more fun with Moon Base Alpha

Space 1999 was a diverse series that had it all and then some. It was fun like Doctor Who, as abstract as the Prisoner, as explorational as Star Trek, as light as Lost In Space, as philosophical as 2001, as dark and claustophobic as the most entertaining horror movies and disaster films, as funny as Plan 9, and it even featured pre-Star Wars space battles that were truly a blast. On it's own merit it was also quite a unique series. It was never locked down into just one pattern so it never got sterile. There are episodes for every mood and mindset. One can enjoy the serious episodes or the just plain fun escapism. The setting of 1999 only adds to the fun and the out of control moon idea was certainly original. Many episodes allow the viewer to come to one's own conclusions and there's little clear continuity after the first episode which also allows creativity on the part of the veiwer. It's a very expansive and wonderous universe that's explored in different ways. The diversity of styles and ideas are it's greatest strength. It's always a wild ride.

A good solid continuation of the first season

The breakdown: due to storing too much volatile nuclear material on the moon, and a freak increase of magnetic activity (to the point where beams of lightning get shot across the moonscape) the nuclear waste is ignited and the subsequent massive explosion shoots the moon out of orbit and on an uncharted journey through the far reaches of space. If you can get past this "scientifically impossible" (as Asimov called it) premise, then Space: 1999 is the show for you. In Set 3 the six-episode run begins with "Collision Course", a vague episode about a new life or evolution that is supposed to happen when the moon kisses (ever so lightly collides with) another planet. "Death's Other Dominion" is suitably unsettling-any title with death in it should be a dead give away that some kind of creepiness will ensue. Brian Blessed, of course, is a treat to watch here. "The Full Circle" is the cavemen episode that is supposed to explore the darker more primitive sides of the human condition. It does anticipate "Quest For Fire" by quite a few years, however. "End of Eternity" is the standard alien pays a visit vein. What is catching is the way parts of the episode are filmed, like the silent fight between Baltar and the moonbase security, or the way the pictures are referenced in parts of the episode. The last two episodes are disaster episodes with Moonbase Alpha under attack from a hostile alien force. In "War Games" the enemy is unseen and supposed. In "The Last Enemy", it is a gorgeous starship captain who lands her ship on the moonbase to launch a preemptive attack on the enemy planet her race has been at war with since time remembered.

The weakest DVD set of the first season

I would not recommend this DVD set of Space: 1999, because it has some of the silliest episodes of the first season. Most notably is the episode, The Full Circle, which I thought was similar to watching an episode of Gilligan's Island. The crew of Moonbase Alpha go down to yet another planet, walk though the mist, and become cave people. The last bad episode worth mentioning is The Last Enemy. On the one side of the battle that Moonbase Alpha gets caught up in are military women who look like they've just come from the hairdresser, or are backup singers for the Swedish group ABBA, and the other faction consists of an old man with his eyes closed. This was a bad episode, I mean REALLY bad, like Mystery Science Theater 3000 bad.

One halfway decent episode, which is why I give this DVD set a rating of two stars, instead of one, is War Games, which has the greatest number of explosions and destruction since the first episode, Breakaway.