BBC Week: Space: 1999

Hello all and greetings back to the BBC Week Day 4.  Well we have experienced Comedy, Mystery and even the unusual hybrid of Sci-Fi Comedy.  What say we tackle some science fiction that does NOT revolve around a little blue police box?  Shocked to find there is more than one British Science Fiction out there?  Well get your bloody heads out of the sand and be observant.  I mean really.   How about some alumni of the Mission: Impossible TV series heading up a space station and no there is no Tom Cruise in this.   So don your space suits, prime your laser pistols and prepare to do the Star Trek bridge shimmy.  This is Space: 1999.

HellOOoOoOOOo Nurse!!!!

John Koenig: It is to live as your own man than as a spoiler in someone else’s dream.

250,000 miles away from the Earth, the 311 inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha commune, work and prosper as Earth Space Research Center on the Moon until…a plot device is unleashed.  For decades humanity got the brilliant idea to store their nuclear waste on the crevices of the Moon’s far side.  Guessing Lake Armstrong is filled to the brim and Pink Floyd is most vexed.  A surge of electromagnetic waves hit the waste with such magnitude that the whole Moon experiences an explosion of a massive thermonuclear proportion for the Moon from the Earth’s gravitational orbit like a giant booster rocket.   Hurled at this enormous speed our citizens of Moonbase Alpha on stuck on a runaway rocket with no return in sight, they must colonize a new home and explore strange new civilizations and other societies that are positively dystopian. 

Chronometer...OF THE FUTURE!!!!

From the combined efforts of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson (Supercar, Fireball XL5, Stingray, Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons) comes a series without involving marionette puppets but still scale models and forced perspective.   Starring Martin Landau (North by Northwest, Mission: Impossible, Destination Moonbase-Alpha, Meteor, Trial by Terror, The Evidence and Entourage), Barbara Bain (Perry Mason, Mission: Impossible, Destination Moonbase-Alpha, Murder, She Wrote, Bel Air, American Gun and Political Disasters), Nick Tate (Division 4, Homicide, Spyforce, The Day After Tomorrow, Destination Moonbase-Alpha, Dolphin Cove, Open House and East of Everything) and Catherine Schell (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Moon Zero Two, The Return of the Pink Panther and The March).

I have but a few words on this series.   The show was froth with guest stars that were other humans or beings of other worlds throughout the episodes to the likes of Brian Blessed (The Black Adder, The Last Days of Pompeii, Flash Gordon and Doctor Who), Isla Blair (Battle of Britain, An Englishman’s Castle, Doctor Who and The Final Cut), Bernard Cribbins (Jackanory, The Railway Children, The Wombles and Doctor Who), Sarah Douglas (Thundercloud, Superman, Superman II, Falcon Crest, Return of the Living Dead III and Strippers vs Werewolves) and Peter Cushing (The Curse of Frankenstein, Horror of Dracula, Doctor Who and The Daleks, Land of the Minotaur, Star Wars, Shock Waves and Mystery on Monster Island) the popularity of this show has amassed generations of science fiction fans and to this day is deemed while a hokey intro; a creditable Sci-Fi series and beloved by many.

Slouching is bad for command and the posture.

Babylon 5 Movie Week: Babylon 5: In the Beginning

Welcome back my blooming observers of the Omniverse.    It was hinted that the Minbari were a peaceful race but proud and willfull as well.  The year is 2245 and EarthForce has just managed to fend off their first threat; a species known as the Dilgar and EarthForce handed them their heads. So prime the main guns, set the twin particle arrays to stun and keep the commerce going.  This is Babylon 5: In the Beginning.

Mardi Gras got out of hand.

Delenn:  It is said that in every age, there is one singular spoiler that forever changes the world around us. A nexus if you will.

Our movie opens with the remains of Centauri Prime up in flames and tattered buildings, a young Centauri boy and girl play in the royal throne room. An aged Londo Mollari (Peter Jurasik of Hill Street Blues, Problem Child, Dear John, Babylon 5: The Gathering, Babylon 5, Sliders and 42) lets the boy be Emperor of all the Centauri Republic for 5 minutes, during this time the lad can give any order he wants.  The lad demands a story of epic battles between heroes and villains.  The young girl asks for a true story.  Mollari sighs with a heavy burden but decides to give the children both what they want and speaks of the Earth-Minbari war which occurred 35 years priop when he was still the ambassador to Earth.

 Before the war, Earthgov is cocky as hell due to their triumph over the Dilgar and they are expanding out into space, creating colonies and pushing their ships and cruisers in the reaches of space. 

You will bow before me Jor-El!!!

Meanwhile the Grey Council of the Minbari are ever vigilant to the resurrection of the Shadows and chose to investigate Z’ha’dum (the planet of the Shadows’ origin) when they encounter the Earth ships.  As a sign of respect, the Minbari open their ship’s gunports and the Prometheus (Earthgov ship) assuming this is the beginning of an attack and fires at the Minbaris’ flag ship.  With their leader Dukhat dead, The Grey Council consists of three casts or clans if you will.  The warrior cast, workers cast and religious cast are comprised bringing order to their people and speak for each cast in the wider picture of things.  The Grey Council screams for blood demanding a holy war against all of humanity. A war lasting over ten years writing the battles in space with gallons of blood; the Minbari are a deeply spiritual people discover that their fellow souls are being shared with the Earthlings.  Minbari must never kill Minbari creating an immediate cease fire. 

I just have a quick couple of concerns about this film in the grand scope of the series.   Even if you are not a Babylon 5 fan, this is a compelling story of battle, potential dark days and overtly prideful peoples.  G’Kar (Andreas Katsulas of True Identity, Blame It on the Bellboy, Babylon 5: The Gathering, The Fugitive and Star Trek: The Next Generation) and Dr. Franklin (Richard Biggs of Walk Like a Man, Days of Our Lives, Babylon 5: The River of Souls and Crusade) seemed relegated to cameo appearances and that just don’t fly with the fans, man and while a few scenes establish the pasts of most of our characters, Garibaldi is nowhere at the station or in the war.  A mild annoyance at best this film does cover almost every facet of the war. There is triumph, good humor, mass explosions and more than a fair share of tragedy.

Annual chili cookout ends in tears.

Babylon 5 Movie Week: Babylon 5: Thirdspace

Back again my little space rangers and welcome to a belated Day 2 of Babylon 5 Movie Week.  Due to a slight injury yesterday I was a bit too sore to sit in this seat but I am well enough now to bring you lot some amusement and disturbing story arcs.   So fasten your space belts, prep the safety harness and breach that jumpgate.  This is Babylon 5: Thirdspace.

Thirdspace is crazy ya'll!

Susan Ivanova: Well, the spoilers are starting to circle.

For starters this film takes place in the year of 2261 (after Season 4, Episode 8: The Shadow War) so our heroes have conquered an ancient evil and allow themselves a moment to breathe.  Babylon 5 Star Fury patrols discover an immense artifact in hyperspace (point between normal space and travel faster than light) and the Interplanetary Expeditions Xenoarchaeologist Dr. Elizabeth Trent (Shari Belafonte of Hotel, The Midnight Hour, Beyond Reality, Hey Arnold! And Teacher of Year) to better decipher what it is, what it can do and how best to exploit it.  

Hungry Eeeyessss!!!

Current commander of Babylon 5 Captain John Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner of Tron, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Gunsmoke: One Man’s Justice, Free Fall and Tron: Legacy) prepares for the worse and feels this artifact is a great and significant find but we should tread cautiously.  There is wisdom in these words but they atypically fall on deaf ears as human greed and arrogance rears its ugly head in these matters.  I was shocked as well.

   

Using a low level current to get better readings on the artifact the entire station seems to have their dreams influenced and are almost reduced to a vegetated state without proper explanation…or is there?

Dr. Trent comes to the conclusion the artifact is pre-existing Jumpgate before even the ancient Vorlons developed it and it starts drawing power from the station causing energy spikes all over the boards.  Hope tech and sub-repair get time and a half. 

Given all that is known by the Vorlons at this time we are given to revere them as wise, brave and with great compassion for the younger races.  The united races find it almost unprecedented that the Vorlons could ever falter.   The device activates on its own opening a passage to Thirdspace and this invasion force proceeds to lay waste to several cruisers and extracts massive destruction on the station itself.  EarthForce preps a counter attack and give our mysterious aliens on hell of a wingding.  These invaders single seat fighters even have shields so the Star Furies are in for one hell of a tumble.   The artifact itself seems to be disrupting the station but driving every sentient being on it to the brink of crackers.

The Galaxy's cutest couple.

I had just a few points to make on the film at this time.  The elevator seen between Zach Allen and Lyta that felt clunky and unnecessary was actually inserted (oOoOo kinky) to fill up time for the film.  Sci-fi and Sci-Fi Fantasy artist/author Wayne Barlowe designed the appearance of the artifact Thirdspace jumpgate  Not one of the better films due to the story flow feeling a bit interfered via time constraint but effects and performances remained spot on so yes you can have this one in your collection.

Babylon 5 Movie Week: Babylon 5: The Gathering

Hello there readers and welcome to the Babylon 5 Movie Week.  Starting us off with we begin logically at the beginning.   The year is 2257.  Earth has taken to the stars and engaged in battles with other species.  Yes humans just can’t help but be messing with peoples.  To create this complex series of creatures, other worlds and cultures we turn to Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski (Captain Power: The Beginning, Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, The Real Ghost Busters, Jake and the Fatman,Jeremiah, Changeling, Thor, and World War Z) to open our minds to this realm.  So age that spoo, consult the elders and for God’s sake speak nothing of the Grey Council.   This is Babylon 5: The Gathering.

Look out for the credits, Phil!!!

Delenn:  I look forward to meeting a Vorlon.  I’ve heard much about them that is spoiler.

From humans to humanoid to just downright unexplainable lifeforms, the search of intergalactic peace is sought by many.  The place to allow commerce and peace talks are Babylon 5.  A hub in the galaxy allowing issues to be resolved amongst the 5 major space travelers of the known galaxies; humans, Narn, Centauri, Minbari and Vorlons.    It has been a 10 year commission to construct a place that prevents war; this 5 mile long space station is home to 250,000 residents, roughly 100,000 humans and 2,000 EarthForce personnel and including areas for business, living quarters and recreation.

Great, Londo is hammered...again.

Commander Sinclair (Michael O’ Hare of Fly Away Home, C.H.U.D., Into Thin Air, A Case of Deadly Force and Tales from the Darkside) runs this little bailiwick and boy howdy he has his work cut out for him.  Awaiting the final delegate of the Vorlons; Ambassador Kosh arrives 2 days ahead of schedule when he is falls ill in less than a minute of being on the station.   Station chief medical officer Dr. Kyle (Johnny Sekka of Woman of Straw, Khartoum, The Message and Passion Paradise) puts Kosh in quarantine and attempts to prevent his death while Security Chief Michael Garibaldi (Jerry Doyle of The Outsider, Babylon 5, Babylon 5: The River of Souls, Devious Beings and Storm Watch) launches his own investigation into possible poisoning of the ambassador.   The Babylon Council consisting of the 5 major races hold the Commander in contempt and decree his guilt of attempted murder.  Not the best way your first day on the job can go.

A few comments about this movie now if you don’t mind.   With the introduction of CGI just in the wings, accomplished scale models and forced perspective; the visual effects can hold their own but this was a truly ambitious start to an impressive feat of writing as well as storytelling.   Complex characters and various story arcs were getting life breathed into them and frankly it offered a wide range of twists and turns for every adventure.   No two Babylon 5 episodes were the same and that is very difficult to do in a medium like science fiction.  This was only just the beginning of greater things to come.

Flying casually sir.

Babylon 5 Movie Week

Welcome eager young space cadets!!!  This week we will view the phenomenon that was Babylon 5.  Five seasons, seven films, series of novels and comic books this has been deemed one of America's finer science fiction.  I felt almost anyone can critique the seasons so I thought we would tackle the TV movies instead.

So grab your junior spaceman rocket belts and flitter on over to this Babylon 5 Movie Week.

Bit phallic ain't it?

Farscape Week: Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars

Hey there readers that cannot find something better to look at.  How do.   It is Day 5 of Farscape Week and well I am afraid I am out of seasons to review.  See the pudding heads at Sci-Fi Channel felt there were just not enough Nielsen ratings for Season 3 to warrant a Season 4.  After a massive e-mail and boards campaign Season 4 was created…but again Sci-fi had its doubts on a Season 5. Yup not a scrap left.  However…I do happen to have a mini-series that would be considered the finale of the Farscape universe.   So sharpen your Qualta Blade, charge your pulse pistols and take up defensive positions.   This is Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars.

Give on to me some sugar, my dear.

The spoiler to victory, the violent path to peace…

With a rather nasty laz weapon that crystallizes its targets thus breaking down its molecular structure, it must mean curtains for John Crichton and Aeryn Sun…or does it? DUN DUN DA DUN!!!!    Well as luck would have it, the blatant bounty hunter attack of Season 4 didn’t turn out as tragic as we all thought. Our two wayward star crossed lovers are then decrystalized and brought back to carbon based life form selves.  Huzzah!!!   However… upon the collection of said nuggets of Crichton and Sun Dominar Rigel XVII accidently swallowed a particular element that tis a Crichton bun in the oven.  Yup you guessed it kiddies poor Rigel has to carry said baby almost to term.   For those just tuning in; the Peacekeeper and the talking money i.e. human have been bumping pelvises.

Oh jeez...Jedi cosplayers.

Commandant Grayza is committing all forces to engage the Scarrans and I ain’t talking a courtship.   As both Scorpius and Crichton are linked via device, Scorpius sets out to find John to once again persuade him to make the wormhole weapon deterrent.   Try as Moya’s crew may, they simply cannot find a safe harbor from this impending war.   John feels he cannot raise his child and love his new wife in a galaxy hell bent on destroying itself.

With the weight of multiple worlds on his back, his friends and lover’s lives in the balance John urges the crew on what can only be construed as an insane quest to bring both factions to a closure and ensure peace.

I have just a few points about this mini-series.  After Season 4 was begrudged on the screen, Sci-Fi channel wanted out of the Farscape business and for months the fans were losing their collective marbles, chomping at the bit waiting to see if we would have a Season 5.   Brian Henson refused to let this saga end on a flat note and lobbied for a mini-series instead to finish the story arc.  Many months of hand holding, courting and cajoling he finally got approved and Jim Henson Productions had not been idle in creating creatures, maintaining armors and prop weapons galore.  

Many Bothans died to bring us this information.

Brian Henson stated in a interview while he loved the creations his father had made and all the adventures that were given life he truly wanted to have that same luck of sparking imagination and capturing hearts.  While it took him twelve years to accomplish it, I think he managed rather nicely.

  

250th Blog Baybee!! Farscape Week: Farscape Season 4

Salutations my whimsical readers and behold it is Day 4 of Farscape Week.  Journey with me to the echelon of time and space as our outlaw heroes would do battle with their ever increasing foes…okay this is starting to sound like an old timey radio show or possibly a serial from the 1930’s.   Sorry about that.    Okay without all the hype and nonsense this time.  This is Farscape Season 4.

Space is for snoggin'...

Utu-Noranti Pratalong: Peace can only be maintained if there is spoiler…

Months on his own, Crichton has done nothing but obsess over Aeryn and of course wormholes.  With his module’s fuel depleted and friends scattered all over the galaxies he has a lot of time on his hands. Finally working out the necessary power requirements and mathematics, John has cracked wormhole theory as he stays on board a leviathan nearing her end of days.   Before he can really celebrate a young woman Sikozu (Raelee Hill of Neighbours, Shark Bay, Water Rats, Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars and Superman Returns) breaks into the leviathan claiming to be an expert on the subject matter and informs scruffy Crichton he must leave but she is considered expendable by her own patrons.  She has no choice but to throw in her lot with the crew of Moya in order to avoid angering even more people.

Damn Space hog!! Turn left!!!!

After the bone head with the wormhole tech lab and Moya’s crew escaping, Scorpius has been demoted by one Commandant Grayza (Rebecca Riggs of Space: Above and Beyond, Alien Cargo, The Day of the Roses and Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars) who after attempting to snare and capture Crichton, she promises him a lofty position as director of Peacekeeper Science division and apparently a place in her bed.  Yowza, right??

After a few experimentations John has made it back to Earth after 9-11 and of course the planet is a bit more paranoid but absolutely fascinated by Crichton’s crewmates.  Speculations, talk show hosts and panels of experts are babbling non-stop about these amazing life forms.  John cannot help but feel Earth is so much smaller than he remembered.  He almost feels like Earthlings are still in an infantile stage in the grand scheme of things and journeys back with his friends to space to stop the upcoming crisis.  

 

Okay, okay no more dutch rubs..(silently) big baby.

Just a quick few story notions that came up this season.   In the beginning, Crichton is viewed as this weak, pathetic backwater planet dweller and he has earned the respect of his crew under blood and sweat.  This has been a bumpy destination for all of the crew, each longing for the long journey’s end and yet they know in their collective hearts that they may never see one another again.   Fighting with each other, different species and trained warriors; our outlaw heroes have made this bold transverse and have changed for the better and worst as with all great quests.  One thing is for certain and it is no one of this story is truly who they were in the start of it all.

Farscape Week: Farscape Season 3

Howdy readers.  Back for day 3 of Farscape Week and the seasons just keep the same drive as from the beginning.  Let’s just see how our gang of outlaw heroes is doing this time around.     Holster your blaster, prep your module and for the love of God use evasive maneuvers.   This is Farscape Season 3.

That sort of thing happens to men your age.

John Crichton: Well, you gotta know how deep the spoiler is, Ryg, if you’re gonna dig your way out.

Last season Scorpius experimented on Crichton finding deep within his subconscious that he has knowledge of the wormhole phenomenon or most specifically how to create one through artificial means.   The crew amassed another passenger name of Chiana (Gigi Edgley of The Day of the Roses, BlackJack, The Secret Life of Us, Stingers and Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars) and rescued a slave name of Stark (Paul Goddard of Sons and Daughters, Bullseye, Dead to the World, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie and Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars). 

This VR system kicks butt guys!

 On a frozen wasteland in the uncharted territories, a less than legitimate doctor attempts to remove a Scorpius device from Crichton’s brain and save his mind.   The Peacekeepers and Scarrans are mounting tensions in almost every sector of the known galaxies ranging from underhanded dealings to full on skirmish ground and space battles.    Planets are in fear of their very lives on which faction will ultimately reign supreme. 

The crew of Moya struggles to reunite with one another after parting the year prior.  6 months have lapsed and our team has gone separate ways to avoid Peacekeeper detection and agreed to meet back up, however each of them had different adventures and lives as well.   They start pining for their homes and make it back to their former lives.

Aeryn and John become…close and each cannot fully express the changes in their lives as they struggle with love, fleeing from capture and ensuring a place for each other.  Ka D’Argo and Chiana seem to be fascinated with one another regardless of the difference of their species.  Passions run deep in the halls of Moya as Moya has birthed a child vessel of her own but it is unlike any other leviathan for it has biological energy weapons and a temper that needs to be curbed.

Just a few points of observation for you this time around.   Between the green screen, CGI and amazing puppet creations of Jim Henson Creatures this show keeps pushing the boundaries of imagination and astound us further with this wonderful mesh of animatronics and computer generation.  The creatures and villains truly stand out by comparison to even the Roddenberry creations and those are difficult to match let alone surpass. 

Told you they wouldn't like that nun joke.

From the brilliant design of ships, settlements and this growing cast, the stories are clever, witty and dramatic.  From comedies to serious drama in a science fiction genre, this show manages to keep things fresh.  Shot mostly in 35mm digital these episodes are almost movie worthy in that regards.

Forgive me for this being a biased review but I am enamored with this series.