I was watching this series in 1979 I think and in that time this was by far the best you could get, Flash Gordon is nothing compere to this. I was 13 years old then and I remember that it could be a bit scary. I know I have seen it again for some years ago but I don't know where I found it and of course I didn't save it. I think it's pretty advanced for that time. I strongly recommend this if you can get it.
... View MoreNever having seen any of the original TV episodes of Destination Moonbase-Alpha, I found this mish-mash of a "movie", assembled from two of the TV episodes, difficult to follow as I seldom knew which characters were on the side of the goodies and which were the baddies, and in my opinion the whole thing was an incoherent mess and total nonsense.I found the abrupt join between the two episodes extremely disconcerting; the one didn't seem to have anything to do with the other. I would have preferred to have watched the episodes separately, as they were of course originally intended to be watched.I can suspend my disbelief enough to accept that a spaceship can travel very much faster than the speed of light – this is science fiction, after all – and the monsters didn't look too unconvincing, but I can't give it more than one star.
... View MoreDuring a conversation with my friend Ange she mentioned a classic episode of DOCTOR WHO that struck out in her mind " I don't what one it as but it was about someone who was sick and he could see all these people but they were really horrible slimy monsters . You remember that one ? "Never one to miss the opportunity of sarcasm I replied " Aye that was a unique episode . Not only was it an episode that didn't feature the Doctor and his companions but it's the only episode from the show not called Doctor Who and instead is called Space 1999 "Sarcasm aside ( Sorry Ange ) it's an episode people can be forgiven for confusing the memory with that of DOCTOR WHO . Between season one and season two of SPACE 1999 a new producer was brought in and out went the pretentious 2001 inspiration and in came camp concepts similar to that seen in STAR TREK which from an entertainment point of view wascertainly more entertaining DESTINATION MOONBASE ALPHA is the follow up to the compilation theatrical release of ALIEN ATTACK and like the first release is two episodes from the show stuck together . At least someone somewhere had the common sense to stick a two part story together instead of two random episodes that composes ALIEN ATTACK . The Bringers Of Wonder to give it its episodic title is written by Terence Feely and directed by Tom Clegg DESTINATION has a coherence missing from ALIEN ATTACK and involves the crew of Moonbase Alpha being visited by an expedition from Earth which strangely is entirely populated by people that the Moonbase crew knew from Earth . Commander Koenig becomes suspicious then realises the expedition are a hideous alien race that are after the Moon's nuclear waste . The story builds up a sense of mystery and suspense but this is almost ruined by the voice over in the title sequence which gives away most of the plot twists . Thankfully the sequence doesn't show the aliens themselves which are amongst the most impressive ones seen in a SF show
... View MoreThis was the first movie of a Gerry Anderson production, to be produced by editing together old episodes from certain series, in this case Space: 1999. Produced in 1978 by ITC London's offices, this movie combines the two parts of the Space: 1999 season 2 epic 'The Bringers of Wonder', which was edited to form a feature length film. The new opening titles and music by Mike Vikkers are very good, and they are incredibly faithful to the original material, edited only certain parts that needed to be removed to create that 'movie' feel. The only downsides to the movie is the general silliness in it, but this isn't the movie makers fault, Season 2 of Space: 1999 was incredibly zany, and not half as good as Season 1. The other annoyance is the end of the movie, when the end credits are scrolled over an awful tune sung by someone called Oliver Onions. Other than this the film is superb, and the episodes that it is edited from are undoubtedly some of the classics from Season 2. Martin Landau, Barbara Bain give excellent performances, as do Tony Anholt, Catherine Schell and Stuart Damon. The aliens look excellent, and the last few minutes are sensational. The film ends with a speech from Commander Koenig, speaking to the hostile aliens, "It is better to live as your own man, than a fool in someone else's dream". Because this film is so faithful to the original material, I would recommend it to Gerry Anderson purists. A throughly excellent movie!
... View More