Genesis II / Planet Earth: 2-Film Collection

Two attempts by Gene Roddenberry to launch a new series. The first is a pretty bad origin story. The second is actually fun. I watched 'em both when I was a kid. Now I got to show 'em to my kids and have a hard copy to show the grandkids. The bluray qaulity is good. Sound is nice. Overall, great disk set.

Love it

I had seen bits and pieces of "Genesis II" years ago, but this is the first time I've had a chance to sit down and watch both of these films in their entirety. And bottom line, I enjoyed them. Overall, they're well done. The production values (sets, visual effects) don't come off as cheap. As far as made-for-TV budgets go, this was big budget--or certainly gives that appearance. Roddenberry and his team definitely put some effort into these, and brought in the talents of some serious actors (Alex Cord, Percy Rodrigues, Mariette Hartley, Ted Cassidy). The direct sequel, "Planet Earth," replaces Alex Cord with John Saxon in the lead role of "Dylan Hunt," while some other cast members, including Ted Cassidy and Majel Barrett reprise their original roles to face off with antagonist Diana Muldaur--in a follow-up tale that picks up roughly a year after "Genesis II" left off. (By the way, there is no "Genesis I".) "Genesis II" is the first film of a three-film series, followed by "Planet Earth" and "Strange New World."This blu-ray includes the first two films ("Genesis II" and "Planet Earth"), beautifully restored with a sharp, crystal clear picture, bright vibrant colors all in 1080p. These films have never looked this good. A very nice set. If I have any minor criticism of the blu-ray, I might have suggested including all three films in the series. Currently, "Strange New World" requires a separate purchase and is only available on DVD from Warner Archives. I have that on order and look forward to seeing the story continue. It won't be in HD like on this blu-ray, but my experience with Warner Archives is that their transfers tend to be good quality, good picture, even in SD. I'm sure it'll be fine, but it would have been nice to have had all three included on the blu-ray. But having the two better known films of the series included on one blu-ray is still pretty cool.It's an interesting watch. You can definitely see the "DNA" of what would eventually be re-worked into "Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda," which starred another hero named "Dylan Hunt" (Kevin Sorbo). It's not exactly the same story. "Andromeda" is a space opera, while the "Genesis II" series of films are set completely on...well, Planet Earth. But it certainly involves some of the same themes--the character, Dylan Hunt, awakening from a cryogenic sleep, only to find his civilization gone and having to help rebuild it--hence the title, "Genesis II." (Actually, it's also a theme Dylan Hunt shares with Buck Rodgers, but I digress.)The first film, I would say, is more "interesting" from a science fiction and philosophical perspective. It's a more "cerebral" mystery, as Dylan isn't sure who to trust. Although, in some ways, the second film is actually more enjoyable. "Planet Earth" is a lighter, more whimsical story with a sense of humor. Simple, but enjoyable.

I am not going to review the movies themselves because they are the type where you either love them or hate them.As a fan of Gene Roddenberry and 60's-80's sci-fi, I hadn't seen these films uncut for many years, and liked the nostalgic evening watching these on my big screen.The transfer of the films to Blue-Ray is good, the picture is clear and the sound is fine.I would have liked to have seen extras, like stills from the production, and maybe a commentary track by folks from the film .

I remember Planet Earth when it was on T.V. bought this 2 film collection blu ray because of the price. I have never seen Genesis II and I thought it better that Planet Earth. My understanding was these where "pilot movies" for a purposed T.V. series this would have been a great T.V. series and actually still would.

Two cheesy 1970’s science fiction TV movies-both pilots for a series (and both featuring the same character Dylan Hunt and premise). The first TV movie features s0me good performances, good ideas but the dialog is rather clunky as is some of the exposition. Still, the premise had enough promise to convince the studio to,allow a second pilot movie (like happened with ‘Star Trek’). Gene Roddenberry was always better at developing concepts rather the writing side of things for his Series.Alex Cord plays Dylan Hunt a scientist trying a suspended animated formula on himself. It’s part of a NASA project for deep space travel. The base where he is doing the studies is underground near Cheyenne Mountain and accessible via a high speed subway Bullet train. He awakens hundreds of years later to a world of extreme political divisiveness in a post-nuclear war society. Hunt discovers one side is an extension of his organization and is called Pax. Pax reaches out to other isolated societies and try get to get America back on track. All is not how it seems when a mutant (played by Marietta Hartley) convinces Dylan’s to leave Pax and come to her world.The second film stars John Saxon as Hunt and he a team he leads uses them subterranean bullet train to travel the world and visit other societies post-war to convince them to join the Pax ‘family’ and reunited humanity peacefully. Likewise, the writing isn’t the strong suit here. While Roddenberry was good at coming in,with some unique ideas for TV shows, he wasn’t quite the writer necessary to pull this off.Each film shows around 70 minutes on a dual layered disc. The films look occasionally soft but there are nice moments of remarkable clarity. Colors are pretty good although they don’t exactly pop. This looks typical for 1973 and 1974 TV movies. Audio is present in mono with English subtitles. The audio is pretty good considering the limitations of the source material.There are no special features included with the Films. A commentary track would have been cool to,provide some background on the two pilot films. It also would have been nice for Warner to include “Earth II” the third pilot that retooled Roddenberry’s concepts also with Saxon.Yes, if you recognize the name Dylan Hunt you’re not imagining that you have heard it before-it was recycled for the Roddenberry series “Andromeda” with a Kevin Sorbo. ‘Andromeda” is much much better than either one of these TV movies.The two TV movies are of their time but also exhibit Roddenberry’s worst instincts as a writer. McCord, Hartley and the rest of the cast do the best with the material they are given. These aren’t great or even good films but they are cheesy fun.

Planet Earth is sort of a follow-up to Genesis II with a different actor in the lead role. Genesis II gives you the beginnings of the events that lead up to the present. Planet Earth covers events that are mentioned in the first film. Both movies are enjoyable.

I remember seeing this on TV a very long time of go. I been looking for it on Blu-ray and only found it on DVD. Finally it's on Blu-ray and it's so clear and sharp sound. It was worth the wait.