I remember seeing this series as a young tot. Back then I was all agog over the cool techno toys, like the Skydiver sub and Interceptor and the Moonbase Interceptors...and of course those way cool spinning top UFO's themselves.
After having purchased the first volume of the series on DVD (the first 13 episodes - haven't seen volume two with the remainder of the show's one and only season yet), I now realize that there was much more to this show than cool gadgets and eye-popping costumes (glittery silver skin-tight jumpsuits and purple go-go wigs....yowza!).
In the time between the original viewing and looking back on it now, I've also taken in 'Babylon 5', all the various 'Trek' incarnations and just about every sci-fi movie you care to name. It's interesting now to note just how much influence this series has had on, oh say, 'Babylon 5' (in-depth analysis of how politics play an important part in all our lives, even in the rarified world of S/F, for example...).
It's also interesting to note how this series has itself been influenced by other sources. For example, this series was created in 1970. '2001: A Space Odyssey' came out 2 years prior. Listen to the music during the closing credits of each episode of UFO and tell me Barry Gray wasn't influenced by Kubrick's use of the music of Gyorgi Ligeti in '2001'....
The overall tone of this series has also helped it to stand the test of time. Much of the sci-fi prior to UFO was, shall we say, shiny and happy, including much of Gerry Anderson's previous series. The only one I was familiar with prior to first seeing UFO was, of course, 'The Thunderbirds'.
UFO was obviously darker and more weighty in themes than The Thunderbirds. After all, Thunderbirds was primarily targeted at kids, whereas UFO was, I think, aimed at a more mature audience.
Regardless of the silly costumes (by today's standards of course...who knows, maybe a lot of this stuff will be back in style in a couple of seasons...?), the trippy psychedelic music-of-another-era and the obvious '70's production values (everything perfectly lit...even on the surface of the moon), this series still holds up today, in my humble opinion. The effects, although somewhat crude compared to today's sophisticated CGI standards, were quite impressive for the time and still look quite good. Just the mere fact that you can hardly make out the wires was a major feat back in those days!
UFO never had as large an audience as 'The Thunderbirds' or 'Space:1999' (the logical progression forward from the premise of UFO), but in some ways, it's far less silly and far more entertaining and engaging than many of the other series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson.
After having purchased the first volume of the series on DVD (the first 13 episodes - haven't seen volume two with the remainder of the show's one and only season yet), I now realize that there was much more to this show than cool gadgets and eye-popping costumes (glittery silver skin-tight jumpsuits and purple go-go wigs....yowza!).
In the time between the original viewing and looking back on it now, I've also taken in 'Babylon 5', all the various 'Trek' incarnations and just about every sci-fi movie you care to name. It's interesting now to note just how much influence this series has had on, oh say, 'Babylon 5' (in-depth analysis of how politics play an important part in all our lives, even in the rarified world of S/F, for example...).
It's also interesting to note how this series has itself been influenced by other sources. For example, this series was created in 1970. '2001: A Space Odyssey' came out 2 years prior. Listen to the music during the closing credits of each episode of UFO and tell me Barry Gray wasn't influenced by Kubrick's use of the music of Gyorgi Ligeti in '2001'....
The overall tone of this series has also helped it to stand the test of time. Much of the sci-fi prior to UFO was, shall we say, shiny and happy, including much of Gerry Anderson's previous series. The only one I was familiar with prior to first seeing UFO was, of course, 'The Thunderbirds'.
UFO was obviously darker and more weighty in themes than The Thunderbirds. After all, Thunderbirds was primarily targeted at kids, whereas UFO was, I think, aimed at a more mature audience.
Regardless of the silly costumes (by today's standards of course...who knows, maybe a lot of this stuff will be back in style in a couple of seasons...?), the trippy psychedelic music-of-another-era and the obvious '70's production values (everything perfectly lit...even on the surface of the moon), this series still holds up today, in my humble opinion. The effects, although somewhat crude compared to today's sophisticated CGI standards, were quite impressive for the time and still look quite good. Just the mere fact that you can hardly make out the wires was a major feat back in those days!
UFO never had as large an audience as 'The Thunderbirds' or 'Space:1999' (the logical progression forward from the premise of UFO), but in some ways, it's far less silly and far more entertaining and engaging than many of the other series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson.