LAND OF THE GIANTS – THE CRASH (USA, 1968, 50m, PG) ***½
Sci-Fi, Adventure
dist. American Broadcasting Company (ABC); pr co. Irwin Allen Productions / Kent Productions / 20th Century Fox Television.
d. Irwin Allen; w. Anthony Wilson (based on a story by Irwin Allen); pr. Irwin Allen; ph. Howard Schwartz; m. John Williams; ed. Jack Gleason; ad. Rodger Maus, Jack Martin Smith; vfx. L.B. Abbott, Art Cruickshank.
cast. Gary Conway (Capt. Steve Burton), Don Matheson (Mark Wilson), Stefan Arngrim (Barry Lockridge), Don Marshall (Dan Erickson), Deanna Lund (Valerie Scott), Heather Young (Betty Hamilton), Kurt Kasznar (Alexander B. Fitzhugh), Anne Dore (Giant Female), Pat Michenaud (Giant Boy), Don Watters (Giant Entomologist).
The opening episode of Irwin Allen’s ambitious 1960s TV series set fifteen years in the future sees the crew of a sub-orbital aircraft named the Spindrift encounter a freak storm on its journey from LA to London, which forces them to crash-land on a world of giants. Featuring superb photographic effects for the period on a tight TV budget, this premiere episode does an excellent job of setting up its wild premise for a series that would run for two seasons and fifty-one episodes. The cast give it their all, clambering on oversized sets and reacting to the excellent visual effects work of Abbott and Cruickshank and set design by Maus and Smith. Colourfully photographed by Schwartz, his low angles emphasising the threat of the giants, with a memorable theme and score from future multi-Oscar winner Williams, this is an exciting adventure that overcomes some of its more hokey elements, and for its time, a technical triumph.
