different reaction. The revisionism affecting several of the other main characters is often quite interesting, and there's some fun "meta" elements for fans of the original, including "little" items like character names that evoke the names of actors who portrayed roles in the original version. That said, I'm not sure if this Lost in Space has fully found its own distinctive identity — at least not yet. As reboots go, it's better than many others, but it's still finding its footing on its own planet, in a manner of speaking. Technical merits are first rate for those who are considering a purchase.
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