Blu-ray Review: Genesis II / Planet Earth

Reviewed By Jason Lockard

Gene Roddenberry a name any fan of science fiction will know at a moment's notice. He was the visionary behind the TV classic Star Trek. A prolific writer and creator. In 1970's he created and wrote two sci-fi made-for-tv movie scripts dealing with a man from the past finding himself in the future. Yeah it has been done before, but why not again?!

Now the fine folks at Warner Archive is making sci-fi fans dreams comes true by releasing these two made-for-TV films available on a double feature Blu-ray. Let's take a look at these two films.

Movie Rating:

****=Don’t Miss it!
***=Worth a look.
**=An Ok way to spend an evening.
*=You haven’t missed anything.

Genesis II (1973) Dylan Hunt is a NASA scientist who is working on "Project Ganymede", a suspended animation system for astronauts on long-duration spaceflights. As a test he is put in a state of hibernation. During this test a massive Earthquake occurs burying the lab. He is awoken in the year 2133 by an organization called "PAX" (the Latin word for "peace"). Dylan soon finds this world is different than the one he was used to. ***

Planet Earth (1974) Dylan Hunt now 22nd century and working with PAX. He and others are trying to locate missing doctor, Jonathan Conno. But is soon captured and sold as a slave. Where women rule the land and men are slaves called Dinks. He helps in a male rebel movement. ***

These are very entertaining 70's sci-fi TV movies. Gene Roddenberry does an masterful job as always weaving a story with real issues. Alex Cord as the first Dylan Hunt and John Saxon as the 2nd both did an exceptional job as the lead, in their respective films. It was so cool seeing Ted Cassidy (Lurch on Addams Family TV Series) as Isiah.

These films were pilot movies to test for a possible series. I kind of wished they would have made it to series. It would have been cool to see more adventures of Dylan Hunt. Sadly all we can do is dream about what might have been.

As for the transfer Warner Archive has preserved both films 1.33:1 aspect ratio while the resolution is in 1080p. I hate stretched images and thankfully the did not do that. The audio is in English 2.0 Mono DTS-HD MA. There is also English Subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing. A very nice bonus for those who need it.

I am so impressed with the quality of these two film prints. They look and sound crisp and clean. The colors are bright and vibrant. There is no real signs of damage to the prints, as far as I could see. This is a very nice little double feature of sci-fi action adventure from the mind of the legendary Gene Roddenberry.

I think fans of 70's Sci-fi and Gene Roddenberry will find this an absolute must add to their collection. I highly suggest heading over to Amazon.com and get your copy today. Be sure to check out the large catalogue of Blu-rays and DVDs at WarnerArchive.com.

Out of 4 Film Reels we would score Warner Archive's Blu-ray release of Genesis II and Planet Earth....