User Reviews

Receiving top billing for all three years of the show's run didn't quite bode well for Guy Williams. Most of the episodes, from season two through three, focused on the Dr.Smith/Will/Robot trio, leaving the rest of the cast to have glorified "cameos". However, "The Anti-Matter Man" allowed both Williams and Mark Goddard (Don West) some choice scenes, playing their regular characters and the anti-matter world "opposites".

The episode also allowed for some intriguing set design, especially in the Dali-esquire-looking alternate universe. The installment made effective use of stock music from John Williams, much appropriate for several of the tense scenes.

Jonathan Harris's scene-stealing was kept at a minimum in the installment and that, by itself, makes this one a cut above others in the last year of Irwin Allen's classic.

Guy Williams was fun to watch when he went outside of his John Robinson persona. The story is pretty silly, but it's all good fun. One major problem: there are anti-matter versions of Prof. Robinson, Major West, and even the Robot. Why not an anti-matter Dr. Smith? That would have been quite interesting. Mark Goddard was excellent as the slimy anti-matter West. Again, a fun episode-but there should have been an anti-matter Smith.

Anti Matter Man is a wonderful, almost perfect episode. It stands out in an erratic season of episodes. Some of this season had good shows , but it also featured some truly low points ( A day at the zoo, Great vegetable rebellion, to name just 2!) But this episode is superior to any other 3rd season show, Sutton Roley directs assuredly and imaginatively from a script by K.C.Alison ( Robert Hamner and Barney Slater )It is a great pity Roley only did a handful of episodes- everyone he did was good if not great. The story may sound old hat- John Robinson is transported to the anti matter world inhabited by his evil alter-ego, leaving John there in the custody of Don West's alter-ego- the double takes John's place with his family.This episode really is tense, grim and features the comedy scenes in the right proportions and not too often. Several scenes stand out- the evil John virtually clubbing The Robot to pieces, again the evil John stalking Will Robinson through space on an eerie stairway of mist and light, the 2 John's fighting in space amongst a myriad of lights.Dr. Smith, Will and The Robot travel to the anti matter world to find the real John Robinson, their adventures along the way are fascinating.A prime example of the perfect Lost In Space. Check it out.

John Robinson (Guy Williams) enters an anti-matter world.

I agree with the positive reviews this episode is getting here and I might add this is one of Sutton Roley's best and most memorable direction jobs ever! In case you don't his name, he directed everything from Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, QM's The Fugitive, QM's The Invaders, The Man From UNCLE, etc. He has this habbit of getting the camera very close to actors and positioning it so you can see up their noses.

The stock music in this hour is very good and well placed with the drama of it all.

The only negative thing I have to say about The Anti-Matter Man is the very human way in which the Robot is portrayed here. His desperate comments like "Oh, I can't waste time explaining it to you" and "You MUST, you MUST (do this)". I am told if LIS got a 4th year the Robot would have become even more human! Help!

But all in all, a wonderful hour of LIS where Guy Williams and Mark Goddard prove that they can do a lot more than fiddle with controls at the Jupiter 2.

This was screenwriter K C. Alison's only contribution to LIS, and that's a shame. This powerful story is one of the most memorable from season three.

A major strength of this story is allowing Guy Williams to take center stage, playing good and evil versions of John Robinson. Not only does he get some good action scenes, he also shows his ability to convey emotions through the smallest of gestures and facial expressions. Mark Goddard likewise plays two roles, and his sinister anti-West is truly creepy, with his five-o'clock shadow and droopy eyellid.

The Will/Smith/Robot troika plays a smaller part than usual. Will has some strong lines when confronting his "dad," and later an emotional scene which triggers the famous "happy family" music cue. The Robot continues his evolution into a metal joke machine, including a scene where he too confronts his "evil twin." Voice man Dick Tufeld must have had fun with this one.

As with the recent "Day at the Zoo" episode, the visual side of "Anti-Matter Man" depends heavily on "limbo sets" - dark, expressionistic vistas lit as needed for maximum effect. The pathway between worlds was about as effective as the LIS special effects could make it: a truly eerie dreamscape with smoking dry ice and glittery gauze.

It's good to see how good LIS could be when the creative team thought outside the box.

The Anti-Matter Man has long been considered a favorite Lost in Space episode, by most aficionados and perhaps the best color episode. It is easy to make that case. At minimum, I rank this as one of the very best. It is exceptionally well written and moves at a perfect pace.

The Anti-Matter man highlights Prof Robinson, with The Robot in a strong supporting role.

Prof Robinson is transported to an Anti-Matter World and a battle between the real Prof Robinson and the Anti-Matter Prof Robinson ensues.

The Robot, Will and Dr. Smith also enter the Anti-Matter world, which in addition to the Anti-Matter Prof Robinson contain the Anti-Matter Major West and Anti-Matter Robot.

Although not overly brave, Dr. Smith is not his usual over-the-top coward nor a buffoon- very appropriate for this episode.

If one were to nitpick, The Robot has a couple of "campish" moments that keep this from being perfect, but it still easily Rates as a "10".

This bares less resemblance to the Star Trek season 2 episode episode 4, Mirror Mirror than the season 1 episode 27, The Alternative Factor, where there are two parallel universes connected by a "magnetic corridor" and the two versions of the alien (played by Robert Brown) pass back and forth. One is supposed to be the anti-matter version of the other.

I can see why people choose to link this episode to Mirror, Mirror, it was a far better Star Trek episode than The Alternative Factor.

For this episode, they also throw in that the anti-matter world seems to be a prison world of sorts, with a hint of Superman's Phantom Zone - the anti-matter prisoners talk of being there for a very long time.

One only wishes that more of the LIS episodes were like this one, perhaps there would have been a season 4.

A few observations:

The fire at the opening of the gateway to the anti-matter world was certainly different than the normal "explosion" in front of the camera for the scene change.

I thought it was funny when Will and the Robot first go to the anti-matter world, and the "rocks" start moving, the Robot also raises its arms to cover its "ears" when Will covers his ears.

The "whispered" voice of the Robot sounds a little different than the normal speaking voice.

The "Robot" that Don and Dr. Smith raise up from the ground looked very much like a mock-up, as the real robot suit was probably a lot heavier.

When the "+" Robot was talking to the "-" Robot in its cage, the burning stick on the ground looked to get rather close to the "+" Robot's treads - I wonder if that was intentional.

This is my third favorite episode of the show and one of the last great one for the show in my book. This episode was really unique for its time and in a way predates the TV series "Fringe" and "Sliders" as it was one of the first that dealt with the concept of alternate reality and the counterparts that exist within them. You could also say this episode is almost a sequel to "Follow the Leader" as once again we see the bad side of John Robertson surface.

It was cool to see the evil John Robertson surface once more; in a way this was the shows only real stand out villain for the show. Though other than seeing him I really liked seeing the evil version of Don who was also equally menacing.

The only weak point is that evil Don isn't in it enough nor do we get to see him do enough, should have been more of a double team effort, let alone would have been cool seeing a fight between both the good and evil Don, but due to running time it couldn't be helped, so oh well. Still seeing the evil Don did make an impression as he's pretty much evil John's flunky.

From the look of him as we see him just dirty, unshaven, a scar, along with the crazy look in his eyes, nasty mannerism, short temper, this is like a guy that escaped or pull right out of an asylum as you can easily see not all this guys dogs are barking, which makes him all the more menacing and dangerous.

We even get to see for a brief while the evil version of Robot who is painted all black and in a cage. Really like the vocal tone and some of the lines the evil Robot got to say, which shows how this version is a hardened criminal. It was funny when evil Robot sings the "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" song.

I like how the negative universe is constructed, though the only bad thing is we never really get to explore it in detail, but like I said due to time constraints it can't be helped. Also, the only way this can happen is if a sequel to this episode was ever made, yeah it would've been cool to see the evil versions of Mauren, Judy, and Penny.

The place is dark, foreboding, and slightly surreal; there is never any sunlight, it's always stormy, the forest is white and bone dry. One strange and slightly funny moment is when we see the rocks move, which we know in our world isn't possible; that scene alone just goes to show this is a universe that operates on a different set of rules, everything we know from our realm may 'be the total opposite, which is why Will and Robot need to be very careful and watch their step.

Of course, it was cool in the end seeing a one on one between both the good and evil versions of James taking place in a Bifrost like dimensional bridge. Which version shall be triumphant, you'll have to wait and see.

Rating: 4 stars

Its a good episode of sci fi TV in general, and probably a great episode as compared to the rest of Lost in Space. Though the topic probably already seemed derivative by the time this aired (Star Trek had already aired similarly themed episodes) they still managed to deal with this in an interesting way with cool set design (when I think "Lost in Space" I always think of the "transdimensional walkway"). Though the acting in this episode is often praised, I find it still somewhat too simplistic. If the campiness had been toned down a bit (for instance, why is the robot expressing that he is afraid so often?) I think this would have turned a good sci fi episode into a great one. Though I never expect much scientific accuracy in these shows, I think having the dimensional gateway be just a door with fire surrounding it is a little silly, even for Lost In Space.

However, I still find it to be an iconic LIS episode, and in 40+ years, it still is enjoyable.

As stated in another review, if the camp element had been weeded out from this episode, it could have stood up with the first eight episodes (and episode 15) of "Lost in Space." As it is, it's on a par with "Follow the Leader", the first season finale which had many great moments and a few campy ones which detracted from its complete effectiveness.

"The Anti-Matter Man" is probably the very best use of recycling (a common occurrence) in this series: the stark, Stravinsky-like stock music was scored by Herman Stein, and was originally from episode two ("The Derelict"); the rubber-suited red alien was an entirely different character in a prior episode, but put to very good (if utilitarian) use here. There are some superb camera bits, too (kudos to the director, Sutton Roley). And stars Guy Williams and Mark Goddard show more range than expected as Prof. Robinson's and Major West's villainous counterparts.

The effects are OK, but quite atmospheric nonetheless.

After a string of weak episodes we find a really good one. John Robinson is accidentally transported to an antimatter world and his dopelhanger comes to our world. The plot is much like the season 1 episode Follow the Leader, Guy Williams and Mark Goddard get a chance to shine as their sinister counterparts. The atmosphere is well done, both the corridor that leads to the antimatter world and the cave with the cage where John Robinson is kept prisoner is gloomy and creepy. The Anti Matter Man is among the 3 or 4 best episodes of this third season.

After the robot opens a door to another dimension, a prisoner, the evil alternate (anti-matter?) version of John Robinson (Guy Williams), kidnaps the real Robinson patriarch with the intent taking his place in our more benign reality. The story makes little sense and is full of the goofy tropes that, by season three, were dragging the show down to the level of a Saturday-morning cartoon: the Robot now gives out with a Shaggy-eque stutter when frightened and Johnathon Harris as Dr. Smith is hammily-silly to a point of almost parodying his own character; nevertheless, the episode has some odd appeal (and is considered one of the best in the series). The minimalist purple-skied anti-world is visually interesting and, having watched the show when it first came out, I never forgot the surreal scenes on the misty bridge between the dimensions (admittedly I remembered it as being more fantastical than it actually is). Being one of the best episodes of this fondly remembered yet frequently reviled colourful relic of the sixties is far from a ticket to TV immortality but, compared to the talking carrots, pirates, and hillbillies the Robinsons encountered in their increasingly camp universe, it's Nobel prize material. Watch for the shadow of the stage-hand pushing the 'living boulders' when Will and the robot first arrive in the other-world.

This is my first review of any Lost in Space episode despite having seen them all several times, including during their first run in the 60's. The outstanding quality of this episode inspires me to comment.

The true pity of the entire series is the fact that they could produce some of the finest sci-fi ever seen on TV, equal to Star Trek or outer Limits for imaginations and writing, but they decided to become a childish farce, ruined constantly by the antics of Jonathan Harris. I can't count how many episodes would have been very good television had Mr. Harris not been a part of the show, or at least, put on a leash, but for some reason, he was allowed to run amok, destroying everything good and decent in his path.

Oddly, Jonathan Harris was immensely proud of the character he created, Dr. Smith, even though Dr. Smith was one of the most despicable, disgusting, and obnoxiously annoying characters ever developed, even more so than every villain. There is nothing "lovable" about him and he is not a pitiable person, as so many have claimed. He is a soulless monster who repeatedly trades the lives of his fellow humans, (including Will whom he claims to love), in his never ending lust for power and riches. He is the type of person that would have been killed by "friendly fire" in another reality.

Anyway, this episode showcases all that is good with the show and I for one, feel a sense of loss at the potential that the show had if only they would have given it a chance.