Product Description

On September 13, 1999, a massive explosion at a lunar nuclear waste dump sends the Moon out of Earth orbit. Without warning--and with return to Earth impossible--the 311 men and women of Moonbase Alpha find themselves on a perilous journey to the far reaches of space...

Escape into worlds beyond belief with the seminal sci-fi series from producer Gerry Anderson (Thunderbirds, UFO, Captain Scarlet). SPACE: 1999 features thought-provoking stories, exceptional special effects by Oscar® winner Brian Johnson (Alien, The Empire Strikes Back) and a remarkable cast. This complete DVD set includes all 48 original episodes, digitally remastered from the original 35mm film elements, along with a cool bonus features, extra footage and more!

The legendary cast features Oscar®-winner Martin Landau (Ed Wood, Crimes & Misdemeanors), Emmy®-winner Barbara Bain (Mission: Impossible), Catherine Schell (The Return of the Pink Panther) and a host of international guest stars, including Joan Collins, Brian Blessed, Leo McKern and Christopher Lee.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13738 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-09-24
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: Spanish
• Number of discs: 17
• Running time: 2496 minutes

Amazon.com
When it was first broadcast in 1975, there had never been a more lavishly produced science fiction TV series than Space: 1999, a British production whose budget for the first of its two seasons ran an astounding £3.25 million. What keeps us fans enthralled after all these years has only partly to due with the first-rate production values, the plausibly constructed spaceship models, and expert special effects. The tone of the show is one of scientific dispassion, setting it apart from its TV sci-fi predecessors such as Star Trek, whose mood was more convivial. Our heroes here are in dire circumstances that require cool heads as a survival trait. Those circumstances: the 311 crew members of Moonbase Alpha experience a cataclysm that causes the moon to break away from Earth's orbit and travel endlessly through space, turning our heroes into unintentional explorers. No TV series has created a more palpable feel of hard science fiction than this.

Of course the show is not without its detractors; it has been soundly lambasted for its many scientific errors. No less august a figure than Isaac Asimov criticized the show for its premise in the opening episode, "Breakaway," which had nuclear explosions on the "dark side of the moon" somehow propelling it out of Earth's orbit and flying through space without regard to any physical laws. In "Earthbound," aliens traveling to Earth state it will take them 75 years to reach their destination, making one wonder why it didn't take the moon that long to encounter the aliens. While these are serious complaints, fans tend to remember the scientific seriousness of the series and the sense of awe created by the many strange creatures and phenomena that the crew members encounter on their journey through the galaxy.

The Space: 1999 Mega Set collects all 48 episodes broadcast over the show's two seasons, contained on 17 DVDs that include vintage interviews, production stills, TV promotional spots, and interactive menus. All episodes have been digitally remastered, and some material that was not seen in the original U.S. broadcasts has been restored. --Jim Gay

Customer Reviews

This Box has 17 and not 16 DVDs - Episode Sequence
Two things that I did not see mentioned or mentioned incorrectly:

1. This box has indeed 17 DVDs and not 16. The 17th is the Bonus Disk mentioned in some reviews. It is tucked at the far right after DVD 16 in a plain white sleeve. It also took me a while to discover it.
2. The Episodes are not in the airing sequence, which is usually the logical one but in production number sequence which is usually not the logical one. Thus it helps to get an episode list like for example from www.epquides.com and then jump around in the correct order.

A breakthrough series
Space: 1999 was a futuristic science fiction series, produced in the 1970s, after Star Trek, and still had a basic hopefulness for the progress of science and the future of the world that such science fiction would strive to have during the height of the Cold War. Space: 1999 is in many ways more in the style of 2001: A Space Odyssey than Star Trek in several respects, not the least of which is that it was set in the very near future -- going from simple orbits to moonlandings in a decade made some people optimistic about the pace of science, space science in particular. It is in some ways sad that we are no closer to building a moon base or sending people to Jupiter than we were twenty years ago.

It is hard to imagine that there was a time when we thought 1999 was so far off that it had to be something futuristic and incredible. The design of the outfits was 70s-style future (just as the Star Trek outfits were 60s-style future, mini-skirts and all). The furniture of the future could have been described as Danish Post-Modern; everything is plastic and steel, everything gleams. Computers are a bit more realistic in Space: 1999, although it is fascinating what did advance beyond.

However, Space: 1999 wasn't about the gadgets. It was a cosmic voyage of discovery. Being a fairly low-budget television production, the producers had to be very creative with special effects and mood setting scenes; actual science took a back seat to the kinds of planets and situations the crew of Moon Base Alpha would face. These ideas were innovative -- from various peoples who were predecessors of earth civilisations to outside civilisations and cosmic forces that combined mystical and psychological elements well.

There are two seasons, rather loosely related. The first season had Moon Base Alpha on the surface of the moon -- the first episode has the moon blast out of orbit due to a nuclear waste-storage accident. Martin Landau and Barbara Bain are the main characters as the commander of the base and the chief medical officer; Barry Morse stars as science officer in season 1, but one of the changes for season 2 is that he disappears, which is unfortunate, given the stability his character lent to the show. Nick Tate was the Australian pilot (there was a fleet of Eagle spacecraft on Moon Base Alpha); season 2 added Catherine Schell as a shape-shifting alien orphaned on the moon base (Brian Blessed, in one of his myriad of b-roles, played her father for one episode). Her love interest (season 1 was all about the science and the journey of discovery; season 2 was all about love affairs) was the dashing Tony Verdeschi, played by British actor Anthony Anholt (rather unknown to American audiences, but frequently on British programming). Meanwhile, Commander Koenig and Dr. Russell (Landau and Bain, married in real life) were also falling in love, and the base was relocated for unexplained reasons underground, with a complete redesign even of the uniforms (rather dramatic changes for a resource-strapped moon base).

There were 48 episodes in all, 24 for each season, and like many a good series, it ended without resolution -- our moon base travellers are still hurtling through space, hoping to find a home.

The ideas were often ahead of their time, and it is interesting to see the character developments over time, also. It was perhaps a blessing that the show ended after two seasons, as the directions for the series were beginning to be limited (Battlestar Galactica, several years later, would encounter the same problem). The acting was mostly solid, but sometimes cheesy - Joan Collins playing an elitist doomed to mate with the barbarian she might at another time have had to synthesise as food; Christopher Lee playing himself (as usual) in an interesting role (the same is true for Peter Cushing and Leo McKern).

There is a certain style about Space:1999 that still is pleasing and future-oriented despite its now-dated title. The plots are inventive if not always entirely original, and the central characters carry the show well through the episodes. The moon-base minatures and space-craft effects are well done; the general sets, particularly for the first year, are very well done, from central command to the underground tube transport system.

Take the journey! This remains one of the best science fiction series ever produced.

SPACE 1999 THE NEXT GENERATION!
If you want to see the science fiction show that bridged the first Star Trek and the Next Generation, this is it.Many of the plots, characters and ideas would be used for the next generation series , and even The X-files and Alien. When Space 1999 came out in the early 70's George Lucas claimed he woudn't have been able to make Star Wars without it. Even today the show feels very modern with its blend of gothic horror, the paranormal and science fiction. Many episodes are filmed in a neo-surrealistic style akin to Luis Bunel and Hitchcock. This mega set is the way to go, since it has year 1 and 2 episodes in order and bonus material. In a long run it will be cheaper to buy this set than the individual sets. This is the sci-fi release of 2003!!!!!!!