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Review
Archives
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Today's
Date is:
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Farscape
Volume 1
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Reviewed
by: |
Em
Buchanan |
| Genre: |
Action |
| Video: |
Full
Screen 1:33:1 |
| Audio: |
5.1 and 2.0
|
| Language: |
English |
| Subtitle: |
English |
| Length: |
118 minutes |
| Rating: |
PG :13 |
| Release
Date: |
NA |
| Studio: |
ADV
Films |
| Commentary:
|
Audio commentary
on "Premier" with Rockne S. O'Bannon, Brian Henson and Ben Browder.
Audio commentary on "I, ET" by Claudia Black and Anthony Simcoe |
| Documentaries:
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Making of
a Space Opera |
| Featurettes:
|
Actor profile and image
gallery featuring Ben Browder |
| Filmography/Biography:
|
None |
|
Interviews: |
None |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
None |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
Yes |
| Music
Video: |
None |
| Other:
|
Conceptual
Drawings |
| Cast
and Crew: |
Ben Browder,
Claudia Black, Virginia Hey, Anthony Simcoe. Voice artists:
Jonathan Hardy and Lani Tupu |
| Screenplay
by: |
"Premier"
Rockne S. O'Bannon "I, ET" Sally Lapiduss |
| Produced
by: |
Matt Carroll |
| Directed
By: |
"Premier"
by Andrew Prowse "I, ET" by Pino Amenta |
| Music: |
Subvision |
| The
Review: |
When this
little-known show called Farscape appeared on the Sci-Fi Channel
in 1999, there was one thing that first drew me in to watch
the show: the Jim Henson Creature Shop. Having grown tired of
human-like aliens with a few plastic or rubber things glued
on their faces in the other space-faring shows that had gone
before, I rejoiced in the possibility of seeing actual alien
creatures. Also, growing up, one of my favorite movies was Jim
Henson's masterpiece, The Dark Crystal. Farscape drew me in
quickly with its unique stage design, complex puppet-aliens
and elaborate prosthesis and make up effects. Quite simply,
it was the most visually pleasing science fiction show I'd ever
seen. Its special effects were - for the most part - flawless
and the puppets could emote and interact with the flesh and
blood actors like only the Henson Company can pull off. But,
as anyone can tell you, the look and special effects can carry
a show only so far. Farscape delivers story. While not as tightly
plotted as the Babylon 5 series, Farscape has consistently shown
its characters to be fully developed and three-dimensional,
and have grown over the last three seasons. Yes, I said three
seasons. The Sci-Fi Channel's most popular show is about to
close its third season in January 2002, and start up its fourth
later that year. This is the story of human astronaut John Crichton
(Ben Browder), who has been catapulted across the universe,
and his friends he's met along the way in a region of space
called the Uncharted Territories. I'd say more, but this first
DVD has the Premier episode contained within. This is a good
way to start learning about Farscape, and this first volume
is the most complete package ADV Films has put out for Farscape.
This DVD contains two episodes, "Premier" and "I, ET." "Premier"
is what its title suggests. This tells you how Crichton happened
to be flung across the universe and his initial meeting and
impressions of his crewmates. We see Moya, their living ship
for the first time, and meet the Peacekeeper Aeryn Sun (Claudia
Black), Luxan warrior Ka D'Argo (Anthony Simcoe), Delvian priest
Pa'u Zotoh Zaahn (Virginia Hey), deposed ruler Dominar Rygel
XVI (a puppet, controlled by John Eccleston and voiced by Jonathan
Hardy) and Pilot (voiced by Lani Tupu). "Premier" is pretty
densely plotted, but successfully lays out the rules of the
universe and quickly deals with several major science fiction
hurdles. For example, Crichton is quickly injected with "translator
microbes" so while all the aliens are speaking their native
languages, Crichton hears plain English. For a starting episode,
it features some of the best special effects seen in a television
series, though some of the make up and puppetry appears dated,
since several characters received some redesigning in the second
season. That aside, it still ranks as one of the best series
premiers for a sci-fi show. "I, ET" abandons the frantic pace
of the first episode, but does so by having Moya crash land
on a swampy, watery world that reminds Crichton of "Louisiana.
Or Dagobah." Crichton and crew have to avoid the backwater locals,
but find a local anesthetic for Moya, so she can take off again.
The locals are at about the same technology level as Earth,
so Crichton gets his first real pangs of homesickness, as he
becomes the alien on this world. The role-reversal in this story
is very interesting, as we get to see the story of "E.T." through
the alien's eyes. One additional note - I tout Farscape's elaborate
make up and aliens, yet those met in "I, ET" are very human-like.
It's an aberration, and more than likely done on purpose for
effect. |
| Image
and Sound |
The
two episodes on this disc look and sound great. No commercial
interruptions, and ringing digital sound. Being science fiction,
there are several great scenes that make great use of the 5.1
surround, including the early space battle and Moya's thunderous
StarBurst. This offers a great way to watch two top-notch episodes.
"Premier" is a space-bound episode, with lots of interior shots
of Moya's muted, gold interior. The blacks of space come through
clear, and the atmospheric interior is crisp and warm. "I, ET"
has several day and night scenes, which all find a nice balance
- clear, distinct blacks and no washed-out scenes in the daylight.
Other parts of Moya's interior are explored as well, as Rygel
performs surgery deep within her dimly lit access corridors.
This is why one buys a DVD. |
| The
Extras |
ADV
Films have provided a respectable number of extras with these
two episodes. Though I wish more episodes had been included,
the featurettes and commentaries do make up for it. First of
all, these episodes include footage not seen in America before.
Since Farscape is shown in the U.S. and Britain, it has two
edits. The British version has a few minutes per episode of
additional dialogue because they have fewer commercial breaks,
I believe. Anyway, for Farscape fans, this is an opportunity
to see some extra character development in each episode. The
documentary "Making of a Space Opera" features interviews with
series creator Rockne S. O'Bannon, Brian Henson and producer
Matt Carroll discussing Farscape's inception and development.
It shows some behind the scenes takes and is generally informative.
The second pseudo-featurette is the actor profile of John Crichton.
Ben Browder and the series creators discuss the central character
to the show. The two features are supplemented with an image
gallery of Crichton and some conceptual drawings, though it
would have been nice to have more. |
| Commentary |
"Premier"
has a somewhat busy commentary, as it features Ben Browder,
Brian Henson and Rockne S. O'Bannon. However, the three are
pretty easy to distinguish, since Henson sounds much like his
father, Browder plays Crichton, so O'Bannon is the other voice.
The trio comment on their concepts for the show and how it evolved
from the original inception to finished product. "I, ET" features
a commentary with Claudia Black and Anthony Simcoe, who play
Aeryn Sun and D'Argo respectively. Their banter certainly plays
out differently than the earlier commentary, filled with on-the-set
tales and how they developed their characters during those first
crucial episodes. |
| Final
Words: |
Farscape Volume 1 is the most buy-worthy
of all the Farscape DVDs. Since ADV Films has yet to put more
than two episodes on each DVD, one has to look to the extras.
Its first three volumes have wonderful commentaries from the
actors and production folk, but the later ones don't have
that feature, and is sadly missed. With the documentary, the
commentaries and the feature on Ben Browder, this is definitely
the disc to buy to start a journey into the Uncharted Territories.
Of course, if you're a fan of the show, you probably already
have this disc or are saving up to buy that DVD player.
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