Genesis II
(1973/Warner Bros. Archive Collection DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C Extras: D Telefilm: C+
When Star Trek first arrived, many did not
know what to think of it, but after its permanent revival starting with huge
hit success in syndication, everyone was suddenly interested in Gene
Roddenberry and if he could deliver another property that could have Trek’s success at the start. That never happened, but it allowed
Roddenberry to launch more ideas that were hard science with interesting ideas
and a sense of entertainment that could at least appeal to the same
audience. Genesis II was directed by the highly successful John Llewellyn
Moxey (Night Stalker, City Of The Dead, Circus Of Fear) when he was a top director of highly successful
genre TV.
Alex Cord
plays a man who takes part in an underground sleep experiment when an
earthquake kicks in and almost kills him.
Instead, he becomes preserved and when he is found, the world he knows
of is gone. Freed by a group of these
new future people, he quickly learns how his world disappeared and how the new
one has risen up. Mariette Hartley (good
thing she is not using a futuristic Polaroid camera here) becomes his friend
and guide as he may be in mortal danger because he is seen as a threat. From there, it is a trip into a new world
with different regions that they either will or will not survive.
Warner
Archive is releasing this exclusively through their website (along with Planet Earth, which Warner Bros.
Television also produced as part of a deal with Rodenberry) and fans will
finally be able to see how interesting and even ambitious these
telefilms-as-pilots really were. They
are certainly more ambitious than the endless Trek spin-offs and should be in print. Though the budget limits date it, the ideas
could work very easily, especially when too many fans accept cheap digital
effects, this could now be some kind of hit.
The other
plus is the rest of the cast including Ted Cassidy (The Addams Family), Liam Dunn, Percy Rodrigues, Majel Barrett and
Didi Conn. Not bad overall and of
course, sometimes unintentionally funny, at least they were trying then.
The 1.33
X 1 image looks pretty good from a decent film source. Star
Trek veteran Gerald Perry Finnerman makes this one look pretty good as was
his knack with the camera and viewers will be surprised how good it can look
for its age. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
is not as fortunate sounding lower in volume than it should despite being clean
for its age. Expect some harmonic
distortion too. There are no extras.
You can
order this and other Archive releases at this link:
www.warnerarchive.com
- Nicholas Sheffo
