Space: 1999 (30th Anniversary Edition Megaset)
by Kevin Connor, Val Guest, Bob Brooks (III), Robert Lynn (II)
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DVD details
Actor: Barbara Bain, Barry Morse, Catherine Schell, Martin Landau, Nick TateDirector: Bob Brooks (III), Kevin Connor, Robert Lynn (II), Val Guest
Brand: A&E
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 2496 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-07-31
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: A&E Home Video
Product features:
- The year is 44 B.C. Julius Caesar has been assassinated and civil war threatens to destroy the Republic. In the void left by Caesar's demise, egos clash and numerous players jockey for position. The brutally ambitious Mark Antony attempts to solidify his power, aligning himself with Atia, but coming to blows with her cunning son Octavian, who has been anointed in Caesar's will as his only
DVD Reviews of Space: 1999 (30th Anniversary Edition Megaset)
DVD Review: Entertaining, But Show Suffered from Unbelievable Physics, Insufficiently Developed Characters & Poor Writing
Summary: 3 Stars
"Space 1999" was a mid-1970's sci-fi television series that lasted for two seasons with a 1-year hiatus in between the two. The brainchild of Gerry & Sylvia Anderson, "Space 1999" was their second live-action TV series that followed their earlier live-action TV series "UFO" (1969-1970) and several TV series that used marionettes, including the very popular show "The Thunderbirds".
The primary fictional plot of "Space: 1999" was unusual to say the least: following years of mankind using Earth's moon as an off-world storage facility for nuclear waste, a massive explosion occurs at one of the waste facilities that supposedly provides sufficient force to cause the moon to escape not only the Earth's gravity, but the Sun's gravity as well, and head into deep space at an extreme speed so that over the course of the series, the moon can travel through an assortment of star systems with inhabitable planets and alien life. To monitor & manage the nuclear waste sites and carry out scientific experiments, a manned lunar base was created called "Moonbase Alpha" with a population of slightly over 300 personnel, including Commander John Keonig (Martin Landau) and Doctor Helena Russell (Barbara Bain). In the show's premiere episode in which the massive explosion occurs, Commander Keonig makes the decision that rather than try to evacuate Moonbase Aphla and return to Earth (which is rapidly getting farther away), that the occupants of Moonbase Alpha should remain on the moon for an unknown fate in deep space.
Naturally, there are several basic problems with this plot. Before proceeding, let us consider the physics involved in reaching escape velocity. In order for an object in orbit around a more massive object to reach escape velocity, it must have a sufficient increase in energy. Earth's moon orbits the Earth at approximately 2286 mph relative to the Earth; but the Earth orbits the sun at roughly 66,542 mph. If the moon left Earth orbit, it would need an escape velocity equivalent to 3233 mph relative to the Earth (an increase in speed of 947 mph); but this would only place the moon into a new orbit around the Sun. So, to leave the Solar System entirely, the moon would need to reach a speed of roughly 94,105 mph, or an increase in speed of roughly 27,563 mph. So, the amount of energy that would be required to increase the moon's speed from an average of 66,542 mph to 94,105 mph relative to the sun would be roughly equivalent to 7,783,000,000,000,000 megatons of TNT, which is considerably more than the combined yield of every nuclear bomb currently on the Earth being detonated at the same time. Alternatively, if the moon ejected part of its mass, it would also have an increase in velocity. To reach an escape speed of 94,105 mph relative to the sun, it would need to loose approximately 29% of its current mass. Of course, either the explosion or mass ejection would need to occur at a precise location of the moon relative to the Earth & Sun and in a relative direction to both.
So, taking the above physics into account, if a massive explosion occurred with sufficient force to allow the moon to escape not only the Earth's gravity, but the Sun's as well, such an explosion would either probably destroy the moon in the process, or, at the very least, would leave a massive crater since the nuclear waste stockpiles were below ground. However, in "Space 1999", all views of the moon following the explosion never show a massive crater, nor do they indicate that the Earth was ever bombarded with ejected lunar material following the explosion.
Next, let's consider the moon's velocity. If the moon left the Earth and Solar System at a speed of roughly 94,105 mph, it would take the moon thousands of years before it reached the next nearest star (Alpha Centauri), which is roughly 4.5 lightyears away. So, in order for the moon to periodically visit planets orbiting other stars (within weeks or months of each visit), the moon would have to be traveling at a speed approaching the speed of light (approximately 186,000 miles per second) between visits (so that time dilation causes the moon's inhabitants to see little time passage), but then slow way down to give the moon's inhabitants time to visit the alien planets. Or, perhaps the moon is traveling through multiple wormholes conveniently positioned so that the entrance & exit points always occur near inhabited alien planets.
So, in order for the moon in "Space: 1999" to leave Earth's orbit completely intact after a massive explosion and regularly visit inhabited alien planets orbitting distant stars within weeks & months of each other, some very unbelievable physics would have to occur. Next, given the moon's inhabitants only number around 311 individuals and given that 1 or 2 people usually get killed in each episode, the moon's population after two seasons (48 episodes) would be closer to 230 people; but this decrease in population is never discussed during the show. Next, there are the spacecraft used by the moon's inhabitants. Called "Eagles", the spaceships are not particularly stable in design as they are held together only by a long metal grid along the top of each craft. Amazingly, when the middle passenger compartment is released, the ship remains completely stable even though it's just a long metal grid holding the cockpit on one end and the main engines on the other. If this ship was actually constructed, it is not likely to survive traveling through a planet's atmosphere, especially during re-entry. Further, if the moon is traveling near the speed of light in order to travel between stars light years apart in a matter of weeks or months, the Eagles would need to be faster-than-light vehicles; but since they appear to use chemical propellant, faster-than-light travel with such small fuel tanks appears highly unlikely. Again, unbelievable physics comes into play.
As a child, I enjoyed watching "Space: 1999"; but given that it was only on for two seasons (with very different casts between seasons), it's obvious that not many people were interested in watching the show. In comparison with the original "Star Trek" series which also had some rather remarkable physics occurring, the extraordinary physics in "Star Trek" is far more explainable than what was being shown in "Space: 1999". So, given that "Space: 1999" was not particularly believable from a scientific perspective, did it make up for poor physics with strong character development or excellent writing? Sadly, the answer to both of these questions is generally "no". Commander Keonig was not particularly approachable and Doctor Russell was often quite strange. The most interesting character was during the show's first season (1975-1976): the aging scientist Prof. Victor Bergman (Barry Morse). Unfortunately, he was replaced with the shape-shifting alien character Maya (Catherine Schell) during the second season (1977-1978) following its one-year hiatus. Sadly, the majority of minor cast characters that added depth to the show during its first season did not return for the second season. One of the few minor characters that did return was Eagle pilot Alan Carter (Nick Tate). Minor character Sandra Benes (Zienia Merton) appeared in some second season episodes, but was in virtually every first-season episode. Because the second season had fewer regular characters than the first, it's writing was geared primarily around the few regular characters, which included Subcommander Tony Verdeschi (Tony Anholt), who became romantically involved with Maya. The love interest between Keonig & RUssell was often downplayed during the first season, but became more apparent in the second season. The cast's uniforms & overall appearance of Moonbase Alpha were quite different from the first season with a lot more color. Where they found the time & resources on Moonbase Alpha to make such improvements was never explained during the second season.
As an interesting side note, what many "Space: 1999" viewers never knew was that Moonbase Alpha was originally intended to be an improved moonbase for the planned second season of the Andersons' earlier live-action show "UFO". However, the Anderson's decided to abandon the more interesting plotline & characters in "UFO" for the less believable "Space: 1999" plot line. For those unfamiliar with "UFO", it was about a fictitious secret agency named SHADO whose purpose was to defend Earth & humanity from mysterious aliens bent on kidnapping humans and using them either as robotic slaves or spare parts. SHADO defended Earth from a small moonbase with several armed spaceships, as well as specialized submarines, ground assault vehicles & aircraft on Earth itself. In my opinion, character development in "UFO" was greatly superior to that of "Space: 1999" and the individual episodes were also far more interesting & entertaining.
That being said, the most notable first season episodes in "Space: 1999" were "Breakaway", "War Games", "Voyager's Return", "Alpha Child", "Dragon's Domain", "Mission of the Darians", "Black Sun", "The Guardian of Piri", "End of Eternity", "Earthbound", "Another Time, Another Place", "The Infernal Machine", "Ring Around the Moon", "The Last Sunset", "The Testament of Arcadia" and "The Last Enemy". The most notable second season episodes were "The Exiles", "AB Chysalis", "The Bringers of Wonder Parts 1 & 2" and "The Immunity Syndrome". As this list of episodes implies, the second season was far less interesting than the first.
Picture and sound quality on the "Space: 1999" DVD's has been very good. Some longer scenes that were not originally aired in the U.S. don't always maintain the same high picture & sound quality. If you are considering purchase of this repackaged set of "Space: 1999", then this would be the set to purchase given it's much lower price. Overall, I give the "Space: 1999" TV series 3 out of 5 stars.
Description of Space: 1999 (30th Anniversary Edition Megaset)
All 48 episodes of this acclaimed space adventure are contained in this complete collection, digitally remastered from the original 35mm film, plus bonus footage, featured extras, and much more! With its progressive plotlines, an outstanding cast, and astonishing special effects from Oscar® winner Brian Johnson (Alien, The Empire Strikes Back), SPACE: 1999 has secured its place as one of the most thought-provoking series of the 21st century?and beyond.When it was first broadcast in 1975, there had never been a more lavishly produced science fiction TV series than Space: 1999, a British production whose budget for the first of its two seasons ran an astounding £3.25 million. What keeps us fans enthralled after all these years has only partly to due 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 sci-fi predecessors such as Star Trek, whose mood was more convivial. Our heroes here are in dire circumstances that require cool heads as a survival trait. Those circumstances: 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, turning 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; it 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 traveling 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 that the crew members encounter on their journey through the galaxy.
The Space: 1999 30th Anniversary Mega Set collects all 48 episodes broadcast over the show's two seasons, contained on 17 DVDs that include vintage interviews, production stills, TV promotional spots, and interactive menus, and some material that was not seen in the original U.S. broadcasts has been restored. The episodes do not use the 2005 high-def remasters, so this is essentially the same as the 2002 Mega Set, but at a fraction of the shelf space (the Thinpak packaging is nicely compact) and a fraction of the price. --Jim Gay
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