News: CLOSE ENCOUNTERS Returns To Theaters In September

On September 1st, Sony/Columbia Pictures will be re-releasing Steven Spielberg's 1977 sci-fi classic, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind to theaters with a 4K remastered digital presentation. A couple weeks later, on September 19th, this version will be released on both HD Blu-ray and 4K UHD Blu-ray.

Based on this official trailer, it looks as if virtually all of the film grain has now been digitally scrubbed from the movie, giving it a modern, digital video appearance.

I have mixed feelings about this. The 2007 Blu-ray was gorgeous, and had a truly "filmic" appearance, awash in glorious, vintage 1970's 35mm filmstock grain. The new transfer looks very sharp and clear, but just doesn't look like a Seventies movie anymore. I get that that's probably what Sony wants - they're trying to keep the property commercially viable - but it bugs me. I'm also annoyed by the fan response to this which is praising it for "cleaning up" the film. But that's where we are today, I'm afraid. 

Countdown: this is Space: 1970 post #998...

Blast Off With The Original BUCK ROGERS... In 1977

I remember seeing this newspaper ad "slick" in the pages of Starlog (Issue #10 or #11, I think), and it was my very first glimpse of the original Buck Rogers serial. Riding both the Star Wars sci-fi juggernaut and the general wave of pop culture nostalgia prevalent in the 70s, opportunistic independent film distributor Crystal Pictures licensed the 1939 Universal Buck Rogers chapterplay starring Buster Crabbe and made it available to revival theaters and college campuses.

I have no idea how successful this theatrical campaign was, but within a year, Universal had begun work on their own Buck Rogers revival, which eventually led to the 1979 TV pilot/theatrical film and subsequent television series.

PLANET OF THE APES TV Annuals

1975 Annual

1976 Annual

1977 Annual

Here are the covers for the UK Planet Of The Apes Annuals, published by Brown & Watson between 1975 and 1977. As with all of these uniquely British publications, these were hardcover books aimed at children, containing articles, stories, comics and activities/puzzles.

Having grown up in U.S., I never knew these publications existed until I was an adult and saw images of them on the Internet. I now have a Space: 1999 annual and the Star Maidens one, both bought online a few years ago. I wish I'd had these as a kid - especially the ones that tied-in with short-lived genre shows like Man From Atlantis and Logan's Run.

SPACE ACADEMY (1977) TV Guide Article

I have very distinct memories of seeing this TV Guide photo spread back in '77, showcasing the (still) impressive miniature location of Filmation's kidvid classic, Space Academy, and marveling at all the tiny details.

Even today, I remain impressed at the quality of the studio's in-house effects work, which, in my opinion, rivaled that of Space: 1999 and Battlestar Galactica, on a fraction of the budget. (I'm pretty sure that producer Lou Scheimer was inflating the numbers a bit in the article.)

Hungarian CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND Poster (1977)

Here's a cool find - a Hungarian one-sheet for Steven Spielberg's classic 1977 UFO epic, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind. It has a funky quality I kinda dig.

I have no information on the artist's identity, but, as always, if anyone has info to share, post it in the comments!

THE INCREDIBLE HULK (1977)

On this day in 1977, CBS aired Kenneth Johnson's first Incredible Hulk television movie, which led to a five year, 82 episode weekly series. My thirteen year-old mind was blown... and I've never been quite right since.

News: THE PEOPLE THAT TIME FORGOT (1977) on Blu-ray

The sequel to American-International's Doug McClure lost world epic, The Land That Time Forgot, 1977's equally epic The People That Time Forgot, is now available on Blu-ray in the U.S., courtesy of Kino-Lorber & Scorpion Releasing. It hit store shelves on Tuesday and I picked up mine yesterday.

The Blu-ray features a very colorful and detailed 16x9 widescreen transfer of the John Dark-produced fantasy film and it looks quite spectacular. Bonus features include an audio commentary by director Kevin Connor and filmmaker Brian Trenchard-Smith, on-camera interviews with actresses Sarah Douglas and Dana Gillespie, and trailers for both this film and its precursor.

It's a very fine presentation all around and highly recommended for fans of the John Dark-Kevin Connor adventure series.

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS (1977) Bendable Alien

There wasn't a whole lot of Close Encounters merchandise released to tie-in with Steven Spielberg's UFO epic - a novelization, a Warren souvenir magazine, a few other odds and ends - at least, not compared to other sci-fi blockbusters of the era, and certainly not a lot merch aimed at kids.

One exception was this cheerful extraterrestrial "bendy" from rack toy specialists Imperial. All things considered, it's a pretty fair likeness of CE3K's featured alien, goofy smile and all.

News: FUTURE COP (1977) Now on DVD

Somehow I missed the announcement, but another short-lived 70s sci-fi series has come to DVD. Mill Creek Entertainment released the 1977 sci-fi police actioner, Future Cop - The Complete Series, last month.

Future Cop starred veterans Ernest Borgnine (The Black Hole) and John Amos as beat cops who are assigned to work with an android police officer named Haven, played by Michael Shannon.

The original pilot telefilm aired in 1976, and then in '77 ABC aired six episodes (including a two-part story, with both parts debuting back-to-back the same night) before cancelling the show. An eighth story was produced as a TV movie, airing on NBC in 1978 as a second "pilot" to try to get the show back on the air with a new network, but it didn't get picked up. The 2-disc DVD set contains all of the episodes, including the TV movies, and retails for around fifteen bucks, although Amazon currently has it for under $10.

I just ordered my copy!

DAMNATION ALLEY (1977) Newspaper Ad

This original newspaper ad "slick" for 20th Century Fox's other big sci-fi release of 1977, Damnation Alley, certainly promises a lot. "More than a movie," even. Of course, even if it hadn't come out the same year as Star Wars, I can't imagine it would have been much better received by audiences and critics than it was. As impressive as the "Landmaster" vehicle was, the overall production was just shoddy - even for the pre-Lucas 70s.

Sure, it has a talented cast, and even a premise with a certain amount of potential, but the only way it can truly be enjoyed today (and even in '77) is as "camp"... and I say that as a guy who is notoriously forgiving when it comes to the era's sci-fi efforts (and yes, who owns the movie on Blu-ray).

MAN FROM ATLANTIS: My Review From '77

Apparently, I was destined to author this blog. On a recent visit to my parents' house, my mom presented me with this recently unearthed, Junior High-era essay that I wrote in the Autumn of 1977, reviewing the Man From Atlantis television series. Attached to this grammatically-challenged document was a first place ribbon - so, obviously, this was written for some sort of classroom competition.

I think my grammar is slightly better these days, but I'm surprised at how otherwise familiar my writing style appears here. I'm also quite pleased at my note that the show had a lousy time slot; at 13, I was clearly reading enough TV Guides and Starlogs to understand the role of scheduling on a series' success or failure.

STARSHIP INVASIONS (1977) Press Stills

"Forced to seek a new home, the Legion Of The Winged Serpent has selected Planet Earth."

From the depths of interstellar space... here comes a small selection of publicity/press kit stills from director Ed Hunt's Canadian tax shelter sci-fi mash-up of Star Wars space opera and Close Encounters UFOlogy, Starship Invasions, starring Robert Vaughn (Hangar 18) and Christopher Lee.

This one's still not legally available on DVD in the U.S. (as far as I know)...

July's Space Babe: Jean-Marie Hon

July's Space Babe is pretty Jean-Marie Hon, who co-starred in two Space: 1970 favorites: Ark II and Man From Atlantis. On the Saturday morning Filmation series, Ark II, Jean-Marie portrayed the youthful and idealistic scientist Ruth, who traveled a post-Holocaust America with her equally-idealistic companions Jonah, Samuel, and talking chimp, Adam, bringing technological and humanitarian aid to the scattered remnants of civilization. On Man From Atlantis, she was Jane, communications officer aboard the advanced research submarine, Cetacean, providing back-up support for aqua-mariner Mark Harris's undersea adventures.

I've been able to find out very little about the lovely Ms Hon online. She was born in 1955 in San Francisco, and acted on television from 1976 (Ark II) through 1985, appearing in TV movies and in guest shots on shows like Hawaii 5-0 and The Hardy Boys. According to what little I've been able to uncover in my Internet safaris, she retired from acting to raise a family and became a pharmacist. She appeared in the supplemental interview material on the Ark II DVD set from BCI a few years back, and still looked beautiful.

THE LAST DINOSAUR (1977) TV Guide Ad

Let's kick off a new week (and month) with another vintage TV Guide ad, shall we?

I have very vivid memories of watching The Last Dinosaur when it premiered on American television back in 1977. I was quite enthralled with the plot, which posited a prehistoric jungle hidden in an Antarctic volcanic crater (I hadn't seen 1957's The Land Unknown then), and the Godzilla-styled, "suitmation" dinosaurs. Hell, I still dig the Rankin/Bass - Tsuburaya Productions co-production, and bought the movie a year or two back on Warner Archive's uncut DVD (reviewed HERE).

LOGAN'S RUN (1977) CBS TV Series Promo

From 1977, here's a long (four and a half minute) promo for the CBS Logan's Run television series, consisting entirely of footage from the premiere episode. In fact, it's pretty much a Reader's Digest-styled condensed version of that pilot film!

I'm not entirely certain if this promo was actually broadcast, or was only shown to affiliates and advertisers.

MAN FROM ATLANTIS (1977) Tie-In Paperbacks

As I've mentioned before, as an avid reader from age five, one of the few Space:1970-era collectibles I really made an effort to buy as a kid (and still do) were the film and TV tie-in paperbacks. In those pre-home video/pre-cable days, it was virtually the only way to re-experience the movies and TV shows you enjoyed (well, a lot of us made audio recordings on cassette, too). Fortunately, pretty much all of the major 70s TV sci-fi properties got tie-in novels: Star Trek, Space: 1999, Battlestar Galactica - even Buck Rogers got two, and the Planet Of the Apes show got four.

In 1977, Dell Books commissioned veteran tie-in author Richard Woodley (The Bad News Bears, Slap Shot, Con Air) to pen four paperback novelizations of the NBC Man From Atlantis telefilms: Man From Atlantis, Death Scouts, Killer Spores and Ark Of Doom (The Disappearances). The first two of these books hit the racks just around the time the weekly series premiered in Autumn, and I remember saving up my Junior High allowance of 50¢ a week to buy them when they came out. Woodley was a solid wordsmith, so they're pretty decent adaptations - and good reads, too.

The second two volumes, Killer Spores & Ark Of Doom, didn't make their way to bookstores until 1978, and the show was already off the air. This probably explains why they were published without the MfA logo or numbering. The nicely painted cover artwork by Vincent DiFate (replacing the photo covers of Volumes 1 & 2) does portray the likeness of actor Patrick Duffy, but otherwise appear to be designed to attract the eye of general sci-fi readers rather than just fans of the recently-cancelled show.

I didn't pick up these last two books in '78 (I wonder if their distribution was less pervasive than the earlier books?), but have added them to my library recently, thanks - in part - to Star Kid "Caeric ArcLight," who kindly sent me a nice copy of #3.

Unused STAR WARS (1977) Poster Concept

When it comes to Star Wars (and Star Trek) items, I've resolved myself to the fact that I'm not likely to dig up anything that's new to the die hard fans. But every once in a while, I do come across stuff that's new to me - like this early Star Wars advertising campaign concept art.

The graphic design is strong, and from a marketing perspective, it's an interesting approach. There was a lot of pop culture nostalgia in the air in the mid-Seventies, so I can see why someone at Fox might propose that angle as a way to sell George Lucas' space opera to the masses. Of course, what's so ironic about this is that it was the spectacular success of Luke Skywalker that paved the way for both Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon to return to the big screen over the next few years.

Posting here at Space: 1970 will probably be pretty light this week, as I will be concentrating on finishing up some comics writing work and some overdue DVD/Blu-ray reviews for my DVD Late Show website. Of course, if anything newsworthy should come up in the next few days, I'll be sure to let you all know.

Behind-The Scenes Pix #41: STAR WARS

I missed it, but yesterday was George Lucas' 69th birthday. Like every first-generation Star Wars fan, I have my issues with Lucas' choices and handling of the franchise he's created over the years... but I cannot forget that it's ultimately his vision, and we're all just very lucky to have had a chance to share in it. Star Wars changed the world - and the lives of plenty of Star Kids - in a lot of ways, and it all started with Lucas.

Here's the man himself, directing Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford on the set, way back in 1976...

An Out Of This World Triple Feature!

This is a drive-in trip I'd have loved to take in '78! A triple bill re-release of John Dark/Kevin Connor science fiction adventures from American-International Pictures: The Land That Time Forgot (1975), The People That Time Forgot (1977) and At The Earth's Core (1976) - all starring the indomitable Doug McClure!

Sorry posting has been so light the last few days, but I've been fighting the flu, and the battle's been wiping me out. I think I've got the bug on the ropes now, so, with a little luck, I'll be back up to form - and posting regularly - again soon. Stay tuned, Star Kids!

MAN FROM ATLANTIS (1977) "Killer Spores" TV Promo

Here's a fun YouTube find! An original 1977 promo for the third Man From Atlantis telefilm, "Killer Spores," starring Patrick Duffy! Enjoy!