It's true that Space 1999 took it's cue style-wise from 2001, but then that was the trend set by that film, in the same way Battlestar Galactica followed Star Wars' lead. Loved it at the time. Was rather let down by the second season, and didn't see much of it as by then the show was relegated to Sunday late night slots or Sunday afternoons if we were lucky.
But it does come across as a cheaper looking prospect. Season 1 had much more style and atmosphere. And yes, much of this has to do with Barry Gray. Once he departed the Anderson productions they were never the same for me.
Love UFO too. Oh, and I think Thunderbirds takes my prize for best kids tv show of all time.
Love UFO too. Oh, and I think Thunderbirds takes my prize for best kids tv show of all time.
Thunderbirds is the only one of the Supermarionation shows that I got into. It's f'n outstanding, really, and I got sucked into the first feature film "Thunderbirds Are Go."
I grew up in the UK in the sixties, so the Gerry Anderson catalogue was part of my tv viewing from Four Feather Falls on. Love it all. Not to the point where I've got it all, but love both Thunderbirds films, and have most of Barry Gray's music thanks to those devoted sons of guns, Fanderson.
It's true that Space 1999 took it's cue style-wise from 2001, but then that was the trend set by that film, in the same way Battlestar Galactica followed Star Wars' lead. Loved it at the time. Was rather let down by the second season, and didn't see much of it as by then the show was relegated to Sunday late night slots or Sunday afternoons if we were lucky.
But it does come across as a cheaper looking prospect. Season 1 had much more style and atmosphere. And yes, much of this has to do with Barry Gray. Once he departed the Anderson productions they were never the same for me.
Love UFO too. Oh, and I think Thunderbirds takes my prize for best kids tv show of all time.
Star Wars really followed the 2001 style as well. Lots of greebly detail on the ships and the models were filmed with strong light and shadows.
BTW we can thank the Brits for the Millennium Falcon we all know and love. When the studio saw the original blue print design for the original Falcon, the Brits complained it looked to much like the Eagle Transport and requested a design change.
Captain Scarlett is my favorite of the puppettoons. The characters were more proportionally correct and the show was more adult.
I splurged and bought the pre-made 22 inch Eagle. It looks fantastic and I didn't have to build it (my model building days are in the past). I would have been "over the moon" if I had this back during the show's original run.
It's true that Space 1999 took it's cue style-wise from 2001, but then that was the trend set by that film, in the same way Battlestar Galactica followed Star Wars' lead. Loved it at the time. Was rather let down by the second season, and didn't see much of it as by then the show was relegated to Sunday late night slots or Sunday afternoons if we were lucky.
But it does come across as a cheaper looking prospect. Season 1 had much more style and atmosphere. And yes, much of this has to do with Barry Gray. Once he departed the Anderson productions they were never the same for me.
Love UFO too. Oh, and I think Thunderbirds takes my prize for best kids tv show of all time.
I remember when the series started on LWT on a Saturday evening, although it wasn't long before it was relegated to a Saturday morning slot. Martin Landau and Barbara Bain even appeared on Saturday Scene with Sally James, and gave away one of the rocket gun props in a competition.
I splurged and bought the pre-made 22 inch Eagle. It looks fantastic and I didn't have to build it (my model building days are in the past). I would have been "over the moon" if I had this back during the show's original run.
I'm more a model collector but would like to build models in (cough, cough retirement) I can't afford the 22in Eagle but I'll buy the 14in and build it one day.
Even today I wonder how they did that effect, since (to the best of my knowledge) they did not use blue screen on the show and it looks too clear (not grainy or blurry) for that OR rear projection.
Is it on youtube for a quick look? Maybe it was all done in camera, with a miniature set really there right behind the actors' set.
Regarding the debate over season one vs season two, I always felt that season one was trying to be like 2001, and season two was trying to be like Star Trek. Neither season was successful in copying it's inspiration, but at least the 2001 season was aiming much higher, with an adult tone. The actors, particularly Martin Landau, expressed disappointment over the shift in season two. Although younger audiences were likely more frustrated with the weirder season one.
My favorite episode was always Force of Life, with a young Ian McShane. That episode was very Twilight Zone-ish!
I was a little kid when I saw this programme. Don't you think that's the best thing to be when you watch a series like this? Instead of a jaded, pedantic, semi-intellectual beta nerd, I mean.
At 13:15, most likely rear projection. Looks better than most rp.
Agreed. The man walking in front of the Eagle bay, and the railing, are really there in the window, and behind that, it's a projection screen. Brilliant work for the period, and for TV at that. Clever and stunning.
Rear projection isn't required to look bad just because it is an older technique. In Terminator 2: Judgment Day rear projection was used very effectively in the scene where the T-800 rescues John in the flood control channels. (The shot where the T-800 lifts John off his motorcycle.) The lighting and color match the location scenes around it.
At 13:15, most likely rear projection. Looks better than most rp.
Agreed. The man walking in front of the Eagle bay, and the railing, are really there in the window, and behind that, it's a projection screen. Brilliant work for the period, and for TV at that. Clever and stunning.
At 13:15, most likely rear projection. Looks better than most rp.
Agreed. The man walking in front of the Eagle bay, and the railing, are really there in the window, and behind that, it's a projection screen. Brilliant work for the period, and for TV at that. Clever and stunning.
Think what it would take to pressurize those huge maintenance bays!
One episode I always had a soft spot for was Dragon's Domain. As a kid (around 14 on first broadcast) that would be because it had a rare (for season 1) monster. On subsequent viewings it was the storytelling style of the episode with Barbara Bain's narration and the use of Adagio in G minor that helped sell the piece, the latter of course a most obvious example of those 2001 influences with a semi-classical piece on the soundtrack. Anyway it was nicely put together.
I have to laugh at old Barbara though. She had the most ice cold sounding voice, and when she's introduced in the opening titles of each episode, instead of just looking serious like her husband, she's spun around like she's on a turntable! Always looked comical to me especially suspecting SHE probably thought it made her look cool (maybe to go with that cold voice).
