Space:1969 -Brother Sun, Sister Moon
Here's a couple of new releases of two 39 year old British space films!!! Hard to believe!!! The first is MOON ZERO TWO, a Hammer film from 1969(it's double billed with WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH as Best Buy exclusive!) that's a total hoot from the wild animated/swingin rock credits that are completely out of place but somehow, appropriate. The film stars James Olsen, Catherine Schell(yep, Maya from SPACE:1999 season 2) and Carol Cleveland(Monty Python) in a small role. Touted as a "space western" it has some fairly cool visual effects(with the clarity of DVD you can now see the folds in the black space backdrop cloth!!) and actually, good acting. The sets, clothing, costumes are everything 1960's but in the year 2021. Nice to know those fashions may have a comeback!!
And speaking of SPACE:1999, a few years before Gerry Anderson made that series, he produced a cool, slightly illogical film called JOURNEY TO THE FAR SIDE OF THE SUN. Known in the UK as DOPPELGANGER, it tells the story of a journey, in the year 2069 to a new planet on the other side of the sun from the earth. When the two man crew-headed by Roy Thinnes-arrives they find something they didn't expect-that they've somehow returned to earth. Or have they?
The film benefits from incredible FX work by Derek Meddings, and, a great score by Barry Gray who literally was the "sound" of anything Gerry Anderson. The film also stars most of the cast of the series UFO which was a spin off, more or less, of this film, in 1970. Again, it's nice to know that Nehru jackets and go-go boots will be in fashion again in 2069.
Oddly, the series SPACE:1999 owes more to MOON ZERO TWO than JOURNEY despite the former film was a totally different production crew. I watch these old films, they're always a hoot to have on when I am painting something spacey. Both are available now, with MOON ZERO TWO being a Best Buy exclusive!
posted by Bob Eggleton (Zillabob) | 10:48 PM
6 Comments:
Bob!
Thanks for the heads up for Moon Zero Two (Or as the theme song went....Moooooon!!!! ZEEEE ROW TOOOOOOOOO!!!!)
I've been dying to have that thing on DVD for years now, I believe watching Schell doing the moonbuggy strip scene when the film was re- run all the time in the 1970's had a huge impact on my adolescence!
I don't know about you but tomorrow I'm going to Best Buy!
See you at again the next Chiller!
Phil (Fan of Shane and all things Anderson)
Yeah! That "Strip" scene came right out of the blue and we now see why the air conditioning units had to fail in the moon buggy. AND SHE WAS WEARING A THONG!I'd never ever seen MZ2 in my life and this was a first, which considering the amount of films I have seen...is stunning. The animated opening of the film is pretty wild too.
Gawd, I remember that Thinnes movie. I think I saw it first in '73 or '74 as a kid and started to wonder, "If a planet was in our exact orbit and always opposite the sun, how would we know?". I remember asking one of the science teachers in grade school who just scoffed at it as weird.
I'll have to look for it in Denver this week. Thanks for the pointer!
It's got great Derek Meddings FX work-worth the price-and it was the percursor to UFO a year later.In the film, a high tech satellite "with a cini-film camera on board captured the new planet from an angle we couldn't" Great exposition and nice that analog reel to reels will be back in in 2069. See you in Denver although I don't need this stress at the moment of getting ready for it.
Huge fan of JOURNEY TO THE FAR SIDE OF THE SUN here.
Lou- Yeah, for all it's faults we can't help but grok that Barry Gray score and AMAZING FX work by Derke Meddings! Good seeing you at Worldcon BTW, I had a great time!
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