Lost in Space - There Were Giants In The Earth (Vol. 4) (1965) Review

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(More customer reviews)While the whole of the first season of "Lost in Space", is excellent the very early episodes that were made up out of the unaired original pilot are by far the best for excitment, special effects and intriguing storylines. No where is this more evident than in the classic episode number four "There Were Giants In The Earth" which followed on from my own personal favourite "Island In The Sky". These early scripts flowed on from each other in a continous storyline while later the episodes all became selfcontained stories within the one hour format.
"There Were Giants In The Earth", takes up the story from the previous episode and finds the Robinson family, Major West and the dastardly Dr. Smith settling in to life on the strange planet which would be their home for over a year. The plot developments in this episode are excellent and really instill a feeling of unease and tension in the viewer as we see the Robinsons set up their hydroponic garden, test out their new force field around the camp and begin to learn some of the very worrying features of their mysterious new home, so very different from Earth. These features make up the excitment of this episode. Firstly Professor Robinson discovers the weather conditions of the planet are wildly erractic and in a constant state of change going from a state of freezing temperatures through to a climate so scorching hot that any vegetation is likely to be burnt. This brilliant plot development is given full coverage in this episode and in the following excellent installment "The Hungry Sea". Rather sadly the planet tamed down considerably weather wise after that episode and this potentially exciting element of the castaways trying to survive in these unpredictable conditions was with one or two exceptions never explored again in the coming season.
To escape these conditions the party decides in order to survive to abandon the spaceship and head south to avoid the coming intense cold and it is here that the most fantastic creatures ever thought up for "Lost In Space" are introduced, the terrifying Cyclops. The visual image of this huge creature, the "Giant" of the episode title, is breathtaking and its attack on Professor Robinson and Major West at the weather station and again when the whole family are in the chariot heading south involves some of the most memorable moments of the entire series. The Cyclops is wonderful in its execution and holds up beautifully today in its scary appearance and aggressive manner. I only wish that the "Giants" of the title had returned in later storylines for the season as they are sensational. The episode concludes with the party taking refuge in a huge cave during a fierce electrical storm during their travels (in itself a special effects masterpiece) and discovering an incredibly eerie underground city that has been abandoned for centuries by some lost civilisation. These scenes as the family first explore and then get seperated from each other are superbly done and build up the tension and combined with the cobwed covered alleys of this strange underground city create a memorable viewing experience. Certainly these scenes are some of my favourites of the entire series. The resulting earthquake then leads us into the next episode of this exciting introduction to the series.
What was so great about episodes such as "There Were Giants In The Earth", is that it gave equal screen time to all members of the Robinson party and allowed some real character development to occur. This episode is sensational and shows "Lost In Space", at its very best with an exciting storyline, excellent premise, with great thought going into all developments and great acting by all cast members. The black and white photogrpahy of this season of the show before it changed over to colour also I feel gave the stories an eerie quality which is very evident in this episode dealing with the Cyclops. Enjoy a trip back to the golden age of television with one of the best installments in this classic series "Lost In Space".

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