DVD review (region 2)
Starring Gary Conway, Don Matheson, Deanna Lund, Heather Young, Don Marshall, Kurt Kasznar and Stefan Arngrim
Release date Out now

In the near future (well, OK, 1983), the crew of the sub-orbital spaceship Spindrift crashland on a strange planet. Turns out it’s populated by nefarious giants!

Land of the Giants was Irwin Allen’s attempt to replicate the success of his family-friendly adventures Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space and The Time Tunnel. The plot recycled many elements of those shows (especially Lost in Space), with square-jawed heroes, a wide-eyed kid and a duplicitous semi-baddie all trying to survive on an alien world. Allen combined it with elements of Gulliver’s Travels as well as the oversized trick photography of such films as Earth Vs the Spider and The Incredible Shrinking Man, and came up with another fondly-remembered quasi-classic.

It was the most expensive TV show ever produced at the time, so perhaps it’s not surprising that the effects generally hold up pretty well – the oversized props (from carrots and cameras to jars and furniture) perhaps work better than the trick photography featuring giant animals (though the fight with a giant mole is a hilarious highlight). The colourful visuals and John Williams’s exciting score also add a little extra drama to the fairly repetitive storylines.

Over the course of the entire season the dull heroes do become slightly tiresome, but Kurt Kasznar is fun as the weak-willed bank robber Fitzhugh (even if he is a lesser version of Lost in Space’s Zachary Smith) and rich city gal Valerie (Deanna Lund) adds a frisson of sex appeal.

Extras include the unaired pilot (which isn’t significantly different from the first episode) and interesting interviews with stars Gary Conway and Don Marshall. James Skipp

VERDICT: 7/10
It hasn’t got the depth to rank as a truly classic show, but the great effects and upbeat tone make Land of the Giants a fun slice of 60s nostalgia.

Click here to read a review of Land of the Giants (Region 1).