Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea: Season 1, Volume 2

Notable more so for what it represents culturally — being a pioneer in non-anthology sci-fi episodic television, preceding even Star Trek — Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea doesn't hold up well at all, making little sense during the best of episodes, but features interesting miniature work and the occasional deep sea monster. In fact, the first 13 episodes of season four, as offered in this three-disc set, feature a giant white gorilla run amok, fish people, gold men, neutron bomb acid hallucinations, hostile Venusians and miniature time machines, making for one problematic nuclear submarine. It's quite amusing, in an "I assume they were all stoned" kind of way, but couldn't really be described as "good," even by '60s television standards. For anyone unfamiliar with the series, it follows Captain Crane (David Heddison), Admiral Nelson (Richard Basehart) and Lieutenant Morton (Robert Dowdell) as they explore the mysteries of the sea, by commission, in their nuclear powered submarine, Seaview. It ran for four seasons, from 1964 to 1968, entertaining the primetime masses with routine weekly perils and peculiar scientific logic. Each episode followed the same format, with the same arc, varying only by what monster, or dilemma, the crew faced while under the sea. In season four, the highlights would have to be the out-of-control gorilla episode and the acid trip episode where the crew fight in slow motion and occasionally stare at spinning colours. While this DVD set features an impressive transfer of the show, boasting clear picture and sound, the decision to break seasons up and sell them in volumes is a pain in the ass for collectors. Included with the set is the re-cut, unaired pilot episode of the series and several brief interviews with David Hedison, which are pretty boring and shed little enlightenment on the series.