Fairly competent cobbling together of two of the better episodes of the Gerry Anderson space opera, though the joining scenes are pretty basic looking. The effects are generally better than than the story lines or the acting. If you enjoyed the series you should enjoy this.
4 Reviews
Nice try ...
kustom1354 January 2006
... but it wasn't really necessary. Or that good. ITC seems to have taken two Space: 1999 episodes and linked them to make a 'movie'. Problem is, we get choppy edits and re-used scenes! (I counted two shots which were recycled.) The stiffly-acted, hastily-contrived backstory (which vanishes after the first hour) feels so tacked-on that you wonder what the motive was for this project. A quick buck? The opening and closing music sounds like something from The Benny Hill Show--one of the discotheque skits! The version I saw even eschews the 1999 setting. Here, we're boosted forward to the year "two thousand, one hundred." Hmmm. Shoulda left well enough alone.
A Pointless Excersise
Theo Robertson28 June 2013
Warning: Spoilers
One wonders what the point of this might be ? It is a couple of episodes of SPACE 1999 stuck together with some specially filmed links and released in to cinemas . Or was it ? Looking at the release dates on this page it states that it made its video debut in 1980 in Britain and 1986 in America but doesn't give any information about the rest of the world if this compilation entitled ALIEN ATTACK was released straight to home video or if did get a cinema release ? That said it is a good introduction to the show but one wonders what the point of it might be if you watched this is a country that didn't syndicate the show ? Pointless doesn't begin to describe it
ALIEN ATTACK does show the strengths and weaknesses of season one of SPACE 1999 . For a television show the effects and production are genuinely cinematic and are obviously inspired by 2001 . The problem is that the structure is too obviously two episodic stories stuck together and the cutaway links on planet Earth don't do anything to remedy this and how could it ? The first half is the episode Breakaway from the show and involves Commander John Koenig whose new command of Moonbase Alpha coincides with a series of mysterious deaths and accidents on the base . The nuclear disposal dump on the Moon is leaking its cargo that eventually leads to a chain reaction and explosion that blows the Moon out of orbit and in to space which sets up the second half of the story if you're watching this film or another 47 episodes if you're watching the series
One interesting aspect is how prominent the supporting character Commissioner Simmonds is at the start of the episode . One wonders then why the episode chosen to continue the film couldn't have been the episode Earthbound where Simmonds holds Moonbase Alpha to ransom . Earthbound also has Christopher Lee as a guest star which would have made ALIEN ATTACK more marketable but there again you'd need a reason to call it ALIEN ATTACK so the pretentious and perplexing episode War Games is tacked on to Breakaway trying and totally failing to give the impression this is anyway a coherent narrative . War Games is certainly action packed but suffers from what occasionally happened during series one of the show and has a resolution that doesn't even begin to make sense
As it stands ALIEN ATTACK is a good enough introduction to SPACE 1999 but the reason for releasing it is very puzzling and I'm curious as to the story behind it is . There's also something bizarre about the linking section and that is that it's set in the year 2100 . This might make the scenario of having colonised the Moon more convincing within its own timeline but also means it's missing the point if ALIEN ATTACK is being used as an introduction to the show SPACE 1999 . In fact the whole thing seems pointless with hindsight
ALIEN ATTACK does show the strengths and weaknesses of season one of SPACE 1999 . For a television show the effects and production are genuinely cinematic and are obviously inspired by 2001 . The problem is that the structure is too obviously two episodic stories stuck together and the cutaway links on planet Earth don't do anything to remedy this and how could it ? The first half is the episode Breakaway from the show and involves Commander John Koenig whose new command of Moonbase Alpha coincides with a series of mysterious deaths and accidents on the base . The nuclear disposal dump on the Moon is leaking its cargo that eventually leads to a chain reaction and explosion that blows the Moon out of orbit and in to space which sets up the second half of the story if you're watching this film or another 47 episodes if you're watching the series
One interesting aspect is how prominent the supporting character Commissioner Simmonds is at the start of the episode . One wonders then why the episode chosen to continue the film couldn't have been the episode Earthbound where Simmonds holds Moonbase Alpha to ransom . Earthbound also has Christopher Lee as a guest star which would have made ALIEN ATTACK more marketable but there again you'd need a reason to call it ALIEN ATTACK so the pretentious and perplexing episode War Games is tacked on to Breakaway trying and totally failing to give the impression this is anyway a coherent narrative . War Games is certainly action packed but suffers from what occasionally happened during series one of the show and has a resolution that doesn't even begin to make sense
As it stands ALIEN ATTACK is a good enough introduction to SPACE 1999 but the reason for releasing it is very puzzling and I'm curious as to the story behind it is . There's also something bizarre about the linking section and that is that it's set in the year 2100 . This might make the scenario of having colonised the Moon more convincing within its own timeline but also means it's missing the point if ALIEN ATTACK is being used as an introduction to the show SPACE 1999 . In fact the whole thing seems pointless with hindsight
An excellent stringing together of two exceptional episodes.
peter-faizey2 September 2005
In 1978 it was decided that Space 1999 could be made as a movie by editing together old episodes. This film was produced in 1979 by the ITC London Offices who had previously produced Space: 1999: Destination Moonbase Alpha in 1978. Because they were produced in London they are must more faithful to the original material, unlike the ITC New York productions which are at times terrible. The movie is also better quality than the American productions as they were edited on film. This movie is a compilation of two episodes. The first episode 'Breakaway' is used and then 'The War Games' another episode from the shows first season. There is only minor editing which was necessary to make it into a movie, and has new opening and closing music, which was selected from stock, which is excellent. Added scenes featuring experienced actor Patrick Allen are added which were filmed at Pinewood Studios, where the series was filmed. This provides scope and an opportunity to see what was happening at Earth when the Moon was pulled out of the Earth's orbit. This was never seen in the episodes and is an excellent edition to the movie. This should be suitable to all fans of the series because it is faithful to it. If you like this movie, I would recommend Destination Moonbase Alpha because it is also excellent.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
