Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea: Season Three Volume One

DVD Reviews | Aug 29th, 2007

No Image
Sorry Folks, No Image Is Here.

Starring Richard Basehart, David Hedison
Written By: Irwin Allen
Directed By:
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Buy on Amazon.com link

Whereas Season Two Volume Two of “Voyage” was somewhat of a disappointment, Season Three Volume One was so ridiculously good that it hurt. Seriously, I stubbed my toe while yelling at the evil aliens that were trying to take over the earth to go home.

It seemed like those at the helm of “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea” were saving every single good thought and idea for the third season of the show. There are evil aliens hell-bent on ruling Earth, the threat of a total nuclear holocaust, the fear of being the only creatures alive on the planet and your occasional deadly imposter and monster from the inferno. Season three is by far the darkest if Volume One would be any indication. The show seems to have hit full stride and is clicking on all four nuclear powered cylinders.

While the second half of season two focused more on the spy drama aspect of the show, the first half of season three brings the sci-fi back in lethal doses. Alien invaders and creatures from inner and outer space plague the Seaview and its crew on a regular basis. “Thing From Inner Space” deals with a sea creature that has killed a TV shows crew and the adventurer that must solve the mystery of their deaths. “Monster From The Inferno” has the Seaview and all of its crew being held as mental hostages to a horrific alien brain. The writers even offer us a modern day take on the age-old tale of the Werewolf. There are also plenty of the usual nuclear holocaust stories that viewers had come to love of “Voyage”. “The Day The World Ended” is pretty much summed up by its title. The crew of the Seaview appears to be the only life left on the planet and they prepare for the worst while “Day Of Evil” finds and alien imposter planning on launching a nuclear missile with devastating results.

With one flawless episode after another, it’s hard to not praise everything about Season Three Volume One but alas, there are a few blemishes along the way. Ghostly apparitions seem to be making one to many appearances over the course of the past twenty-four episodes and quite frankly, I don’t think that they belong anywhere on the show. There were limitless ideas that could have been used instead of “the same old ghost story”. Unlike the werewolf episode, the ghost episodes don’t bring anything new to the table and get stale quick. I was also disappointed with “The Plant Man” episode. It was like watching a bad episode of “Star Trek” if it were mashed up with an episode of “Captain Planet”.

Minus the “Unsolved Mystery” aspect of a few of the episodes from Season Three Volume One, I was right in saying that the lack of quality episodes found in the second part of season two wouldn’t last for too long. Season three starts off with some of the best episodes of “Voyage” that I have seen so far. The show went back to what first piqued everyone’s interest in the first place, strong storytelling with a dark “The End Is Near” message. Forty years later and the end still isn’t near but this timeless show still manages to capture an audience like it was 1966 all over again. Thank heavens it isn’t because I couldn’t stand to wear those awful cat glasses.

Features:
David Hedison Interview
Still Galleries

Audio:
English, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, Close Captioned, Spanish

Video:
Full Frame (1.33:1)

Subtitles:
English and Spanish

Favorite Scenes: Monster From The Inferno, Deadly Waters, The Day The World Ended, Day Of Evil
Rating: NR
Running Time: 507 minutes
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating: