What a prophetic show. Although it sorta missed the mark on 1999 being the year the moon blows out, it did predict that teeny bikinis & bellbottoms would come back in style.
This is probably the most conservative scifi show that ever made it to prime time. By "conservative" I mean "realistic". There aren't a lot of 3-headed aliens, space wars & planet-deafening laser guns like we may see in other scifi shows of the time. Instead, we get a much more realistic (yet every bit as dramatic) portrayal of the near future.
In the 40s, 50s and 60s, scifi was synonymous with campy cheese. Then in 1969, Stanley Kubrick hit us with the masterpiece "2001" whose minimalistic, sterile & psychological approach made us suddenly take the future seriously.
Here we have a TV series that followed Kubrick's lead admirably. Visuals are very 2001-ish: bright white, somewhat cold and clinical. Themes are equally provocative, touching on mindbending concepts of physics (like the Unified Field Theory, summarized as "Everything is everything else") and momentary glimpses into theology & the question of whether there is a greater intelligence guiding us. Like "2001", therein lies the power of this show. It touches on the most unanswerable questions of existence, presenting certain possibilities without being too sure about itself.
By not-knowing, it makes everything seem plausible. The characters aren't a bunch of hotshots who always save the day with the right answers. Rather, they often make catastrophic mistakes as they stumble through uncharted territory with no control over their situation. It's a very humble approach to scifi.
The star, Martin Landau said it best in a recent interview: "I like the idea of (the moon) going off into space and not being able to control the trajectory. Star Trek is years in the future; they can run around and do what they want. But the moon has 300 people onboard, and we can't procreate, we can just support ... and we can't steer this thing. We're not emotionally and/or technologically able to do that if we wanted to ... It's an accident and we're not ready for it."
Again, going back to 2001 (which, if you haven't guessed, is one of my fave movies), it establishes the same Kubrickian philosophy that we are stumbling through space, awkwardly trying to find our footing, making mistakes but trying to learn and evolve while surviving. Isn't that that the whole point of life?
Enough pseudo-philosophy. This show is just plain freaking cool. Created by miniature-model-experts Gerry & Syliva Anderson, the spaceships, moonbase and moon scenery are extremely impressive. Sure, there may be a cheesy 70s effect here or there, but for the most part everything is convincing enough to maintain your suspension of disbelief. Music is really cool, too, and I'm not just talking about the awesome 1st season themesong. For example, the episode "Dragon's Domain" is notable for its use of the haunting classical piece Albinoni's Adagio in G minor (used also in the 1976 scifi masterpiece "Rollerball").
Be forewarned, when Space:1999 switched from season 1 to season 2, there were some major changes. Overall it became much less cerebral, much more action-oriented (that's a nice way of saying "cheesy"). While most die-hard fans cling to season 1 as the definitive Space:1999, I think season 2 had some really cool episodes too. But I think it's best to start with season 1. If your time is limited, check out the episodes "Breakaway", "Black Sun", "Earthbound", "The Infernal Machine". And if you want a really trippy Dali-esque surreal experience, try "The Missing Link".
Love it or hate it, you'll have to agree it's like no other scifi TV series you've ever seen!
This is probably the most conservative scifi show that ever made it to prime time. By "conservative" I mean "realistic". There aren't a lot of 3-headed aliens, space wars & planet-deafening laser guns like we may see in other scifi shows of the time. Instead, we get a much more realistic (yet every bit as dramatic) portrayal of the near future.
In the 40s, 50s and 60s, scifi was synonymous with campy cheese. Then in 1969, Stanley Kubrick hit us with the masterpiece "2001" whose minimalistic, sterile & psychological approach made us suddenly take the future seriously.
Here we have a TV series that followed Kubrick's lead admirably. Visuals are very 2001-ish: bright white, somewhat cold and clinical. Themes are equally provocative, touching on mindbending concepts of physics (like the Unified Field Theory, summarized as "Everything is everything else") and momentary glimpses into theology & the question of whether there is a greater intelligence guiding us. Like "2001", therein lies the power of this show. It touches on the most unanswerable questions of existence, presenting certain possibilities without being too sure about itself.
By not-knowing, it makes everything seem plausible. The characters aren't a bunch of hotshots who always save the day with the right answers. Rather, they often make catastrophic mistakes as they stumble through uncharted territory with no control over their situation. It's a very humble approach to scifi.
The star, Martin Landau said it best in a recent interview: "I like the idea of (the moon) going off into space and not being able to control the trajectory. Star Trek is years in the future; they can run around and do what they want. But the moon has 300 people onboard, and we can't procreate, we can just support ... and we can't steer this thing. We're not emotionally and/or technologically able to do that if we wanted to ... It's an accident and we're not ready for it."
Again, going back to 2001 (which, if you haven't guessed, is one of my fave movies), it establishes the same Kubrickian philosophy that we are stumbling through space, awkwardly trying to find our footing, making mistakes but trying to learn and evolve while surviving. Isn't that that the whole point of life?
Enough pseudo-philosophy. This show is just plain freaking cool. Created by miniature-model-experts Gerry & Syliva Anderson, the spaceships, moonbase and moon scenery are extremely impressive. Sure, there may be a cheesy 70s effect here or there, but for the most part everything is convincing enough to maintain your suspension of disbelief. Music is really cool, too, and I'm not just talking about the awesome 1st season themesong. For example, the episode "Dragon's Domain" is notable for its use of the haunting classical piece Albinoni's Adagio in G minor (used also in the 1976 scifi masterpiece "Rollerball").
Be forewarned, when Space:1999 switched from season 1 to season 2, there were some major changes. Overall it became much less cerebral, much more action-oriented (that's a nice way of saying "cheesy"). While most die-hard fans cling to season 1 as the definitive Space:1999, I think season 2 had some really cool episodes too. But I think it's best to start with season 1. If your time is limited, check out the episodes "Breakaway", "Black Sun", "Earthbound", "The Infernal Machine". And if you want a really trippy Dali-esque surreal experience, try "The Missing Link".
Love it or hate it, you'll have to agree it's like no other scifi TV series you've ever seen!