GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM "Lost" cast members Emilie de Ravin, left, and Evangeline Lilly gave interviews and posed for photographers last night at the show's DVD release party at Turtle Bay Resort.

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Guests get lost in
ambiance at ‘Lost’
DVD release party

In a North Shore banyan forest familiar to viewers of the TV hit "Lost," the show's producers entertained about 250 guests last night to celebrate the release of the series' first-season DVD.

Guests walked 400 feet along a dirt trail leading into the forest and lined with dozens of tiki torches to the red carpet where media waited for "Lost" cast members. The party's theme borrowed heavily from the show's plot line -- complete with monstrous sounds emanating from the forest.

"I didn't like hearing the monster sounds when we did the pilot a year ago and tonight they still scared me," said Evangeline Lilly, who plays Kate. "Knowing our producers, they probably do have some caged creatures hidden out there."

The first-season DVD, to be released Sept. 6, will include new flashbacks of the characters and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the show about jet crash survivors who find themselves on a mysterious island.

The show has been the biggest hit for an Oahu-filmed series since "Magnum, P.I." in the 1980s.

To celebrate the show's success, producer ABC/Touchstone held one of its biggest DVD release parties ever a mile south of the posh Turtle Bay Resort. About 75 media and studio executives spent two weeks organizing the event. Guests included many ABC/Touchstone and Disney studio executives and "Lost" cast members.

The Turtle Bay Resort also hosted Monday night's "Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch has a Glitch" DVD release party.

But that was child's play compared to last night's adult-themed gathering in which designer Dan Kough recreated a fantasyland of various dark and frightening "Lost" episodes. The eerie banyan forest has been used by the "Lost" production several times as the survivors retreat from unseen, marauding monsters.

A replica of another major set piece -- the plane's fuselage -- was also part of the party. The fuselage, which took four weeks to construct, was the backdrop for the stage where local cover band Slug played.

Each guest received an "Oceanic Airlines" plane ticket with their listed "departure time" and seat number from the Turtle Bay Resort's lobby. Four "flight attendants" helped board passengers on trams and chatted about possible "crashing" and "burning to death" for the 10-minute ride to the banyan forest.

Hanging in the enormous banyan trees were helium-filled balloons 6 feet in diameter, with interior lights and slowly revolving "Lost" logos.

"It feels like another planet," said Jorge Garcia, who plays the affable Hurley. "It looks like we have six moons up there."