Space: 1999 – Special Effects Techniques

nocchedure 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I think Space: 1999's greatest achievement was its design. The whole aesthetic, from Alpha's styling to the clothing, is simply gorgeous, and easily surpasses the visuals of many series that followed.

That, and the funky theme, of course.

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rcarmo an hour ago | parent | next [-]

Dat guitar. It lives rent free in my mind.

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AndrewStephens 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I strongly agree.

The actual plots of Space1999 were pretty laughable but I don’t think the production design has ever been beaten, even it today’s shows. The sets and vehicles look fully functional, even the clothes look perfectly wearable despite being very 70s. Contrast this with Star Trek, with weird consoles and uniforms that look uncomfortable.

The theme is, of course, beyond reproach. I like to imagine the producers couldn’t decide between epic sci-fi chords, funk, and jangly surf guitar so the composer just said screw it and did all three.

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scandox an hour ago | parent | next [-]

The plots are also extremely illogical and incoherent. I think though the greatest failure is in character development.

Rewatching it recently I felt like it was a drama about a really bad boss. Martin Landau's character is a terrible leader: shouty, over emotional, inclined to sudden bouts of despair, micromanaging.

It's obviously a great pity because as everyone agrees it's a beautiful show with a top notch theme.

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bsder an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

> The actual plots of Space1999 were pretty laughable

And sooooo slooooooooow.

Given the fact that is was such an expensive (for the time) show, I really, really want to know how it is that they couldn't cough up for a writer that could produce something engaging rather than completely forgettable.

I mean it's not like SciFi was new at that point. Flash Gordon, Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, etc. were more than a decade old and even Star Trek was more than 5 years old.

	▲	rcarmo an hour ago \| parent [-]
		For the time, it was OK. Audiences needed the time to digest some of it.

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GarnetFloride 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

A lot of the special effects and model work was done by Gerry Anderson of thunderbird fame. There is a lot to be said for practical effects.

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drob518 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Very cool seeing the old techniques described. The classic special effects teams had to be so creative. These days it’s all green screens and digital effects.

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jmclnx 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Interesting, and in a way I can see a tiny bit of Space 1999 in some of Lucus's works.

I really liked the first season, but season 2 seemed to a been a bit worse, too bad the series ended too soon.

	▲	funnybeam 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I’ve been rewatching it recently and thought the first season was awful. The plots specifically, the aesthetics and theme music are awesome and worth watching for that alone. Haven’t gotten to the second season yet but was really hoping it improved… Biggest disappointment was reading up on it and finding that the Anderson’s had originally intended to do a second season of UFO then changed it up to make Space 1999 instead. UFO was amazingly good