7.6 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.1 |
In the year 1999, a spectacular explosion at a nuclear waste dump sends the moon out of Earth's orbit.
Starring: Martin Landau, Barbara Bain, Nick Tate, Barry Morse, Catherine SchellSci-Fi | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.33:1
English: DTS 5.1
English: Dolby Digital Mono
None
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Seven-disc set (5 BDs, 2 DVDs)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
The early to mid-1970s were a tough time for science fiction fans who wanted episodic television fare, not to mention major feature films, to regularly whet their appetite. Lost in Space and Star Trek had long since toddled off the airwaves, and since the glut of cable channels had yet to become a consumer choice, only those fans who were lucky enough to live in a (usually) major market where some old show was syndicated could still get their fix of Kirk, Spock and Bones or, alternatively, the Space Family Robinson. Irwin Allen managed to hang on (just barely) into the 1970s with his short-lived Land of the Giants, before leaving to pursue the disaster film with a vengeance. And though there were fitful successes (sometimes critical, sometimes—though not often—box office) at the cineplex in the sci-fi genre (Westworld, Silent Running), the early to mid-1970s were really a pretty sad era filled with a glut of Planet of the Apes sequels and other films that really were more redolent of B-moves of the late 1950s a lot of the time. And so as strange as it may seem now, though producer-creator Gerry Anderson is probably best remembered for his slate of “Supermarionation” series like Thunderbirds!, Anderson was nonetheless hailed as at least a potential hero by sci-fi fans when he announced what was then a big budget, internationally cast television series called Space: 1999. Would it be another Star Trek? Or more like its campier cousin Lost in Space? How would the still then groundbreaking special effects wizardry of films like 2001: A Space Odyssey influence the look of the series? The fact that Anderson got any PR traction at all on this show is something of a miracle to begin with, as he never sold it to what were in those days the only three venues available, the trio of broadcast networks. Instead Anderson pursued the then revolutionary approach of putting together his own Space: 1999 syndicated network to carry the series. In some markets, that meant major players affiliated with top rated networks, affiliates who actually forsook the network programming to offer Anderson’s series. In many other markets, Space: 1999 was consigned to the independent stations the bulk of whose programming usually consisted in old reruns of canceled network fare.
Space: 1999 looks crisp and clean in this new Blu-ray edition, delivered via an AVC codec in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and given a full 1080p transfer. Don't believe everything you read on the internet (except here at Blu-ray.com, of course): this show has not had its aspect ratio tampered with as did A&E's recent release of the 1970s British documentary The World at War. (Some of the supplements on the SD- DVDs are indeed anamorphically enhanced to 16:9, but the original series itself is still resolutely 4:3). The best thing about the image quality here is the color saturation and the incredible black levels. While there is some variation throughout the 24 episodes of this first season, over all the palette is robust and brilliantly displayed here. What may disappoint some modern day viewers not previously acquainted with this series is its penchants toward beiges and whites, but if you look around, there are some wonderfully bright reds, green, blues and greens dotting the landscape, especially in some of the alien worlds the Moonbase Alpha residents visit. The SFX work, aside from some of the unfortunate miniatures, looks very good in hi-def, and the black levels of the outer space segments are reference quality (this show was innovative in its use of high contrast, something that was not the norm for episodic television back then). Sharpness and clarity are very good, though this has a somewhat textureless appearance of video, so the image itself can be "surface only," so to speak, with little filmic depth.
A&E has given us a repurposed 5.1 mix for this new Blu-ray edition of Space: 1999, but it is not a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix. It is instead a standard DTS 5.1 mix. Truth be told, there isn't stupendous surround activity here for large swaths of any given episode, but when it does appear, it's handled quite nicely. Typically the surrounds come into play in the FX sequences, when a spaceship's whoosh pans through the soundfield. The tubular "horizontal elevator" that our heroes transport themselves around in also has some nice panning effects associated with it. LFE here is very good, with some spectacular explosions occurring in several episodes. Dialogue and underscore are almost always anchored in the front channels and are decently mixed. I have problems with the score to this series anyway, so the less I could hear it, the better I liked the show. There is no noticeable damage on any of the stems used to give us a repurposed 5.1 track, and there's really no egregious compression here despite the age of the original source elements. A&E has provided the original mono tracks for each episode (as well as music only tracks for all but two episodes), albeit in lossy Dolby, but purists may well want to opt for that original experience.
This 7 disc set contains 5 BDs and 2 SD-DVDs, and extras are included on all the discs. For organization's sake, I've broken down the extras into
the different formats:
BDs
Space: 1999 is not the "thought provoking" classic its most ardent admirers insist it is. It's an often slow moving and portentous series that tried to be the Star Trek of its day, but instead often came closer to Lost in Space territory. Landau and Bain are perhaps too cerebral for a show of this ilk, no matter what its purported ambitions were at the time. Still and all, Space: 1999 boasts an often attractive and at times impressive physical production, and it at least succeeds on a camp level some of the time. Fans of this show will most likely love this new Blu- ray set, which sports an extremely sharp image and bountiful supplements. Those coming to Space: 1999 as neophytes may well echo Landau's great statement from the opening episode, "We're sitting on the biggest bomb mankind has ever made." Well, maybe not the biggest, but don't play with matches around this show. Personally, I'm a sucker for shows that blend the silly with the supposed "thought provoking," in that late- 50s B movie sci-fi sort of way I mentioned above, so Space: 1999 comes Recommended.
The Remastered Collection
1978-1980
2014
1966
2020-2023
2019
1966-1969
Includes "Silent Space" version
2013
2013
45th Anniversary Edition
1978
The Director's Edition | Remastered
1979
Budget Re-release
2001-2005
Includes "The Invisible Boy" on SD
1956
2016
1995-2001
1993-1999
2000
40th Anniversary Edition
1977
1968
2005-2010
Budget Re-release
1987-1994