Viagem Fantástica

A previous reviewer compared The Fantastic Journey to shows like Stargate SG-1 and Sliders. He listed 8 similarities between the shows. He should have listed a 9th. Which show, you ask? What about Lost? You have a doctor, (Fred in TFJ, Jack in Lost), a psychic, (Liana in TFJ, Desmond in Lost,) a man of faith, (Varian in TFJ, and Locke, in Lost,) see the similarities? If you don't, I do. In TFJ, you have a scientific expedition lost in the Bermuda Triangle. In Lost, you have 48 survivors from a plane crash on an island somewhere in the South Pacific. In TFJ, our little group of travelers is trying to get back to their times. In Lost, that's not so clear. Jack wants to go home in the first three seasons. Locke doesn't. When you consider the similarities between the two shows, you can't help but recognize the fact that this '70s show was an influence on Lost. J.J. Abrams and Co., say that the game Myst, was one of the influences. Did I leave someone out? I did? Well, my bad. You also have another man of science, in Jonathan Willaway. Did I leave anyone else out? I don't think so. If I did, too late to change it now.

A group of boat castaways get lost in time or lost in vortex on a mysterious island.

Strong shades of Irwin Allen's Time Tunnel (1966), Irwin Allen's Lost In Space (1965) and classic Star Trek (1966) in this production.

The disco theme music gets ten out of ten. The pilot is well done. Note the music when the boat is sucked into the mysterious sea cloud. Note the photography in this opening scene. If only this level of film-like production remained for the whole ten episodes.

This series shined in the episode titled, Beyond The Mountain, this is the one where Roddy McDowall was introduced and he was a horrible guy at the start. He became nicer after this hour. Too bad the writers did not spend more time "beyond the mountain" as this setting was just so powerful, all thanks to the acting talents of McDowall.

Another episode about children making trouble for adults (Children of the Gods) was well done as well.

I am not sure exactly why the series was axed after such a short time (ten episodes) but I am guessing some viewers ran into problems with the okay-but-not-great closing four hours. Towards the end the premise of a group of people appearing in some oddball zone (amusement park, weird house, etc) was starting to repeat itself too much. And while the travellers were indeed pleasing enough, the viewer was not drawn to them the way we should. I am not suggesting "Journey" should have gone the way of more recent sci-fi shows (like Stargate) where the characters are drawn out in every detail. But they need to have some sort of spark that is missing here. The Lost In Space (1965) castaways were not drawn out too much be we cared about them.

Go on this journey for McDowall's acting and shades of 60s Irwin Allen/60s Star Trek. Nine of the ten episodes are very watchable, the only hour I felt like turning off was Turnabout where the tired old sci-fi plot of a female dominated world (led by Joan Collins) was used.

Another reviewer has compared "Journey" to the Stargate (1997) series but I would have to say I like "Journey" more.

Fantastic Journey was an exceptional fantasy about a group of disparate characters who were trying to return to their own dimension after being lost in the Bermuda Triangle. They encountered a new dimension in nearly every episode. In one of the earliest episodes they picked up an ill-tempered scientist, wonderfully played by Roddy McDowell, who walked a line between villain and hero. School teachers and television critics hailed the show, and Roddy McDowell appeared on talk shows trying to get people interested, but the show was cancelled for poor ratings.

I was a major fan of this show in the '70s, as an 11 yr. old. After only catching a few episodes, suddenly the series disappeared, obviously cancelled. Luckily, I was able to trade for the complete series on VHS. After watching the whole series, and finally getting to see all the episodes. I can see why I was such a fan as a kid. Even though a lot of the look and style of the show is very dated and '70s looking, this series had the potential to be a good one. As an older viewer, some of the episodes are a little weak, but this series, had they spend a little more money on art direction and writing, had potential. Anyone thats a fan of '70s Sci-fi television, I think would enjoy this series.

8 stars for nostalgia. For some reason the carnival episode of this show locked in my mind from when I was a very young child, and I finally decided to watch the whole series on youtube of all places. I always was a fan of Roddy McDowells. So I can see why this show didnt make it. For one they had to do a lot of location shooting and redesign sets every week, thats expensive. Second it was rushed, they didnt have the characters flushed out and end up dumping 3 immediately. (One only screamed all the time anyways LOL). 3RD SPFX cost something , while limited on this show, they were there.

But if it had made it, it could have developed some really good episodes I am sure. Each weak everthing but the 5 main characters changes. You can have aliens from other worlds, people from any time in history, the premise is wild. Its basically a blank sheet for any story you want to tell. With DC Fontana as story efitor, no doubt there would have been some good ones. But alas it was not meant to be. These shows need to find their feet and there was no time. Might show up in a reboot someday though...who knows??