Lost in Space (Series) - Remastered in HD

[Skorpius]

As posted on the Classic Horror Film Board, Lost in Space is being/has been remastered in high definition. Example has been posted on YouTube, with debate about what aspect ratio it should be presented in in the comments.

Lost in Space HD Restoration Test - YouTube

[vidjunkie]

Damn can't wait for this

[RickWJ324]

Originally Posted by vidjunkie

Damn can't wait for this

I second that!! A huge staple of my childhood.

I hope when we see the price tag we don't start yelling: Oh the pain, the pain!!

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by RickWJ324

I second that!! A huge staple of my childhood.

I hope when we see the price tag we don't start yelling: Oh the pain, the pain!!

Dido ~ I was a big watcher of this as a child

[vidjunkie]

Originally Posted by crazyBLUE

Dido ~ I was a big watcher of this as a child

lol I guess a lot of us are showing are age

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by vidjunkie

lol I guess a lot of us are showing are age

I was 4 when that first aired ~ I'd Almost bet I saw every episode whether it was broadcast or rerun at least one time ~ Gosh I'm old

[The Great Owl]

Ahhh....memories.

Lost in Space used to air on TBS Superstation on Sunday mornings during my childhood. When my brother and I finished getting dressed for church, we would watch this show while our parents finished getting ready. About five minutes before the end of the episode each week, our parents would turn the television off and we would leave for church. I never got to see how any of the episodes ended.

I've probably seen every single Lost in Space episode a dozen times over, but I honestly do not believe that I've ever seen the ending of one.

If this show comes out on Blu-ray, I might actually be able to watch these episodes in their entirety. I have this eerie suspicion, though, that I might hear a knock on the door of my home five minutes before the end of each episode, and that my parents will have driven an hour from their house to mine to invite me to church.

At any rate, this could be great news.

[Arkadin]

great news, but why would there be any debate about aspect ratio? they always want to pull this sh%%t.
put it out in 1.37:1 or don't release it at all.
simple as that.
imo even if it was filmed in 16:9 it shouldn't matter one bit because that's not the way it was exhibited. Now one could argue well they had no choice, and that's true. but the fact remains everyone watched it in 1:37:1 and that's the way it should be preserved on bd.
simple as that imo.
my 3 cents.

[silverlakephil]

Looks like it was originally filmed in 1:78 and black bars added for 60s TVs.

[Jar Jar Stinks]

Originally Posted by silverlakephil

Looks like it was originally filmed in 1:78 and black bars added for 60s TVs.

You're joking, right? Go to the 5:32 mark of the YouTube video.

[kwayneg]

Originally Posted by RickWJ324

I second that!! A huge staple of my childhood.

I hope when we see the price tag we don't start yelling: Oh the pain, the pain!!

Don't order from Amazon, they have become ridiculous. I ordered mine from overstock.com 109.99 no tax and free shipping. Done and Done. Ive gone from spending $10,000 annually with amazon to $0.00. I buy my pet supplies at Chewy.com no taxes and free shipping plus discounts if you set up autoship. I'm canceling my amazon store card because it's useless. Sorry about the rant but i used to love Amazon. Lost in space went from 129.99 on sale with a 159.99 list to 199.99, WTF.

[Jar Jar Stinks]

Looks gorgeous.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by Skorpius

As posted on the Classic Horror Film Board, Lost in Space is being/has been remastered in high definition. Example has been posted on YouTube, with debate about what aspect ratio it should be presented in in the comments.
]

Debate? What debate? There is nothing to dabate. Either it's in the original aspect ratio, or I don't buy it. Period. This is very exciting news because the DVDs look like crap (it wasn't even remastered for DVD), but I will not buy the series if it's cropped.

I own Space:1999 and Star Trek:TOS on blu-ray because it's in the original aspect ratio. The reason I don't own the UK Thunderbirds series on blu-ray is because they cropped it to 16:9. I can't believe there is even any discussion about this.

EDIT: wait, after seeing the video, it's obvious that it does appear to have been filmed in widescreen, then matted for 4:3. This makes for an interesting situation. On the one hand, we all remember seeing it in 4:3 on tv over the decades, and this is how it should be preserved. Yet, if it was filmed in 16:9 (or similar), then this could be an amazing opportunity to bring to the fans Lost in Space as they've never seen it before, in HD, widescreen, without being cropped! This could be an amazing way to offer the series to fans. i wouldn't want the show cropped, but it appears widescreen would only be preserving the way it was originally filmed, and wouldn't actually crop anything out.

Ideally, it would be great to see both ratios hit blu-ray - but I think we'll be lucky if even 1 manages to get released on blu-ray. I think 2 complete versions would be very expensive as it would take up twice as many discs. So what's the best option? I guess there is room for debate after all. I know I would love to see those episodes as they were filmed in widescreen. Yet the nostalgic part of me would like to see the 4:3 aspect ratio because that's what I grew up with.

[LastRide]

How about giving us both ratio's..LOL. I have to admit I kind of like the 1.78:1

[mar3o]

I downloaded that clip and watched it on my 46" tv. I have to admit - the 1:78:1 full-frame image looks pretty stunning. I could easily watch the series like that. Each episode would seem like a feature film.

Regarding the remastering - I have mixed thoughts. The black and white footage looks amazing - far, far better then the 1" tapes that were used for the DVDs.

Yet, the color looks strangely dark. Far darker than the 1" tapes on the left side. It looks much too dark. And the color is quite different - sometimes better it seems, sometimes not better. The space background during the season 3 opening titles for instance looks dull and dark compared to the 1" tapes. You can hardly make out any of the stars in the background. I'm not sure if it will be brighter for the final product, but I sure hope so. This is a 60's tv series after all - I don't think it was intended to have dark, brooding shadows everywhere like The Dark Knight. The HDTV episodes of UFO, which was also filmed in the 60's, are bright, colorful, and gorgeous. The HD footage shown here is downright dark and colorless in comparison. I can't imagine the series ever being seen like that, or intended to be seen like that.

[Dex Robinson]

Originally Posted by mar3o

Yet, the color looks strangely dark. Far darker than the 1" tapes on the left side. It looks much too dark.

I think it looks just right.

One of things that I've said here many, many times...and I probably said it again not more than two weeks ago is, "People like their bright, yellow, transfers".

For years (like about 30 years) home video has been too bright and much too warm (pushing towards yellow).

You can go to almost any thread here and the first complaint you'll hear about a new transfer of old catalogue material is that, "it's too dark". In the very first scene of that video test, you can see the warm cast of the space suits on the old master to the left left and the proper silver on the HD. Take a look starting about the 2:30 mark (an episode called THE CONDEMNED OF SPACE). The color on the old version on the left is ridiculously warm. Furthermore, it's so bright that some highlight detail is lost...scarf and glove detail is washed out in the outfit worn by Marcel Hillaire.

I think the new version is right both for color and brightness.

[bruceames]

It would be nice to have it in 1.78 and have the option of having a black bar overlay for those who want OAR. I haven't heard of a disc or TV set that will let you overlay black bars, but it seems like something ridiculously simple to do.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by Dex Robinson

I think it looks just right.

One of things that I've said here many, many times...and I probably said it again not more than two weeks ago is, "People like their bright, yellow, transfers".

For years (like about 30 years) home video has been too bright and much too warm (pushing towards yellow).

You can go to almost any thread here and the first complaint you'll hear about a new transfer of old catalogue material is that, "it's too dark". In the very first scene of that video test, you can see the warm cast of the space suits on the old master to the left left and the proper silver on the HD. Take a look starting about the 2:30 mark (an episode called THE CONDEMNED OF SPACE). The color on the old version on the left is ridiculously warm. Furthermore, it's so bright that some highlight detail is lost...scarf and glove detail is washed out in the outfit worn by Marcel Hillaire.

I think the new version is right both for color and brightness.

But again, I've seen the HDTV remastered Gerry Anderson UFO episodes. That series has always been bright and colorful. It looks bright and colorful on DVD, and it looked bright and colorful when they aired it in HDT That series was clearly intended to be bright and colorful. And I believe the same goes for this series. UFO would look wrong if it was suddenly released on blu-ray all dark and shadowy with the colors muted. And the same goes for this series.

Series 3 is obviously intended to be bright and colorful. This is far from Space:1999 or Battlestar Galactica. Look at the sets, the costumes, the creatures. It's all about color. And the majority of the action is usually set outside in the bright sunlight. This is not a series that is meant to be dark and shadowy. Seasons 2 and 3 switched to color and they clearly went nuts with the sets and costumes to fully take advantage of that. What good is the extra resolution if the color and brightness is going to be toned down? I think most fans would agree that this is a colorful, bright series. The first season is black and white, and I thought the b&w HD footage was gorgeous. But I found the color footage disappointing. Sure, the resolution was fabntastic. But it was just too dark for my tastes.

BTW, speaking of Space:1999 - those episodes look truly stunning on blu-ray. And they are very bright. The interiors of the moonbase are bright and gorgeous, and the colors always pop while looking totally natural. BBC did an outstanding job with their restoration of that series years ago. Yet the blacks are excellent and when the show gets moody (which is often), the shadows really come through. I'm so glad they chose not to darken that series for blu-ray. It was always a show that was very bright yet very dark also - always dealing with contrasts. The bright moonbase and the deep black of space. It would have ruined the series if they went all "Dark Knight" on it for blu-ray. And I fear that may be what's happening here for Lost in Space. In my opinion, it needs to be brighter.

[GuruAskew]

A studio might have mandated widescreen-safe shooting in the 60s with the intention of reconfiguring a show for theatrical release overseas.

Doesn't mean that the people actually shooting the show gave it a second thought. There's more evidence that television film crews weren't concerned with using that dead space through the 90s.

I challenge anyone to find a television show that aired in 4x3 that actually looks better in 16x9. I challenge anyone to find a show that's older than 10 years old that takes advantage of that dead space.

This has more to do with people wanting to fill their 16x9 sets than anything. I was saying this years ago in the DVD days: the people buying fullscreen DVDs then were gonna want 2.35:1 and 1.33:1 content to fill their HD sets too.

[paustin]

having a little play on either side is by no means the amount needed for a proper widescreen presentation. I see no need to shave any from the top of the image (why give is less than what we have been used to?) It seems to me the could just give us a a slightly windowboxed presentation and we could enjoy slightly more from all 4 sides...open it up. Don't cram it in on the top ala Excalibur.