Announcement
Collapse
No announcement yet.
Genesis II
Collapse
X
Collapse
-
Genesis II
Released by: Warner Archive
Released on: November 11, 2009.
Director: John Llewellyn Moxey
Cast: Alex Cord, Mariette Hartley, Ted Cassidy, Percy Rodrigues
Year: 1973
Purchase From Amazon
The Movie:
Directed by Argentinean TV wunderkid John Llewellyn Moxey, Genesis II was written and produced by none other than Gene Roddenberry, best known as the man who took us all along for the ride with the cast and crew of the starship Enterprise by creating Star Trek.
The 1973 made for TV movie follows Dylan Hunt (Alex Cord), a scientist who, in 1979, decides to put himself into suspended animation deep inside a cave owned by NASA to see if his comrades can bring him back to life a few days later. The point of this rather loony sounding experiment? Well, he figures if this works, he'll be able to apply the technology to the space program and allow astronauts to travel much further into the recesses of space.
Unfortunately for Hunt, there's an earthquake and the cavern collapses on top of him, leaving him there essentially asleep for one hundred and fifty four years. When he wakes up and finds himself in the year 2133, he's shocked to learn that a massive war has broken out. While he slept, the educated minds and scientists of the world took it upon themselves to stop the hawks in charge of the various military forces in power by creating their own society appropriately dubbed PAX. Their united ideal is to persevere and ensure that mankind's indomitable spirit remains, but they've got to contend with the Tyranians, the military types who plan on overthrowing everyone else and usurping power for themselves.
The Tyranians trick poor Dylan into working alongside them in hopes of using his knowledge of the world that once was, figuring fairly reasonably that they can learn from mistakes and just maybe rebuild an ancient nuclear generator that will give them the edge they need to take the world and keep it. Dylan, however, is no dummy and he soon figures out exactly what's going on and decides to fight alongside the citizens of Pax to stop things from spiraling even further out of control.
Originally envisioned by Roddenberry as a series pilot for a television show that never happened, Genesis II does sort of have that feel to it in that it leaves open a lot of possibilities. Regardless, this was the only adventure that Dylan Hunt would ever have and that's too bad as this is a fun story. Combining elements from Star Trek and maybe letting a bit of influence from the Planet Of The Apes films taint his vision, Roddenberry tells a pretty interesting story here, and on that in light of the current political divisiveness running rampant through the United States, seems more relevant than ever.
Sci-fi has almost always had a social conscience and the script makes no qualms about whose side we're supposed to be one, but it's interesting that the film at least allows Dylan to interact with both factions. Alex Cord makes for a decent enough hero, while supporting performances from the likes of Majel Barrett, Percy Rodgriguez, Ted Cassidy, and of course the lovely Mariette Hartley round out the supporting cast nicely.
While aspects of the production certainly show their age, the storyline holds up surprisingly well here, resulting in a picture that's not only entertaining but actually a bit thought provoking. Roddenberry's vision of the future has its good sides and its bad sides, it's neither utopian nor dystopian, but that's not a bad thing as life is rarely so black and white. It's a well thought out piece made by a decent director, shot by a talented cameraman and made with some decent production values. Definitely worth seeing.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Genesis II is presented in its original 1.33.1 fullframe aspect ratio demonstrating very nice color in a decent progressive scan transfer. There's some mild print damage but given the film's age that's understandable. The contrast levels look good, detail is stronger than you'd probably expect, and while there's a little bit of shimmer, this is otherwise a decent looking effort. The film has not been given any sort of restoration according to the Warner Archives website, but at least the elements used for this transfer appear to have been in pretty nice shape and this is definitely one of the better looking WB Archive releases this reviewer has seen so far.
The English language Dolby Digital Mono track is obviously limited in range but the dialogue is easy to understand and the levels are properly balanced. There aren't any recurring problems with hiss to complain and generally the movie sounds alright.
This DVD-R features a plain, static menu and nothing else.
The Final Word:
A bit dated but still plenty of fun, Genesis II gets the typical no frills treatment from Warner Archives but at least the transfer is a strong one, which for some fans will be more than enough reason to pick this up.
Posting comments is disabled.
Categories
Collapse
article_tags
Collapse
- album review (218)
- album reviews (274)
- arrow video (272)
- blu-ray (3225)
- blu-ray review (4162)
- comic books (1392)
- comic reviews (872)
- comics (988)
- dark horse comics (484)
- dvd and blu-ray reviews a-f (1969)
- DVD And Blu-ray Reviews G-M (1711)
- DVD And Blu-ray Reviews N-S (1757)
- DVD And Blu-ray Reviews T-Z (878)
- dvd review (2513)
- idw publishing (216)
- image comics (207)
- kino lorber (391)
- movie news (260)
- review (318)
- scream factory (279)
- severin films (300)
- shout! factory (537)
- twilight time (269)
- twilight time releasing (231)
- vinegar syndrome (497)
Latest Articles
Collapse
-
Released by: Kino Lorber
Released on: February 22nd, 2022.
Director: Gianfranco Parolini
Cast: Lee Van Cleef, Jack Palance
Year: 1976
Purchase From Amazon
God’s Gun – Movie Review:
Directed by Gianfranco Parolini in 1976, quite late in the spaghetti western boom years, God's Gun (Diamante Lobo in Italy) introduces us to a bad, bad man named Sam Clayton (Jack Palance) who, along with his gang of equally bad, bad men, start wreaking...-
Channel: Movies
04-17-2024, 12:10 PM -
-
Released by: Kino Lorber
Released on: October 8th, 2019.
Director: Mario Bava
Cast: Christopher Lee, Reg Park, Leonora Ruffo, Gaia Germani
Year: 1968
Purchase From Amazon
Hercules In The Haunted World – Movie Review:
Directed by Mario Bava in 1961 and featuring a screenplay by Bava (and Sandro Continenza, Francesco Prosperi and Duccio Tessari), Hercules In The Haunted World (also known as Hercules At The Center Of The Earth and...-
Channel: Movies
04-17-2024, 12:08 PM -
-
Released by: Cinématographe
Released on: March 26th, 2024.
Director: Jack Nicholson
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Mary Steenburgen, Christopher Lloyd, John Belushi
Year: 1978
Purchase From Amazon
Goin’ South – Movie Review:
Made at the height of his career as an actor, 1978’s ‘Goin’ South’ sees Jack Nicholson once again in the director’s chair, seven years after his directorial debut, ‘Drive, He Said,’ failed to set the...-
Channel: Movies
04-17-2024, 10:29 AM -
-
Released by: Radiance Films
Released on: April 20th, 2024.
Director: Noburo Nakamura
Cast: Miyuki Kuwano, Mikijiro Hira
Year: 1964
Purchase From Amazon
The Shape Of Night – Movie Review:
Directed by Noburo Nakamura for Shochiko in 1964, ‘The Shape Of Night’ follows a young woman named Yoshie Nomoto (Miyuki Kuwano). In the opening scene, she’s working as a streetwalker on the outskirts of town and soon enough, she’s picked...-
Channel: Movies
04-17-2024, 10:26 AM -
-
Released by: Film Masters
Released on: April 23rd, 2024.
Director: Bert I. Gordon
Cast: Richard Carlson, Juli Reding, Lugene Sanders, Susan Gordon
Year: 1963
Purchase From Amazon
Tormented – Movie Review:
The late Bert I. Gordon’s 1963 horror film, ‘Tormented,’ is an effectively spooky ghost story made with an obviously low budget but no less effective for it.
The story revolves around a professional piano player...-
Channel: Movies
04-17-2024, 10:19 AM -
-
Released by: Grindhouse Releasing
Released on: March 12th, 2024.
Director: William Grefé
Cast: William Shatner, Jennifer Bishop, Ruth Roman, Harold Sakata
Year: 1974
Purchase From Amazon
Impulse – Movie Review:
Directed by the one and only William Grefé, 1974’s Impulse is one of those rare films that allows you to witness what it would be like if a really sweaty William Shatner got mad at a lady carrying balloons. Before that...-
Channel: Movies
04-15-2024, 01:20 PM -