Quatermass [1979] (REGION 1) (NTSC) [DVD] [1955] [US Import]

Quatermass and the television show Doomwatch have in mmany ways led the way for the rest of the shows to follow and have also gone to the most extreme view of what may be to come.

Many other reviewers have plundered the plot but very few have looked at the overiding ideological positions adopted by the creators of Quatermass. The familiar themes which charaterised this series of movies is very much in the vein of Wells and Wyndham the apolyptic vision, a society degenerating where the rule of law has broken down, anarchy in the UK, all of which can be found in some of the works of J.G. Ballard, and to soem extent Mike Moorcok. For stark contrast the Planet People, a pseudo-hippy movement without the drugs, breeze through the movie portrayed as having become rather mindless lotus eaters who are easy prey for the force yet can also kill and destroy.

Scientists are seen as having interferred with nature, a position closely associated with the green movement especially the Fundis in Germany. Quatermass qua as a scientist, is scorned for his views and his apparent contribution to the general sense of decay. Yet it is he who, working with the self same bueaucrats he clearly distains, strives to discover the evil nature of the force and to overcome it. Given the tremendous economic, social, political and environmental upheavals taking place in the 1970's it is not surprising that this mini-series carries a distinct socialist tone, not least of which are the pay cops, a parallel with the fire brigades of Farenheit 451, who are driven by the going rate in the market if they are to provide assistance. The movie is concerned too of the issues of youth versus old age and only barely touching on the question of euthanasia, still taboo even now.

All in all there is much food for thought in this movie aside from the scale and spectacle. It is instructive to compare and contrast this sort of movie with the general SF competition of the time where good always prevails over evil and losses tend to be relatively less.

The series carries a message of hope but it is not clear on which basis the hope rests: is it on science or is it on a naieve fundamentalist rejection of modern societies or simply put, getting ourselves back to the garden?

Quatermass has set the example for others to follow. They may have more gore as in 28 Days Later, but in many respects much of British Science Fiction has gone on to develop ideas found in it's reels.

To me science fiction has never been about science per se but merely a set of posible alternatives, call it a multiverse if you will. Not all futures may be rosy but regardless there is a strong belief in the human spirit and human ingenuity all tied to freedom being strong enough to see us through. This Quatermass, in my view shows us much more of that human spirit and the capacity to defeat adversity, and that is it's greatest strength