GENESIS II (1973) / PLANET EARTH (1974)
2-FILM COLLECTION
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: Minutes (Genesis II), 72 Minutes (Planet Earth)
Audio: English DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Full Frame (1.33:1)
Directors: John Llewellyn Moxey (Genesis II), Marc Daniels (Planet Earth)
Cast: Didi Conn, Alex Cord, Mariette Hartley, Ted Cassidy, Percy Rodrigues, Harvey Jason (Genesis II), John Saxon, Diana Muldaur, Ted Cassidy, Janet Margolin, Christopher Cary, Corrine Camacho, Majel Barrett (Planet Earth)
Audio: English DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Full Frame (1.33:1)
Directors: John Llewellyn Moxey (Genesis II), Marc Daniels (Planet Earth)
Cast: Didi Conn, Alex Cord, Mariette Hartley, Ted Cassidy, Percy Rodrigues, Harvey Jason (Genesis II), John Saxon, Diana Muldaur, Ted Cassidy, Janet Margolin, Christopher Cary, Corrine Camacho, Majel Barrett (Planet Earth)
Genesisi II (1973) and Planet Earth (1973) are a pair of made-for-TV sci-fi films written by Gene Rodenberry post-Star Trek, telling the tale of a 20th century scientist named Dylan Hunt (Alex Cord, TV's Airwolf) who in the year 1979 subjects himself to a suspended animation experiment that was set to last only a few days, but after an Earthquake collapses the facility things go awry and he finds himself waking up in the post-apocalyptic year of 2133. He is discovered still in a state of suspended animation by a group of scientist and explorers who call themselves PAX. These people are the direct descendants of NASA scientist, a society that wants to preserve the technology of the past but also create a peaceful, non-violent civilization.
Not all the new colonies of this future-Earth are peace loving and altruistic though, there is a race of mutants who look very much like humans but they have two hearts, they're called The Tyranians, a name which should tip you off a bit early that they might not be the good guys here. These mutants look very much like humans but they have two-hearts, two belly-buttons, and are physically superior, but they're not as technologically advanced as PAX. Another indicator that's they're not on the up and up is that they keep humans as servants and laborers. When the leader of the Tyranians learns of Cord and that he has knowledge of 20th century technology he sends a spy named Lyra-a (Mariette Hartley, The Return of Count Yorga) to infiltrate PAX and recruit Cord, misinforming him that the PAX are selfish and do not share their technology for the benefit of all. However once Cord has defected to the side of the Tyranians he comes to realize that they have recruited him to reactivate a nuclear power plant and arm long dormant nuclear missiles, which he instantly recognizes as a sure way to refuel yet another nuclear nightmare.
Gene Rodenberry wrote this is a pilot for a new sci-fi series that never came to fruition, it's got his pulpy optimism signature on it but it is also a pedestrian and derivative of other sci-fi films and series, so I can see why it did not get picked up for a series. That said, I still dig the retro-seventies vibe of it, there are cool elements like the "sub-shuttle" transit system that circumnavigates the Earth, the Tyranians have pleasure-pain rods, the underground PAX metropolis is plastered with rescued works of art from around the world, and how the future society's all sort of look like they got their wardrobes from either the Star Trek extras closet or from Spartacus, but with anemic looking budget that can only go so far. Mustached leading man Alex Cord is never very interesting as our man thrown forward in time, he's a bit of a bore to be honest, but it was pretty cool to see ted Cassidy (Lurch from TV's The Addams Family) as one of the PAX team, lot's of seventies TV regulars pop-up here, and actor/voice actor Percy Rodriguez who narrated trailers of everything from The Omen (1973) to Night of the Creeps (1986), to Nation Lampoon's Christmas Vacation to Clerks (1994), the guy was basically the voice of my childhood.
While it never did go to series the TV film did spawn a pair of sequels, beginning with Planet Earth (1975) which wisely recast the Dylan Hunt role with John Saxon (A Nightmare on Elm Street) who bares more than a slight resemblance to Star Trek's William Shatner I think. At the top of the film a Pax team is travelling through the wastelands when they come under attack by a group of violent mutants knows as the Kreeg, militaristic mutants have wood-burning vehicles built from the scraps of 20th century vehicles augmented with wood-framing, and they also have guns, but they're not that smart. The group escape the Kreeg attack by ducking into a nearby sub-shuttle entry point, but not before one of the team leaders is mortally wounded by gunfire. This triggers a search for a Dr. Jonathan Connor who disappeared months earlier, but is the only doctor with the surgical skill capable of saving the injured man's life.
To that end a four person team consisting of Dylan Hunt (John Saxon), Baylok (Christopher Cary, Captain America II: Death Too Soon), Isiah (The Addam's Family' Ted Cassidy!), and Harper-Smythe (Janet Margolin, Annie Hall) head into the wastelands to find the doctor before time run's out for the mortally wounded team-member. The docs last known whereabouts was an area near a colony of latter-day Amazonians women known as the Confederacy of Ruth, who enslave men, whom they refer to as "dinks" which would have made me snigger as a kid, and still does, haha. Eventually all the men of the group are captured by the women, who drug them with a fear-inducing drug that makes them docile, and then set-up them up for a slavery style auction, with the men taking a particularly keen interest in Saxon's character, noting he would make good breeding-stock. The lone woman in the group Harper-Smythe then has to infiltrate the colony posing as a woman looking to get her property (Saxon's Dylan Hunt) back from the group's attractive and spirited leader Marg (Diana Muldaur, The Other), in addition to freeing her other male cohorts, including Dr. Jonathan Connor who is now one of Marg's favored servants, who has been secretly concocting a cure to free the men of the colony of the effects of the fear-inducing toxin.
This entry has plenty more action and fisticuffs that it's predecessor, which keeps things a bit more interesting than the first film lively, the previous film was a big on ideas but not so much on the action. It's also great to have Saxon taking over, he exudes his brand of charisma throughout, smart and self-assured, so much so that he manages to seduce the the leader Marg while serving as her man-servant. He humorously plies her with wine to get her to the proper "conditioning level", having successfully convinced her that he is a legendarily potent male capable of giving her a child, which is something that the other servants cannot do, seemingly a side effects of being drugged daily to keep them docile.
Neither of these made-for-TV sci-fi films are gonna set the world on fire with originality and mind-blowing ideas, but if you're a fan of 70's made-for-TV films, Gene Roddenberry, or just post-apocalyptic cinema in general and don't mind it being a bit derivative and limited by budget constraints there's plenty here to enjoy, particularly with the second film. Saxon was a stone-cold stud, and this flick that pits him against women's lib gone mad is fun, if not exactly fantastic, helped along by his on-screen chemistry with the lovely Diana Muldaur.
Audio/Video: Both Genesis II (1973) and Planet Earth (1974) arrive on a single-disc Blu-ray from the Warner Archive presented in 1080p HD and framed in the original 1.33:1 broadcast aspect ratio. There's a fine layer of grain present throughout that exports generous detail in the facial close-ups and clothing textures. The colors are pleasing and deeply saturated with the primaries have a nice pop on both features, plus the source in in fantastic shape with only a bit of white speckling to contend with. I am certain that these films did not look anywhere near this crisp on the old tube TV's in the seventies, I would imagine if you saw it back in the day and then saw it on Blu-ray it would be quite a stunning improvement over your distant faded memories. Seeing how fantastic these TV films only further fuels my desire to see the TV terror Gargoyles (1972) in HD, someone please make that happen! Audio on both TV films comes by way of a crisp, tidy and unremarkable English DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono with optional English subtitles, the score from Harry Sukman (Salem's Lot, Someone's Watching Me) gets a good showing in the mix.
Unfortunately there are no extras on this disc, I was hoping we would luck out and get an audio commentary from Amanda Reyes and the Made For TV Podcast crew, Reyes being the author of the made-for-TV film book 'Are You In The House Alone?'. If I had my druthers I say she should be mandatory participant on all vintage made-for-TV films when they arrive on Blu-ray. The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a one-sided sleeve of artwork that is fairly uninspiring but whatya gonna do? These TV films didn't get a lot of artwork to go along with their broadcast.
It is great to have two more made-for-TV films from the seventies on Blu-ray, I do hope that the Warner Archive keep bringing these to disc, even though I didn't think either of these were super-amazing slices of TV sci-fi they're both fun and I love the nostalgic buzz I get watching these vintage TV productions, especially when they are so lovingly restored and presented.
More screenshots from the Blu-ray:
