MLKahnt
Joined May 2001
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MLKahnt's rating
What stands in my mind is how, eight to ten minutes before the end of nearly every episode, the society on a new planet encountered by the Alphans ends up being destroyed, usually at the hand of Commander John Koenig, because what it seeks does not meet with the life Alphans are used to. This was a weakness to otherwise intriguing stories that were not going to be mistaken for Star Trek.
Although I remember too many things that left me scratching my head, even from the superior first season - why did the command centre have exterior windows that could be opened when the Moon was given an atmosphere? With all of the Eagles that crashed or were otherwise disabled, how did they always seem to be able to get another one aloft, and how were they fast enough, given the scramble of Alan Carter to keep up with the Moon when it first left Earth's orbit, to reach the base again when outside the gravity of the orb.
The local TV station aired the first season Fridays at 7 pm, the same time slot that it had used for Star Trek a decade earlier. The second season was picked up by the CBC, but they threw it away by airing it Saturday afternoons at 3 pm. In the late 80s, it ended up on the children's channel YTV at about the same time, grouped with Blake's 7 and Red Dwarf. The TV regulator felt Space 1999 and Blake's 7 were too violent for a children's channel, and Red Dwarf being possibly too racy for daytime airing on that channel.
It had potential, but it just seemed to have the need to sell in many markets so that it could pay its bills, rather than just to tell great stories. If it had told great stories consistently, it would have sold solidly and been a franchise comparable to Star Trek.
Although I remember too many things that left me scratching my head, even from the superior first season - why did the command centre have exterior windows that could be opened when the Moon was given an atmosphere? With all of the Eagles that crashed or were otherwise disabled, how did they always seem to be able to get another one aloft, and how were they fast enough, given the scramble of Alan Carter to keep up with the Moon when it first left Earth's orbit, to reach the base again when outside the gravity of the orb.
The local TV station aired the first season Fridays at 7 pm, the same time slot that it had used for Star Trek a decade earlier. The second season was picked up by the CBC, but they threw it away by airing it Saturday afternoons at 3 pm. In the late 80s, it ended up on the children's channel YTV at about the same time, grouped with Blake's 7 and Red Dwarf. The TV regulator felt Space 1999 and Blake's 7 were too violent for a children's channel, and Red Dwarf being possibly too racy for daytime airing on that channel.
It had potential, but it just seemed to have the need to sell in many markets so that it could pay its bills, rather than just to tell great stories. If it had told great stories consistently, it would have sold solidly and been a franchise comparable to Star Trek.
Maybe Isabelle Huppert rubs me the wrong way, maybe trying to do European work in an American context confused the crew and writers, maybe the cast and director realised that this just wasn't going to connect for most people, but it proved unwatchable for me. I'd try it for a while, and then go back to channel hopping. The DVD, which I bought at a liquidation store, sat in the player for three months, watching a chapter here, a chapter there, until I got into the eighth chapter. I elected to bite my tongue and watch the rest, finding myself pushed away further by acting that just did not seem to be trying or allowed to try, from actors that I have seen do much better. In the end, the player would no longer open, possibly fearing that others may have to see the movie.
Much of the cinema I seek out is European, not in English, with writing and concepts of depth. I watch and enjoy art movies, great films that explore people, concepts, relations, but that is not what this was for me.
It reminded me of what someone trying to live the concept of The Producers would do - irrelevant and unbelievable dialogue, a gunfight that belongs in Police Squad, and characters that are almost universally unsympathetic - except the missing persons officer who aspires to make up for all the rest. I laughed at the production that seemed to have been asking the cast to weaken their performances, a presentation that increasingly seemed like theatresports without the humour as the rendition gave up in even believing the movie would work. I'm sorry, but this is closer to Plan 9 from Outer Space and Spaceballs than it is to Kolya or L'Ennui.
Much of the cinema I seek out is European, not in English, with writing and concepts of depth. I watch and enjoy art movies, great films that explore people, concepts, relations, but that is not what this was for me.
It reminded me of what someone trying to live the concept of The Producers would do - irrelevant and unbelievable dialogue, a gunfight that belongs in Police Squad, and characters that are almost universally unsympathetic - except the missing persons officer who aspires to make up for all the rest. I laughed at the production that seemed to have been asking the cast to weaken their performances, a presentation that increasingly seemed like theatresports without the humour as the rendition gave up in even believing the movie would work. I'm sorry, but this is closer to Plan 9 from Outer Space and Spaceballs than it is to Kolya or L'Ennui.
