Space: 2099

You're probably all aware of the Space: 2099 website http://www.space2099.tv/ but I'll mention it anyway for those of you who may not have come across it. There are some really interesting ideas here, take a look at the item 'The Future Past Enhanced'. Although the actual episodes are not available, there are some interesting editor's notes accompanying each episode and he has moved some of the episodes around to give better continuity. It will be interesting to see how this develops.

I had not seen this site before - thanks for posting.
Just love that 'New Series' trailer film - "On September 13th, 2099 on the Earths moon - something will go terribly wrong..."
What a great teaser line for a film...

The remade episodes were very well done, with special effects added in a most convincing and professional manner. It is a pity that the copyright owners demanded the clips be pulled, but they certainly had that prerogative.

If you pull up YouTube and go to Wolfspace's page, you will find some of the clips. They are very, very good indeed:

https://www.youtube.com/user/WOLFSPACE

s99fan wrote:If you pull up YouTube and go to Wolfspace's page, you will find some of the clips. They are very, very good indeed:
https://www.youtube.com/user/WOLFSPACE

Very exciting trailers - and teaser phrases. "48 episodes of pure science fiction excitement" sums it up very well.

Am I the only person who's just a bit "so what?" about all this? I'm not trying to denigrate what Eric's trying to do - after all, we live in the age of the "fan edit", and as a fun personal project, I say good luck to him. (I do find the whole tone a bit odd though, the way he seems to be trying to sell the concept of a "remastered" series back to Granada Ventures - I'm just not sure what he thinks will come of it - they're hardly going to want to make a new series.)

But even just as a fan project, it's not really for me. I think the original episodes stand up perfectly well (especially series 1) - I don't think it needs "revitalizing" or "upgrading", I certainly don't think the special effects need sprucing up, nor the pacing altered. I don't particularly like modern tv sci-fi shows, and trying to make Space: 1999 more like them would really destroy a lot of the uniqueness of the original - everything I like about it.

His re-ordering of the episodes is interesting though. Some of the placings I would broadly agree with, others seem way off the mark to me. But one of the things I love about fandom is that two people can look at the same elements and come up with completely different theories.

s99fan wrote:The remade episodes were very well done, with special effects added in a most convincing and professional manner. It is a pity that the copyright owners demanded the clips be pulled, but they certainly had that prerogative.
If you pull up YouTube and go to Wolfspace's page, you will find some of the clips. They are very, very good indeed:
https://www.youtube.com/user/WOLFSPACE

I hope that Eric Bernard is still going ahead with the project? Had a quick look at the youtube link (thanks for posting) and his work is amazing. On the 2099 site I particularly like the Before and After Modified scenes in the Space News section. I like the new style travel tube - I always thought the travel tube was a cool idea, reminds me of the tube in London. And in another section the mis-spelling of 'Keonig' above the monitor in 'Missing Link' is corrected. Excellent stuff.

I believe Bernard's hope is still high, but there has been little advertised as to any successive work. The computer graphics designer who redid the travel tubes posts regularly on the Eagle Forum, and at one point provided some insight into the technical demands of the task. It makes for fascinating reading.

I totally agree with Andrew K on this.

Dana

I can see where Andrew K is coming from by his wish to see the uniqueness of Space 1999 retained, I would agree with that sentiment wholeheartedly. Series such as the original Star Trek, Space 1999 and probably many others are ingrained in my memory as part of my childhood tv viewing, and I loved these shows no matter what their faults (though I couldn't see any faults at the time, I just watched them because they were new, exciting and I loved them!). On the other hand I'm not averse to watching what new technology can do for these shows. I think it's great to have a choice, and as long as the integrity of the original is kept, and we fans keep the originals in our heart, then I'll certainly give these offerings a watch.

I agree, Andrew, some of the re-ordering of episodes makes sense, others maybe not so much. Interesting though.

Like I say, I'm not opposed to Eric Bernard's project in principle, as a "fan edit" project - it's all to the good. The point of fandom isn't (or shouldn't be) to passively absorb the show, but to interact with it. That's why fan fiction, model building, fan artwork and so on, are good things. The video re-edit is just a more modern version of the same sort of thing. But it can't replace or supersede the original - after all, it's just one fan's project. I must admit, when I first heard about this, I got a bit uppity about it all. (This was on a different forum..) Partly, this was because so many of the people discussing it were condemning the show and anticipating how the new effects and editing might "improve" it. That's the sort of attitude that's guaranteed to put me in defensive mode! However, after Eric explained some of his ideas and intentions, I was perfectly happy to wish him good luck with it.

Commander Koenig wrote:I agree, Andrew, some of the re-ordering of episodes makes sense, others maybe not so much. Interesting though.

It's a topic I'm especially interested in, from the first moment I watched the series properly on VHS. The episodes weren't in any sort of sensible order, so I had to work it out for myself. I've written an article about it on my website, here. It's interesting, given that Eric approached his order differently from mine, that he makes some of the same choices I do, but not always for the same reasons.

Andrew Kearley wrote:I must admit, when I first heard about this, I got a bit uppity about it all. (This was on a different forum..)

I think I recall seeing your postings on another forum... I totally agree with your sentiments about not attempting to 'improve' Space 1999, or any other programme for that matter. Having said that I do find it absolutely fascinating to see what new technology can do. I just can't help wondering what they could have done with Space 1999 had the technology we have now been available in the 70s. Have just taken delivery of the re-mastered DVDs of the original series Star Trek, and one of the extras is a documentary about how they 'updated' the series, quite fascinating.

Yes, it might have been interesting to see what new effects could have been created, but saying that, would a CGI Eagle have evoked the passionate following it has? Models provide a subtle depth and reality that CGI has yet to accomplish. Now, for series two, just about any CGI would have improved on those dreadful rubber-suited monsters.

cmdrkoenig67 wrote:I totally agree with Andrew K on this.

Dana

I do too.

Space:1999 year one effects are better than CGI. It's baffling to me that people can look at year one and think that it needs improvement. The recent SF film "Moon" used physical models to recapture the look and feel of SP99 y1, with little CGI used.

The biggest problem with this "remastering" thing is not technological, but human. It opens a series up to a new creative team, making new creative decisions, when we don't live in a very creative age. New people should not have the freedom to supercede the original team's creative decisions and work, work that came from an era where there was much more artistry in films and TV.

Just as I wouldn't want kids messing with the back of my TV because they think they can make it work better, I don't new people messing with Sp:99 and calling it "reimagining", a word that covers a lot of sins these days.

I know it's a fan project. But if there were a real Sp99 film or new series, the first task in production would be making sure to recapture the visual style and look of the original. CGI's fine to eliminate some of the back-breaking work they must have gone through in 1974, so it's easier this time around I mean, but only if you can't tell it's CGI.