Customer Reviews

Space 1999 Set 1:V1 & 2

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Where has this show been all my life? I just discovered it on DVD and I'm very excited about it! Great cast, excellent scripts, and striking FX! I will can't wait to see the other episodes of this series.

Black Sun is my all time favorite episode of Space 1999 and it looks wonderful on DVD. Space 1999 was a very unique Sci-Fi program and it remains largely misunderstood. One reviewer notes that only when facing certain death do the Alphans come alive, but that's the point: These are highly trained soldiers who must focus entirely on their duties in order to survive. They are trapped inside the Alpha base, which is described as both a barracks and a prison, and are always close to death.
Only under unusual circumstances can the Alphans let down their emotional guard. Black Sun is an unusual circumstance in which they are powerless to avoid destruction. Having exhausted all options, Bergman shares his inner thoughts and feelings with Koenig, who has tears in his eyes, and they make a final toast. It's a wonderful scene which demonstrates just why fans love this show so much.
Black Sun is a great episode of a great series.

THANKS A&E FOR PUTTING SPACE 1999 ON DVD!
THE FIRST EPISODE GETS THE WHOLE SHOW STARTED WITH THE MOON BLASTING OFF INTO SPACE AND I LOVED THE ZOMBIE LIKE ASTRONAUTS IN THIS EPISODE TOO! SET 1 ALSO HAS CHRISTOPHER LEE AND EPISODES LIKE 'BLACK SUN' WHICH SIMULATE WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE ON QUALITY LSD. THINGS DRAG AT TIMES AND I WISH THE ZOMBIE LIKE ASTRONAUTS IN THE FIRST EPISODE ACTUALLY ATE THEIR VICTIMS, BUT OTHER THAN THAT I'M REAL HAPPY WITH THIS SET. GREAT SHOW!

Critics have often not been kind to Space 1999. The program is often accused of having wooden actors because the performers are portraying military and scientific types in a tense situation that they deal with seriously. There's plenty of action, but again some critics fail to be impressed and write it off as just a display of special effects. The weirdness and mysteries presented in the show have often been viewed as bad story telling, and the Alphans have no mission other than to survive and that tends to be viewed as a lack of anything significant happening. Space 1999 is entertaining and exciting if seen as a hybrid of disaster movie and 2001. The moon is hurtling through space and things look grim for the people on it as they struggle for survival and encounter confusing 'far out' alien weirdness. They try to maintain their military and scientific bearing , but their true fear and confusion are visible below the surface and can be incredibly intense. These are great perfomances, the action is exciting, and the weirdness and mystery of it all is compelling. By season two, which I also enjoy, changes were made so that the program was more of a kid oriented adventure show and the Alphans had grown more used to their life on Alpha, but both the tense/trippy atmosphere of season one and the more jovial/comic book vibe of season two can make for entertaining viewing.

I hadn't seen an episode in years, so I wanted to give the DVD a try. "1999" has a mixed history - production values were high, but nobody goes around quoting Commander Koenig or Dr. Bergman the way we do Kirk or Spock. There are few really memorable episodes, and the series couldn't even remain consistent in tone between two seasons - going from slow-cerebral the first season to fast-flashy the second. And for a show that tried to look and sound serious (season-1 anyway), the gaps in common sense (let alone science) seemed striking. (The premise has our moon blown out of orbit when tons of stored nuclear waste spontaneously explode (powerful enough to break the moon out of terran orbit but w/o blowing it to bits?)

In "Breakaway" we meet Commander Koenig (Landau) - a no-nonsense character sent to Moonbase Alpha relieve its feckless and luckless acting commander. A mysterious and fatal plague has broken out among astronauts preparing to leave the moon for a deep-space mission to the planet of Meta: an apparently earth-like planet which seems to be emitting radio signals. Koenig and Dr. Bergman (Barry Morse) link the plague to the toxic waste dumps, but tests repeatedly show that the waste is safely sealed and safe...or is it?

In "Life and Death", the moon - already clear of our solar system - nears an uninhabited world that appears perfect for colonization. Because the moon will only be in position relative to the planet for a short time, the Alphans have a narrow opportunity to decide whether to leave the moon for it. Complications ensue when a reconnaissance eagle returns with an unexpected passenger - Dr. Russell's husband Lee. But Lee Russell was reported lost, feared dead years (and billions of miles) ago. Is it Lee Russell? And when he urges the Alphans against colonizing the seeming paradise before them, should they listen?

In "Black Sun", the Alphans find their moon on a collision course with a dark star (I guess they meant a "black hole", but had that word been coined?). (Those who haven't seen "1999" in years may remember an Eagle being crushed by gravity - this is that episode.) Dr. Bergman comes up some ideas that may save the moon but chances are slim. With no real chance of survival, Koenig puts 6 Alphans on an escape Eagle (Alpha seems to have an endless supply of Eagles, but can only muster one for escape?).

An alien probe has seized Alpha and must be convinced of its obsolescence in "Ring Around the Moon" - a lame ep. far too reminiscent of many episodes of "Trek".

A group of benign yet mysterious aliens in suspended animation land on the moon. Waking up, they reveal their destination is Earth. One of the Alphans has the chance to join them - the humans accidentally killed an alien trying to wake it, but the aliens (led by Christopher Lee playing against type as a nice guy) hold no grudges. Who will accompany them? And will they reach Earth?

Disk 2 closes with "Another Time, Another Place" - in which the Alphans pass through a parallel universe, and confront...themselves. In a dramatic display of just how unlucky our heroes our, they can't even measure up to their doppelgangers (the doppelganger Alphans settle a planet whose orbit their moon entered; the unlucky Alphans of our universe find their moon on a collision course with the other, but they can't escape to the new planet because contact w/their doubles is fatal to everybody. The "other" Alphans are free to remain on their lovely new home, while the best our Alphans can expect is to end up where they started - cosmic refugees).

This set shows why the show was so frustrating (at least in year-1): nothing happens. You watch knowing that no matter what's learned or done for the first 50 minutes, nothing critical will happen until the last five We spend most of "Breakaway" waiting for the big boom - everything else seems superfluous. We sit through all of "Sun" and "Life and Death" waiting for the end - will the moon somehow avoid the black hole? Is it really Lee Russell? And what will happen when the Alphans land on the new world? Also, cool production values aside, it didn't really look that great (at least at this stage) - the interiors of Alpha look sterile and uninteresting; the main control room is a big empty space lined with computers and some desks; the Eagles were the star of the show - but even they amount to over glorified, space-going buses. Then there are the characters - they're so stiff, you wonder if they're supposed to be ghosts. You may find yourself going back trying to pick out dialog from the hushed, emotionless voices. Only in "Sun", with the prospect of death, do any of the characters come alive (especially Dr. Bergman, who pumps the Alphans with futile plans to keep their spirits up until the end, and engages in some truly heartwarming dialog w/Koenig at the close - it's almost enough to make you want to take a hop in a Black Sun yourself) hinting at the chemistry that could have made this more of a compelling show. Because the characters aren't sympathetic, it's hard for the show to capitalize on its biggest asset - that these guys are marooned in space and have no control over their lives. I'd recommend this DVD for devoted fans of the show. Lighter fans may want to pass on this and get one of the flashier season-2 DVD's.

Space 1999 is a very entertaining series. Season One is far more serious and adult oriented and Season Two much more kid oriented, but I enjoy both seasons for what they are which is pure entertainment. It's certainly different. The first Season has a unique tone unlike anything else Sci Fi that Ive seen, and the second season is far more fun than most 'serious' Sci Fi shows allow themselves to be. Plus there are great perfomances by the cast and great guest stars like Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, and Brian Blessed. I like the characters in this series more and more with each viewing. Landau's Koenig is one of the most intense characters in Sci Fi, Barry Morse is so very charming, Catherine Schell is alluring, and Nick Tate is such a cool bloke. My only complaint is that Barbara Bain waited until Season Two to be so sexy!!

My goodness, what a show! It's truly sad to consider what's become of sci-fi since Gene Rodenberry dumbed everything down to the level of an elementary school filmstrip, and filmmakers everywhere decided that since that sort of bilge makes money, then everything sci-fi must be reduced to infantile rubbish. Space 1999 demonstrates what can be done when creative people write real drama for adults. Real characters, real situations, real climaxes - no photon torpedoes.

Oh sure, the science isn't right, but at least it's courageous enough to be wrong. No nonsense words (technobabble) to make a joke out of it all - it's not right, it's not even wrong; it's just nonsense. This show at least tries.

Personally, I love the "cerebral" quality of everything, it sets a very definite mood, and the show works wonderfully within that mood. These are characters that you won't see in the knuckle dragging collection of cliches known as prime-time TV; these people are unique, they have quality, they are enjoyable to watch.

And the quality of the DVD's is amazing. I have never seen a show from the '70s that has been restored to this level - the video is superb.

Overall, this is a no-brainer. If you want adult sci-fi, with CREATIVE stories, CREATIVE sets and special effects, and out of the ordinary characters - indeed if you're just dying for something that makes an adult think, as opposed to something designed to pound a sanctimonious, politically correct message into the head of a child, this is a must buy.

I bought this set on DVD about a year ago and had not gotten around to watching it in this format. Why? Well, I had collected the laserdiscs in the early 1990s and so felt pretty familiar with the show. What a mistake! This DVD release is so sharp, so clear, the series looks like it was produced in 2003. It's THAT cool. I found myself instantly drawn in during the opening episode "Breakaway," and riveting by succeeding episodes. Now I'm onto the other DVD sets I bought, mid-way through the first season, seeing all things that made me a fan of this series in the 1970s. The "atmosphere" of Space:1999 (sets, costumes, spfx, mood) is established perfectly in Breakaway, one of the best series' premieres in the history of the genre, and it just keeps getting better. In this set, I particularly like "Black Sun," which grapples with metaphysical notions, "Earthbound," a clever little story with a sting in the tail, and "Another Time, Another Place," a haunting adventure about alternate destinies. For years, Trekkies and critics (often one in the same...) have dismissed the show while the legend grew. Here's you chance to evaluate it for yourself and see what all the excitement is about. Somehow, I don't think you'll be disappointed. You'll be hooked!

I could excuse any youth today for finding this series cold, sterile and slow. But for me in the 70s, it created a sense of wonder and awe that few shows could equal, and to finally have it available on DVD is a dream come true. It has held up very well over the years, thanks mainly to the superb effects and design elements. You do have to suspend disbelief quite a bit however, and accept much of it as Science Fantasy - not Science Fiction, although many of the procedures on Alpha and involving the Eagles, seem more realistic than much of what is seen on Star Trek. Enjoy it for what it is, and try not to be too critical.

Population: 311, but subject to decrease as the episodes progress. Destination: wherever. The story: moon has been blown out of the earth's orbit due to a monumental nuclear waste cockup and is now sailing through the universe; its residents are surviving, but barely, and are desperate to find a new place to settle. So much for the premise of Anderson's biggest budgeted series ever, and what a fine series it was!--at least during the first year. Space: 1999 had many strengths, chiefly the fine acting talent in Landau, Bain and Morse, who played my favorite character, Professor Bergman. The tone of most of the episodes is dark and claustrophobic, but always served up with just enough awe and wonder to justify the series's existence. The best episode of this set and of season one is Black Sun, which combines some really thick science with a dash of metaphysics and fatalism. Another Time, Another Place is a fine mind-blower, while Earthbound (with guest star Christopher Lee) brings a closure the the character of Commissioner Simmons. As I said, the first series was dark (thanks largely in part to those awesome minimalist set designs), but the stories were infinitely more interesting and compelling.