Genre: Science Fiction
Director: Charles Crichton, Peter Medak
Starring: Martin Landau, Barbara Bain, and some people who weren't on Mission: Impossible
MST Season: KTMA
The Movie
Gerry and Sylvia Anderson are back, baby! They've moved on from their marionette shows and have decided it's time to work with actors and try their hand at the special effects game. The resulting show was Space: 1999, a series about a colony that was on the moon when an accident hurtled it into space. An absurd premise to be sure (losing the moon would be catastrophic for the Earth), but sometimes dealing with the absurd is what playful storytelling does best. After all, these people used to make TV shows with a bunch of puppets! Who needs reality?
Cosmic Princess is from a series of videos that VCI put out editing episodes from the series together for retail sale on VHS. This particular video took two episodes from the show's retooled second season and tried to pass them off as a continuity narrative. The first was The Metamorph, in which our space heroes, the Alphans, are threatened by the villainous Mentor, an alien being who wishes to use their brains to power his computer. This episode introduces the titular "Cosmic Princess" in a character called Maya, who joined the series as a science officer after this episode. The second episode aired later in the season, Space Warp, which featured Maya falling ill and losing control of her morphing ability. This edit of the episodes alters them to try and tie it into the previous episode.
I dig retro space shows. I haven't personally seen Space: 1999 but based on what I see here, I like the cut of its jib. It certainly has its goofy qualities, with a few low-fi monster costumes and whatnot, but I was entertained throughout Cosmic Princess. It's the balance of serious and goofy I crave.
Probably the most notable aspect of the series for old TV buffs is that it starred the real-life husband/wife duo Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, years after having starred in Mission: Impossible together. Landau plays moonbase leader John Koenig while Bain is medical head Helena Russell. Cosmic Princess Maya is played by Catherine Schell, who James Bond fans will recognize from her small role in On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Clouseau fans will recognize from Return of the Pink Panther (though Mystery Science Theater fans will likely know her best from Moon Zero Two). She doesn't do a whole lot in the episodes presented. Her first episode is her denying her brain-sucking father is that bad of a bloke and the second is just her flailing about.
The special effects aren't as dynamic as Battlestar Galactica would do just a few years later, though I dare say the space shots are a leap forward from what Star Trek was capable of a few years earlier (though arguably even Lost in Space had more impressive spaceship effects than Star Trek). What might make it or break it are the silly alien costumes, which are fairly raggedy and Halloween store renal quality. If one dives head first into this show, it's something of a mixed bag in the effectiveness of what's onscreen.
Probably the best summery I can come up with for this show is a point in the first featured episode in which one of the Alphans shoots a laser at Mentor, only to have it deflected back at the Alphan and vaporize him. Martin Landeau responds to this incident by pulling his gun out and pointing it at Mentor. That's showcases the thought that is put into this show and it made me laugh out loud. I hope the rest of the series lives up to that one moment.
The Episode
We dive right back into the "TV show posing as a movie" waters after a few rounds of movies that actually were real movies. Even better it's from Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, creators of Stingray and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, so it's not entirely unfamiliar territory. Cosmic Princess is colorful and fun, with special effects that are both solid and lame alike. It's the type of content I like to see on Mystery Science Theater, so it's a welcome presence in my book. And if I'm enjoying the movie, that's half the battle right there for a KTMA episode.
The improved riffing doesn't quite do the movie justice, but they're into the inherent silliness to the movie and play along. Well, Josh doesn't seem to be in the mood for this movie's crap. His Tom Servo comments a lot on the production values, snickering at alien costumes, saying "That's the worst chunk of crap monster I've ever seen!" and getting irritated and calling the whole thing "Doodie!" at the end. Joel and Trace seem to take it more in stride, as they're probably more in the wavelength of what TV had to offer in the 70's than Josh is. Joel is very playful here, and he also congratulates both of the bots when they accidentally predict lines of dialogue before they happen.
"Spaceship graveyard."
"It's a graveyard of ships!"
"Ha! Good call!"
"I could be writing this crap!"
The host segments are highlighted by a funny bit in which Crow gives Joel a haircut. The dialogue exchange is charming during this segment and it's no wonder they remade it in the first season. The bots also get pissed that Joel doesn't claim them as dependents on his taxes (isn't space considered international territory?), while Servo loses his head a few times. They cleverly use this to explain a coughing fit Josh has in the theater at one point, as Crow claims that maybe they screwed his head on too tight. Also there are some football segments, because this episode aired on Superbowl Sunday (they couldn't have aired Superdome that night?).
This is probably my favorite of the KTMA season. It's a goofy but fun movie with a casual commentary with a few good chuckles. It certainly seems like these kids are onto something with these space movies and surrounding puppet show. I hope they keep it up!
Good
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