Space Babe: Robyn Douglass

The lovely Robyn Douglass as Jaime Hamilton on Galactica 1980. The show may not have been all that good (okay, it was awful) but I always felt that the cast gave it their best shot, despite some of the worst scripts ever written for a science fiction series and an extremely rushed production schedule. In particular, I thought that Douglass really manged to bring some humanity, humor and intelligence to her role as the "ballsy" girl reporter who was virtually the only person on Earth aware of the existence of the battlestar Galactica and its crew.

A beautiful brunette model - and I've always had a particular attraction to beautiful brunettes - Douglass also appeared in a 1979 TV movie called The Clone Master and guest starred on various television show in the 80s, including some Mike Hammers. According to the IMDb, she now helps run a bed & breakfast in California.

Frazetta BATTLESTAR GALACTICA TV Guide Ads (1978)

Back in the early days of this blog, I posted an article about the paintings that the late, great fantasy artist Frank Frazetta painted for ABC/Universal to promote the original Battlestar Galactica series in TV Guide magazine back in 1978. I had forgotten, though, that along with his paintings for "Saga of a Star World" (pilot), and "Lost Planet of the Gods" Parts I & II, he also contributed another dramatic painting for the mid-season two-parter, "War of the Gods," which guest starred the great Patrick MacNee as the diabolical Count Iblis. (Of course, as all good Galacticans already know, Macnee also provided the opening narration and the voice of the Imperious Leader for the series, as well.)

It appears that Frazetta may have actually seen a few episodes by the time he painted this later piece, as the costuming is closer to the actual Colonial uniforms seen on the show. Of course, his Iblis looks more like an evil wizard off a sword & sorcery paperback cover, but there's no denying the stratospherically high coolness factor of the piece.

A Space Odyssey

Obviously, there's been a burst of activity here over the last few days, both in the posting of articles and in traffic. I doubt I'll be maintaining this pace - I have a very full plate this Summer with freelance writing assignments and my weekly DVD reviewing gig - but I'll try to keep things coming here fairly regularly.

The reason for the small flood of posts recently is that I've been struggling with a comic book script rewrite (actually, a literal rewrite, as the original file was somehow lost, along with its backup), and with the heatwave we've been having here in non-air-conditioned Central Maine, it's been rough going. So, the other night, frustrated beyond tolerance, I took a break from that assignment and ended up looking at the great number of Space: 1970 articles that I had started and/or planned over the last few months but hadn't yet finished.

Some of these, like the "Favorite Episodes" post about Buck Rogers (which I started writing back in March!) was pretty far along, others were just images or videos in my files that I'd stumbled across and thought would be interesting to share with the readers of this blog, but hadn't gotten around to posting yet.

So, in an effort to give my mind a break from the project that was so stressing it, I decided to see how many of those articles I could finish up quickly, and get them published to the site. Apparently, it was quite a few, and I have several more completed (including July's belated "Space Babe") and pre-loaded to post over the next week.

I also (not coincidentally) found many of my old 1970s spaceship models over at my folks' place, and plan to photograph them this weekend for eventual display on the site. I have no idea how interesting that'll be for you guys, but I'm amazed that these kits I assembled with my 15-and-16 year-old hands still exist - and some are even intact - after thirty years! I just celebrated my 45th birthday, and it pleases me that something I spent so much time and energy on when I was a kid is still here for me to enjoy and share with my blog pals.

When I started this blog last Autumn, I didn't expect much from it and didn't think I'd be updating it very often. I have several other other blogs with small followings, and they're great diversions/creative outlets, and I still try to keep them going. But I guess Space: 1970 is the one that I get the most satisfaction out of, and from the traffic and the list of followers, it appears that you people get something out of it, too.

So, hang around. Some months may be a little slow, but I don't foresee ever running out of stuff to write about here. I've only barely touched on all the comics and books and magazines that I read back in my space-obsessed childhood, and there are plenty of movies (Battle Beyond The Stars, The Black Hole), TV shows (Space: 1999, Quark), TV specials (The Martian Chronicles), and franchises (Planet of the Apes) that I've hardly even mentioned or not touched on at all yet.

All I ask of you folks is that if you enjoy the blog, please link to it, blog about it, and, most of all, participate in the fun by commenting on the articles. It helps a lot to know that there are other "Star Kids" of my generation out there who remember and love the same stuff I do.

Thanks again for stopping by.

UFO (2011) Movie Website

While I'm thinking about Gerry Anderson productions... this may be old news to most of you, but there's a pretty cool official website for the forthcoming feature film adaptation/remake of Anderson's 1970 television series UFO. Not a lot of information there about the actual film - in fact, I haven't heard anything about the production since it was announced last November (!) that actor Joshua Jackson of Fringe had been cast as Paul Foster in the movie - but the site itself looks cool.

After watching the first season of Fringe, in which Jackson pretty much scowled his way through each episode in a manner not unlike the original series' Michael Billington, I think he's a fine choice to play the role. The much more important casting, though, will be that of Ed Straker, the brilliant, calculating, obsessed defender of humanity and iron-fisted leader of SHADO. My wife and I have tried to think of a single contemporary actor who would not only be right for the role of SHADO's commander, but who would also be someone that a studio would feel comfortable casting in the lead of an expensive movie; i.e. a "box office draw." So far, we haven't thought of a single star worthy of Ed Bishop's white wig.

Who would YOU like to see play Straker in the new UFO film? Bear in mind that your choice should not only be appropriate for the part, but also someone that a studio exec would consider "bankable." Post your choices in the comments.

THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW: INTO INFINITY (1975)

Into Infinity was a television movie produced by Gerry Anderson between seasons of Space: 1999. It starred Nick Tate and was written and directed by 1999 veterans Johnny Byrne and Charles Crichton, respectively. The effects were handled by Brian Johnson and the 1999 team.

The story chronicled the flight of the Earth spaceship Altares, which was crewed by two families (including children) and was capable of traveling at the speed of light courtesy of its unique photon drive. At the climax, the Altares passes through a black hole to an uncertain - and unrevealed - fate.

The film - sometimes described as a pilot for an unsold series - aired in the U.S. as part of the NBC Special Treat series of irregularly scheduled educational specials, and was designed to dramatize Einstein's theory of relativity for young viewers. I remember watching it when it originally aired and my ten year-old self was utterly fascinated by it, probably because of the excellent miniature work and special effects (evident in the clip below).

It's one of a number of genre obscurities I remember from my childhood that I'd like to see again, but I don't believe it has ever been released on video or even re-run.

ADDENDUM: I have been informed that Into Infinity is available on DVD - exclusively from Fanderson: The Gerry Anderson Appreciation Society, paired with pilot for the producer's 90s series, Space Precinct. The disc appears to be Region 0, so if you live in the States and can afford the shipping, it should play on NTSC/R1 players.

SPACEHUNTER: ADVENTURES IN THE FORBIDDEN ZONE (1983)

In the Summer of 1983, I had just graduated High School. Okay, technically, I'd dropped out because a single foreign language requirement had threatened to hold me back, but I'd taken and passed my G.E.D. with flying colors and had already been accepted to art school, so let's just say I'd graduated. It's simpler that way. Anyway, I'd already seen Return of the Jedi and had been quite disappointed in it since Han Solo and Darth Vader had been seriously de-balled and the whole Ewok thing just aggravated me.... among other let downs and cop-outs in the script (brother and sister? Really?). So, when my girlfriend and I decided to hit a Saturday matinee, and I saw Spacehunter in 3-D on the marquee, I was hoping for something with a bit more testosterone than Lucas' latest interstellar epic.

The plot of the film is simple: a luxury cruise ship explodes, and three beautiful female passengers just barely manage to escape fiery death in an escape pod. The pod crash lands on Terra IX, a failed colony world that has fallen to plague and civil war, and the girls are quickly captured by the minions of the planet's self-proclaimed ruler, the mutant Overdog. A star pilot named Wolff discovers that there's a reward for their rescue, so he heads for the barren planet, and in the course of attempting to save the women, he meets a young scavenger named Niki who agrees to be his guide. After clashes with nomadic scavengers, mutants and a rival bounty hunter named Washington, Wolff finally reaches Overdog's fortress where the grotesque tyrant is entertaining his subjects by forcing prisoners to run through a fiendish maze of death....

Spacehunter is - like pretty much all my favorite space operas - a Western with spaceships and blasters. The protagonist, Wolff (played to wry perfection by Peter Strauss) is, like Han Solo in the first Star Wars, a small-time, somewhat shady, independent ship's captain who is deeply in debt and desperate for a big score. Unlike the aforementioned Solo, though, Wolff's choice in traveling companions is more to my tastes - instead of a seven-foot tall walking carpet, he's got a shapely brunette engineer, who also happens to be an android sexbot . Her name's Chalmers (played by the lovely Andrea Marcovicci), and I'm always saddened when she's felled by a stray laser bolt early in the film....

Like Star Wars' Solo, Wolff's very name tells us that he's a loner (if only slightly more subtly). A mercenary, he's got plenty of bravado and and he's quick with his blaster. He's clearly not good at relating to people (even his android finds him irritating) though, so when Niki comes along (and the pre-John Hughes Molly Ringwald's actually pretty endearing in the role when she's not being annoying) he is deliberately brusque and cold toward her. Although he eventually bonds with the teenage girl (and yeah, it is slightly creepy considering that Niki's a fairly nubile young thing) it takes literally to the very end of the film before he's willing to make her a permanent part of his life.

This is all very much in the tradition of the cinematic Western gunslinger.

My biggest complaint with the film is that we're not given enough of Michael Ironside's Overdog. A good hero needs a good adversary, but Overdog doesn't quite measure up. Physically, he's a delightfully nasty creature - a mutated, deformed cyborg, stuck on the end of a crane and brandishing giant metal claws - but aside from a little bit of early expositional dialogue that identifies him as scientist who was once trying to cure the plague that ravaged the planet, we never get to know him or understand his motivations, if any. I suppose it's possible that his mind has simply devolved to the point where all he cares about are primal needs like sex and the thrills of bloodsports, but I never quite understood what power he held over the inhabitants of the planet that allowed him to rule them. Too bad, because Ironside is a marvelous actor who is especially adept at playing heavies with depth; unfortunately the script doesn't give him that opportunity.

Wolff's journey - as all classical hero's journeys - has him encounter a number of interesting menaces, from aquatic amazons to grotesquely obese "bat men." Actually, according to an old Starlog magazine article, the design of these creatures - by Tom Burman's studio - was a mistake based on a typo. The story goes that because of the budget and production schedule, the make-up crew had to build the creatures without the direct supervision of the director or producer, and their mistyped copy of the script identified the mutants as "fat men" and not "bat men." The mistake went undiscovered until the pricey latex suits were delivered to the Utah location, and at that point there was no time or money to have them remade.

That gaffe aside, I actually really like the look of the film. A lot has been made of the film's Road Warrior-esque production design, but considering that the setting is an utterly failed colony world, I'm not sure how else the characters and their environs should have looked. Personally, it all works just fine for me, and from the glimpses we get of the technology beyond Terra IX - like the passenger starliner, Wolff's ship and his "tumbler" vehicle - there seems to be a pretty cool galactic civilization out there. Too bad there weren't any sequels to show us more of it. The Moab, Utah locations are decidedly otherworldly, and the cinematography by Frank Tidy presents those unearthly locations to fine effect.

Also playing into the "Western" nature of the story, Elmer Bernstein - who is probably best-known for his theme to the epic The Magnificent Seven - provides suitably "big" and heroic musical score for the film.

I recently re-watched the Columbia DVD released a decade or so ago, and it's a pretty basic catalog disc, with an adequate transfer from a somewhat worn print. The 2-D presentation is actually preferable to the theatrical 3-D version that I saw in '83 - that one wasn't projected properly and was badly out-of-focus, but no one could tell if it was wrong or just bad 3-D. I got up halfway through the film and went to complain to the manager. He rudely insisted that it looked the way it was supposed to, and that I didn't know what I was talking about. Pissed, I returned to my seat. A few minutes later, the movie snapped into focus and the rest of it played out properly. Never got an apology, though. (Yes, it still chafes my ass.)

The DVD presents the film in both 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, and, on the flip side, 1.33:1 pan & scan. There are no bonus features beyond some apparently randomly-selected trailers for other Columbia DVDs.

Anyway, if you haven't picked up on it, I like the movie a lot. I liked it in '83 (and my girlfriend did, too!) and I still like it now. I think Strauss and Ringwald both play their characters extremely well, and though Lamont Johnson's direction is rather by-the-numbers and lacks much stylistic flair, it's reasonably well-paced and fun. The action sequences are decent, the photography is good, and the "in-your-face" 3-D moments aren't too obtrusive.

Believe me, I'm not kidding when I say that I wish there had been a couple more Spacehunter adventures....

BACK TO THE PLANET OF THE APES (1981) TV Spot

The short-lived Planet of the Apes television series from 1974 was another show that had several episodes edited together into TV movies for syndication; in this case, in 1981. The titles of these compilations were: Back to the Planet of the Apes, Forgotten City of the Planet of the Apes, Treachery and Greed on the Planet of the Apes, Life, Liberty and Pursuit on the Planet of the Apes, and Farewell to the Planet of the Apes.

I remember watching a few of these makeshift telefilms on WLBZ out of Bangor on weekday afternoons, but this particular promo/intro is just one I found on YouTube. I thought it was cool. If anyone recognizes the station/market, let me know.

Interesting trivia, according to Wikipedia: When the Planet of the Apes telefilms entered syndication, ABC's owned and operated stations, who picked them up for their afternoon movie programs (under titles such as The 4:30 Movie), called upon Roddy McDowall to re-create his role of Galen in a series of new openings and closings specifically for these stations, billed as "The New Planet of the Apes." The introductions originally created by 20th Century Fox to open each film was replaced by a now-aged Galen (McDowall) looking back on the events of the telefilms. The openings and closings revealed Virdon and Burke's final fates: "they found their computer in another city and disappeared into space as suddenly as they’d arrived." The ABC openings and closings of these telefilms were never seen on other stations.

The BIG Science Fiction Show of the Year! (1979)

Here's an interesting advertisement that I clipped from the Waterville, Maine Morning Sentinel sometime back in the Summer of 1979 - a sci-fi double feature of The Shape of Things to Come and Roger Corman's Jaws knock-off, Up From the Depths. I'm guessing it was the "R" rating on the latter that screwed me out of seeing this particular double bill in the theater. Fortunately, Shout! Factory will be releasing Depths on disc later this year, so I'll soon be able to recreate this cinematic experience in my own living room.

That tiny little image from Shape of Things to Come sure makes the movie look a lot more interesting than it really is.... I wonder where it comes from? I've seen a lot of one-sheets for the flick, but never seen that particular image anywhere else.

BUCK ROGERS: "Return of the Fighting 69th"

I've made no secret of my affection for the first season of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. Like the "Silver Age" and "Bronze Age" superhero comics I grew up with and still love, it was a show about adventure, humor, glamor and heroism. One thing it wasn't was subtle. But you, know, I like that. One of my favorite episodes from that first season - perhaps my very favorite - is "Return of the Fighting 69th."

I actually started writing a detailed synopsis of the episode, but after about an hour and half spent recounting roughly the first ten minutes of the show, I realized that I was being stupid. Not only is the show on DVD (and I bet most readers of this blog have the set) but it can be watched on Hulu by anyone who's not familiar with it or can't remember it from when it aired in the autumn of '79.

Suffice to say, this is the episode where a bunch of "over-the-hill" space marines are recruited for one last mission - a strike on the base of galactic gunrunners Corliss (Robert Quarry of Count Yorga, Vampire) and his partner/lover Roxanne Trent (Elizabeth Allen), which is hidden the heart of a nigh-impenetrable asteroid field. These veterans - the titular "Fighting 69th," are led by Noah Cooper (Mission: Impossible's Peter Graves), Wilma's old flight instructor and family friend.

This is an interesting episode to me for a lot of reasons. For one thing, we get a nice anti-ageism message and a sympathetic supporting character who is a deaf-mute (deaf actress Katherine Wiberg - pictured above - in her only TV or film role). For another, we're given tantalizing little glimpses into Wilma's past. It's stated that her father flew with the 69th when she was a child. Clearly her father (never mentioned before or again) was not only a military pilot, but died while she was young, and Cooper became something of a surrogate father figure to her. This explains a lot about her character (at least as portrayed in these early episodes) and gives Erin Gray some genuinely human emotions to express.

We also get another brief glimpse into Buck's history when we find out that back in the 20th Century, Buck dated a teacher who worked with the deaf, and who taught him sign language. Is there nothing this man cannot do?

The episode's villains, Corliss and Trent, are fascinating, as well. In a previous encounter with Colonel Deering, they were trapped in a burning spaceship where Corliss was severely disfigured and lost an eye. Trent lost a hand to the flames, pulling him to safety, and their status as interstellar fugitives prevented them from getting top-flight medical care, condemning them to clunky metal prostheses and grotesque scarring. Their plot to destroy Earth's population with some stolen 20th Century nerve gas is driven by pure, unbridled revenge. What's particularly interesting to me is that they genuinely seem to love each other. Sure, they're horrible, mercenary criminals, but they are capable of love - if only for each other.

Another thing I like about this episode are the great guest stars, something that Buck Rogers, in its first season, really excelled at. Aside from the late, great Peter Graves and B-movie heavy Quarry, we get the legendary Woody Strode as one of the 69th's pilots. This guy's film career goes all the way back to 1939 and he's worked with directors like John Ford and Stanley Kubrick. He isn't given a lot to do in the episode except look imposing, but it's just so cool to see him in a space suit.

I also have to mention the 69th's mascot, a mutt named "Lucky." In an article that story editor Alan Brennert wrote for Starlog magazine back in 1980, he discussed this episode at some length. Apparently the writers were getting a bit punchy and were extremely amused with how loaded this particular script was with "schmaltz" - a deaf-mute slave girl rescued and reunited with her family by Buck, the whole Wilma-Cooper soap opera etc. - and started joking about how all the episode needed now was a puppy. The story goes that they then received a phone call from the network demanding that they find a place in the episode for a dog. It turns out that the pooch had been rescued by and showcased in The National Enquirer, and the network figured that if they gave the canine a role on the show, they'd get tons of publicity in the tabloid. At first, the writers were convinced it was a joke, but no - the dog was written into the script.

There's a lot of new Hartland effects shots in "Return," beginning with the Nacrosis asteroid belt itself. It's not as kinetic and interesting as the asteroid field in The Empire Strikes Back, but it's effective enough for Buck Rogers. There are at least three space dogfights featuring "Scorpion" fighters (first seen in "Planet of the Slave Girls") and "cargo sleds" equipped with tail guns. There's also the miniature of Corliss & Trent's base itself, built into a large asteroid.

I've always loved this episode, with its classic adventure plot and interesting characters. I even like the so-called "schmaltz" (though I'd prefer to think of it as "heart") - when Cooper and his crew are presumed dead for a while at the end of the episode, I always choke up a little. And when Alicia is reunited with her family in the tag, it's a genuinely emotional - if somewhat thrown away - scene. But even more than those elements, I just love particular moments. For example, when Roxanne Trent meets Buck, she offers him her metal hand with the expectation of revolting or threatening him, but he takes it in his own and places a gentlemanly kiss on her copper-plated wrist. That's cool.

I also like Wilma's enthusiastic flirting with the guards when she and Buck are thrown into a holding cell on Corliss' base. The comic sequence is extremely broad and campy, but it's funny, too - and Gray looks astoundingly sexy in the scene.

There's also a surprisingly grim and effective scene between Dr. Huer and Dr. Theopolis when they believe that the mission has failed and Buck & Wilma are dead. Their discussion about their options is bleak and somewhat frightening. Apparently there's an "Omega complex" somewhere underground that can hold a limited number of people (specifically, Earth's leadership), and it falls to Huer and Theopolis to choose who will be permitted to survive. Considering that one of the participants in the scene is a plastic prop with flashing lights, it's a remarkably effective and moving sequence.

But my absolute favorite moment is when Buck grabs an old machine gun off a pile of 20th Century munitions and threatens Corliss with it. "That's just an ancient signaling device," Corliss insists. Buck fires a few hundred rounds into the floor: "Get the message?"

So - solid military mission-adventure plot, interesting villains and charismatic guest stars, lots of outer space action, some emotion and Buck Rogers with a machine gun. In my book, that adds up to a hell of a great hour of TV space opera, and I never tire of rewatching it.


Next on "Favorite Episodes" - Space: 1999's "War Games."

Space: 1970's Top Models

I spent an awful lot of time in the 70s building model kits of spaceships. I know for a fact that I had the Star Trek Enterprise (although I could never get the nacelle pylons to stay up), Klingon Battlecruiser, 2001 PAN-AM space plane, Star Wars Millennium Falcon, X-Wing and Darth Vader's TIE Fighter kits, the Space: 1999 Eagle and Hawk, the Buck Rogers Starfighter and Draconian Fighter, a couple of Message From Space kits, and the Battlestar Galactica, Viper, Cylon Raider and Cylon Basestar.

About half of these models ended up getting destroyed through overenthusiastic play or adolescent bouts of random destructiveness (I remember I blew up my Millennium Falcon with firecrackers for no good reason that I can recall, much to my later regret), but I'm pretty sure that a bunch of them are stored somewhere in a box in my parents' basement. One of these days, I'm going to have to go and try and find them so I can post photos of my built-up kits here on the site.

By the time the Galactica kits came around, I was pretty good at assembling the models, but I was still horrible at painting them, and those wet-transfer decals were the bane of my existence. Since they would invariably tear when I tried applying them, I decided to try and make the damaged decals work for the kit, and would try to disguise them as battle damage. This illusion was enhanced (I thought) by taking a cigarette lighter and lightly scorching the plastic of the models to suggest laser burns. It actually worked pretty well, except when I would get overzealous and accidentally set the plastic on fire, creating nasty plumes of toxic styrene smoke.

I think the Monogram Battlestar Galactica kits were my favorites. I just loved the designs (and still do), and those particular models came out pretty decent. Sure the Galactica model was sadly under-detailed, but I really enjoyed pitting it against the Basestar in a battle of dreadnauts.

The ones I really wish I still had, though, are the MPC 1999 Eagle and Hawk. I absolutely adore those ships. Someday maybe I'll track down those kits again when I can afford them.....

Dusty Abell's 70s Sci-Fi Art

Wow! Talented comics artist Dusty Abell is clearly a genuine 70s "Star Kid" -- and he recently e-mailed me to share a couple of fantastic pieces of artwork he's done to celebrate the era that Space: 1970 covers. One is a gorgeous rendition of the television sci-fi and superheroes of the 1970s (partial detail above), while the other is a nostalgic look at the great live-action Saturday Morning kids' adventure shows (partial detail below) that we all grew up on.

If you haven't already had the good fortune to view these ambitious pieces, use the links above and check out the FULL-SIZED versions! Of course, everyone reading this blog can name all the characters/shows pictured, right?

Art © Dusty Abell.

70s SciFi Blues

Previously released on DVD by MGM and Warner Brothers at least three times, the 1976 science fiction favorite Logan's Run made its high-definition debut on Blu-Ray disc last winter, but I only just got my hands on the disc over the past weekend. I've always enjoyed the movie and I was eager to replace my old 1998 MGM disc.

Sometime in the distant future, after a great global catastrophe, humanity lives in sealed, domed cities where their every need is met, and life is devoted to sybaritic pleasures. There's one catch, though - at age 30, each citizen must undergo the rite of Carousel where they are killed, supposedly to be renewed - presumably reincarnated - into a newborn life.

Some people don't have much faith in the whole "renewal" concept, and instead decide to try and avoid their fate by running away to someplace outside the domes that they call "Sanctuary." These "runners" are hunted and terminated by a special, armed force known as Sandmen. One of these Sandmen, Logan 5 (Michael York, The island of Doctor Moreau) is ordered by the computer intelligence that runs the city to infiltrate the runners, find "Sanctuary," and destroy it. Using a young woman named Jessica 6 (Jenny Agutter, An American Werewolf in London) to win the trust of the runners, he begins his search - only to find himself questioning the system, falling in love, and being hunted by his best friend.

Directed by Michael Anderson (The Martian Chronicles, Millennium), Logan's Run is very much a product of its era, and while much of it may seem dated today, it was clearly an expensive, seriously-intended science fiction effort on the part of the studio and filmmakers.

Somewhat loosely based on a novel by George Clayton Johnson and William F. Nolan, the film is an entertaining futuristic adventure with good performances by York and the lovely Agutter, and a particularly delightful thespic turn by Peter Ustinov. It further benefits from charming, old-school, hand-crafted special effects (the movie was produced just one year before the effects revolution inaugurated by Star Wars), and some imaginative production design. Jerry Goldsmith's musical score is also innovative, with a fascinating melding of electronic tonalities with symphonic themes.

Logan's Run isn't without its flaws, but it's a fun movie. The film was popular enough in its day to spawn a Marvel Comics series, a single-season television show, and a couple of sequel novels by Nolan, and it's fondly remembered by more than a few old fanboys like myself.

Warners' Blu-Ray disc is a significant improvement over the 1998 MGM DVD I own, with a razor-sharp, color-balanced transfer that is utterly devoid of specks or other imperfections. Presented in 1080p 2.40:1 widescreen, the disc apparently uses the same source material as the 2007 Warners DVD, and it looks absolutely stunning in high-def. Ported over from the '07 DVD is an audio commentary track by director Anderson, star York and costume designer Bill Thomas. There's also a vintage promotional featurette and the original theatrical trailer.

Logan's Run is a minor classic of 1970's science fiction cinema, and the Blu-Ray is the best home video presentation of the film to date. Considering that it retails for around ten bucks, every self-respecting vintage SF fan should consider adding it to their HD library.

I also picked up the new Flash Gordon (1980) Blu-Ray over the holiday. This new HD edition is, to all intents and purposes, identical to Universal's 2007 "Saviour of the Universe Edition" DVD in every way but technically. You can read my review of that DVD edition here.

Where this edition differs from that previous DVD release is in format, obviously. The new Universal Blu-Ray disc sports a stunning, high-definition, 1080p 2.35:1 widescreen transfer, apparently from the same, remastered 2007 source, and as gorgeous as that looked, it benefits further from the bump up to HD. The colors are vibrant, detail is astounding, and the presentation looks superior to any previous home video releases, and light-years better than it did in theaters in 1980. Audio options are a robust 5.1 DTS Master Audio and 2.0 Dolby Digital. Bonus features are identical to the "Saviour of the Universe" DVD - interviews with screenwriter Lorenzo Semple, Jr. and comic book artist/FLASH-fan Alex Ross, the original theatrical trailer and the complete first chapter of the 1936 Flash Gordon movie serial with Buster Crabbe and Charles Middleton. Well, it doesn't include the "teaser" for the abominable short-lived SyFy Flash Gordon television series that was on the '07 DVD, nor the Alex Ross art cards that were included in the DVD, but otherwise, the supplements are the same.

As Flash Gordon is one of my all-time personal favorites (and I don't need to justify myself to you, mister), upgrading to Blu-Ray was pretty much inevitable. If you're a fan of the film and are HD-equipped, you'll probably want to pick it up, too - especially if you don't already own the "Saviour" DVD from three years ago. It's the best home video version of the movie to date.