Review of Space 1999: Volume 4

Introduction

After the worldwide success of his famous puppets in Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and Stingray, Gerry Anderson turned his hand to live action sci-fi in 1975`s "Space 1999".

Following a freak explosion, Moonbase Alpha is blasted out into deep space where the crew (headed by Martin Landau), have to struggle to survive against the elements, aliens and themselves.

Volume 4 contains another four 50-minute episodes – "Collision Course", "Death`s Other Dominion", The Full Circle" and "End Of Eternity".

Video

As with Volume 3, the video for Volume 4 comes in full-frame and is of a very good standard – especially considering the age and television origins of the material. There is no dirt or grain and the image is sharp and stable throughout the episodes.

Gerry Anderson has always made very visually appealing programs and Space 1999 is no exception. The sets inside Moonbase Alpha are well created and look pretty realistic, although the same bits of corridors do seem to be used regularly.

Effects include the use of models, an Anderson speciality, and they of course look excellent. As with most miniature based effects, the explosions are a letdown and look fake.

Audio

Sound comes in Dolby Digital Mono and is more than adequate.

There are plenty of sound effects, which consist of numerous noises in the space station – doors opening, buttons, consoles, computers, explosions and phaser fire when needed, plus rockets taking off and landing etc. There is also the classic Space 1999 theme tune, which is sure to bring a smile to your face if you haven`t heard it for years!

The dialogue is always clear and understandable.

Features

Extras consist of a look at memorabilia and director`s biographies. Also included is some behind-the-scenes footage, which is only a very short clip from BBC`s Horizon, looking at the filming of an Eagle spacecraft sequence.

The disc is packaged in a Black Amaray case, and contains a folded colour insert giving some background information, the chapter breaks in each of the four episodes, and details of other Gerry Anderson DVDs available.

Conclusion

Overall, like the other Gerry Anderson DVDs that I`ve come across (Thunderbirds and Stingray), Space 1999 is very well presented which will delight fans of the series.

Space 1999 is a well-made series, and follows the usual high Gerry Anderson production values. As a result, the programs are still very watchable twenty-five years down the line, unlike some of the other mid-seventies sci-fi programs. The plots are reasonably varied (and not dissimilar to any number of any other sci-fi series that sees humans stranded in outer space - Star Trek Voyager for example) and well acted by the strong cast including Martin Landau.

The video is of a very good standard, and the soundtrack is more than adequate. Well-presented menus and four 50-minute episodes per disc add up to a good overall package.