Space 1999: The Complete Mega Set

While the overall tone is one of seriousness, these episodes still come off as quite silly. What some of the 5-star reviewers neglect to mention is that SPACE: 1999 has some of the worst actors and dialogue ever featured in a sci-fi series, with some fairly ridiculous special effects and costumes to boot. Any kid today who watches this who's over the age of five will probably snicker with comtempt at what passes on the screen.

The actors/characters who come off looking better than most are Barry Morse (Prof. Bergman), Nick Tate (Carter), Catherine Schell (Maya) and Tony Arnolt (Tony). While Martin Landau and Barbara Bain fair better in Season Two, they're stiff as boards in Season One. Plus, all the actors are surrounded by some of the worst extras you'll ever see. The poorly-written dialogue doesn't help their matters... you don't have to be a science major to realize that some of the "science" quoted is really just made-up gobbledygook by writers who have no real understanding of real science at all. To make matters worse, any instance of "humor" between the characters feels shoehorned in and falls flat 9 times out of 10--rather than laugh along with the characters, you'll most likely groan and roll your eyes.

However, SPACE: 1999 is still a real hoot to watch. The special effects, when not laughably bad, can be quite impressive (for 1976, anyway) and are suitably groovy. There's no shame in enjoying a show like this PRECISELY for its kitsch value. Also, if you're a big fan of the STAR WARS movies, you may be able to spot where George Lucas got some of his production ideas! And if you're into science-fiction history in general, it's a lot of fun to see how SPACE: 1999 bridged the gap between STAR TREK and STAR WARS.

If you're a new fan, you might be better off sampling the indivdual box sets (which gather together six episodes each), rather than blowing nearly 200 smackers on such a gigantic undertaking like this ultimate box set. My personal suggestions would be to check Sets 1 and 4 (which give you a healthy sampling of Season One, with notable episodes "Breakaway," "Earthbound," "The Infernal Machine" and "Dragon's Domain"), and Sets 5 and 7 (which showcase Season Two and feature standouts "The Exiles," "Journey to Where," and "The Bringers of Wonder, Parts 1 & 2"). Either you'll fall in love with the series and want to get the rest, or you may find it's more than you'll ever need of SPACE: 1999. Either way, you'll enjoy yourself... getting sucked right in to the sci-fi drama, or laughing yourself silly.

Space 1999 is an overwhelmingly trippy and smart sci fi experience. It also brings elements of true horror, you'll be shocked and awed many times. Prepare for a psychedelic journey through the inky void and blackness of space, which can be scary and downright frightening at times. I wouldn't recommend this show for younger audiences at any rate. I do recommend viewing the show with lights dimmed out for maximum immersion factor.

No watered down space opera drama offered here, this is true hardcore sci-fi. Characters are blatantly confrontational, don't fake smiles and emotions are kept realistically raw. This is expected considering the odds they must battle with. It is however a very bold move by the original producers of the show. In this regard, it comes out as being honestly genuine, stories are quite imaginative as well.

This was done in the 70s, and as such several of the true science fact may seem dated by now, others remained shockingly fresh. Those minor miss ups are irrelevant overall, perhaps a small annoyance to the overwhelmingly critical viewers. At any rate, the show comes out as being incredibly fresh and energetic from all angles. The video quality of the episodes is superb on DVD as well.

Season 1 and Season 2 are very different beasts altogether. Understand that by Season 2 a new American producer was brought in (Freddy Friedburger, who worked on Star Trek). Suffice to say, he changed many things around, making the show similar to what Star Trek was. This was not needed, except for the ratings at the time. The show remained good in Season 2 nonetheless (Season 1 has a lot of episodes at any rate, no worries).

Have a look at a site called space1999.net for more details if you're interested. Basically several second role key actors were booted out at the end of Season 1, when they refused a salary decrease. Season 2 is shot in a Star Trek fashion, much less cerebral than Season 1, much more predictable and filled with the standard oneliners. Still enjoyable, but the true magic of the show really lies in the first Season.

This is a must get for all 70s fans. If you enjoyed Logan's Run, Westworld or 2001, you'll love this. Fantastic show, with content and intelligence. A pure mind trip at times and very surrealistic. Highly recommended, a rare gem. Sadly we don't get this level of quality from television shows anymore.

Martin Landau.

The best way to view Space: 1999 is through rose tinted glasses; it's a descendant of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Time Tunnel, Land of the Giants and Flash Gordon not of Star Trek. As science fiction, Space: 1999 shares a major flaw that also cropped up in much of the hard science writing then (and even today); there's a lack of character development. We get no sense about these individuals as people hope, dream and want beyond somehow getting home to Earth. We also don't find out much personal information nor do we see them really interact on a personal level. They are cardboard characters designed to propel the visual effects and the plot. Part of the blame can be layed at Gerry & Sylvia Anderson's feet as creators/producers but the other part is the pedestrian writing from British television vets.

That isn't to say that Star Trek was perfect. The original series was also seriously flawed but managed to overcome many of those flaws due to the strong character development and involvement of major science fiction writers of the day (Issac Asimov corresponded with Gene Roddenberry: Jerome Bixby, David Gerrold, Richard Matheson & Harlan Ellison were hired as writers: whatever character flaws Roddenberry had, he understood that premise and characters had to be believable).

THe picture quality on this DVD set is variable. Some of the episodes are quite stunning while some of the sequences shown overseas but not here clearly aren't as in good a shape. The extras are nice. Filled with vintage interviews, we get a sense of what Anderson and his crafts people were trying to accomplish.

The optical effects still look pretty good although they are a bit dated by today's standard. Brian Johnson's (who later went on to work on Alien and other films) do an outstanding job given the time the series of was made.

The second season Anderson imported US producer Fred Frieberger. Frieberger did craft on elements that made the series more action adventure orientated. He also made character development one of his key goals. The problem is, again, in the writing. None of the ideas presented for each episode is developed the way they should be. Frieberger was brought on board because of his affilation with Star Trek. Unfortunately, Freiberger produced Star Trek during a time of turmoil during the series and it was in decline. His introduction of Tony and Maya did spice up the series a bit. He couldn't do much to rescue Space:1999 from the same fate--cancellation.

As a relic of the 70's, Space:1999 is still enjoyable today. It just didn't have the chance it needed getting out of the gate. It's fun for kids but fails as drama and science fiction all too frequently.