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Rock Hudson. A future populated by people who wear poor fitting leisure suits. These are the things science fiction nightmares are made of. Although it wasn't intended to be a camp classic full of stilted dialogue, inane acting and plain stupid moments, "The Martian Chronicles" is precisely that at times. It wasn't intended to be a camp classic. British producer Charles Fries made a solid attempt to adapt Bradbury's novel for the small screen. Working with a strict budget, a limited roster of actors and a poor excuse for an optical effects house prevented this project from achieving everything it could have. ***

Somehow a talented writer (Richard Matheson) and an average director (Michael Anderson)managed to turn Ray Bradbury's classic novel into a run down bargain basement version of an epic. Many people (including this reviewer when he was younger)liked parts of this mini-series. Surprisingly, those few strong moments still have resonance chiefly because of the source material and an occasional performance worth noting that brings the essence of Bradbury's novel to life. On DVD the mini-series is broken down into its original three part presentation running at just under 5 hours. It's like the Energizer Bunny on downers--it keeps going on and on and on and on....ad nausem. The performances range from exceptional to exceptional bad. Rock Hudson plays Col Wilder who sits in a chair that looks like a reject from "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and watches as Mission Control puts two ships over two years in harm's way by sending them to a Mars populated by aliens that have telepathy and the ability to project whatever anyone wants to see. Hudson plays the role as if he is comatose. Although Hudson had a limited range as an actor he did exceedingly fine work in “Seconds” and “Giant” among many other films. My guess is that he realized he had gotten himself into another fine mess and decided to become part of the set decorations. The first hour of this epic wobbles along but is still sturdy enough to have some emotional power. When the first expedition's astronauts are murdered by a jealous Martian husband, a second is send. When they land it appears they're on Earth twenty years in the past. The commander (Nicholas Hammond in a smart, nicely textured performance) suspects something is rotten on Mars but gets sucked into the illusion when he sees deceased loved ones from his past. This single segment is the most successful and Anderson's direction gives it added power with his careful use of optical effects to only enhance what is necessary. ***

The second successful sequence also in the first part involves Col. Wilder and a third crew (Bernie Casey and Darren McGavin among them) who go to Mars to discover the fate of the previous crews. When Casey's character discovers the havoc that humanity has wrecked on the Martian civilization he goes native attempting to kill his crew members. Again, the optical effects are sparingly used and the acting carries the day for the most part. ***

The amateurish optical effects (this was done in 1980 and they looked like they were done in 1950) undermines some of the more involved sequences set on the Red Planet. They’re not just bad but laughably bad. The production design, though, is outstanding and the location photography (it was shot in Malta and on sound stages in England) along with some strong performances from Fritz Weaver, Roddy McDowall, Maria Schell and others allow the awkward episodes to be pretty easily forgotten. The make up effects are actually quite impressive given the time. My favorite of the latter part of the series involves a story about the return of a son who was killed years before. His mysterious reappearance doesn't spook the family. Instead, they welcome this stranger that looks, talks and acts like their son even though they know it couldn't possible be him. ---

This two disc DVD has no extras although it does include the teasers for the next episode at the very end of each disc. ---