For all intents and purposes the great Irwin Allen should have been known as the 'Master of Disaster.' Over his long and varied career, he produced some of the most famous disaster movies including, "The Towering Inferno", "The Poseidon Adventure", and "The Swarm" as well as such TV fare as the unashamedly titled "Fire!", "Flood!" and "Cave-In!" Allen was also responsible for the great adventure flick, "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea", which spawned a popular series of the same name. Allen was also at the helm of the series which ran for a full four seasons and over 100 episodes. Being that the series premiered in 1964, Allen had his work cut out for him. Since "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" revolved around the crew of the Seaview (a state of the art submarine), the series was considered a special effects extravaganza. The Seaview was commanded by its designer, Admiral Harriman Nelson (Richard Basehart) and his second in command, Captain Lee Crane (David Hedison).

Each week, they would face terrorists, evil villains, sea monsters and even the occasional alien.

This series originally came out the year after I was born (yes… I'm that old…) so I didn't have the pleasure of watching it until it showed up in syndication a few years later, but I loved it nonetheless. At the time, the special effects were still pretty much state of the art, so I was mesmerized. By today's standards might appear low budget to some, so you really have to have an appreciation for the time the series was made in order to look past that fact. But when I was a kid, I was TOTALLY into the series. So much so that I had a model kit of the Seaview which I thought was the coolest of all the ones I had. If you've ever seen the sleek design of the Seaview, you'd know what I'm talking about.

I have so many interesting memories of watching the series, but the two that seem to be the most striking seem to be that of the character of Kowalski, played my Del Monroe. I'm not sure what it was, other than the fact that he always seemed to be the guy chosen for all of the dangerous assignments. He was like the 'red shirt' characters of "Star Trek", except that he didn’t die. But boy, he got banged up a lot. I also have this odd memory off a stand-up comic telling a joke about shows he watched as a kid and he did his impression of every single 'next week on' "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" promo. He would then throw himself from one side of the stage to the other. (Trust me, if you know the show… it's hysterical.)

When news hit that fox was finally releasing this series, as well as some of his others ("Lost in Space", "Time Tunnel" and "Land of the Giants), I couldn’t wait for the first set to arrive. When it did, I was a little disappointed to find that it was only a "Volume 1" of Season 1, but beggars can't be choosers. It seems Fox is separating the seasons into 2 volumes to keep the overall cost down to buy a set. (Of course, the cost to buy 1 set with all the episodes is about the same as buying two separate sets once you add it up, but they are banking that the lower price tag will entice consumers to buy and retailers to stock.)

Aside from that little nitpick, the set was terrific. It had the first 16 episodes of Season 1 AND some interesting extra features, but more on that in a bit. I was thrilled to find that the series really held up quite well considering it is over 40 years old. The effects were how I expected, but the acting was a little more melodramatic than I had remembered. However, I still found each episode offered an exciting voyage. It was really like being a kid again.

Fox has since followed up with Volume 2 and is now readying the 1st volume of episodes from season 2. These 13 episodes pit the crew of the Seaview against a giant whale, a cyborg copy of Admiral Nelson, spy rings and aliens (just to name a few) . Exciting as it is, I'm sure these guys would have liked one episode where all they did was go fishing!

One of the most fun things for me to do when watching older shows like these is to 'star spot.' I was also surprised to see how many great guest stars and famous faces (before they became famous) this particular series had, which was a fact that wouldn't have mattered to me so much when I was younger. Those first few episodes alone held the likes of Werner Kemplerer and John Banner (both of "Hogan's Heroes" fame), James Doohan (in 2 separate episodes), Edward Platt, Carroll O'Connor, June Lockhart, Malachi Throne, Michael Ansara and even Pat Priest ("The Munsters"). Season 2 gave us George Takei, John McGiver, John Cassavetes, a Nicolas Colasanto and Susan Flannery .

As for the extra features, there aren't quite as many as there were on the 1st volume, and with each set there seems to be less and less. Here you'll find a little over 20 minutes of special effects shots, which are mostly just several takes of underwater monsters and the Seaview floating through the water. There is also a fairly substantial picture gallery with publicity shots, conceptual designs and a cartoon parody from a 1966 issue of Mad Magazine.

Anyhow, Fox has done a great job with these box sets (though I do wish they were full season sets), and the series itself is certainly well worth adding to your collection, especially if you were ever a fan. And sitting back to watch it again last week, I REALLY want to see if I can hunt down another model kit of the Seaview!!

Episodes:
Jonah and the Whale
Time Bomb
…And the Five of Us Are Left
The Cyborg
Escape from Venice
The Left-Handed Man
The Deadliest Game
Leviathan
The Peacemaker
The Silent Saboteurs
The X Factor
The Machines Strike Back
The Monster from Outer Space

Starring: Richard Basehart, David Hedison
Extras: Special Effects Footage, Still Galleries
Specifications: Full Frame, English Stereo, English Mono
Studio: Fox
Release Date: 10/24/2006
Region: 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea: Season 2, Volume 1 a B.