Strange New World!

Strange New Worlds is the name of the third and final attempt to launch a series about "Dylan Hunt", a time-lost Rip Van Winkle from the 20th century. Gene Roddenberry had tried twice to tell this story and sell it to the networks (first CBS with Genesis II and then ABC with Planet Earth) but he was not involved with this final attempt, handing it off to others to fret with. John Saxon returns but now he's called Anthony Vico and he is joined by two others - Kathleen Miller as Dr. Allison Crowley and Keene Curtis as Dr. William Scott. These three were astronauts in stasis in orbit above the Earth when meteors struck the planet with devastating effects. They were sent on a one-hundred-and-eighty-year orbit around the sun to return to a changed Earth. 

This movie is actually two episodes slapped together which makes for a strange viewing experience. The look of the show is really different, edgier and rougher than the slick sci-fi that normally graced TV sci-fi. The first half was originally called "Clones" and has our trio run into long-lived medical vampires who live by using replacement parts from clones they grow themselves. Their society is on the verge of fading out as the quality of the materials has deteriorated over time with repeated use. They need fresh blood, quite literally and imagine our trio is a good source. This is a clunky beginning with togas and flowing gowns passing for costumes. Reb Brown plays the heavy or heavies since there are more than a few copies of him. Martine Beswick in this show, but she's largely wasted. 

"Animal Land" is the second half, and the grittiness of the world is abundantly seen in the costumes and settings. This was a different look for science fiction, a dirty world which reminded me of the used universe of Star Wars and such like. The story pits the trio against a gang of wardens who protect the animals with religious zeal from poachers. The show was filmed at the closed Griffith Park Zoo and the crew make good use of this location. This is not a great movie, nor even a good one. The first part is slow and the second part filled with atmosphere comes too late to regain the momentum. 

So in three years or there about one story of a man stranded in the future seeks to find purchase on the network landscape, yet doesn't catch hold. More is the pity. Next time, Roddenberry takes a swing at androids. Not the one you're thinking of. 

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Planet Earth!

Gene Roddenberry's attempt to get back into science fiction television failed with the pilot Genesis II. Despite a clamor for sci-fi from CBS and other studios, they failed to take up the series perhaps because of its relative dreariness. They wanted a new Star Trek and they got a post-apocalyptic yarn that preached that mankind needed peace. Roddenberry was not a quitter, so when ABC expressed some interest in a retooled program, he went to work on making it more Trek-like. 

So that brings us to Planet Earth. Dylan Hunt is still around, but he and his world have altered a little with a bit more modern detail worked into the mix. The world is somewhat less grim in some ways and more in others. The great John Saxon plays Hunt in this new pilot and he and his team working for the PAX organization seek to bring a tattered world together. To that end they confront an amazon culture in which men are slaves called "Dinks" and the world is harassed by apparent mutants called "Kreeg". This strikes closer to the formula Roddenberry had hit with Star Trek.

Diana Muldaur steps in as the top amazon, playing it to the hilt. Ted Cassidy is back as the giant savage "Isiah" who has decided to work for PAX, but alas he gets very little to do in this particular show. A young lovely named Janet Margolin plays a chick named "Harper-Smythe", and she gets a lot to do. A character named "Baylock" is played by Christopher Cary, and his offbeat nigh albino appearance is meant I guess to fill the Spock spot. He's an esper to boot. 

Arguably my favorite characters are the mutant Kreeg, a band of wild soldier types who carved their skin and are possessed of odd knots along a ridge on their heads. They are top-notch menacing and delightfully ludicrous at the same time. The drive around in hopelessly beaten down cars powered by coal and wood trailing plumes of black smoke. In a story which has a environmental theme their role is obvious. John Quade, a name you might not know, but a face you'll recognize instantly leads this gang of gun-toting misfits. I loved these somewhat more dangerous "Keystone Cops" of the future, and wanted to see more. 

Sadly despite the changes Roddenberry and his team made to the show it still was not picked up by the network. But he wasn't done yet, there was a third attempt. More on that tomorrow. 

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Genesis II!

The late 60's and early 70's were heady times for TV science fiction. We had just got to the Moon and I seem to remember a general notion that it was the first "giant leap for mankind" with the emphasis on "first". I was ten and now I am over six times that old now, and we haven't really taken any further steps. We've done work in the nearby neighborhood and sent probes to the distant planets, but man himself has been content to walk in his old footprints. The future, so bright and filled with helpful technology as seen in Star Trek and The Jetsons had another side, a darker side. Gene Roddenberry tried to explore possibilities in a few more series after Star Trek and one that lingers in the memory is Genesis II and its siblings.

Genesis II tells the story of a future in which sprawling underground subways link the world and man. Some people in a group called PAX seem to have finally shaken off the old warlike ways. But as one man found, nothing lasts forever. As part of a cryogenic experiment Dylan Hunt was locked into a chamber and put into a coma, and just then an earthquake buried the facility, and he was forgotten. A hundred and fifty years and a small nuclear war later he's discovered and revived and finds that man's old ways of war were not so forgotten. And he learns that mankind itself has given rise to new variations. 

That's story in Genesis II and it features a odd blend of tech and barbaric splendor. Alex Cord plays Dylan Hunt and a ravishing Mariette Hartley plays the woman who brings him back. With the likes of Ted Cassidy around this one is pretty entertaining. But as a pilot it failed to convince the networks. Likely that's because, despite a lot of high concept work done, the basic plot of the story is rather ramshackle. The characters do lots of illogical things and the ending is abrupt and denies the viewer the actual pleasure of seeing what seemed to be some of the best action in the show. A tactical nuclear blast seems a strange way to end a show promoting peace. I really liked the underground sets, presumably in Carlsbad Caverns, but the use of college campuses to represent the future city of the evil overlords doesn't work well at all. 

Alex Cord is acceptable as the hero, but just that and sadly no more. It's not his fault but his porn mustache really holds him back. Like lots of shows of this era, the wigs used by some of the minor characters are unintentionally hilarious and undermine the production. Marjette Hartley is stunning, and the show really comes alive when she's on screen. I can see why the networks balked at this effort from Roddenberry, but he wasn't done trying to sell it. More tomorrow. 

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Return To The Planet Of The Apes!

Of the two television adaptations of the Planet of the Apes the animated series Return To The Planet of the Apes by DePatie-Freleng was the more satisfying. The fact it was animated gave it a greater opportunity in those halcyon pre-digital days of showing a more complete picture of the new and weird Ape world. I don't even want to try and fit this series into the broader PotA continuity, it would be useless. This series seems to me a reboot of the concept, a fresh take on the singular premise.

As with all the PotA features, this one begins when astronauts crash onto what they imagine to be a distant planet but which will be revealed to be their own Earth in the distant future when humans have been reduced to status of animals and Apes are the ascendant species with a full-blown civilization. What is notable about this animated rendition is that the world of the Apes is a relatively modern one, with technology which seems to peak about the 1950's. These Apes have cars and trucks, live in a rather handsome city with amenities like plumbing (I assume), electricity, television, and other modern details of daily life.

Into this world come three astronauts (Bill, Jeff, and Judy) who crash land in a lake and walk overland in a forbidding landscape to ultimately discover that they are stranded in a topsy-turvy world. They get split up in the debut and end up in different places. Jeff discovers an above average intelligent girl named Nova who wears a dogtag with the name "Brent", Judy disappears in a crack in the ground and will reappear a prisoner of weird humans named "Underdwellers", and Bill (dubbed "Blue Eyes") ends up in the in the hands of Zira and Cornelius who recognize his intelligence and immediately work with him to help. The three are eventually reunited after much effort and many adventures and work in tandem to help the lot of the humans (called "humanoids" in this series) who are the victims of oppression and persistent attacks from the Ape City dwellers.

The stories have memory and while the episodes are not necessarily continued, they do have a continuity which runs through them. Events matter and watching them in sequence is necessary. Alas the story stops short of a final resolution, though the trio do succeed in finding a new home for the humans somewhat shielded from the Apes.

The visuals on this series do a remarkable job of maximizing what was then called animation. Costs didn't allow for full animation and the producer here, the great Doug Wildey does a fantastic job blending the action (such as it is) with well-crafted montages and beautiful backgrounds to create a wonderfully rich environment. While the pacing of certain sequences is a bit slow, the atmosphere is pitch perfect many times and the images are often quite striking.

NOTE: This is a Dojo Revised Classic Post. 

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Planet Of The Apes - The Complete TV Series!

The Planet of the Apes TV series followed quickly after the final Apes movie Battle for the Planet of the Apes. Supposedly while a decision to end the film series had already been made there was thought that a TV show might gain some footing. The series debuted on CBS and went head to head with popular shows Sanford and Son and Chico and the Man. It was in the final analysis a fail as only thirteen episodes made the air with a fourteenth produced.

Living in the wilds of Kentucky with only aerial antennas to get reception of the three big networks a decision had to be made whether to bet NBC and ABC or CBS by itself since all three were never readily available from the same direction. We were an NBC family so much of what showed up on CBS was missed by yours truly as a kid. This show was no different. But now I've rectified that gap in my complete understanding of the PotA universe at long last.

The show was frankly better than I expected. The premise doesn't wander far from the movies as we once again find a couple of astronauts from Earth's present (or slight future) stranded far in the future among a society dominated by intelligent Apes. How it fits into the larger time scale of the movies is beyond me and frankly I don't see how it can be jiggered, but whatever.

The astronauts named Alan Virdon (Ron Harper) and Peter Burke (James Naughton) are stranded after their ship crashes and their shipmate is killed. Apes find the ship but not before a lone human being rescues them and hides them in his bunker which was left from previous eras. The humans of this Ape planet are more intelligent than the feral lot that Taylor discovered in the first movie, these are humble characters able to speak and do most everything save make decisions for themselves. They are ruled by Apes and are a definite second class in a world which little values their lives.

Virdon and Burke decide to take steps to return home, however unlikely that seems and so helped by a chimpanzee named Galen (played by Roddy McDowall) they investigate this new world they are trapped upon. They are pursued by the always upset General Urko (Mark Lenard) who serves with reluctance the orders of Zaius (Booth Colman). In most episodes Urko is hot on their heels but in others not so much.

In fact the series seems to begin with the definite sense that Virdon and Burke with Galen's help are looking only for a the means to return home. But after several episodes of this mission they seem to forget about it and take to helping the humans who often take care of them. The trio become defacto Robin Hoods, helping in spite of the fact that they themselves are outlaws. Weirdly they often walk right into the teeth of the authorities, but are always nimble enough to escape eventually.

The show does lack the focus and the dour outlook of the movies, as most episodes end on upbeat notes with most humans finding their lot improved thanks to the astronauts. But sometimes you have to wonder what they are doing, since it often seems that they are just tempting fate. One episode has the astronauts help a farm family improve their lot with new techniques and attitudes and another explores a human village where sacrifices are routinely captured to fend off Gorilla attacks. Lots of moral questions are raised and in the best stories the answers are not necessarily easy, though TV couldn't really deal with the complexities the best movies touch on.

The series is in retrospect hobbled by the necessities of episodic television of the time, requiring too many concessions which undermine the theme. Today of course a more elaborate story line would be developed allowing for a richer experience, and I'd love to see what someone could do. 

One more to go. 

  NOTE: This is a Dojo Revised Classic Post. 

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Battle For The Planet Of The Apes!

Battle for the Planet of the Apes is generally held by most to be the weakest installment of the film series. I'd have to agree. There were indications that the fourth movie was to be the final one, showcasing how the Apes triggered their rise, so the story here seems at some level unnecessary. But that said, the movie does show the beginnings of story elements which showed up in earlier movies.

The story offers up a frame set hundreds of years in the future and gives us John Huston as "The Lawgiver" who relates what happened in the early days following the events of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. And this is the most confusing part of the tale. We follow Caesar and Lisa from the previous movie and they have now had a son named Cornelius. We also see that Aldo from the earlier movie is now "General Aldo" and his pugnacious attitude causes a lot of the conflict in the story. The main villain of the tale though is Governor Kolp, formerly head of the security for the Governor in the last movie, who leads the mutant human survivors of a nuclear war still living in the ruins of the city.

Apes live in relatively harmony with humans in what is often called "Ape City", but which is mostly a collection of tree houses and wooden huts. There is a brewing conflict as the Gorillas led by Aldo seem to want to segregate the humans out, but Caesar supported by wise apes like the Orangutan Virgil keep the peace but barely. An expedition by Casear and Virgil alongside a human McDonald leads the mutants there to attack Ape City and that is the nominal "battle" of the movie's title.

This is a ramshackle movie with a shifting focus that doesn't allow the narrative to find firm footing. Too much doesn't make sense too much of the time and simple solutions seem to be bypassed in order to allow the story unfold as the writers desire. Distances are a big problem, as at times the distance between Ape City and the Forbidden City seems vast and at other times short. The mutant army is on the march for about half the movie and don't make many efforts to hide their presence, but nonetheless are able to effectively sneak up on the Apes in a wide open field.

As much as I can detect it, the theme of the movie seems to be that societies are complicated and that the aspirations of Caesar aside, the notion that Ape society will not be fundamentally different from the flawed and violent human society which preceded it. But despite this lesson and the foreknowledge that the audience has that eventually Apes will ascend and humans will fall low, we end the movie in the time of the Lawgiver with humans and Apes in relative harmony. But I guess we're supposed to see that won't last, and that explains the tear on the face of the statue of Caesar which closes the film.

Next the Apes go to television. 

NOTE: This is a Dojo Revised Classic Post. 

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Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes!

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes is a thoroughly "B" movie but one I always like better than it deserves. The fourth installment of the Apes saga shows us just exactly how the Planet of the Apes got started and how richly humans (that's us) deserved to be humbled and stuck out in the woods eating corn waiting for a gorilla on horseback to shoot us in the ass.

Roddy McDowall returns to the franchise playing his own son named "Caesar". Ricardo Montalban reprises his role from the last movie of "Armando",the circus owner who has cared for the son of Cornelius and Zira for a few decades. Natalie Trundy portrays the ape "Lisa" who eventually plays a key role. Trundy has been in all three of the PotA sequels, a different character in each. (Since she was the wife of the producer Jacobs that makes sense I guess.)

The setting of the movie is the 1991, two decades in the future in the time of its release and one decade after the predicted decimation of all dogs and cats in the world, creating a need for new human pets. Very quickly these pets have been transformed into slaves and that's the world we see.

The setting of this movie is radically different, giving us a sterile future cityscape which appears like some unending vista of concrete and steel. No natural settings are ever pictured outside of a flashback and the movie does have a mildly claustrophobic feeling to it.

The core theme of race relations becomes dominant again in this movie as the clearly intelligent but still limited Apes are trained and forced into roles as menial labor for human society. Chimps wear green jumpsuits, the Gorillas wear red, and the Orangutans wear orange. Humans wear black for the most part, the soldiers looking very much like the old Nazi SS.

The story is pretty straightforward. After years in the provinces Armando brings Caesar to the big city and there for the first time the talking chimp sees the real injustices his kind suffer at the hands of callous humans. His anger bristles causing much trouble and Armando tries to protect him, even surrendering himself to the authorities who still suspect the famed talking child of Cornelius and Zira still lives. Armando gives his life to save Caesar's secret, who has inserted himself into the larger ape community (playing on the notion that all apes look alike). Caesar's anger grows and he uses his apparent mental control of other apes to foment rebellion which he triggers after the authorities try to kill him. The uprising is violent and brutal but at the end Caesar holds out hope that a new status quo might be achieved.

That ending apparently was not the original and frankly it shows. The violence in the story grows and grows and the brutal outcome seems inevitable and in the first version of the movie was so. But cooler heads prevailed and a more peaceful and oddly upbeat ending was cobbled together. The last scene is a city in flames and despite Caesar's altered message of coexistence, it's that image which properly caps the narrative. These movies all have downbeat endings and this one should be no different.

If the movie has a fundamental flaw is that it doesn't trust its audience enough to get the message. The racial comparisons are so on the nose that seeing the movie through any other lens seems unlikely, so the addition of commentary to the film to reinforce that idea seems unwieldy. Hari Roades plays an intermediary between the Governor (he is his aide) and Caesar (he is his confidant and helps him escape) and since Roades is the only black human face in the movie, his role seems obvious. The overwrought nature of the theme comes across heavy handed and undermines the lasting power of the movie. 

More Apes on the way. 

  NOTE: This is a Dojo Revised Classic Post. 

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