DVD Review by David Blackwell

DETAILS: 105 minutes, audio commentary, isolated music score, theatrical trailer, featurette, Barbara Eden interview, and galleries

VIDEO: 2.35:1 (Anamorphic Widescreen)

AUDIO: English 4.0, 2.0 Dolby Surround, French Mono, Spanish Stereo

Subtitles: English, Spanish

STUDIO: 20th Century Fox

RELEASE DATE: 6-5-2007

VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA works better as a TV series. Despite starting out a little slow, the movie does become entertaining. I do think the actors and the charcaters they play are better in the series. The sets for the movie were used again for the TV series. I just don't see Walter Pidgeon as Admiral Harriman Nelson like I do Richard Basehart (who turned down the movie role only to play Nelson in the TV series). The film does have a famous cast (Joan Fontaine, Barbara Eden, Peter Lorre, Michael Ansara, Robert Sterling, and Frankie Avalon). Despite the cast and the corny script (don't get me started on the title song), the series still works ten times better. The Van Allen radiation belt catching on fire does get reused for an episode of the TV series.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

BARABARA EDEN INTERVIEW (6 minutes 21 seconds):

WOKING WITH IRWIN ALLEN, STORYBOARDS & SETS, PETER LORRE & WALTER PIDGEON, THE SETS, IRWIN ALLEN'S VISION, CASTMATES, ESCAPING REALITY

SCIENCE FICTION: FANTASY TO REALITY (over 16 minutes long)- Global Warming featurette with clips from Voyage, THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW, and other films. Alittle talk about Jules Verne and H.G. Welles.

GALLERIES:

PRODUCTION ART, PRODUCTION STILLS, ORIGINAL PROP, POSTER, LOBBY CARDS, ORGINAL ECXHIBITOR'S CAMPAIGN GALLERY (you can pick and read any section)

Also included is the original theatrical trailer, an isolated score track for the film, and an audio commentary for the film by Tim Colliver (author of Seaview) who talks abiout the film, TV series, and the movie's novelization. Inside the DVD case is a small booklet containing notes about the film's production.

FINAL ANALYSIS: VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA has main great extras even though I like the TV series better than the film.