Day: May 26, 1970

Categories
Movies Planet Of The Apes

Beneath The Planet Of The Apes

Planet Of The ApesTaylor and Nova explore further into the Forbidden Zone, beyond the ruins of the Statue of Liberty, where a gigantic wall of fire stretches across the horizon and sudden earthquakes rip through the ground at their feet. Taylor goes to explore onward, telling Nova to find Dr. Zira if he fails to return. Taylor is unaware that another expedition has been launched to find his missing ship and crew, and that disaster has befallen them as well: astronaut Brent and his crew are sucked into the same time anomaly and arrive on the future Earth. Brent survives the violent landing and discovers Nova roaming on her own, following her back into ape territory. There, he witnesses not only the evolutionary advancements of the apes, but an all-too-familiar sight: the apes are divided over whether to strike into the heart of the Forbidden Zone, or face a famine that threatens their food crops. General Ursus calls for war, and demands support from Dr. Zaius. The scientific elite – mainly evolved chimpanzees – are concerned about the rallying cry for war, while the gorilla military considers calls for peace to be a sign of weakness. Dr. Zaius is cautious: nobody even knows what’s in the Forbidden Zone, or indeed if there’s anything or anyone upon which to declare war. Despite his earlier mistrust of Dr. Zira and Cornelius, Zaius leaves them in charge and reluctantly joins the military advance into the Forbidden Zone.

Brent, still trying to fulfill his mission objective of finding Taylor’s expedition, flees from ape country into the Forbidden Zone. They find a subterranean complex there, filled with the sound of machinery: obviously the product of some kind of intelligent life. While Brent is relieved to finally meet (apparently) human beings underground, he’s horrified by what they tell him: they worship their god – an atomic bomb that survived the Earth-consuming holocaust intact – and they’re not afraid to unleash their god’s fury upon an invading force of apes, even if it leads to a chain reaction that could wipe out the entire world. The final revelation is even more disturbing: despite their outward appearance, these humans have been mutated almost beyond recognition. They throw Brent in a cell with Taylor, but the reunion is anything but a happy one: in order to take out both the apes and the mutants, Taylor is more than ready to detonate the holy bomb himself…

Order the DVDsscreenplay by Paul Dehn
story by Paul Dehn and Mort Abrahams
directed by Ted Post
music by Laurence Rosenthal

Cast: James Franciscus (Brent), Kim Hunter (Zira), Maurice Evans (Dr. Zaius), Linda Harrison (Nova), Paul Richards (Mendez), Victor Buono (Fat Man), James Gregory (General Ursus), Jeff Corey (Caspay), Natalie Trundy (Albina), Thomas Gomez (Minister), David Watson (Cornelius), Don Pedro Colley (Negro), Tod Andrews (Skipper), Gregory Sierra (Verger), Eldon Burke (Gorilla Sergeant), Lou Wagner (Lucius), Charlton Heston (Taylor)

Original title: Planet Of The Apes Revisited

Notes: Charlton Heston wanted the first Planet Of The Apes sequel to be the last – he agreed to appear in only as many scenes as could be shot in a two-week period, and only if the character of Taylor was killed off. If you noticed that new star James Franciscus bore more than a passing physical resemblance to Heston’s appearance in the majority of the first film, it’s no accident: 20th Century Fox hoped that, in trailers and other advertising for Beneath The Planet Of The Apes, Franciscus’ strong resemblance would help them conveniently gloss over the fact that Heston was putting in little more than a cameo appearance. Also absent from the cast, due to being booked for other projects, was Roddy McDowall – the only Planet Of The Apes live-action project of the 20th century from which he was absent.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Space: Above And Beyond

And If They Lay Us To Rest…

Space: Above And BeyondAn elaborate mission to draw a large portion of the Chig defense away from their home planet is falling right into place. The Wild Cards are sent in to place landing beacons on a Chig-occupied moon which will be the Earth forces’ next target. Not only do they fend off a Chig ground patrol, but they discover a new life form of a kind never seen. Suddenly, the attack on this moon brings up the possibility of genocide…but even if a way can be found to warn the seemingly gentle, harmless creatures of the impending assault, nobody knows if the beings can be trusted not to share that information with the enemy.

Order the DVDwritten by Glen Morgan & James Wong
directed by Vern Gillum
music by Shirley Walker

Guest Cast: Don Pugsley (Colonel Rabwin), Derek Mark Lochran (Pasty), Robert Crow (Communications officer)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Babylon 5 / Crusade Season 4

No Surrender, No Retreat

Babylon 5Earthforce ships have blockaded the colony of Proxima 3, which seceded from the Earth Alliance shortly before Babylon 5 declared independence. When the blockade threatens to starve out the residents of Proxima 3, Sheridan hurriedly asks the League of Non-Aligned Worlds to support Babylon 5 instead of Earth and then sets out to attack the flotilla of Earth Force destroyers at Proxima 3. Londo tries to persuade G’Kar to sign a declaration announcing joint Narn-Centauri support of Sheridan’s fight to win Earth back from President Clark’s regime, but G’Kar withholds his cooperation until the last minute. When Sheridan’s White Star fleet engages the Earth Force ships at Proxima 3, the captain discovers that he may have more support than he expected, though a former supporter of his on the station has just decided to leave the fold.

Order now!Download this episodewritten by J. Michael Straczynski
directed by Mike Vejar
music by Christopher Franke

Cast: Bruce Boxleitner (Captain Sheridan), Claudia Christian (Commander Ivanova), Jerry Doyle (Garibaldi), Mira Furlan (Delenn), Richard Biggs (Dr. Franklin), Bill Mumy (Lennier), Jason Carter (Marcus Cole), Stephen Furst (Vir), Jeff Conaway (Zack Allan), Patricia Tallman (Lyta Alexander), Andreas Katsulas (G’Kar), Peter Jurasik (Londo), Richard Gant (Captain Edward McDougan)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 05 Star Trek Voyager

Equinox

Star Trek: VoyagerStardate not given: To the amazement of Janeway and Voyager’s crew, a distress signal is received from the Federation starship Equinox. The Equinox, commanded by Captain John Ransom, was dragged into the Delta Quadrant by the Caretaker months ahead of Voyager. Ransom and his crew have been besieged by a race of subspace aliens which can only enter real space for a few seconds – but Ransom points out that these aliens can cause a considerable amount of damage in very little time, and the heavily-damaged Equinox seems to bear out his story. Tuvok and Seven detect several odd readings, indicating alien attempts to penetrate the combined shields of Voyager and the Equinox. Ransom repeatedly denies Voyager’s crew access to the engineering section of the Equinox, and it is only when Janeway secretly beams the Doctor over that a horrifying discovery is made. Ransom and his crew have sped their journey considerably by capturing and killing the subspace creatures and using their remains as an energy source. The aliens’ attacks are revenge for the numerous deaths they have suffered at the hands of Ransom’s crew, and when the Equinox crew force their way back to their ship and resume their bloody path toward the Alpha Quadrant, the aliens target Voyager’s crew instead… beginning with Captain Janeway.

Order the DVDsteleplay by Brannon Braga and Joe Menosky
story by Rick Berman, Brannon Braga and Joe Menosky
directed by David Livingston
music by Jay Chattaway

Guest Cast: John Savage (Captain John Ransom), Titus Welliver (Commander Max Burke), Olivia Birkelund (Ensign Gilmore), Rick Worthy (Ensign Lessing), Scarlett Pomers (Naomi Wildman), Steve Dennis (Crew member), Majel Barrett (Computer voice)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
5th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

Red Dawn

Doctor Who: Red DawnThe TARDIS takes the Doctor and Peri to a cathedralesque structure on the surface of Mars early in the 21st century at a particularly historic moment – the day of the first American manned landing on the red planet. But NASA’s crew is a motley assortment. Two American astronauts are accompanied by a pair of British civilians, Tanya and Paul Webster, whose only claim to their seats on the mission is their relation to a rich uncle whose financial backing kept the Mars shot from being scrapped. But the Websters’ presence is more than just a favor to the mission’s benefactor. The Doctor, Peri, and the astronauts discover that the elaborate building is an Ice Warrior tomb, guarded by a contingent of Warriors in suspended animation. Paul Webster suddenly shows his true colors: as an ambitious and unscrupulous agent for his equally corrupt uncle, he is on the Mars mission to bring back as much alien technology as he can find. The honor-bound Ice Warriors have a hard time coming to any conclusion other than vengeance – which could kill both the innocent members of the expedition and the time travelers as well. The Doctor feels personally responsible for the entire incident, which might not have happened if not for his presence on Mars.

Order this CDwritten by Justin Richards
directed by Gary Russell
music by Russell Stone

Cast: Peter Davison (The Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Matthew Brenher (Lord Zzaal), Robert Jezek (Commander Lee Forbes), Maureen Oakley (Pilot Susan Roberts), Stephen Fewell (Paul Webster), Georgia Moffatt (Tanya Webster), Hylton Collins (Subcommander Sstast), Alistair Lock (Zizmar), Jason Haigh-Ellery (Sskann), Gary Russell (Razzburr)

Notes: Georgia Moffatt is Peter Davison’s daughter, but she’s not the first offspring of the leading actor to appear in the series. Sylvester McCoy’s two sons played Haemovores in 1989’s The Curse Of Fenric, and the late Patrick Troughton’s son David made three appearances, a bit part in 1969’s The War Games and much more prominent roles in 1972’s The Curse Of Peladon and 2008’s Midnight. Moffatt would later appear in a 2008 episode of the revived Doctor Who TV series, ironically titled The Doctor’s Daughter, and married the tenth Doctor, David Tennant, in 2011.

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

Categories
Enterprise Season 03 Star Trek

Zero Hour

Star Trek: EnterpriseHoshi is barely able to summon up memories of the sphere-weapon’s design, let alone the strength to relay that information to Archer, but the captain presses her to recall the information as Degra’s ship speeds toward Earth and an attempt to intercept the Xindi weapon. In the meantime, the Enterprise’s mission proves to be more dangerous than expected: the Sphere Builders have erected dimensional distortion fields around their network of spheres controlling the Expanse, and if the Enterprise gets close enough to destroy even the weakest link in that chain, the instability could easily shred the ship and her crew. Hoshi is finally able to remember enough about the weapon to give Archer a way to disarm and destroy it, though Archer and his small force are unable to stop the Xindi-Reptilians from reaching Earth first and destroying an orbital station.

Archer alone takes responsibility for disarming the weapon, assigning Reed and the MACOs the task of fending off the small crew of Xindi-Reptilians aboard. The attempt to disable the Sphere Builders’ network in the Expanse is successful, though it almost succeeds in destroying the Enterprise and everyone aboard as well. The battered starship meets up with Degra’s vessel, where Reed and Hoshi report that the sphere-weapon was destroyed before getting a single shot off at Earth – but they also report that Archer went down with it, unable to beam off the sphere before it exploded.

What they don’t know is that prior to embarking on his fateful mission, Archer received a visit from time-hopping Crewman Daniels, giving him a glimpse seven years into the future at the founding of a united federation of planets – something Daniels says Archer is instrumental in creating.

And what they don’t know until they return to Earth is that, by being aboard the sphere when it was destroyed, Archer may have irrevocably changed the course of that future, and the Earth the Enterprise is returning to is not the Earth that her crew remembers.

Order DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Rick Berman & Brannon Braga
directed by Allan Kroeker
music by Jay Chattaway

Guest Cast: Scott MacDonald (Reptilian Commander), Rick Worthy (Xindi-Arboreal), Tucker Smallwood (Xindi-Humanoid), Josette DiCarlo (Sphere-Builder Woman), Bruce Thomas (Reptilian Soldier), Andrew Borba (Reptilian Lieutenant), Matt Winston (Daniels), Mary Mara (Sphere-Builder Presage), Ruth Williamson (Sphere-Builder Primary), Jeffrey Combs (Shran), Gunter Ziegler (Doctor), J. Paul Boehmer (Officer), Zachary Krebs (Andorian)

Notes: This episode was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup For A Series, Miniseries or Special in 2004, but the award instead went to the pilot episode of the FX Network’s black comedy about plastic surgeons, Nip/Tuck. The writers of the episode have since admitted that they had no idea how to resolve the World War II cliffhanger, but apparently new executive producer Manny Coto did have an idea.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Star Trek Star Trek Fan Films Star Trek: Intrepid

Heavy Lies The Crown

Star Trek: Intrepid

This is an episode of a fan-made series whose storyline may be invalidated by later official studio productions.

Stardate 59422.9: Assigned to a routine colony patrol in the Charybdis Sector, the U.S.S. Intrepid’s chain of command is disrupted when Captain Talath, making a shuttle supply run to carry power equipment to the surface of Chiron IV, encounters inexplicable interference on her final approach. Faced with a choice between killing his own captain when transporters and tractor beams can’t lock onto the shuttle, or letting it crash near a Federation colony and cause widespread destruction, Intrepid’s first officer, Commander Hunter, orders the destruction of the shuttle – and his captain. Though Starfleet praises him for quick and selfless action, Hunter is riddled by guilt and reluctant to accept a promotion to captain of the Intrepid. An unknown enemy strikes, leaving several ships near the colony without power – and without power for life support, over a thousand aboard those ships will die. Hunter gambles that since Chiron IV is the site of these disruptions, the source must be on its surface, and takes several of his senior officers on an away mission to find the cause before time runs out. But once he beams down, Hunter finds that the colonists are so terrified by the attacks that they’re ready to lash out against anyone they don’t know – including an unfamiliar Starfleet crew.

Watch Itwritten by Nick Cook
directed by Steve Hammond
music by David Beukes / Intrepid theme by Dylan Feeney

Cast: Nick Cook (Commander Hunter), Risha Denney (Captain Shelby), Mike Cugley (Rick Garran, PhD), Steven Pasqua (Lt. Cole), Lorraine Kelly (Watch Officer), Lucie Cook (Lt. Caed), Jen Graham (Ensign Stiles), Ferdos Ahmed (Ms. Raman), Shire Smith (Captain Talath), Alan Score (Commodore Prentice), Lyn McGarity (Governor Finney), Steve Hammond (Captain Merik), Lee Andrews (P.O. Kreiger), Gordon Dickson (Lt. Commander Garran), David Reid (Lt. S’Ceris), Alan Christison (Lt. Commander Navar), Jeff Hayes (Admiral T’Yla), Brandy Seymour (Computer Voice), Roy MacPhail (Chief Gaines), David Beukes (P.O. Zondag), Martin Lejeune (Ensign Faldor), Kara Dennison (Captain Dalonna), Elie Hirschman (Tom Backus), Eric Busby (Bishop), Judah Friese (Judah), Sean Koury (Freman)

Review: The flagship production of a group of dedicated fans based in Scotland, Intrepid is the first Star Trek fan film I’ve watched to skip past the Kirk era and go beyond the end of Voyager and Star Trek: Nemesis. Depending on who you ask, that’s the direction in which future Star Trek tales should be headed, rather than revisiting the past. I’m not sure I entirely agree with that school of thought, but there’s something about returning to the 24th century that’s just reassuring – it takes me back to fond memories of my teens and twenties.

Categories
Doctor Who New Series Season 03

Human Nature

Doctor WhoThe Doctor and Martha are on the run from alien pursuers, who have the ability to track the TARDIS. The Doctor stores his own knowledge and personality in a pocketwatch fashioned from Time Lord technology – as well as detailed genetic information – and turns himself, both physically and psychologically, into John Smith, history teacher, a perfectly ordinary human (with odd gaps in his memory) teaching at a boys’ school in 1913, on the eve of the First World War. Martha is left to fend for herself, but stays close to “John Smith” in the guise of his maid and guards the pocketwatch containing his true essence with her life. In the process of discovering what it means to be human, the former Time Lord falls in love with a local woman who is attracted to his simplicity and gentle nature – but when the aliens come to Earth, discovering that they have done business with a Time Lord and trying to track down his regenerative DNA to save their dying race, “Doctor John Smith” must risk everything and everyone to protect his fellow humans.

Download this episodewritten by Paul Cornell
directed by Charles Palmer
music by Murray Gold

Guest Cast: Jessica Hynes (Joan Redfern), Rebekah Staton (Jenny), Thomas Sangster (Tim Latimer), Harry Lloyd (Baines), Tom Palmer (Hutchinson), Gerard Horan (Clark), Lauren Wilson (Lucy Cartwright), Pip Torrens (Rocastle), Matthew White (Phillips), Derek Smith (Doorman), Peter Bourke (Mr. Chambers)

Notes: This episode and its second part, The Family Of Blood, were adapted by Paul Cornell from his own 1995 Doctor Who New Adventures novel of the same name. Numerous changes were made, including the omission of the book’s meeting between the Doctor’s companion and a “future” tenth Doctor (actually one of the aliens in disguise, and “future” since that Human Naturebook originally featured the seventh Doctor as played by Sylvester McCoy). In the original novel, the “family” didn’t take over human host bodies, but were instead shapeshifters called Aubertides. One carryover from the book is the metafictional mention that “Sydney and Verity” were Smith’s parents’ names, a nod to the creator of Doctor Who and its first producer, Sydney Newman and Verity Lambert. A book of sketches by “John Smith” reveals the faces of all of the past Doctors, though they’re not all clearly seen on screen; these sketches also put to rest the running fan debate about whether or not Paul McGann is “official” as the eighth Doctor (he is).

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

Categories
Obi-Wan Kenobi Season 1 Star Wars

Part I

Star Wars: Obi-Wan KenobiTen years after the fall of the Republic and the birth of the Skywalker twins, exiled Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi ekes out a minimal existence on Tatooine under the assumed name of Ben, working an ordinary job and keeping as low a profile as possible. When Imperial Inquisitors land in Mos Eisley in search of any Jedi Knights who survived the Empire’s purge of the Jedi order, they immediately finds not Kenobi, but a former youngling who has been using his abilities with the Force to aid a local saloon owner in exchange for shelter. The young Jedi seeks out Obi-Wan to ask for assistance, but Kenobi’s advice is to forget the Jedi order and survive by leading a normal life. The young Jedi does not heed this advice, and is killed by the Inquisitors in a grisly public display. The Inquisitors continue their search, with the Third Sister, Reva, threatening to kill moisture farmer Owen Lars if the whereabouts of other Jedi are not revealed. Owen doesn’t divulge Kenobi’s presence, though he harbors little affection for the Jedi. Reva, obsessed with finding Kenobi, is brought to heel by the Grand Inquisitor, but she simply changes her tactics. Reva hires a bounty hunter to abduct the young princess of Alderaan, Leia Organa, whose father is a known associate of Kenobi from the days of the Republic. Bail Organa pays Obi-Wan a visit to ask for the Jedi’s help to recover his daughter, leaving Obi-Wan little choice but to reluctantly resume his role as a guardian of peace and justice from a more civilized age.

teleplay by Joby Harold and Hossein Amini and Stuart Beattie
story by Stuart Beattie and Hossein Amini
directed by Deborah Chow
music by Natalie Holt
Obi-Wan Theme by John Williams / adapted by William Ross

Obi-Wan KenobiCast: Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Rupert Friend (Grand Inquisitor), Sung Kang (Fifth Brother), Moses Ingram (Reva), Benny Safdie (Nari), Joel Edgerton (Owen Lars), Bonnie Piesse (Beru Lars), Simone Kessell (Breha Organa), Vivien Lyra Blair (Princess Leia Organa), Flea (Vect Nokru), Jimmy Smits (Senator Bail Organa), Ming Qiu (Jedi Master Minas Velti), Aiden Arnold (Jedi Youngling), Jonathan Ho (Jedi Youngling), Yonas Asuncion Kibreab (Jedi Youngling), Mila Lavin (Jedi Youngling), Ayaamii Sledge (Jedi Youngling), Derek Basco (saloon Owner), Kingsley Hao (Local Mos Eisley Boy), Heath McGough (Foreman Groff Ditcher), Chad Parker (Worker Padu Chend), Leilani Shiu (Teeka), Grant Feely (Luke Skywalker), Molly Miller (Handmaiden Agira), Hossein Mardani (Dardin Shull), Karen Constantine (Local Anchorhead Woman), Gabe Fonesca (Duke Kayo Organa), Roberta Sparta (Duchess Celly Organa), Ian Inigo (Cousin Niano Organa), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Aviel Ayoung (Mercenary #1), Amy Sturdivant (Mercenary #2), Sonia Jackson (Attendant)

Obi-Wan KenobiNotes: Based on, and expanded from, what was originally intended to be a future entry in the curtailed series of self-contained Star Wars “anthology” films, this series brought back numerous familiar faces from the prequel trilogy, most notably star and executive producer Ewan McGregor, Jimmy Smits, Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Simone Kessell, and – in later episodes – Hayden Christensen. The ties to the prequel trilogy are strong with this one, including a flashback to younglings attempting to escape from the Order 66 purge of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, but the ties to the animated series Rebels are also numerous, including the first live-action Inquisitors.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Obi-Wan Kenobi Season 1 Star Wars

Part II

Star Wars: Obi-Wan KenobiObi-Wan arrives on Daiyu, searching for the kidnapped young Princess Leia Organa. He learns on the street of a Jedi who helps those in need, but, following that lead, finds a con man named Haja posing as a Jedi, his help to the downtrodden costing his marks everything they have. Obi-Wan turns the tables on Haja to get his help at a substantial discount. This leads him to a building where illegal substances are prepared for sale on the street – and, in a secluded room within, he finds two things: the missing Princess, and bounty hunter Vect Nokru and his thugs. Leia doesn’t know or trust Obi-Wan, and runs from him – and runs face-first into trouble, until Obi-Wan proves that he truly is a Jedi Knight. But this only brings more attention to him, and reveals to the Grand Inquisitor that Reva is pulling the strings to draw Kenobi out for reasons of her own. With an entire city of stormtroopers bearing down on them, Obi-Wan and Leia are unexpectedly given a new escape route by Haja, but Reva is waiting to try to cut off their escape – and reveals to Obi-Wan that Anakin Skywalker still lives, though not in a form that his old teacher would recognize.

teleplay by Joby Harold
story by Stuart Beattie and Hossein Amini
directed by Deborah Chow
music by Natalie Holt
Obi-Wan Theme by John Williams / adapted by William Ross

Obi-Wan KenobiCast: Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Kumail Nanjiani (Haja Estree), Marisé Álvarez (Nyche), Flea (Vect Nokru), Moses Ingram (Reva), Vivien Lyra Blair (Princess Leia Organa), Rupert Friend (Grand Inquisitor), Sung Kang (Fifth Brother), Rya Kihlstedt (Fourth Sister), Hayden Christensen (Darth Vader), Dan Considine (Deck Officer Densin Clord), Temuera Morrison (Veteran Clone Trooper), Esther-Rose McGregor (Tetha Grig), Jecobi Swain (Jayco), Indie Desroches (Corran), Tom O’Connell (Spice Den Guard #1), Cha-Leen Yoon (Spice Den Guard #2), Aviel Ayoung (Mercenary #1), Amy Sturdivant (Mercenary #2), Mackensi Emory (Spice Runner #1), Phong Giang (Spice Runner #2), Mario Filippi (Spice Runner #3)

Notes: The young woman who tries to sell Obi-Wan spice – who was “someone’s daughter once too” – is in fact played by Ewan McGregor’s daughter.

LogBook entry by Earl Green