Starflight One- Space Flicks From Back In The Day

[XP67_Moonbat]

Another one of those flashbacks I had while looking for that old ALSV article was about a movie regarding a stranded spaceplane getting rescued by the shuttle Columbia. Saw it ages ago on KTLA's Saturday matinee or something like that. They usually ran crapfest TV movies around noon.

After Googling, I found it. Starflight One. So here you go and have a good laugh on me.
http://www.agonybooth.com/recaps/Starflight_One_1982.aspx

The premise is pretty hokey and the effects were ugly. Sure, looking back, it's a crapfest. But it's one of those movies that somehow you can't forget.

After that, Salvage 1 comes to mind along with Stowaway To The Moon, and Hangar 18. Also coming to mind were Robinson Crusoe On Mars and that movie with the Doppelganger lifting body and the mirror Earth.

Funny how some of the stuff that inspired me as a kid makes my "WTF-meter" twitch today. But I still get nostalgic about it anyway.

Anyone else remember this one?

 

[Orionblamblam]

Re: Starflight One

Anyone else remember this one?

Oh, yes indeed. I loved me some "Starflight One" back in the day, even though at 13 I was still able to look at it and go "hey, wait, that wouldn't work..."

Pity it's not available on DVD.

 

[Michel Van]

Re: Starflight One


dam i saw that old TV-movie in a German Cinema in 1984 !
the German version was called here "Starflight One – Irrflug ins Weltall"
"Irrflug ins Weltall" = erring flight in to Space
Wat match perfect the Movie crap story, almost so good as "Airplane II: The Sequel"...

Pity it's not available on DVD.

there one DVD Spanish with English audio, but its Region 2 encoding PAL

http://www.amazon.com/Starflight-One-Couldnt-Airport-NON-USA/dp/B0019D6H3G/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1271871353&sr=8-2

 

[joncarrfarrelly]

Re: Starflight One

Oddly enough it was just on the other day, found it while idly channel surfing. Crapfest indeed.
Being carried by This.TV, another cable channel of old TV shows and cheesy movies.

http://www.thistv.com/starflight-one

 

[The Artist]

Re: Starflight One

After that, Salvage 1 comes to mind along with Stowaway To The Moon, and Hangar 18. Also coming to mind were Robinson Crusoe On Mars and that movie with the Doppelganger lifting body and the mirror Earth.

Funny how some of the stuff that inspired me as a kid makes my "WTF-meter" twitch today. But I still get nostalgic about it anyway.

Anyone else remember this one?

I've not seen that one but I can tell you that the movie with the Doppelganger was Journey to the Far Side of the Sun - at least, that's what it was called here in the states. By the way, there was another mirror Earth movie called The Stranger. This one had less in the way of special effects and it was darker - 1984 kind of darker. "Remember - The TV watches you." I seem to recall that this one was from Bing Crosby Productions and may have been a pilot for a series.

Stowaway to the Moon is one of my campy favorites along with Capricorn One and The Astronaut - two variations on the theme of mission failure potential detected then NASA stages the landing (Mars in Capricorn and Moon in Astronaut) to prevent loss of funding.

Now. I wonder if anyone could help me with titles for these two. The first was a movie about the population of an orbiting space station trying to maintain their peaceful independence which was threatened when either China or the USSR parked an orbiting missile silo in a near-by orbit. The second movie was about the residents of an American town being relocated to become the population of the newly built lunar colony. The drama in this one was a blow-up of solar flair activity with some of the characters trapped out in the open.

Correction. I saw The Astronaut only once and that was when it first aired. I've just checked the listing on IMDB.

www.imdb.com/title/tt0068229/

This movie also dealt with a mission to Mars but in this one the astronaut dies during the mission. Otherwise, it is still the theme of cover-up that falls apart.

 

[Orionblamblam]

Re: Starflight One

The second movie was about the residents of an American town being relocated to become the population of the newly built lunar colony.

"Plymouth," with Apollo 12 astronaut Pete Conrad.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102681/

 

[The Artist]

Re: Starflight One

Thanks!

 

[quellish]

Re: Starflight One

"Plymouth," with Apollo 12 astronaut Pete Conrad.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102681/

I've been trying to remember the name of that one for a while, I had a VHS of it at one point

 

[Michel Van]

Re: Starflight One

The second movie was about the residents of an American town being relocated to become the population of the newly built lunar colony.

"Plymouth," with Apollo 12 astronaut Pete Conrad.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102681/

I like Space Hardware in that Disney TV Pilot
they found someone who knew how to do it !
Pete Conrad ?
sad they didn't make "Plymouth the TV Series"

to Doppelganger aka Journey to the Far Side of the Sun
the story is insane but SFX and Space Hardware are Gerry Anderson best !
i say Phoenix and Dove (see picture )

so good they reused SFX for TV-serie UFO :

 

[XP67_Moonbat]

Michael,

Thank you. That pic of Doppelganger 1 brought back memories.

And while I'm in flashback mode, I found this diagram of the ship from Salvage 1. Check it out.

 

[Michel Van]

oh yes Salvage 1
i love that scene were NASA astronaut look on this Spacecraft
because the Vulture completely build of junk Cars parts
a Texaco gasoline Semitrailer with cement mixer as the capsule !
disturbed he look on landinggear who use cartires
Harry Broderick kick one tire and say
"oh yes we wend with that to Moon and Back !"

[flash=200,200]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av0fSbfOJMU[/flash]

 

[Orionblamblam]

Salvage One clip...

Ye gods. The special effects look like something out of some Stalin-era Soviet propaganda house...

Just more evidence that sometimes things from your chiuldhood should *stay* in your childhood. Another example: Buck Rogers. Back when I was ten or so, Buck Rogers friggen' *rocked.* While I was not yet quite old enough to understand exactly why, Erin Gray in her spandex flight outfit was just plain fascinating. And the years passed, and finally while in college the Sci-Fi Channel ran a BR marathon. First time I'd seen the show since it originally aired. In retrospect... I shouldn't'a aughtta have watched that...

 

[XP67_Moonbat]

Yah, no kidding. Again, that's why my "WTF-meter" goes off when looking back.

 

[The Artist]

I wonder if anyone can come up with one that is cheesier than the one I just remembered - The Mouse on the Moon. IMDB info here www.imdb.com/title/tt0057328/

Now that I think of it, I remember thinking about this movie when I saw Salvage 1. I guess it was that revolutionary low acceleration fuel.

 

[Michel Van]

again a movie i love !

[flash=200,200]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yqZzPV5V7k[/flash]

Salvage One clip...

Ye gods. The special effects look like something out of some Stalin-era Soviet propaganda house...

Just more evidence that sometimes things from your chiuldhood should *stay* in your childhood. Another example: Buck Rogers. Back when I was ten or so, Buck Rogers friggen' *rocked.* While I was not yet quite old enough to understand exactly why, Erin Gray in her spandex flight outfit was just plain fascinating. And the years passed, and finally while in college the Sci-Fi Channel ran a BR marathon. First time I'd seen the show since it originally aired. In retrospect... I shouldn't'a aughtta have watched that...

Stalin-era Soviet propaganda special effects ?
you never see the early years of Doctor Who...

Glen A. Larson Buck Rogers, oh yes I had same feeling
Wat about the Original series from 1939 with Buster Crabbe ?
apropos Buster Crabbe
Flash Gordon series from 1936
and that lovely Trash version from 1980...

 

[Grif]

Obviously, that clip from "Mouse on the Moon" was one of Edward Straker's missions for NASA before he left to form SHADO...
A friend of mine says that his favourite bit from that film was a BBC announcer saying that although the rocket was Russian, and renovated with American money, the wristwatch worn by Astronaut Vincent Mountjoy was of British manufacture: "Let no-one say that Britain is lagging behind in the exploration of space!"
Grif

 

[Hammer Birchgrove]

Re: Starflight One

The second movie was about the residents of an American town being relocated to become the population of the newly built lunar colony.

"Plymouth," with Apollo 12 astronaut Pete Conrad.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102681/

I like Space Hardware in that Disney TV Pilot
they found someone who knew how to do it !
Pete Conrad ?
sad they didn't make "Plymouth the TV Series"

to Doppelganger aka Journey to the Far Side of the Sun
the story is insane but SFX and Space Hardware are Gerry Anderson best !
i say Phoenix and Dove (see picture )

so good they reused SFX for TV-serie UFO :

I love "Space: 1999", so I bet I'd love "UFO" too. A pity I can't find the latter TV-series on DVD.

 

[Hammer Birchgrove]

again a movie i love !

[flash=200,200]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yqZzPV5V7k[/flash]

Salvage One clip...

Ye gods. The special effects look like something out of some Stalin-era Soviet propaganda house...

Just more evidence that sometimes things from your chiuldhood should *stay* in your childhood. Another example: Buck Rogers. Back when I was ten or so, Buck Rogers friggen' *rocked.* While I was not yet quite old enough to understand exactly why, Erin Gray in her spandex flight outfit was just plain fascinating. And the years passed, and finally while in college the Sci-Fi Channel ran a BR marathon. First time I'd seen the show since it originally aired. In retrospect... I shouldn't'a aughtta have watched that...

Stalin-era Soviet propaganda special effects ?
you never see the early years of Doctor Who...

Glen A. Larson Buck Rogers, oh yes I had same feeling
Wat about the Original series from 1939 with Buster Crabbe ?
apropos Buster Crabbe
Flash Gordon series from 1936
and that lovely Trash version from 1980...

I love the 80's Flash Gordon, I must get the DVD some time. I keep watching the video with Queen on Youtube, it's so awesome.

You can - legally - get two of the 1930's Flash Gordon serials and two Buck Rogers films (re-edited versions from the 60's using clips from the 1930's)at http://www.archive.org/index.php Unfortunately I haven't gotten the time to watch them yet.

 

[agricola64]

Re: Starflight One

I love "Space: 1999", so I bet I'd love "UFO" too. A pity I can't find the latter TV-series on DVD.

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-UFO-Megaset-Gerry-Anderson/dp/B0000AZKJ8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1272220552&sr=8-1

 

[Michel Van]

note on Ed Bishop

he play also in this

1962 "Lolita" (by Kubrik) as Ambulance attendant
1967 "You Only Live Twice" as Capcom of Gemini mission
1967-1968 "Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons" the Voice of Capitan Blue
1968 "2001, A Space Odysse" as Aries-1B Lunar shuttle captain
was a bigger role but Kubrik cut the szene
1969 "Doppelgänger" as David Poulson
1970 "UFO" as Cmdr. Ed Straker
1973 "Star Trek: The Animated Series" the Voice of Asmodeus
1980 "Saturn 3" as Harding
1984 Threads narrator Voice

Impresive list

 

[Hammer Birchgrove]

Re: Starflight One

I love "Space: 1999", so I bet I'd love "UFO" too. A pity I can't find the latter TV-series on DVD.

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-UFO-Megaset-Gerry-Anderson/dp/B0000AZKJ8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1272220552&sr=8-1

Thanks!

 

[agricola64]

Re: Starflight One

I love "Space: 1999", so I bet I'd love "UFO" too. A pity I can't find the latter TV-series on DVD.

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-UFO-Megaset-Gerry-Anderson/dp/B0000AZKJ8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1272220552&sr=8-1

Thanks!

you are welcome - its also avaialable on amazon.co.uk

 

[Hammer Birchgrove]

Re: Starflight One

I love "Space: 1999", so I bet I'd love "UFO" too. A pity I can't find the latter TV-series on DVD.

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-UFO-Megaset-Gerry-Anderson/dp/B0000AZKJ8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1272220552&sr=8-1

Thanks!

you are welcome - its also avaialable on amazon.co.uk

I could only find the first half of the 1st season there. The 2nd part is "out of print". Neither is the 2nd season of Space: 1999 in stock. (I have the first season.) Pretty odd that two British TV-series, although also marketed toward US viewers, get these megasets only at the US site.

I guess I'll have to get a multi-region player... It doesn't look like my laptop has one. :-\

 

[Michel Van]

Re: Starflight One

I could only find the first half of the 1st season there. The 2nd part is "out of print". Neither is the 2nd season of Space: 1999 in stock. (I have the first season.) Pretty odd that two British TV-series, although also marketed toward US viewers, get these megasets only at the US site.

I guess I'll have to get a multi-region player... It doesn't look like my laptop has one. :-\

There is a German French and Italian DVD COMPLET edition of Space: 1999
with English audio
like this German edition with 16 DVDs
http://www.amazon.de/Mondbasis-Alpha-komplette-TV-Kult-Serie-DVDs/dp/B000BL3A8W/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1272369109&sr=8-3
only for 299€

cant it be that most members here look the same Sci-Fi TV-series in there childhood ? ;D

 

[Stargazer]

Re: Starflight One

I could only find the first half of the 1st season there. The 2nd part is "out of print". Neither is the 2nd season of Space: 1999 in stock. (I have the first season.)

Not that you're missing on so much, anyway. The second season had little to do with Gerry Anderson's original vision for the series. It was an Americanized, watered-down, teenage-minded development that took away many of the relevant and clever sci-fi elements, and most of all the eerie atmosphere of the original series. Someone must have thought that Barry Morse wasn't sexy enough so they got rid of his (brilliant) character and tossed in Maria Schell as a sexy alien changeling instead. Personally I wouldn't trade the whole of the second season for one episode of the original one...

 

[Hammer Birchgrove]

Re: Starflight One

I could only find the first half of the 1st season there. The 2nd part is "out of print". Neither is the 2nd season of Space: 1999 in stock. (I have the first season.) Pretty odd that two British TV-series, although also marketed toward US viewers, get these megasets only at the US site.

I guess I'll have to get a multi-region player... It doesn't look like my laptop has one. :-\

There is a German French and Italian DVD COMPLET edition of Space: 1999
with English audio
like this German edition with 16 DVDs
http://www.amazon.de/Mondbasis-Alpha-komplette-TV-Kult-Serie-DVDs/dp/B000BL3A8W/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1272369109&sr=8-3
only for 299€

*yaw dropped reading the pricetag*

cant it be that most members here look the same Sci-Fi TV-series in there childhood ? ;D

B)

 

[aim9xray]

Re: Starflight One

only for 299€
*yaw dropped reading the pricetag*

Hmmm. FWIW, evilBay has a number of Region 1 Megasets running about 40-70 dollars, US.

 

[aim9xray]

Re: Starflight One

Someone must have thought that Barry Morse wasn't sexy enough so they got rid of his (brilliant) character and tossed in Maria Schell as a sexy alien changeling instead.

That was former Bond girl Catherine Schell, and yes, she did fill out the costumes much better than Barry Morse.

 

[Stargazer]

That was former Bond girl Catherine Schell

Whoops. My bad. I had a notion on writing this that I might be getting the first name wrong (I'm always mixing up the mother, Maria, and her daughter Catherine...).

she did fill out the costumes much better than Barry Morse.

I wouldn't argue on that one... :
It's just that I don't think costume-filling is not what Gerry Anderson had in mind when he did the first Space:1999 series...

 

[Hammer Birchgrove]

I believe it was Barry Morse who took off to explore more interesting jobs, since he felt that the new series wouldn't be cerebral enough. Alas, I only have Wikipedia and my goldfish memory to testify with...

An issue I got with Prof. Bergman is that while he is sympathetic and provides interesting commentary, he doesn't really make mush difference in the stories, despite his supposedly big role as science officer and friendship to Comm. Koenig.

I guess I want to see season 2 more or less because just having one season of such a great series is a bit sad. Maya seems to be interesting as a character (if a bit too similar to Spock), though I wouldn't have replaced Bergman with her.

Anyone here who've heard or read about the new UFO film that is supposedly coming up? I'm frankly more jazzed about it than the new V (which I've only seen trailers of yet). Hope it will be better than that horrible Thunderbirds CGI film.

http://www.ufo-themovie.com/UFO/ABOUT.html

 

[Hammer Birchgrove]

Stargazer2006, does "Pluck, the little space robot" ring a bell to you? It's a French (I think) 2D-animated film from the 80's or earlier which I saw several times recorded on VHS as a kid. It's about a young male inventor, his girlfriend Babette (sp?), their talking dog Jupiter and Pluck, a fugitive, yellow robot from space with boxes in his tummy, who they help travelling through space outwitting or escaping various evil aliens and robots. Can you tell the original French title and who created it? Is it an original story or is based on a comic book or a children's book?

 

[The Artist]

Possibly drifting a little off topic here but I thought it worth mentioning 3 audio CDs which some members here might find interesting and worth tracking down.

First - Space: 1999 Year 1 Original Television Soundtrack. SILCD1157 Silva Screen Records Group / Granada Ventures.
This is not the same as the album that had been released while the series was first run in America. This one has some alternate versions of the opening and closing themes and more of the music from the episodes - including that wonderful bit in the cave in the Testament of Arkadia episode.

Second - Space: 1999 Year 2. DWCD001 Derek Wadsworth. This CD album is labeled "Produced for the promotional purposes of the composer only. Public sale is strictly prohibited." However, I purchased my copy through Diamond Distributing's Previews Catalog several years back. My understanding was that Derek Wadsworth had authorized that offering. This one has the opening and closing themes along with three alternate themes as well as suites from the episodes The Metamorph, The Exiles, One Moment Of Humanity and Space Warp.

Third - F A B Music From The TV Shows by Barry Gray. FILMCD 124 Silva Screen. This one is not the original recordings. Instead, the music was performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and has suites from Thunderbirds, Space: 1999, Joe 90, Stingray, U.F.O. and Captain Scarlet. Despite - or maybe because of - the music not being the original recordings, I found this CD to be quite listenable.

I'm sure these are out of print now but searching E Bay, Amazon or other music outlets from time to time may turn up copies of these CDs and if you enjoyed those shows you might find these worth having.

 

[Michel Van]

if you looking for Gerry Anderson Series OST
here is the address you must have

http://www.fanderson.org.uk/fansales/fansale.html#CD

new offer :UFO - Original Television Soundtrack
Digitally remastered from the original master tapes !

 

[Stargazer]

- Thunderbirds CGI? How dare they?
- A new V???? Help! The original series was pathetic enough...

 

[Stargazer]

Never heard of "Pluck"... Sounds very nice! Is this a 1950s-ish film?
Anyway, you spelled "Babette" fine.

 

[Hammer Birchgrove]

- Thunderbirds CGI? How dare they?
- A new V???? Help! The original series was pathetic enough...

Actually, some time after the new Thunderbirds movie was on the theatres, there was also a CGI re-make TV-series of Captain Scarlet which fans of the original are pleased with. Interestingly, the word out is that Gerry A. refused to be involved with the Thunderbirds re-make, even refusing to being credited in the film, and getting money for it, too. Sylvia A. had minor involvement in the re-make though, being credited for it. However, he was involved in the re-make of Captain Scarlet.

I like the original V... But the series had indeed a lot of issues. The makers kept changing directions and kept "forgetting" important plots that weren't finished (what happened with the aliens who the Visitors were in war with? or the pacifist V-resistance?), the production values and SFX were crippled by lack of funding (resulting in the dogfights always used the same clip from the first mini-series) and most of all, it didn't get a proper ending, due to the show getting cancelled.

 

[Orionblamblam]

- A new V???? Help! The original series was pathetic enough...

The new "V" is actually really quite good. Good writing, acting and production values. Granted, it's really kinda way, way out there, featuring such fantastical elements as: the leader of the Visitors is an attractive, charismatic person promising the people hope, change and universal healthcare; centralized control over things like energy; a cult of personality; brainwashing of the young; and demonization of any dissenters.

Crazy, obviously.

 

[The Artist]

if you looking for Gerry Anderson Series OST
here is the address you must have

Thanks for this info! I didn't know all this was available.

The Space: 1999 Year 1 CD listed on that site is the one I talked about. Good to know that it is still available.

 

[Hammer Birchgrove]

- A new V???? Help! The original series was pathetic enough...

The new "V" is actually really quite good. Good writing, acting and production values. Granted, it's really kinda way, way out there, featuring such fantastical elements as: the leader of the Visitors is an attractive, charismatic person promising the people hope, change and universal healthcare; centralized control over things like energy; a cult of personality; brainwashing of the young; and demonization of any dissenters.

Crazy, obviously.

Well, all that was featured in the original. I actually got surprised that the new series kept the "V-jugend".

Interestingly, "V" took lots of inspiration from the short story "To Serve Man" by Damon Knight (which got adapted into an ep. of The Twilight Zone, and lampooned by one of The Simpsons' Halloween ep:s) and the novel "It Can't Happen Here" by Lewis Sinclair. (There's also an homage to Casablanca in one of the longer series). I think there's a connection with the Nazi-theme in V (first series aired 1983) and the miniseries Holocaust (aired 1978), and the increased interest in the Holocaust during the 70's and 80's in general.

 

[Hammer Birchgrove]

Never heard of "Pluck"... Sounds very nice! Is this a 1950s-ish film?
Anyway, you spelled "Babette" fine.

I can very well imagine that the writers took inspiration from pulp novels and 50's sci-fi films. BTW, as sure as I am that the film is French (I saw it in Swedish dubbing), at least the male hero is American, and he gets his vast resources paid by his (heard of but unseen) rich father.