'Space 1999: The Complete Season One' is coming to Blu-ray!

[Arkadin]

well I have to admit, I will get this just to see all the cheesy effects, and ludicrous plots.
It certainly won't be because I think it's some plausible, meaningful sci-fi masterpiece or anything.
This one has that cult "so bad it's good" type status written all over it.
Everything I have ever read about this show always makes it seem more "Lost in Space" silly than Star Trek cool.

[Godstar]

They also tried one about the moon falling through a "black sun" and emerging into a region of space where our laws of physics didn't apply. I wasn't buying that one, either. It was almost like they started airing the show and then the producers thought "Oh shit! This doesn't make any sense! Quick, make something up!"

But it didn't make the show any less fun to watch.

Well if you try to apply a purely scientific approach to the show, yes, it would fail. Even Asminov said that the show wasn't possible due to the distance the moon traveled and the velocity of the explosion it could never have propelled it at that speed.

Now, if you look at it from a supernatural/metaphysical stand point where a diety/super being/God - whatever - is transporting the moon base all over the galaxy and they people are helplessly trying to survive day by day, the show works. I don't think the show was ever intended to be a purely science fiction, but a mixture of science and metaphysical fiction. It's like watching Touched by an Angel and expecting everything to be explainable through science - when the show is about miracles, and things which are inherently unexplainable.

[Godstar]

The Andersons never did let a pesky little thing like logic or scientific accuracy keep them from making any of their shows or movies. LOL.

Also it's surprising how the effects still look good today. Of course they did spend a Million bucks per episode in 1975! Their effects department was so good Stanley Kubrick wanted them for a film he was thinking of doing.

They essentially had 2-way camera phones on their hip pockets 30 years before they were even invented...that's pretty damn cool.

[Gunyaga]

well I have to admit, I will get this just to see all the cheesy effects, and ludicrous plots.
It certainly won't be because I think it's some plausible, meaningful sci-fi masterpiece or anything.

This is pretty much my intended approach to this to a tee

it looks like fun, and that's enough for me

[Godstar]

The season 1 opening/closing theme is probably one of the best television musical scores ever, or at least in the top 5. Still love hearing it to this day.

[darien87]

I don't think I've seen this show since I watched it on TV as a kid. But I remember LOVING it. I was never fortunate enough to own any of the toys. But I thought Mala was hot.

I remember it having more of a somber tone to it than Star Trek.

[Godstar]

I don't think I've seen this show since I watched it on TV as a kid. But I remember LOVING it. I was never fortunate enough to own any of the toys. But I thought Mala was hot.

I remember it having more of a somber tone to it than Star Trek.

The entire moon was constantly on the verge of death from episode to episode, which is something I don't think Star Trek had as part of it's overarching plot line.

Also, I agree, Catherine Schnell was as hot as hot can be. She was pretty much the prototype for 7 of 9 from Voyager.

[lovswr]

I missed it three, quick, some old fart to the rescue please!

Young Whippersnappers! I guess I was 8 when this was on. This was so cheezy (but I loved this & Greatest American Hero anyway). If they clean this up too much, you will really be able to see the strings & card board boxes that they used on the exterior shots.

[lovswr]

I remember owning this toy ship from the series:

http://www.karenwehrle.com/ebay/space1999-1.jpg

Totally awesome. Used to fly my Star Wars figures around in it.



"No sir, I did not see you playing with your dolls again!"

I had one too. Used to play with it in the tub.

[Gunyaga]

I had one too. Used to play with it in the tub.

wha what?

[Godstar]

wha what?

Well she could shapeshift into anything.

[reidw]

Gerry & Slyvia Anderson got their start producing several children's puppet shows where they pioneered certain techniques to add realism to their puppets. For example when one of their puppets had to pick up an object/move a control they would cut to a closeup of real human hand doing the action. They became expert in creating alien worlds, action oriented model effects through a number of series such as Thunderbirds, Fireball XL-5 etc. Each series seemed to take their technical capabilities one step further. With Space 1999 they made their first attempt to try their hand at live action with real actors. They lined up Martin Landau and his wife Barbara Bain who were known to viewers from their well liked roles on the original Mission Impossible. The series was never great but thanks to syndication which in those days allowed a series to be shown at any time a local station chose to maximize the audience, the series did develop a following. It was characterised by wooden almost puppet-like live acting, a mix of good and bad stories, laughable monsters/aliens and exceptionally good space special effects. As believable as anything at the time. Unlike Star Trek (original series) the series had an extremely limited colour palette. Uniforms were mostly white with black trim. The interiors of the moon base were similar to 2001. Shots of the Moon were monochrome grey against a black sky with some star points visible. Some stock shots of moon base Alpha and of the ships landing/lifting off were used over and over again to the point where the viewer wanted to scream. With few exceptions each episode was self contained. At the end the Moon and its inhabitants just went on their way. Rarely did an incident in one episode have repercussions in the next or a later story. One interesting character in the first season was actor Barry Morse, best known as the inspector chasing David Jansen in the Fugitive TV series. Mr. Morse, a classically trained and respected stage actor, provided a sense of "gravitas" that helped to make the silliness of some of the plots more "palatable". Another plus was the music. The opening theme, as noted by another commenter, was first rate and was played at the start of each episode over a summary montage showing how the Moon had been blown out of its orbit. I always thought that this series was shot on video probably using the European PAL system. There never seemed to be much detail to the picture. If so it will be interesting to see if an acceptable upconvert to HD can be done. (Hope this provides a bit of an idea of what this series is about for you "youngsters").

[Arkadin]

yeah but it wasn't shot on PAL video; it was shot on film.
some episodes on 16mm, others on 35mm.

[reidw]

arkadin, if you say it was shot on film (but 16 mm?) I'll believe you. It always seemed like video to me. The picture was so unlike Star Trek TOS. Speaking of which I should add that before it premiered, Space 1999 was given the star treatment by the press who likened it to the next Star Trek. Many trekkers at that time hoped that it would be but after a week or two it became clear that it wasn't going to be so. More like Lost in Space or one the Irwin Allen series that were so popular then. Still, we watched it because it was better than nothing.

[Lakersvh]

Shit! I still have my Star Wars Death Star Space Station.