EARTH 2 - COMPLETE SERIES

Earth 2 - Complete Series

Starring: Debrah Farentino
Director: Michael Grossman, Terry Windell
Encoding: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only)
Format: Color
Encoding: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only)
Format: Color, Closed-captioned, Box set
Number of discs: 3

Movie:
Disc:
 

Blink and you'll miss it, but the end titles of the pilot episode of this 1994 TV series produced by Amblin, a Steven Spielberg company, actually lists hard SF author Greg Bear as a script advisor!

I mention Bear because Earth 2 actually has a pure sci-fi concept behind it, namely a group of Earth colonists trying to survive on a tough alien planet after fleeing a polluted mother planet.

Also, it throws in a few neat sci-fi touches along the way. Maybe it's a sign of the times, but because so few TV shows and movies have genuine SF ideas behind them (most of today's sci-fi fare consists of action movies with a few SF trappings thrown in), I was willing to forgive Earth 2?s many faults.

Sort of. Because the show's faults are many to be honest. Let's face up to it: this is a TV show that looked better on paper than it finally did on the small screen . . .

For starters, the plot often veers into soap opera territory and focuses too much on the show's two annoying child actors. The pace can be rather slow at times and the writing uneven.

THE DISCS: Three double-sided discs. No extras except for bonus episodes for two episodes from other Universal sci-fi TV shows.

The entire series has one linear plot and none of the episodes are really self-contained units (like most Star Trek episodes for instance). You'll have to watch it in sequence right from the start right to the finish and this is where DVD has the edge. (Bizarrely the show's episodes were apparently shown in the wrong sequence when it fist aired!)

WORTH IT? This show will do if you're too lazy to read a good book about the colonisation of another planet such Kim Stanley Robinsons Red Mars series.

RECOMMENDATION: I'll still check out the Robinson books if I were you even though Earth 2 makes for hypnotically stupefying viewing (like all TV I suppose).