Planet Earth (film)

Planet Earth is a 1974 American made-for-television science fiction film that was created by Gene Roddenberry, written by Roddenberry and Juanita Bartlett (from a story by Roddenberry). It first aired on April 23, 1974 on the ABC network, and stars John Saxon as Dylan Hunt. It was presented as a pilot for what was hoped to be a new weekly television series.[1] The pilot focused on gender relations from an early 1970s perspective. Dylan Hunt, confronted with a post-apocalyptic matriarchal society, muses, "Women's lib? Or women's lib gone mad..."[2][3] The film also stars Diana Muldaur, Ted Cassidy, Janet Margolin, Christopher Cary, Corrine Camacho, and Majel Barrett.[4][5] Marc Daniels directed the film.[6][5][7]

This article is about the science fiction film. For films related to the BBC nature documentary series, see Planet Earth (franchise).
Planet Earth
DVD release of the TV movie
GenreSci-fi
Screenplay byGene Roddenberry
Juanita Bartlett
Directed byMarc Daniels
StarringJohn Saxon
Diana Muldaur
Ted Cassidy
Janet Margolin
Christopher Cary
Corrine Camacho
Majel Barrett
Music byHarry Sukman
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducerGene Roddenberry
CinematographyArchie R. Dalzell
Running time74 minutes
Production companyWarner Bros. Television
DistributorWarner Bros. Television Distribution
Release
Original networkABC
Picture formatColor
Audio formatMono
Original releaseApril 23, 1974 (1974-04-23)

Plot synopsis

It is the year 2133, and Earth was devastated by a nuclear war decades earlier. A team from PAX is conducting a survey of central California. PAX is a science-based society dedicated to restoring civilization and peace to the world.[2]

Returning to PAX headquarters, the team is attacked by a group of militaristic mutants known as the Kreeg. After a struggle, the PAX team manages to escape in a hyperloop subsurface shuttle, a vehicle that can travel between settlements via tubes, built during the early 1990s before the final conflict of the 20th century. One of the team, Pater Kimbridge (Rai Tasco), is severely wounded. To save his life he requires a bioplastic prosthesis to repair the damaged pulmonary artery sheared away by a Kreeg rifle shot.[3]

PAX Team 21, led by Dylan Hunt (John Saxon), with members Baylok (Christopher Cary), Isiah (Ted Cassidy reprising his role from Genesis II), and Harper-Smythe (Janet Margolin) tries to locate a missing doctor, Jonathan Connor (Jim Antonio), the only surgeon who can perform the delicate surgery in time. Their search leads the team to the Confederacy of Ruth, a society of latter-day Amazons, where women are dominant and men are enslaved.

As a ruse, Harper-Smythe binds Hunt and enters the Confederacy's territory with him as her "property". Once there, she meets Marg (Diana Muldaur), the leader of the women, who claims Dylan as her own property. Harper-Smythe makes her way to a nearby farm and meets a woman who explains how the society operates (and how there are fewer and fewer children).[3]

While captive, Hunt learns that the men (referred to as "Dinks") are subjugated by a drug in their food. Despite his efforts, he soon succumbs to the effects of the drug. Harper-Smythe arrives at the village in time to reclaim her "property" by challenging and defeating Marg. When Harper-Smythe is unable to find Connor in the village, Marg invites her to see Marg's newcomer Dinks. Connor comes forward with an antidote for the drug and Hunt recovers. Connor, Hunt and Harper-Smythe decide that she should swap Hunt for Connor, allowing the doctor to return to PAX. Marg agrees to the exchange and Connor and Harper-Smythe leave for PAX after first distributing the antidote in the Dink food supply. That evening, free of the influence of the drug, Hunt seduces Marg.[3]

In the morning, a small party of Kreeg arrive and demand the secret to making men compliant. Hunt leads the un-drugged men in overpowering the invaders. They learn the men in the other households were equally successful in fending off the Kreeg. As a result, the women's council decides to suspend the drug treatment program on their males. Kimbridge soon recovers from the operation.[3]

Cast

Production

Planet Earth was the second attempt by Roddenberry to create a weekly series set on a post-apocalyptic future Earth. The previous pilot was Genesis II, and it featured many of the concepts and characters later redeveloped and mostly recast in Planet Earth.[2] Planet Earth was intended to be a second pilot for Genesis II.[8]

A third and final movie, Strange New World, was aired in 1975. This movie also starred John Saxon as Captain Anthony Vico. In this movie a trio of astronauts returns to Earth after 180 years in suspended animation to locate the underground headquarters of PAX and free the people placed there in suspended animation.

None of these three pilots was ever developed into a series; however, some of the characters served as prototypes for the later TV series (based on Roddenberry's ideas), Andromeda.[9]

Reception

Critical response

The movie received positive reviews at the time of its release in 1974 and was awarded 3 stars ("Good") by several newspapers that used a star rating system.[10][11]

An example of what Time Magazine's movie critic Richard Corliss refers to as Hollywood's use of a blonde vs brunette polarity, dark haired Harper-Smythe fights her blonde nemesis, Marg, the Amazon leader.[12]

In the years since the movie’s release, many critics have focused on comparing the movie to other Roddenberry works, especially Star Trek.[3][13] In a three-way comparison between the earlier Genesis II, Planet Earth and Star Trek, Saxon’s character was considered closer to Star Trek’s Captain Kirk in that he shared the same "physical beauty" and "charming arrogance" as Kirk, compared to the dark, brooding star of Genesis II, played by Alex Cord. Saxon's fighting skills were also complimented by critics, "... you have to love Saxon delivering a full-on Captain Kirk drop-kick to a Kreeg."[13] Janet Margolin has also been compared favorably to some of the female characters in Star Trek, including Yeoman Colt, featured in the first Star Trek episode "The Cage".[13] Along with Muldaur, Margolin's fighting skills were also noted by critics as the sight of two barefoot women, one a fair, blue-eyed blonde and the other an olive skinned, dark-eyed brunette, fighting each other while wearing halter tops and slit skirts barely covering their bikini briefs, was difficult to ignore.[13]

Marc Daniels brings professional polish and brisk pacing to the telefilm and the action sequences are very nicely-staged. Aside from the encounters with the Kreeg, there's a very well-done catfight between Muldaur and Margolin where it's clear that the two actresses are doing much of the stuntwork themselves."[9]

Another fight scene, between the characters Harper-Smythe and Treece, was notable for taking place in front of Treece's children. The fight ends with the dark haired Harper-Smythe bringing her blonde opponent to her knees, unaware that the children are watching until they step forward, crying. Harper-Smythe, embarrassed, releases Treece and apologizes to the children for fighting their mother.[13]

This mirrors a scene in Genesis II in which the shock wave from a nuclear explosion Hunt has triggered strikes a Pax lookout just as a mother has brought her young children out to see the stars. There and in the Planet Earth scene, the heroes witness the effect of their own violence on children, forcing them to rethink the use of force—a very effective and intelligent pacifistic touch from Roddenberry.[13]

Release

Planet Earth aired April 23, 1974, on ABC.[14] The film was released on DVD on November 16, 2009, by WBTV.[15]

See also

References

Citations
  1. Beck, Marilyn (February 19, 1974). "Hollywood Closeup". The Milwaukee Journal. Milwaukee: Gannett Company. p. 24. Retrieved January 12, 2014.
  2. Buck, Jerry (April 21, 1974). "Planet Earth New TV Sci-Fi Series". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Sarasota, Florida: Gannett Company. p. 11. Retrieved January 12, 2014.
  3. Muir, John Kenneth (December 29, 2011). "From the Archive: Planet Earth (1974)". WordPress. Retrieved January 16, 2014.
  4. Sherman 2000, p. 143.
  5. Young 2000, p. 489.
  6. Terrace 2019, p. 193.
  7. McKenna 2013, p. 268.
  8. Parkin, Lance (2016). The Impossible Has Happened: The Life and Work of Gene Roddenberry, Creator of Star Trek. London: Aurum Press Ltd. ISBN 978-1781314463.
  9. Mills, Christopher (May 9, 2011). "Space 1970: Planet Earth". Awesome Inc. Atlanta: Blogger. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  10. "Network Movies this Week". Boca Raton News. Boca Raton, Florida: Metro Desk Media LLC. 24 August 1974. p. 23. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  11. "Movies this week". The Boston Globe. Boston: Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC. 25 September 1977. p. A4.
  12. Corliss, Richard. ""A Total Recall Remake: Why?"". Time. United States: Time USA, LLC (Marc & Lynne Benioff). Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  13. Bond, Jeff (October 23, 2009). "Reviews: Gene Roddenberry's 'Genesis II' & 'Planet Earth'". TrekMovie.com. Los Angeles: SciFanatic Network. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
  14. Goldberg, Lee (1990). Unsold Television Pilots 1955-1989. Scotts Valley, California: CreateSpace. ISBN 978-1511590679.
  15. Planet Earth. WBTV (DVD). Charlotte, North Carolina: Gray Television. November 16, 2009. ASIN B002VA59ZS. Retrieved May 24, 2020.

Sources
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