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From Amazon.co.uk
For the time, there had never been a more lavishly produced science fiction TV series than Space: 1999, which was British-made on a first-season budget of 3.25 million pounds, an astounding amount, and ran for two seasons from 1975-77. What keeps fans enthralled after all these years has only partly to do with the first-rate production values, the plausibly constructed spaceship models and expert special effects. The tone of the show is one of scientific dispassion, setting it apart from its TV SF predecessors such as Star Trek in which the mood is more generally convivial. Our heroes here are in dire circumstances that require cool heads as a survival trait. The moon and the 311 crew members of Moonbase Alpha experience a cataclysm that causes the moon to break away from Earth's orbit and travel endlessly through space, making our heroes into unintentional explorers. No TV series has created a more palpable feel of hard science fiction than this. Of course the show is not without its detractors, and has been soundly lambasted for its many scientific errors. No less august a figure than Isaac Asimov criticized the show for its premise in the opening episode "Breakaway," which had nuclear explosions on the "dark side of the moon" somehow propelling it out of Earth's orbit and flying through space without regard to any physical laws. In "Earthbound," aliens travelling to Earth state it will take them 75 years to reach their destination, making one wonder why it didn't take the moon that long to encounter the aliens. While these are serious complaints, fans tend to remember the scientific seriousness of the series and the sense of awe created by the many strange creatures and phenomena they encounter on their journey through the Galaxy. --Jim Gay, Amazon.com
Product Description
DVD Special Features:
Year 2 Trailer 2
Stills Gallery
Barbara Bain interview
New characters biographies.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
58 of 58 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:DVD
This highly ambitious - if scientifically implausible -series has blasted onto DVD in three volumes - also collected as a box set - from Carlton video. Each disc carries four remastered episodes in production order.
I am hard to impress, but, having viewed the discs, I am literally stunned. The prints are faultless, bursting with a vibrancy unseen since the original transmissions. Colours are solid and natural, and it is now time to burn those shoddy drop out ridden VHS copies that we all bought in the 90's! This is Space 1999 as it should be seen.
Not even the BBC's remastered prints can hold a candle to these newly refurbished copies - which could have been filmed last week, let alone over a quarter of a century ago!
Obvious love and attention has gone into all three volumes and whilst brief the extras are worth a look too. Be prepared for nifty animated menus and a fantastic "this disc" parody of the "this episode" title cards.
If I could I would give these discs - Carlton's best yet - six stars!Buy these discs immediately!
71 of 73 people found the following review helpful
By Luca Iaboni
Format:DVD
Ratings are always personal, but objectively Space 1999 has represented one of the greatest (and sadly enough, less imitated) science fiction series of all time.
Some episodes may now seem a bit dated, but this does not render things less fascinating.
70 of 72 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I remembered Space 1999 from when I was a kid, specifically the music to series 2. After the BBC screened the series in it's entirety a few years ago I was hooked. The quality of the DVD is excellent - no doubt helped by the fact the original series was recorded on film. Stories such as 'Breakaway' and 'Earthbound' are classic examples of TV Sci-Fi. If only I could find a model of those wonderful Eagle spacecraft !Highly recommended.
67 of 70 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:DVD
Carlton have done a terrific job of transfering Space 1999 to DVD. The quality of each of the twelve episodes in the box-set is quite simply exilent, far better than the previously released VHS versions from a few years ago. The opening menu and "This Disc" brought a smile to this fans face. The extras are informative but a behind-the-scenes feature would have been a welcome addition. I look forward to volumes 4,5&6 of season one. For me, Space 1999 was always better than any Star Trek series and far more exiting!
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By davo
Format:DVD
Takes me back to Sundays, sure it was a Sunday, about midday when this used to be shown on mainstream telly.
Really enjoying it all over again !..lovin' the stun guns - they do look like staple guns from a D.I.Y. shop, and those Eagle spaceships..I remember I had a toy one as a kid :) Yeah, bring it on at..It's all at Moonbase Alpha.. Space 1999 for us oldies who want to be kids again..I always remember Barbara Bain as she spun round in the credits and her hair-that never moved ! and am really looking forward to seeing Maya again as the camera zooms into her eyes - YIKES !!what's she gonna be this time ? ! Courageous Commander Koenig and Barry Morse as the man with the frizzy professor like hair..all of them, the whole gang sticking together as the Moon travels the universe hoping to find it's way back home..ahhhh....
This is the mentality of all this and I'm laughing at what I've just written and yes, I'm guarding my newly arrived boxset, and no one can borrow it, it's mine !!! coz I've waited over 30 years for this to arrive in the post!!
I'm collecting DVD's of telly progs I watched when I was a kid and Gerry Anderson shows are top of my list. Watching Space 1999 back to back with 'Secret service'(another classic with a secret agent clergyman !), I must take my hat off to Mr Anderson and to his creative vision which made kids tv before teatime and on a Sunday so interesting and exciting during my childhood. Thanks again :) 10/10 Gerry
Really enjoying it all over again !..lovin' the stun guns - they do look like staple guns from a D.I.Y. shop, and those Eagle spaceships..I remember I had a toy one as a kid :) Yeah, bring it on at..It's all at Moonbase Alpha.. Space 1999 for us oldies who want to be kids again..I always remember Barbara Bain as she spun round in the credits and her hair-that never moved ! and am really looking forward to seeing Maya again as the camera zooms into her eyes - YIKES !!what's she gonna be this time ? ! Courageous Commander Koenig and Barry Morse as the man with the frizzy professor like hair..all of them, the whole gang sticking together as the Moon travels the universe hoping to find it's way back home..ahhhh....
This is the mentality of all this and I'm laughing at what I've just written and yes, I'm guarding my newly arrived boxset, and no one can borrow it, it's mine !!! coz I've waited over 30 years for this to arrive in the post!!
I'm collecting DVD's of telly progs I watched when I was a kid and Gerry Anderson shows are top of my list. Watching Space 1999 back to back with 'Secret service'(another classic with a secret agent clergyman !), I must take my hat off to Mr Anderson and to his creative vision which made kids tv before teatime and on a Sunday so interesting and exciting during my childhood. Thanks again :) 10/10 Gerry
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By TL
Format:DVD
The episodes are presented in EXACT production order. As the series was syndicated, that is the only way to provide a definative order. Over all not a bad collection.
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
By "scribbly32"
Format:DVD
Space 1999 was one of those shows I remembered from my childhood, particularly the opening theme tune and the montage of images, my favourite being the eagle spinning round and slamming into the moon's surface.
I bought this box set even though I had every episode on video from the time ITC released it originally, needless to say those videos have gone because the DVD releases are superb!
From the moment the eagle does a fly by you know you are in for something special and Carlton have done a masterful job of remastering the series. Each episode looks fantastic, colour and sound is superb and the special effects somehow look better.
The special features are also high quality and I would urge any fan of Space 1999 to go out and buy this now! You won't be disappointed
I bought this box set even though I had every episode on video from the time ITC released it originally, needless to say those videos have gone because the DVD releases are superb!
From the moment the eagle does a fly by you know you are in for something special and Carlton have done a masterful job of remastering the series. Each episode looks fantastic, colour and sound is superb and the special effects somehow look better.
The special features are also high quality and I would urge any fan of Space 1999 to go out and buy this now! You won't be disappointed
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:DVD
This is probably the best DVD of the 12, featuring 4 excellent episodes (all from the first season). The Infernal Machine features Leo McKern as both Companion and the voice of Gwent, the ship/computer which arrives on the Moon searching for supplies and more companions.
The second episode features the Alphans attending to a distress call from a giant ship adrift in space. What they find there is something far more horrifying than mutated survivors of a nuclear blast. Joan Collins guests as one of the Darians.
The third episode, arguably the series' finest hour, is Dragon's Domain. It tells the story of one of the Alphan crew and his earlier, horrifying encounter with a creature which killed the crew of his exploration ship. No-one ever believed him but now as the Moon drifts near a spaceship graveyard the question arises as to how much truth there is in his story.
The fourth episode, entitled Testament of Arkadia consolidates the idea that their is a higher purpose involved in the Moon's odyssey. Nearing a planet, the Moon is brought to an abrupt halt. As their power is being drained it looks as if their only option is to try and settle on the planet. Initially finding it barren, the Alphans all but give up on the planet only to discover that it hides a great secret.
Four of the finest episodes, great picture quality and sound quality, this DVD also includes the writer's guide for the series. However, there is one flaw which spoils the DVD - the colour for Dragon's Domain is wrong. Everything that is meant to look yellow is orange. Such a shame, since all the other Carlton DVDs are close to perfect.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
Gerry Anderson: the man who never learnt anything
«Fans tend to remember the scientific seriousness of the series [...]» --Jim Gay, Amazon.com.
That's the last straw! Read more
That's the last straw! Read more
Published 1 month ago by Fluminis
5.0 out of 5 stars
Space 1999 series 2
This was a bargain for a great DVD set,its really hard to get,it came in a well packaged box and all the discs play,anything by the great Gerry Anderson it worth paying the... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Stuart Heron
5.0 out of 5 stars
Been too long!
As with other reviews, i saw this when it first came out!
I think Gerry Anderson was a pure visionary, I have Thunderbirds and love his real acting progs like UFO etc. Read more
I think Gerry Anderson was a pure visionary, I have Thunderbirds and love his real acting progs like UFO etc. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Mr. M. V. Vallas
5.0 out of 5 stars
Why are folk so snobby about such a human series!?
just fab! Warm and human, both seasons have much to offer and its a far cry from star trek and does not deserve the cynical comparisons!. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Susan
4.0 out of 5 stars
Just for the record
- Amazon reviewer, Mark Walker ! Barry Morse
was not dull ! Because he was quieter and
had a more studied delivery, he gave the
impression he was thinking before he... Read more
was not dull ! Because he was quieter and
had a more studied delivery, he gave the
impression he was thinking before he... Read more
Published 11 months ago by John Schiltz
3.0 out of 5 stars
Where Are All The Children?
And so, as we are informed by Dr Helena Russell in the opening introduction to almost every episode (emulating a certain Captain Kirk from a different time and production company),... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Nicholas Casley
5.0 out of 5 stars
good old days.
i brought this particular dvd,as two of the films on this dvd i remember as a kid!, great too watch!.
Published 23 months ago by ste
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is like a time machine!
I loved this show as a kid and I still love it as an adult! Seeing this series is like stepping into a time machine. Great! Read more
Published on 20 April 2011 by Berlin Spieler64
1.0 out of 5 stars
Great Box - Poor quality DVD discs
As with all Box sets, it can take a certain amount of time to find errors with discs, especially if it is towards the end. Read more
Published on 18 Mar 2011 by Mr. A. Johnson Short
4.0 out of 5 stars
british science fiction
Space 1999 was a series that was full of excitement, adventure, action, and special effects.
All 24 episodes from the first series are here. Read more
All 24 episodes from the first series are here. Read more
Published on 8 Jan 2011 by Miss M. Potter
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