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Space 1999, Set 1

Space 1999, Set 1

List Price: $39.95
Your Price: $35.96
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Just for die hard fans.
Review: Set 1 of the Space 1999 series offers the " how did it all began " episode, as well as 5 more from the first season. Even though watching this episodes brings back childhood memories, this first episodes are just plain good. The special effects of this series can look pathetic to todays CGI and the set decorations can look shallow for younger people. ( Specially the "computer" ). In short, only for die hard fans.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: "It's insane!"
Review: Space: 1999, the Sci-Fi TV series that nobody remembers, or at least a few remember. As a boy growing up watching this, Space: 1999 was MY Star Trek. I loved everything about it until I grew up and recently purchased Set 1. Watching it again has been a lot of fun, but as an adult, i can see why it never really caught on. Besides the program looking great, it seems a little empty. The pace of the show is extremely pedestrian, dialogue that is sometimes appallingly awful to uncreative. But, the first series has a very isolated feel to it, almost giving it a desperate, chilling and eerie approach. The soundtrack is also very effective & spooky. Great special effects still stand the test of time.
Another complaint: bad continuity. I know writers never want to get bogged down with keeping up with continuity, as it hampers creative output, but some sort of continuity police should have been instituted in the production crew as to keep discontinuity to minimum. Still if you don't think too hard, a lot of fun is to be had.

But is there anything cooler than an Eagle?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A wonderfully enjoyable and intellectual scifi series
Review: Like one of the other reviewers said, I thought I'd never see this series again, and I was THRILLED to suddenly see it on the market. I bought all 4 DVD sets so far and I'll buy all the rest as soon as they come out. One thing that always amazed me about this series is that even though Star Trek reruns were going pretty heavily at the time, Space 1999 still remained original and independent. I saw no resemblence between the two shows. Now that I have it on DVD, I find myself watching it over and over again when there's nothing good on TV. These DVDs are top quality but there's no extras to speak of. That's fine with me; however, I would like to see some documentary or comments from the actors today if they're still around. No biggie...

Back in the 70's most of my friends didn't like Space 1999 very much and preferred Star Trek. I think this was mostly because Star Trek had alot more action in it. Space 1999's forte was dialog and intellectual recreation that painted pictures in your head rather than on the screen. That unfortunately tends to attract a smaller audience than action does, but it attracts a VERY APPRECIATIVE audience.

This series has it's own original "atmosphere" to it that I just can't explain. At times, it makes you "feel" like they're really on the moon and you're there with them. The combination of dialog, music, scenery, and sound effects creates this "atmosphere" that I find myself very drawn to. Sometimes the acting by the support characters is kind of cheesy, but the funny thing is the cheesy acting actually contributes to the greatness of the show instead of detracting from it. Don't ask me to explain why; I can't. See it for yourself and you'll see what I mean.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: The Return of an Old Friend
Review: It was nice to see this show again.

But given the cost of the individual sets, I was disappointed that the DVDs (I purchased set 1 and 2) didn't have any extra stuff. I was hoping for interviews with the actors and/or some fun 'making of' type of facts.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The thinking mans sci-fi series.
Review: 6 episodes on 2 DVD's. From the opening and very distinguishable guitar riff that gets you humming with an adrenaline rush, you can't help but marvel at this early 1970's treasure.

Back in it's days of production, this was one of the most expensive series of the time to produce, and 25 years later you can see why. Though its now 2001, Space: 1999 holds up as a brilliant look into the future without all hokiness that sometimes can plague a sci-fi series.

The effects were great in 1974, and still hold up pretty well today. The DVD's make the episodes clean and clear, like they were re-mastered. No scratches or noise pop's are detected and audio quality is really good.

The DVD's also place back some additional footage per episode that never were seen on network television.

The series itself is really great science fiction. Despite names like Martin Landau and Barbara Bane the series can carry itself on its intelligence factor. Not all episodes are in the vain like Star Trek with phasers and ships and repeating enemies. Here the folks of Moonbase Alpha are faced with continuing their lives while realizing they may never see Earth again. Moonbase Alpha is like a futuristic Noah's Ark. Sometimes episodes do indeed have action, but many are written on a philosophical level. Again, it's putting the science back in science fiction.

The only downside to these DVD's is the lack of extras that are so common with new releases. The only extras included on these DVD's are still shots from individual episodes and while a few of them show backstage workings on the sets, the majority of them are boring and say nothing about the actual episode.

Nonetheless, Space:1999 is fun and drama orientated. Looks new for a series almost 30 years old, and has a true sci-fi fan enthralled by the future and the unknown.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Before The Next Generation there was Space 1999
Review: Space 1999 Set 1 gives us the the opening episode Breakaway which establishes the characters and premise for the first season. Although perhaps not totally science literate, S199 was nevertheless an enjoiable series with intetesting concepts and good drama. Space 1999 never depended on the "technobabble" that has been so charataristic of Trek. Barry Morse (The Fugitive) shine as Prof. Bergman

The final episode of the set "Another time, Another Place" is one of my favorite of the series.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Get It Only If You Loved It As A Kid
Review: I watched the Space 1999 series when it first came out when I was a 10 year old in the 1970's. As a child I found the imagery to be ___very__ powerful. I always wanted to see the series again as an adult and after all of these years I finally got my chance.

As an adult, the imagery didn't catch me. I think my adult mind lacked something that gave the series a special sauce when I was a child.

The acting was very wooden and absent of any emotion. It seemed like the characters were medicated.

If you were one of the people who saw the series as a kid and are curious about seeing it again get the dvd if you have the cash to spare. It was interesting for me to see the series again.

If you are an adult who never saw the series and you are just looking for entertainment get something else.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Do you want more? Than quit complaining!
Review: Like so many of you, I grew up with SPACE 1999, and it has been a loooong hard wait to see any of these shows again. I've done the frustrating Columbia House, seen the bits of salvaged movies, but until now there has been nothing consistently out there in a format like DVD which is much preferable for longevity than mere video. I have one concern on reading the trite year one vs. year two and terrible review from this series was blessed with (like, get with the program--everything you said, especially the Asimov stuff is so about Star Trek, too, and anything else out there!) Space 1999 has long been a scapegoat for people with a. no sense of adventure b. way, way to into literal science! Just enjoy it as you do Star Trek or Xena, and lighten up! I want to warn any caring fans out there like myself that because of some of the comments from vocal jerks, the second season may not be converted to dvd by A&E now. I just want to see it. I want to buy it, and because this was my FIRST experience with a dvd, and I was impressed (like most people I am way not interested in silly "perfection" reviews of quality) and have since BOUGHT a dvd player. So like most female, quiet fans I offer money, not talk. (Well, okay, I did give way here, but I thought a reality check from Jane Average wouldn't hurt!) Buy this and enjoy it. I did.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Definitely an interesting series
Review: Where Star Trek was campy, with Kirk's histrionics (that Shatner clearly took into his later work), Space:1999 was the "serious" series. Space:1999 was concerned about disease, whilst Kirk probably caught all sorts of diseases from the many alien women :-).

It suffered slightly from _some_ lack of attention to scientific detail, but that accusation can be thrown far more vigorously at the vast majority of other science fiction presented on TV.

Their need to worry about logistics like transportation and space suits is a happy contrast to the usual "Star Trek" thing of "beam them down, and assume they can breathe the air."

Barry Morse's scientific philosophizing was always entertaining, whether from the perspective that this made the show a bit more serious than the other guys, or, occasionally, from the funnier perspective that he's waxing eloquent about why it is NECESSARY that the universe is about to kill the Alphans.

The move to the second season brought a completely new show where the similarities seemed pretty coincidental. Whereas the first season had Morse as scientific philosopher, the second replaced him with the sometimes sultry shapechanger Maya.

And "sultry" is a pretty good word to throw around; in season 2, virtually every episode had opportunity to pan across bikini-clad women in the "recreation module" as well as the teasing of the sexual triangle between the (formerly rather platonic) pair of Koening and Russell, and Maya.

Where the first season was quite unemotional, the second had a lot more skin, a lot more innuendo, and a lot more fist fights.

There is the legitimate argument that in the first season, the quest was for "anything sufficiently like home," whilst in the second season, the Alphans have realized that Moonbase Alpha is a viable home, and can now afford emotional attachments.

I'd still hold that it got a bit cheesy in the second season. :-)

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: 2001 A Space Odyssey The Series
Review: Previous to ordering this boxed set I had never seen Space 1999. I had heard of it, however, and was intensely curious. If you liked the special effects and character quality of 2001 A Space Odyssey, then this is the series for you. The show has a reasonable amount of 70's style special effects and the story outlines aren't too bad. However, all the characters are completely emotionless and flat. These are the least character driven stories I have ever seen.


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