Rating: 
Summary: It's Good, But Not as Good as Season One...
Review: "Space: 1999" was a British-made sci-fi series which aired on American television in the mid-1970's. At that time it was the most expensive show ever produced on British television, and the money showed in the large, elaborate sets of Moonbase Alpha and the special effects. The plot is deceptively simple: in 1999 the United Nations has constructed a huge base, called Alpha, on the Moon. Although primarily a scientific and research center, the base is also used to monitor the vast amounts of nuclear waste which are stored on the moon's surface (in Space 1999's timeline, nuclear power is the Earth's main energy source). In September 1999 a freak accident causes the nuclear waste to explode, thereby blasting the moon out of Earth's orbit and hurling it - and the personnel of Alpha - across the galaxy. Space 1999's first season turned this show into a cult classic, and some diehard sci-fi buffs rightly consider the first season's episodes to be among the most unique and creative in sci-fi history. The vivid lighting and colors created a moody, creepy atmosphere not unlike the "X-Files", the musical score was both haunting and memorable, and the episodes themselves were often surprisingly mature, unique, and drew as much from the horror and fantasy genres as sci-fi. What truly made the first season of the show different was that not every episode had a happy ending, not every problem was neatly solved, and the crew of Alpha often appeared genuinely scared and bewildered by their encounters with all sorts of aliens and strange phenomena. Commander Koenig, the base's leader, was no heroic Captain Kirk, but a very human leader doing his best to help his people survive in an often hostile, or at least uncaring, universe. Unfortunately, for the second season the show's producers decided to "Americanize" the series, and the result was a definite drop-off in the show's quality in the second season. Cost-cutting led to cheaper special effects and sets, and too often the monster costumes looked like something out of a Grade-B horror film. The musical score was jazzed-up and sped-up, and thus sounded more like something out of a seventies disco than the first-season's original score. Several major characters from the first season simply vanished, with no explanations ever given for their sudden disappearance. Paul Morrow, Koenig's second-in-command and David Kano, the computer expert, were gone. But the biggest loss was that of Barry Morse, who played Dr. Victor Bergman, the base's chief scientist and father figure, and whose brilliance saved Alpha several times in the first season. In the second season these characters were replaced by Tony Verdischi, the hot-tempered Italian Security Chief, and the lovely Catherine Schell as Maya, an alien shape-shifter who joins the crew of Alpha. Although a fine actress, Schell is given little to do except flirt with the male characters and keep changing into lots of monsters (and with the cheaper special effects, her monster costumes are beyond fake). But the greatest difference between the first and second seasons can be seen in the plots. Whereas the first season's episodes were mature, adult-oriented, often creepy and eerie, and even made you think occasionally, in the second season Space 1999 quickly degenerated into just another juvenile, "shoot-'em up" sci-fi series. Character development and the "atmosphere" of the series were sacrificed for lots of gunplay with laser pistols and spaceships, and Commander Koenig was transformed from a brooding, almost grim leader into a macho, almost cartoonish tough guy who could outfight or outfox almost any alien imaginable (the producers were obviously thinking of Captain Kirk). I'm sure there will be a good deal of discussion about the merits of season one versus season two, and it's pretty obvious which side I'm on :). However, even the second season did have its' moments (the episode on this DVD set which introduces Maya is quite good), and it's still nice to see the second season being released after all these years. But, for this fan at least, it's still a shame that the producers didn't stick with the format of season one - in effect they created two completely different series instead of just one. Recommended, but I'd try looking at the season one DVD's as well, just so you can make your own comparison.
Rating:
Summary: ...
Review: ...Anyway, the Space:1999 series makes a drastic change of course for the second season. In an attempt to "Americanize" the series (which was already popular as a UK product), cast members are dropped, sets and costumes changed, music altered and stories pumped up. Where we gain action and emotion we lose the awe and terror of the unknown. Missing most of all is Barry Morse, who looked upon the moon's journey with a sense of utter fascination.However, Catherine Schell comes aboard as the shape-shifter Maya. The Metamorph character was an unnecessary addition, but Ms. Schell is welcome and a wonderful personality. After the first two episodes, there is a serious downslide in episode quality. The stories are dumbed down quite a bit, with macho posturing taking the place of desperation. I enjoy both seasons, but find season 1 to be much more sophisticated. There is much to recommend here, but be warned...it's an almost a different series. The episodes improve toward the end of the series, but some of the worst are in these two sets (Mark Of Archanon, One Moment Of Humanity & Catacombs of the Moon are all stinkers). Great effects, above par acting and a good musical score salvage some really pedestrian plots. When it's good, it's great. When it's bad...it's Lost In Space.
Rating: 
Summary: "We've picked up a sudden energy charge of enormous thrust!"
Review: As everyone has noted, Year 2 is drastically different from Year 1. Not only is the design and costumes slightly altered, many fan favorite characters have suddenly disappeared without any explanation. Also, a corny sense of humor is injected to try disipate the tedium many Year 1 stories had. It didn't work. Though, if you grew up watching the program when it first came out, one can still find a lot of escapist fun, with Irwin Allen-type Sci-Fi explanations. The production, design and special effects are still top notch. The stories have a more action style tone to them, but the dialogue and acting is certainly questionable. the set is really a mixed bag. Obviously The Metamorph is the best of the lot, introducing Maya, the molecular tranforming sexy alien. The Exiles has it's moments. The Humanity(the one with the androids)story actually feels like a holdover from Year 1. All That Glisters, critised by the entire cast, is really a lot of fun. Martin Landau, fom what I've read, thought this was the nadir or the entire series. Journey to Where is tolerable. And The Taybor, well, you were warned. Still, enjoyment and tolerance of this Set and the program really depends on how non-discriminating you are with cheesy Sci-Fi with a big budget.
Rating:
Summary: Second Season - Not As Good!
Review: As I had stated in my review of sets 1 through 4 - I loved the first season of Space:1999. When they went to the second season, Fred Frieberger took over - former of the original Star Trek production team. He wanted to make it "hip" for the 70's. But what he did is make it more unreal for me. He dropped my favorite set "Main Mission" and created "Command Center" a much smaller and more compact room to run the base of now 289 members. The Eagles got "mufflers" and "spoilers" and they dropped two of my favorite characters - Proffesor Victor Bergman (Barry Morse) and Paul Morrow (Prentis Hancock). Almost every epsiode someone dies. They would have never made it to a forth season because by the time third season was over, there would only be a 100 people left. The changes I did like were the Catherine Schell character of Miya. She orginally appeared as the Keeper in Gaurdian Of Piri in the first season and did so well the producers wanted her back as a regular. Tony Chelini (Tony Anolt) was an interesting character to add too. Visually this series relized on Laser Blasts every episode and a new set of monsters every week. Yikes! The production value of the monster made some of Dr. Who's villians look like real creatures. Overall the stories are not as good as well. But there are some interesting action moments and comedy. (The comedy was added with no real purpose - all of a sudden, every plays jokes!) The DVD has an interesting feature as well. Some of the original station specific promos with Barbara Bain and Martin Landau promoting the show. Very unique. You decide.
Rating: 
Summary: First Six Episodes Of Second Season Are Of Poor Quality
Review: Comments made about this show's second season and its decline are correct. They really could have moved this show from Saturday evening to Saturday morning, where it could have been watched by more children. After having seen these first six episodes of the second season, I thought that this show had an extremely radical departure in its overall production content from the show's first season. Season two of Space: 1999 has more in common with Irwin Allen TV shows like "Lost In Space", and "Land Of The Giants" than with the show's first season. I have included reviews of each of the six episodes in this set: The Metamorph ** (2 Stars) -- With the radical change in everything that made season one of Space: 1999 what it was, we see a huge change in this television program. Main Mission has been replaced by a much smaller Command Center. The uniforms look different. Half of the supporting characters are gone without any mention of what happened to them, including Professor Bergman. Unlike Star Trek and ST: TNG, it isn't like Moonbase Alpha could stop at a nearby starbase and drop off and pick up new crew members. This type of discontinuity really stretches any remaining beliveability in the show. I had read in Dynamite Magazine as a kid that Professor Bergman died from mechanical heart failure, but there is absolutely no explanation of this in the first episode of the second season. The shape shifting metamorph Maya is introduced in this episode. If you can overlook the changes, this episode is fair at best. The Exiles * (1 Star) -- I thought that the dialog that Dr. Russell shouts out after she damages the protective membrane of the exile named Cantor sounded more like a hypnotic suggestion. "You're too old to fire that gun! You're now over 300 years old! You're slowing down! Your muscles won't respond!" I was surprised to see Dr. Mathias from the first season in the first two episodes of the second season, but after this episode, he is gone for good. A Moment Of Humanity * (1 Star) -- I have renamed this episode "51 Minutes Of Stupidity". In this episode, the androids are actually humans, and the the humans are androids. And just because they didn't know what else to do, a quick but highly erroneous version of Othello is put on by the androids, just to make Commander Koenig mad. The sound quality is muffled and really poor, but even if it were good, it wouldn't make any difference. All That Glisters * (1 Star) -- Glowing rocks that need water and a wannabe Irish Cowboy populate this episode. Listen for Dr. Russell's impersonation of Dr. McCoy from Star Trek: "I'm a doctor, not a miracle worker!" Journey To Where * (1 Star) -- I'm sorry, but I thought that this was a really cool episode when I saw it as a kid, but I think that it looks really cheap now and the the story just isn't very good. Moonbase Alpha receives an intergalactic transmission from Texas City on Earth in the far future. Commander Koenig, Dr. Russell and Alan are transported to Earth, but end up in the wrong time of several hundred years ago. The Taybor * (1 Star) -- Of all the episodes that I thought resembled a typical Irwin Allen TV show, this was it. Moonbase Alpha invites a vagabond trader known only as Taybor to trade items of interest, and runs off with Maya, but decides that he doesn't want her when she transforms into an ugly old hag.
Rating:
Summary: Space:1999 becomes a Saturday Morning Action Series.
Review: Does anyone remember the 70's Saturday morning action series, Land of the Lost? Space:1999 Season 2 becomes a Saturday morning action series, changing from a serious science fiction drama. It completely abandons the original premise of the series. The first episode, The Metamorph, symbolically describes the deterioation of the show from the beauty it was in season one to the garbage it became in season 2. Not all Americans appreciated the mindless campiness the show became with its teeny bopper romance, its tacky plastic monsters and the characters becoming teenagers from any hometown high school. The acquisition of Maya had tremendous potential in the series which, alas was hopelessly wasted during the entire season. The second episode, The Exiles, appears to be a weak attempt at recreating the premise of End of Eternity. However, it is very weak and Cantor and Zova are not as nearly menacing and threatening as Balor. The Sleestaks from Land of the Lost were more frightening. The third episode trumpets the direction the series would go for the rest of the season. No longer epic stories of survival of a community, starting with One Moment of Stupidity, the stories are created and revolved around the couples of Koenig and Russell and Tony and Maya. If you enjoy Harlequin romances, then this should appeal to you. If you are looking for serious science fiction that is thought provoking and intellectual, you won't find it in season 2. The fourth episode, All That Glisters, is just terrible. Alive and smart rocks. Need I say more? Even most die-hard enthusiatic season 2 fans consider this episode bad...bad...bad.So, on this DVD set of 4, only one episode appears to be OK..and just OK. If you are determined to see it, I advise you to go to your local library or rent it; buying it is a waste of money.
Rating:
Summary: SPACE 1999 SET 5 AND 6
Review: HELLO,
I AM STILL PONDERING OVER BUYING THESE TWO NEW SETS BASED ON THE PREVIOUS REVIEWS THAT I HAVE READ.I OWN THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON ON DVD AND SOME OF THE SECOND SEASON ON VHS.THE SECOND SEASON WAS OK BUT NOT SPECTACULAR. PROFESSOR BERGMAN AND SOME OF THE OTHER FIRST SEASON CAST WERE REPLACED WITHOUT ANY EXPLANATION AND EVEN THE MUSICAL SCORE WAS CHANGED.THE FIRST SEASONS MUSICAL SCORE ALLOWED YOU TO PREVIEW THE EPISODE BEFORE IT BEGAN.
Rating: 
Summary: Season 2 is Disappointing
Review: I just got both season 2 DVDs and it just isn't right. Dr Bergman is gone...so is Paul...the new uniforms are not a step forward nor is the command center. The new intro and music are a step down as well. The new guy, Tony, just doesn't bring any MEANINGFUL intensity to the role. He is just a pretty boy to be Maya's love interest. Metamorph had my attention but Maya's father looked so weird that it drew attention from a story that had potential...a mad man using slaves for his own purposes while completely deceiving his own daughter. Weird looking aliens is all fine and dandy but more focus should be made on making them alien in their character and not their hair style...much like the episode of The Taybor. The episode about the attempt to transport back to Earth was good but the Exiles, Taybor, All that Glisters and the one about the androids trying to learn how to kill were completely forgettable. The DVD brings little in extras...just some still shots and tv promos that are all the same except for the tv station. I wonder if someone will make a motion picture out of this show.
Rating:
Summary: Laughably bad TV from our childhoods
Review: I spent the weekend watching this latest set of Space 1999 DVDs. These are the beginning of the second season (i.e., Tony and Maya and no Paul and Victor, Command Center and not Main Mission, go-go boots and pink jackets). Like most people buying these things, I expect, I was a big fan of this series when it first came out in the 70s (and I was about 10 years old). As an adult, all I can say is that they are, without doubt, the worst hour long drama shows I have EVER seen. Some sitcoms are as bad as this, but I can't think of a decently funded hour long show that was this bad.
At least in the first season, there was a tense, somber, brooding quality to it that reflected the dire nature of Alpha's predicament. It always had bad acting and sometimes the dialogue was so bad and plot concepts so weird that you just had to go "Hunh???" when you watched. But at least it had some gravitas, and there were a few episodes that were good on the whole (and thus entertaining and worth watching from time to time; e.g., "Dragon's Domain," "War Games," the "The Infernal Machine").
In the second season, the tone is completely different. Not only do people smile, they smile A LOT, as if they've resigned themselves to living on a wandering moon, perhaps forever, and have no real fear that they may never get to a suitable home. They have parties and Helena and Maya wear revealing evening gowns on more than one occassion (why were there any revealing evening gowns on Moonbase Alpha when it was blasted out of earth orbit? It was a research and space launch base people visited periodically and could go back to earth from whenever they wanted; no one knew they needed to pack for a long trip where "recreation" would be involved). Also, Koenig/Helena and Tony/Maya have their hands all over each other all the time, even on "the bridge" in front of everybody. They are always giggling and holding hands under soft lights and saying REALLY STUPID flirtatious things to one another that would be more appropriate in an 8th grade cafeteria. I'm sure this was because the first season was too dark and brooding for most early 70's viewers (no one cracks a smile in the whole first season that I can recall) but it goes so far to the other extreme that it surpasses, by a lot, the worst episodes of Star Trek. This may not be surprising because in the second season the Andersens brought in Fred Freiberger to produce the show. Freiberger produced the third, disasterous season of Star Trek and his campy, dumbed-down approach, which eventually killed Star Trek, is everywhere in 1999 season 2 (and killed it as well).
Last, but certainly not least, the stories are laughably bad in almost every episode. Most have at least one thing that is ripped off from Star Trek (the first season didn't really; a lot was stupid, but very little was obviously derivative). The rest are ripped off from any number of sources and add nothing new.
I guess this all seemed okay when we were kids, but now, there is absolutely no reason to watch these things unless you want a good belly laugh about how bad TV can be. It is because of shows like this that many STILL do not take science fiction seriously, even when there are some science fiction shows that are very good drama any way you look at it (Star Trek: The Next Generation, X-Files). I will probably buy and keep them all so I have the full collection, but they are sort of like Plan 9 from Outer Space - so bad its entertaining.
Rating: 
Summary: a forgotten classic
Review: I'm a junkie of Sci Fi, Horror and Fantasy and I'd never heard of this show when I came across it. When I read the tagline about it being an "adventure beyond space" I had to get it. I bought set 3 and set 5. The episodes in set 3 are not unlike Kubrick's 2001. Set 5 is more like Dr Who. I enjoyed them both. This is classic stuff. Landau is especially good. The Eagle space crafts are cool. Catherine Schell is lovely. There's a good mix of action and horror and space elements. Why haven't more people heard about this show?
|
