Good story, Not enough for a whole film

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Blistering performances.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

I remember this being far more intelligent when I was about thirteen...It hasn't weathered the rigors of time very well. Most of the scientific concepts in this series were flawed when the show first came out. An explosion that would slowly hurl the moon out of orbit without killing most of the occupants of the moon base is a good start. The occupants of the moon-base being crushed by g-forces while a pilot above the same moon and accelerating just as fast is non-plussed... and the worst: The moon, which is pretty much unsteerable, is headed for a mystery planet? You'd have a better chance of flying into the butt of a giant unicorn...One the other hand, Baine and Landau are terrific actors. So, as they read these lines that make even those of us with a spattering of education in the sciences wince, they are doing it quite well. I'm of two minds with this one...

Summer 1975, Sac State, otherwise known as CSU or "College Greens", the second of Sacramento's Star Trek conventions is held, and I'm there. I sit up in the theatre and witness the blooper reel, the costume contest, the trivia show challenge.Then the MC says that there was a Space 1999 convention next door, and there are lots of "boos", at which point the MC then states that all of six people showed up, at which point the theatre erupts in laughter.I only knew Space 1999 by reputation, but I tried to watch it a few years after that convention, and I really couldn't get into it. I tried several times more, but in spite of what I would characterize as better special effects and very high production values in terms of costumes, sets and so forth (acting still sides with Trek), the show didn't grab me like Trek, even though the show was in sync stylistically with the 1970s. I tried watching it again and again, but it never grabbed my attention, and after all these years I finally know why. The show, for all of the money ITC and the BBC dumped into it, because the sets and SFX are really top notch for the period, there is a lack of scientific voracity that Star Trek had that Space 1999 lacked. Trek really attempted to explain what it was that Kirk and crew were facing by way of the characters talking and discovering the nature of the challenge or threat. Space 1999 has some of that, but is not as thorough, and even though Biehn as the doctor, Landau as the Commander, and the science head Victor, give us an audience friendly experience, we're still left wondering about the pragmatic details of the base, and to this end how the stories will be resolved with the base's capabilities (of which we are ignorant).And watching the series again the writing isn't quite complete. There are some loopholes in the plots. In short, the show is not as smart as it could have been.This is really puzzling because Doctor Who, another British sci-fi show that was campy in both the SFX and overall production values department, had extremely strong stories that made sense and were well vetted. The drama in Space 1999 assumes that all of mankind's problems are psychological, and I think most people, including very smart sci-fi TV viewing audience, know that that just isn't so.Still, the show is a solid production. I really hated to bring in the classic Trek-ver-Space1999 rivalry in this review, but I believe it important to point out why it was that Space 1999 never reached the kind of legendary status that Trek did. Space 1999's issues stem from the start; there's little to no explanation of how the moon-base is going to survive and thrive; no explanation of industry; no explanation of how food is generated, no explanation of how they keep themselves stocked with a seemingly endless supply of Eagles (spacecraft). The idea being that the presentation will outweigh the plot and story shortcomings.They don't, and so the Trek snobbery pervaded for many many years.Again, re-watching it in my middle aged years, I'm still not as forgiving as I was way back in 1975. And the reason is that where Doctor Who was written by people with a science and criminology or law enforcement background (same for classic Star Trek), this show was written strictly by psychologists, again with the idea that all our problems are "within ourselves". Again, that's not so, QED, and as such Space 1999 falls a few shades of being a really good sci-fi program.As such, in my opinion, this does make it a bit of a chore to watch. It's interesting as a nostalgia blast, and it is interesting to look at, but the writing hasn't changed any.Make of that what you will.

On commemorating the 40th anniversary of this show this was at its time science fiction television of the highest order and it was an incredible blend of spectacular special effects,amazing sets along with some of the most fantastic,even metaphysical/mystical stories that put you in with the action amongst the wonders and horrors the Alphas were facing in the far reaches of outer space. The short-lived award winning science fiction series "SPACE:1999" was created and produced by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson who also served as executive producers of the series. The series was the last production by the partnership of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and when it premiered in 1975 was the most expensive science fiction series produced for British television at the time it was made at a cost of $300,000 per episode. The first season was co-produced by the British television company ITC Productions and the Italian production company RAI Productions. The second season was produced only by ITC Productions. Before this series was made the partnership of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson were known for their children's action-adventure programs including "Fireball XL-5", "Stingray", "Thunderbirds!",and "Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons",and for there live-action produced shows that included the science-fiction drama "UFO",and their only live- action espionage/crime-drama series "The Protectors". "SPACE:1999" was originally pitched in the United States to all three major television networks(ABC,NBC,& CBS) with NBC expressing interest in the series as a mid-season replacement. As a result,all three major television networks rejected the offer. The series ended up in the United States shown in first-run national syndication for two seasons producing 48 episodes in color from September 4,1975 until November 12,1977. Out of the 48 episodes that this series produced, a total of 24 episodes were made from September 4,1975 until February 12,1976. Season 2 also produced 24 episodes in it's final season airing from September 4,1976 until November 12,1977. Gerry and Sylvia Anderson were executive producers throughout it's entire run. Former "Star Trek" producer Fred Freiburger was the producer for all of Season 2 and for all 24 episodes in it's final season.The British produced series starred Martin Landau and Barbara Bain(of "Mission:Impossible" fame),and Canadian actor Barry Morse(of Quinn Martin's "The Fugitive") along with co-stars Nick Tate and Zienia Merton. Throughout the series entire run only actors Martin Landau and Barbara Bain along with Nick Tate and Zienia Merton remained with the exception of Barry Morse who appeared in all 24 episodes of Season 1. In the series second and final season actor Barry Morse was replaced by Catherine Schell. Also added to the cast for Season 2 were actors Tony Anholt, John Hug, and Jeffrey Kissoon. "SPACE:1999" drew a great deal of visual inspiration and technical expertise from Stanley Kubrick's 1968 theatrical film "2001: A Space Odyssey" along with the show's special effects director Brian Johnson who had previously worked on the "Thunderbirds!" television series and on Kubrick's theatrical film. To basically get the idea of what "SPACE:1999" was about requires heavy viewing in spite of this was out of the ordinary when it came out in 1975. Season 1 of the series is highly recommended and I would highly recommend seeing the pilot episode "Breakaway" which sets the tone for what was to come. The original 24 episodes from Season 1 that were to follow were into a magnificent journey into the unknown reaches of space that gave viewers a retrospective that no other television series of this period has seen before or since. It was Britian's answer to "Star Trek" and "Lost In Space". An grand astounding achievement when it came out during the mid-1970's. The other episodes that stood out from Season 1 of the series were "A Matter of Life and Death", "Dragon's Domain", "End of Eternity", "Earthbound", "The Testament of Arkadia", "The Last Sunset", "Mission of the Darians", "Space Brain", and "The Alpha Child" just to name a few. The second and final season of the series also had some good episodes ranging from the two-part "The Bringers of Wonder", to other Season 2 episodes that followed included "Dorzak", "The Journey to Where", "The Immunity Syndrome", "The Metamorph", "The Seed of Destruction", "The Dorcons",and "The AB Chrysalis" and even "The Rules of Luton" were just a few of the good episodes in its second and final season. The rest of the episodes from Season 2 did not hold their own as the series basically stoop to the level of a Saturday Morning cartoon show. The guest stars ranged from some of the best British actors in the business ranging from Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Joan Collins, Sarah Douglas, Jeremy Kemp and Peter Bowles. When it was canceled in the fall of 1977 the series continued in syndicated repeats for some United States network affilate stations(where it was shown on late nights and weekends) until March of 1978.

The UK critic Leslie Halliwell called this "'Star Trek' in all but name" and it's not hard to see why. As with the iconic 60s show, the rank or function of the various characters is indicated by the color of part of their clothing and much of the action takes place in a room dominated by a large screen. The lead characters are the sturdy commander, a scientist, the doctor, and a manly type, just as before. By 1975, "Star Trek" was long gone from our screens, except in syndication, and no quality sci-fi show had yet taken its place on TV. The time must have seemed propitious for another show of the kind.So ITC came up with this. In 1999, as portrayed in the show, the moon is being used as a dump for the waste generated by the nuclear power stations that keep Earth going. Problems arise, resulting in the biggest of those dumps exploding in such a way that the moon is sent flying off into deep space. Along for the ride are 300 or so people on Moonbase Alpha who must now fend for themselves against anything that space throws at them.I am told that such an explosion would shatter the moon rather than send it out of orbit, but I think I could swallow that goof if it were the only one and the show were otherwise acceptable. Unfortunately, there are so many things wrong with this that it's hard to know where to start. Sticking with the physics for a moment, the moon is shown moving between solar systems and even galaxies in a matter of days. OK, the USS Enterprise did this, but at least it had engines. How does the moon manage it?Some of the individual episodes work (my personal favorite is "War Games", where Alpha is seemingly devastated by an alien attack), but most don't, having resort to things like séances and crew members being taken over by the spirits of stars or long dead ancestors! Most episodes involve Alphans being killed, yet the base never seems short on people, although replacements are impossible to come by. And, just as with Star Trek's red shirts (the security personnel whose main role was to act as cannon fodder – four of them bite the dust in the episode "The Apple"), it is the purple-sleeved security guards who make up a disproportionate share of the victims.Meanwhile, the attempt to recreate the charming interplay between Star Trek's main characters falls flat on its face, a fact all the more remarkable when you consider that two of the leads , Martin Landau (Commander Koenig) and Barbara Bain (Doctor Russell), were married to each other at the time the show was made. Meanwhile, the "scientist" (Victor Bergman, played by Barry Morse) rarely seems to know anything and is reduced to spouting generalities. Only the "manly type", pilot Alan Carter, played by the ever reliable Nick Tate, gets it more or less right.Perhaps the worst mistake of all was the revamp carried out between seasons 1 and 2. Moonbase Alpha is scarcely recognizable as the same place. Some of the characters we know from the first season - Victor Bergman is one - have gone, without our being told why, while new ones appear with equally little attempt at explanation. The episodes, however, remain just as silly. Did nobody look at the title of "The Rules of Luton" and realize it just wouldn't work?On the plus side, the sets and model work are mostly good as is the music. Some of the guest appearances are striking too, notably that of Jeremy Kemp in the better-than-average episode "Voyager's Return". Despite everything, I have an odd affection for the show, especially the first season. But someone once said that it takes good science fact to make good science fiction. By breaking that, and other, rules way too often, this effort proves that sage individual right.Rating: 5/10