Captain's bLog: Supplemental.

Sorry for the lack of new posts on the blog over the last few days. I'm sorta taking a week off to recharge my batteries and work on other stuff, but I'll be posting regularly again next week. In the meantime, why not check out the Space: 1970 Facebook page, where I occasionally post images and links that I don't necessarily post here - or maybe some of my other sites?

For more information on my professional writing and other projects, swing by my homepage, Atomic Pulp, and my Atomic Pulp blog. Or maybe read some of my more than 500 DVD and Blu-ray reviews at DVD Late Show. And the Mills Movie Poster Vault celebrates the diversity of my - and my wife's - love of cinema and cinema art.

I'm also on Facebook and Twitter. (BTW - I always announce new Space: 1970 updates at both places.)

New posts on Monday (maybe sooner). Don't touch that dial...

FLASH GORDON (1980) Pinball Machine Flyer

Here's another vintage pinball machine flyer; this one is for Bally's beautiful Flash Gordon table, based on the Dino de Laurentis/Mike Hodges Flash feature film. Of all the 70s arcade sci-fi tie-ins I've covered here so far, I think the Flash machine has - by far - the best backglass art (with very decent likenesses of Sam Jones and company) and table graphics. This is one delightfully garish pinball machine!

I really love this one. If I could find and afford them, I think I'd really dig having one of these - and one of the Gottlieb Buck Rogers machines - in my home.

Coming Attractions: AT THE EARTH'S CORE (1976) Theatrical Trailer

At The Earth's Core was another of the John Dark/Kevin Connor 70s adventure films based on and/or inspired by the writings of Edgar Rice Burroughs. As with the others - The Land That Time Forgot, The People That Time Forgot - the film starred stalwart Doug McClure. In this case, though, he was joined by the stunning Caroline Munro (Starcrash's Stella Star, herself) and the always awesome Peter Cushing (Star Wars' Garnd Moff Tarkin) in a loose adaptation of the Burroughs classic, which I watched again last night on DVD.

Set in a savage, Stone Age jungle within the hollow Earth, the film version of At The Earth's Core eschewed the dinosaurs and primitive mammals of the novel in favor of utterly fantastic monsters portrayed by men in rubber suits and animatronic 'bots. Truth be told, I actually dig these goofy monsters, and am kinda glad the filmmakers went that way with the beasties. The two best things about the movie, though, are Caroline Munro as Dia the Beautiful ("Dian" in the book) - and the realization of the heroes' subterranean "Iron Mole" vehicle, which has a gorgeous, Victorian aesthetic to its design and features. The third best aspect of the film is Cushing's delightfully scatterbrained portrayal of Professor Abner Perry. 

I'll write more about this film one of these days, because corny as the Dark/Connor films were, they were among the more high-profile genre movies of the era. I remember really wanting to see them whenever they played at local theaters and drive-ins, and am still annoyed that I never got to see Warlords of Atlantis... and still haven't.

STAR TREK (1979-80) Marvel Comics Cover Gallery - Part 3

James Sherman/Larry Hama

Ed Hannigan/James Sherman

Unknown

Luke McDonnell/Al Milgrom

Walt Simonson

Joe Brozowski/Terry Austin

And here are the final batch of covers from the 1979-80 Marvel Comics Star Trek monthly comic book series, featuring issues #13 through #18 of the company's first attempt with the Trek franchise, which was a continuation from Star Trek - The Motion Picture (hence, the pastel pajama uniforms). It was an interesting - if ultimately unsatisfying - run, as the company tried their damnedest to apply the Marvel-style of super-hero storytelling to the Trek universe, but they were limited both by their own approach, and licensing restrictions from Paramount.

A few years later, DC would land the license, and have a longer, more successful run with it. As mentioned in previous posts, Marvel would get the license back for a while in the 90s - but that incarnation is beyond the Space: 1970 timeframe. Scans and artist credits courtesy of The Grand Comics Database.

Behind-The-Scenes Pix #4: BUCK ROGERS

FX expert David Stipes, working  at the Universal Hartland special effects facility, checks the lighting (I'm guessing) on one of the starfighter models from the 1979-1980 television series, Buck Rogers In The 25th Century.

For more on the Universal Hartland effects house, check out THIS SITE, established by former Hartland model-maker Ken Larson. Lots of cool photos there of the original effects miniatures that were built for Buck Rogers & Battlestar Galactica/Galactica: 1980!

Thanks to Peter Noble for the ID.

Virgil Sings!

Okay, this is cool 70s TV novelty. Singer-songwriter Paul Williams performs on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show in 1973 - wearing his full make-up and costume from Battle For The Planet of The Apes, wherein he played the orangutan Virgil. Gotta love the nervous laughter from the obviously confused studio audience! Enjoy.

August's Space Babe: Susan Pratt

By popular demand, August's Space Babe is pretty Susan Pratt as Captain Nicole Davidoff of the 70s Saturday Morning space opera, Jason Of Star Command. Competent, courageous and cute-as-a-button, the plucky Captain Davidoff served under Commander Canarvin from a secret section of the Space Academy and aided the interstellar soldier-of-fortune known as Jason in his neverending battle against the evil galactic warlord, Dragos... during the serialized first season of the Filmation sci-fi series.

Then-billed as Susan O'Hanlon, the attractive young actress portrayed a strong, intelligent Star Command officer, and - to the credit of Filmation's writers - was never shown as a helpless damsel-in-distress nor in any way inferior to her male colleagues.

Before Jason, Susan had bit parts on a number of television series, including Filmation's Shazam! Upon completing her tour of duty with Star Command, she moved into soap operas, with long runs on General Hospital, Guiding Light and All My Children.

News: THE BIONIC WOMAN (1976) Season 3 DVDs in October

According to TV Shows On DVD, Universal Studios has announced that the third - and final - season of The Bionic Woman, starring Lindsay Wagner, will be in stores on October 4, 2011. It will be a 5-disc set priced at $39.98 SRP. The final 22 episodes are presented in full screen video, with English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Sound and English subtitles. No word as yet on any supplemental features or commentaries, although the previous volumes contained both.

This was the year that the series moved from ABC to NBC, so there were no more cross-over episodes with Lee Majors' character from The Six Million Dollar Man. Jaime was instead given a new regular love interest (played by Christopher Stone) and a bionic German Shepherd named Max. Of course, Richard Anderson as Oscar Goldman and Martin Brooks as Rudy Wells both returned (playing the same characters on two different networks simultaneously - has that ever happened again?)

I recall that the episodes got a little more fantastic this season, as well; along with the return of the Fembots (as Las Vegas showgirls!), we had Helen Hunt as an alien princess, and stories revolving around some very 70s subjects like Erich von Däniken-styled "ancient astronauts" and "Pyramid power." Of course, there's all the usual undercover stuff and spy plots, too.

I've really enjoyed re-watching the first two seasons on DVD, and am looking forward to completing the series. Now if only Time-Life would release the rest of The Six Million Dollar Man in affordable, individual season sets, I'd be a very happy man.

Captain's bLog: 0728.11

• Obviously, the big event since my last "Captain's bLog" entry was the arrival (at last) of Shout! Factory's Battle Beyond The Stars and Damnation Alley Blu-ray Special Editions. I reviewed both discs for my DVD Late Show website; if you missed them when I announced them here a few days ago, you can find the complete reviews linked below:

Battle Beyond The Stars Blu-ray Review


Damnation Alley Blu-Ray Review

I've been really looking forward to the HD upgrade of Battle Beyond The Stars since Shout! Factory first announced that they'd acquired it almost two years ago. I'm pleased to say that the new edition doesn't disappoint, and makes a great companion piece not only to the other Roger Corman sci-fi Blu-rays (Galaxy Of Terror, et al), but their Starcrash disc, as well.

• Bionic Woman update: I received my replacement disc from Universal today, replacing the defective Disc Four from the Second Season set. The audio problem has been corrected, and the exchange was easy, painless, and prompt. Kudos to Universal for correcting the problem so quickly.

•  I'm determined that my reviews of Strange New World (the conclusion of Warners' "PAX Trilogy"), the complete Thundarr the Barbarian cartoon series, and the 1978 TV movie, The Bermuda Depths, will be posted in August. I can guarantee that there will be reviews of the Man From Atlantis DVDs, too. I will try and get at least one new essay up. There will also be a new Reader's Poll and - barring unforeseen complications - a second Space: 1970 Podcast, as well.

•  Stats: The site now has over 300(!) "followers" here on Blogger, and the Facebook fan page is up to 636 "likes." Thanks to everyone for your support and loyalty! I also want to thank everyone who have used the Amazon links on this site to make purchases (and the few who've made Paypal donations). Every little bit helps.

•  I've "disapproved" a few comments lately. I don't like doing that, but I want to keep this site a positive place, and free of snobbery and snark. If you think one of the movies or TV shows we celebrate here is crap, well, keep your opinion to yourself, or post it somewhere else. I love this stuff, and this is my blog. You're not welcome here if you're going to insult my tastes, plain and simple. That doesn't mean I don't have a sense of humor or can't appreciate some light-hearted goofing on this stuff, but mean-spirited derision is not going to be tolerated.

•  This keeps coming up, so for newer readers: I was born and raised in Maine, in the United States, and this blog is about the sci-fi flicks and television that I grew up with - roughly covering the years between 1969 and 1983 (the original Star Trek slips in because it was really more of a success - and more prevalent - in syndication in the 70s than it ever was when it originally aired in the 60s) . Aside from UFO and Space: 1999, I am woefully unfamiliar with pretty much all other 70s British sci-fi. I've never so much as seen an episode of Blake's 7, Star Maidens, etc., so I cannot write about them with any authority - and I have no personal nostalgia for them. I'm sure it's my loss. (Of course, if anyone wants to send me R1 NTSC videos of those shows...)

As for Doctor Who - I am a fan of the classic series as well as the new, but I didn't see an episode until well into my 20s, so it's not part of my childhood, either. That does not mean that I'll never mention Who or the other shows, but it's why they don't get the same attention as the U.S. programs (or foreign material that was distributed here).

•  People seem to be digging the "Behind the Scenes Pix" - if anyone stumbles across one they think I should showcase here on the blog, please send it along. I'm also open to suggestions for Space Babes (I haven't picked August's babe yet, for example), "Fave Fives," and Poll questions. I always appreciate reader feedback and suggestions.

Thanks for stopping by!

MESSAGE FROM SPACE (1978) Theatrical Posters

 

Here's a colorful selection of international one-sheets issued to promote one of my favorite Star Wars imitations, the 1978 Toei space epic, Message From Space. I've always loved the U.S. poster (top), ever since I saw the art in a newspaper ad back in '78. I'd love to find a better scan of the one directly below it; the art is magnificent! My favorite, though, has to be the Egyptian (?) one at the bottom; isn't that Marvel Comics' Starlord?

MAN FROM ATLANTIS (1977) DVD Preview Clips

For those who were wondering what the new Man From Atlantis DVDs from Warner Archive looked like, the company has just posted a couple of preview clips (from the Pilot) which demonstrate the remastered video quality. Looks great to me! Can't wait to get my copies!

Now, bring on Logan's Run!

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (1978) Fan Magazine Poster

I'd never seen this atmospheric Battlestar Galactica artwork before this morning, but I really dig it. From the scan, it appears to have been a pull-out poster originally published in an unknown (to me) fan magazine. There's a signature, but I can't make it out. Can any Space: 1970 visitors identify the artist for me and/or say where this appeared?

ADDENDUM: You guys are good! As many folks have now informed me here and on this blog's Facebook page, the art is by British comics artist Don Lawrence, and the art appeared in a Dutch magazine called Eppo (hence, the "Epposter" logo in the lower, right-hand corner. I had no idea what Eppo was!)