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Space: 1999 - The Complete First Series [DVD] [1975]
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| Additional DVD options | Edition | Discs | Amazon Price | New from | Used from |
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DVD
14 Nov. 2005 "Please retry" | — | 7 | £59.90 | £21.99 |
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| Format | Box set, PAL |
| Contributor | Charles Crichton, Tom Clegg, Sylvia Anderson, Martin Landau, Ray Austin, David Tomblin |
| Language | English |
| Number of discs | 7 |
| Runtime | 20 hours |
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Product description
September 13th, 1999...a nuclear waste dump on the moon unexpectedly detonates, blasting the moon out of orbit and taking the inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha on a fantastic voyage of discovery to the stars, fraught with danger at every turn. The episodes in this set are taken from High Definition restorations, giving an exceptional level of picture quality - Space: 1999 has never looked better. Special Features - Digitally restored from new High Definition transfers. Newly remixed Dolby 5.1 tracks. Music only tracks on most episodes. Original 'as broadcast' mono track. Alien Attack - Trailer. Journey Through the Black Sun - Trailer. Series One textless generic titles. Barry Gray's theme demo. Alternate opening and closing titles. Martin Landau and Barbara Bain US Premier intro and outro. SFX plates and deleted SFX scenes - with music track. Concept and Creation featurette. Special Effects & Design featurette. These Episodes featurettes (selected individual episode analysis). Text episode commentaries on The Last Sunset and Space Brain. Clapperboard two-part special from 1975 on the work of Gerry Anderson. Selected script PDFs. Commemorative booklet...and much more.
Product details
- Aspect Ratio : Unknown
- Is discontinued by manufacturer : No
- Language : English
- Package Dimensions : 19.2 x 13.9 x 4.7 cm; 340.19 g
- Manufacturer reference : 5027626348540
- Director : Charles Crichton, Ray Austin, Tom Clegg, David Tomblin
- Media Format : Box set, PAL
- Run time : 20 hours
- Release date : 1 Nov. 2010
- Actors : Martin Landau, Sylvia Anderson
- Subtitles: : None
- Language : English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
- Studio : Network
- ASIN : B0042QWWKY
- Country of origin : Austria
- Number of discs : 7
- Best Sellers Rank: 31,105 in DVD & Blu-ray (See Top 100 in DVD & Blu-ray)
- 1,615 in Fantasy (DVD & Blu-ray)
- 2,306 in Science Fiction (DVD & Blu-ray)
- 5,672 in Box Sets (DVD & Blu-ray)
- Customer reviews:
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All 24 episodes from the first series are here. The series was made in 1975 but looks better now than it did back then with its digital restoration. There are some good extras also. It is a lavish presentation.
There are some very original ideas within the stories and it is well written.
Space 1999 was conceived as a sort of British Star Trek by puppet expert Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. The basic premise is that the crew of Moonbase Alpha find themselves stranded in space. On September 13th 1999 a nuclear waste dump on the far side of the moon explodes and the blast causes the moon to be thrust into deepest space. As the moon passes through the galaxy the alphans try to find a new home before their supplies run out. The series starred Martin Landau and Barbara Bain (previously in Mission Impossible).
The series had special effects that drew on the experience of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and their days on previous series such as Thunderbirds and was their second series to blend real actors with models for space craft etc.
The music score is very good and sounds better than ever.
The whole series is pure escapism. It is very far fetched and the acting is not the best in the world, (although Martin Landau and Barbara Bain are very good) but it is just great fun if you don't take it too seriously. It is also pure nostalgia for those who remember it the first time round. And if you are new to it, it still stands up as a good fun science fiction series that could have been made now.
The only thing that dates it is the obvious fact that it has long past the year 1999 and that the clothes are a bit seventies with flared trousers.
However this is a good series and looks fantastic with the wonderful restoration work.
Just to update on my review, the series has been released before and this is the new re packaged version which is very good.
There is a card box, which is nicely presented, and inside that there are two plastic DVD boxes containing the DVDs. Box one has two discs and box two has four discs. Inside those they each have a booklet. One is about the production notes and the other is about the episode guide. There are some good pictures and it is nicely presented. There are still seven discs just the same as the original issue but this issue is Greatly recommended
Now the not so good news. It was filmed in 1973 when special effects techniques were essentially the same as those used in Metropolis in 1926. The acting was often uninspired and the characters were under developed. The basic premise was scientifically unsound to say the least.
Having got that out of the way I must say that I'm glad I forked out some hard earned birthday money for the DVD set. I haven't seen an episode since I car booted my VHS tapes (which were snapped up before I'd unloaded the car). This DVD release was a revelation to me. The sound and picture were both beautifully crisp although the bass notes on the theme tune kept wowing in and out of my centre speaker as though someone was turning a fader control up and down repeatedly. This was less prevalent on later episodes and there was no problem with the dialogue or the incidental music on any episode. (I do have a beef with the incidental music though in that moments of peril are heralded with the melodramatic 'dum dum daaa' motif. This gives these moments of menace a pantomime feel at odds with tone of the rest of the show).
The episodes are spread over 6 discs with some getting a commentary from Gerry Anderson. Extras are on the seventh disc and include 3 mini documentaries by Fanderson, a disappointing interview with Catherine Schell, a two part episode of Clapperboard (old magazine show about film and TV) and some in depth commentary on selected episodes. These add some extra flavour to the show and made me appreciate what Anderson had to contend with to get his show made how he wanted it. There are also two colour booklets in the DVD cases which cover much the same ground.
The series itself was a huge influence on me as a child which is why it gets 4 stars instead of 3. I have fond memories of this show and I used to have a major crush on Barbara Bain. Watching it on DVD was almost like seeing it for the first time. Although I knew the stories I was able to appreciate them anew. The special effects look a little dated now although they were the apogee of the art at the time. This was an age before CGI and even before George Lucas's computer controlled cameras. Most of the effects shots were done `in camera' using wire work, multiple exposures, filters and photographic cut-outs. The model work is beautifully detailed and I never get tired of watching the Eagles flying over the moonscape. The fact that they are attached to wires or poles tends to limit their range of motion although there are some shots where they achieve some surprisingly agile manoeuvres. The shot of Moonbase Alpha sprawled in its crater has scale and grandeur although the DVD definition shows up the fact that the background is a photographic diorama when the camera tracks upwards during the explosion in the Breakaway pilot. The interior sets were extremely impressive although the instrumentation in Main Mission is a little sparse. It is also obvious that many of the keyboards have no alphanumeric characters - how do the personnel know what they are pressing? Having said that, the level of detail is pretty good and the Eagle cockpits are excellent.
Gerry Anderson's talents as a futurist are mixed. He envisioned a believable base serviced by unique and quirkily designed spacecraft but Doctor Russell uses a manual typewriter. The computer is vast and communicates mainly by printing on till rolls. Bergman uses a slide rule; no one is seen with a calculator even though they were developed for the NASA missions and available in shops by the time of filming. However I found myself ignoring the incongruities and just enjoying the stories.
I mentioned the quality of the acting. To be fair to the actors, the characters are under written and never really developed throughout the series. You never really get a sense that these are real people with lives, loves and interests. Acting honours go to Barry Morse and Nick Tate as the most naturalistic. I hadn't realised just how tactile Morse was, touching backs, arms, shoulders, even leaning on Clifton Jones at one point as he expounds his theories. Barbara Bain and Martin Landau put in good performances too although Bain is frequently icy and distant and Landau is prone to gurning during scenes of high emotion. The other characters don't really get much opportunity to prove their acting chops. They're fine when reading out coordinates or feeding lines to the stars but struggle when asked to display extremes of emotion. This made it all the more of a surprise to me to see how sparky and personable Zienia Merton was in the interviews on the extras disc.
There is an upside to the 70s acting in that the dialogue is enunciated very well unlike the ultra realistic mumbling that graces shows of today. This is a boon to people like me who are getting a mite deef in their old age.
The guest stars all acquit themselves well, unsurprisingly given the talent involved. Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Ian McShane, Joan Collins, Leo McKern and Brian Blessed all crop up to raise the bar for the regulars.
Space 1999 is often quoted as being a cerebral show and I suppose it is in some ways. However, some of the dialogue contains real howlers. An alien weapon is surmised to be `some kind of magnetic ultrasonic device'. Really?? Methinks the writer just strung together two unrelated terms to sound vaguely scientific. And how would an ultrasonic device work in the vacuum of space? Most of the episodes have unrealised potential, they lack depth, motivation and natural interaction between characters. The show might have benefited from being guest written by some actual sci fi writers.
On the subject of aliens, all the alien races the Alphans meet seem to be refugees from a glam rock festival. Much reliance is placed on face paint, silver wigs, glittery costumes and unfeasible hats. Yet some of the make up used for corpses and injuries is quite gruesome and wouldn't disgrace an episode of CSI. Why couldn't that talent be used to render some of the aliens more alien? Having said that, the Alphans also encounter two living brains, a cybernetic spaceship, a deadly many-tentacled parasite and God as well as future versions of themselves. Throughout the series they remain babes in the wood struggling to comprehend and handle the beings and phenomena they encounter. This to me is more believable than the all conquering humans in Star Trek.
My favourite episodes are Collision Course, Dragon's Domain and The Infernal Machine. I've rambled on for far too long to give a synopsis of these episodes; you'll have to buy the box set for yourself if you want to know how they turn out.
In summary, this is a superb box set, well worth buying if you're a fan. If not, it's still worth a look, as long as you can handle the lack of CGI and all the accoutrements of modern sci fi. In my opinion there's not really been anything like it before or since. It has huge potential for a reimagining along the lines of Battlestar Galactica.
Top reviews from other countries
A bit on the dramatic side, but still thought provoking and fun.
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