Earth II

After setting up the cast and situation, the majority of this movie is almost entirely a bomb-defusing procedural, padded out with Mariette Hartley's dead-doll impression. (Seriously, I don't think she makes a single expression even once, despite committing a majorly emotional act mid-story. Gary Lockwood looks like he wishes he'd gone into selling life insurance instead of acting. Almost nobody seems to feel anything, and every room is devoid of personality or interest; I guess sterility seemed futuristic in 1971.

Despite this, the show clearly had some real intelligence going into it, and actually made televised political debates interesting by adding subtext commentary. Less bomb defusion and warmer characters could have made this a minor classic.

This was one of the most expensive TV movies of its day. It is heavily indebted to 2001: a Space Odyssey. The action takes place on Earth II which is a space station which orbits Earth and has been designated an independent nation. Its denizens are peace loving and anti-violence but this is thrown into disarray when the Chinese send out a vessel carrying nuclear warheads. For the most part this is a pretty interesting bit of sci-fi, with the Earth II itself making for an interesting setting - I guess the producers thought this too given it was intended for a TV series. The story does get a little too bogged down with the nefarious Chinese vessel though, with the attention of the narrative switching solely onto this for the second half. The set design and model work is the strength here, with the story and dramatics under-cooked. Still, despite its flaws, it still made for a pleasing bit of serious-minded TV sci-fi from the post-2001 days.

I saw this TV-movie when it aired in 1971. I liked it then and saw it a few times in syndication. Now I own it on DVD.

The premise is that an orbiting space station is created by the United States and then is set up as an independent nation named Earth II. This nation is completely democratic, with a council that executes policies for the station. If someone disagree, they can challenge that decision and all the citizens can vote.

A situation occurs where the "no weapons" policy is challenged. A nuclear bomb is orbit around Earth, and passes close to the station on every orbit. The citizens have to make a choice whether to interfere with the bomb, in order to protect themselves and Earth.

The movie stars Gary Lockwood of "2001: A Space Odyssey" fame, Hari Rhodes and Scott Hylands. In a supporting role is Gary Merrill. Since this was probably a pilot, the guest cast included Tony Franciosa and Mariette Hartley.

While the film is dated and some of the science not so accurate, it is still very well done and for science fiction fans, should be seen.

One complaint is that there are two excellent actors playing Chinese representatives. These are Soon-Tek Oh and James Hong. They are uncredited, which is unfortunate.

The effects were handled by the same folks who gave us "Marooned" but with a superior edge in design and technical know how. 2001,s Gary Lockwood (Frank Poole of 2001} is cast as a space rescue pilot.

The space shuttles in this feature bare a striking resemblance to our current shuttle design and the space suits are straight out of the NASA play book as the producers used technical help from major sources to ad realism.

One exciting scene of a race against time shows astronauts chasing down a Chinese nuclear satellite as it re-enters earths atmosphere, this scene incorperated early video image technology to generate a shower of sparks creating a burning effect that looked 3-dimensional and will remind you of the slit scan effects used by Douglas Trumball in 2001.

Intended as a TV pilot for a possible ABC series it is not to be confused with The short lived series Earth II 1993-94 featuring Clancy Brown and Tim Curry.

I was enthralled at a network movie of the week of this quality and have seen it repeated on CBS,s Late show in the early 80,s Catch it if you can on sci-fi channel but good luck finding it on DVD or VHS. This picture is still contemporary in style and is worth a look.

One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed by Tom Gries; Screenplay and Produced by Allan Balter and William Read Woodfield for MGM release, telecast by ABC-TV. Photography by Michel Hugo; Editing directed by Buddy Small and executed by Henry Berman; Music by Lalo Schifrin; Special Visual Effects by J. McMillan Johnson;Technical Advisor: R. Buckminster Fuller. Starring: Gary Lockwood, Tony Franciosa, Mariette Hartley, Scott Hylands, Gary Merrill, Hari Rhodes, Inga Swenson, Edgar Bell, Lew Ayres, Bart Burns, John Carter, Diana Webster and James Hong.

Straight sci-fi extrapolation, made with NASA cooperation, extensively uses "2001: A Space Odyssey" techniques (especially docking in space seen externally and internally with models) in telling a story of a space station/"nation" orbiting Earth and facing nuclear bomb difficulties with Red China. Direction is good but story is too straightforwardly told, with soap opera lapses, to be a current theatrical release. Slipups: in the first reel a key plot feature assumes that Red China is not in the UN. Presence of numerous guest stars and a minor episode plot indicate that this is a TV pilot.