Battle In Outer Space Promo

The promise of a battle in outer space was never more assured than in the hands of singular visionary, director Ishiro Honda.

I'm reminded of classic episodes of some of the best in science fiction television. Those that come to mind include classic Battlestar Galactica's Fire In Space, Buck Rogers In The 25th Century's Vegas In Space and Planet Of The Slave Girls, Star Trek: The Original Series' Mudd's Women, The Incredible Hulk's Terror In Times Square or A Child In Need, The Six Million Dollar Man's The Seven Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Boy, The Bionic Woman or Steve Austin, Fugitive, Land Of The Lost's Tar Pit and Stone Soup, and finally Lost In Space, well, there's too many to name beginning with Attack Of The Monster Plants. And no one nailed it better than Gerry Anderson's Thunderbirds with titles like Pit Of Peril, Vault Of Death, Trapped In The Sky and City Of Fire.

Once upon a time, those titles were simple, straightforward and didn't lie. Little room was left to interpretation. Today's television often relishes ambiguity, the indefinable, the intentionally vague or the use of rhetorical devices and other colorful language or expressions to capture the intent or theme of a story. Back in the day, not the case, Battle In Outer Space! 'Nuff said. I'm probably exaggerating a touch here about today's television, despite its efforts to be relatively smart and clever. Sometimes the simplest titles make the most sense though.

One of the best visionaries with a clear, concise idea for his films was none other than director Ishiro Honda. Gojira, Rodan, Mothra and Battle In Outer Space. In fact, Toho never overcomplicated matters when it came to genre films whether kaiju eiga or science fiction. The War Of The Gargantuas, The War In Space, Son Of Godzilla, King Kong Escapes and anything in the Godzilla Vs. series. There was never a need to mince words or overcomplicate a good idea.

Morgan Paull [1944-2012]

"You know what a turtle is?" - Morgan Paull as Holden explaining the tortoise/ turtle quandary to Leon in an effort to elicit or provoke an emotional response in Blade Runner-

There are so many moments in director Ridley Scott's Blade Runner [1982] that left such indelible impressions on my/our lives that it's hard to point to just one. You really can't single out just one moment in this science fiction masterpiece. Perhaps it's the culmination of so many fantastic, wonderful moments in Blade Runner that make it such an enduring classic in film. The same holds true for other Scott films like Alien [1979], Black Hawk Down [2001] and Thelma & Louise [1991] just to name some of the true visual and cinematic triumphs. You can look at any of these films and simply gaze agape at the elaborate or rich visual moments that fill the screen. These images and these moments in cinema have so deeply affected us emotionally and touched out lives magnificently.

Actor Morgan Paull [1944-2012] was an actor who captured my attention and my imagination for one such burning moment. He populated one such unforgettably commanding scene. Honestly, I never took time to know who the actor was until learning of his unfortunate passing to stomach cancer on July 17 nearly the 30th anniversary of the release of Blade Runner. Yet his passing gave me pause at the significance of Blade Runner's impact on my life as a fan of science fiction. His small role in the making of that film event should not be discounted.

Surprisingly, based on his extraordinarily moving sequence in Blade Runner it's hard to believe Paull had such an anonymous career by contrast to the likes of Harrison Ford, Sean Young, Daryl Hannah and even Rutger Hauer.

The American character actor appeared in Patton [1970] and other films, but unfortunately maintained a fairly low profile.

Remarkably though, according to Don Kaye at Blastr, Paull was never meant to play the fated role of interviewer/ Blade Runner Holden in Blade Runner. Paull was hired by Scott to read lines in screen tests for the film's actresses. Paull initially scoffed at the job but his agent convinced him to do it. According to Paull in The Hollywood Reporter, "Ridley fell in love with me," and he was offered the now legendary supporting part of Holden. Legend has it Paull suggested Daryl Hannah for the role of Pris, but advised Scott should pass on Sean Young for the part of Rachael. Scott apparently solicited Paull's opinions on a number of screen testing occasions concurring on Hannah, but deferring to better judgment on Young.

Ultimately, Paull made his minimal screen time famous and significant. As Holden, he administered a Voight-Kampff test to a replicant named Leon implemented to determine replicants from humans. Leon, the replicant subject, in a frighteningly jarring moment kills Holden at the start of Blade Runner.

As a boy moved by the film the scene was powerfully scarring in my fairly black and white psyche. It was a scene that left my mind reeling in my formative years as I attempted to make heads or tails of the meaning not only behind Blade Runner, but this one scene alone. It was like nothing I'd ever seen. And for this reason alone, I found myself compelled to honor Paull's moment on film and remember him here. The work is strong and left me profoundly moved beyond reason for years. There was something entirely mysterious, dark and unsettling about this glimpse at humanity and the desire for someone so inhuman to live. It was disturbing, but fascinating. Here is the Paull scene with Paull channeling his inner Harrison Ford.

This was simply one of those life affirming moments, ironically, that I felt compelled to muse on about. I remember sitting in a very unsophisticated theatre that year alongside a concerned mother. She, too, a much wiser version of me, was clearly new to this form of cerebral, cinematic narrative. She could hardly make sense of it herself and when it was over wondered why I had enjoyed it so much. Back then I wasn't certain. I knew I loved it but I was just as stunned by the experience and left with many questions that allowed me to appreciate moments like this within this film for decades. The film on the whole was spectacular, but there were moments like this one throughout Blade Runner that left me uneasy, thrilled and swallowing hard as my innocent mind attempted to decipher all that was in play. I'm certainly not trying to overstate Paull's contribution, but merely reflect on the influence of a special moment. Actors never know when the time will come to make their statement in cinema history. Nicely done Mr. Paull. You were very much a part of the magic.

Stargate Atlantis S1 Ep1: Rising (Part I)

"The most high-profile science fiction television spin-off series since Star Trek: The Next Generation." -Sharon Gosling [Stargate Atlantis: The Official Companion Season 1]-

New faces. Classic faces. A fresh coat of paint for a new gate. You really can't keep a good Stargate SG-1 member down. Stargate Atlantis, Rising, is the first in a number of guest appearances by the SG-1 team. Richard Dean Anderson [Stargate SG-1] and Michael Shanks [Stargate SG-1], SG-1 veterans, join Robert Patrick [Fire In The Sky, The X-Files] to round out perhaps one of science fiction's finest debuts to burst from the small screen as the torch is passed.

I had originally planned a one entry post on the debut pilot, Rising, for the launch of Stargate Atlantis. It's often been compiled as one, lengthy installment for viewing purposes. But, it was just too good for that and Rising was actually shown originally in two parts, plus it was a little less daunting in two segments, thus I went for the two-part format.

Rising also feels like two parts in presentation. Part I sees the team assemble and head through the gate on their one-way ticket to Atlantis and the Pegasus Galaxy. Part II introduces the series primary nemesis- a nasty, big old shark in the Pegasus sea dubbed The Wraith.

What most interested me in revisiting Rising is how it came to be- how the series came to fruition. The Stargate universe is particularly interesting given all of its franchises, its birth from Dean Devlin/ Roland Emmerich film, Stargate [1994], and even recent discussions about returning to the big screen despite the dissolution of Stargate Universe [2009-2011]. There's always plenty to talk about it with this franchise and clearly more than a few, including myself, that would have loved a better resolution to the seemingly disrespected Stargate Atlantis arm. Didn't it deserve better? We take a glimpse at how Stargate Atlantis, Season One, Episode 1, Rising (Part I) came to pass.

Stargate Atlantis had been bandied about in the mind of Brad Wright since as early as Season Five of Stargate SG-1. The creators and those involved with the original series understood an end date would come eventually. The show was becoming progressively more expensive with respect to its special effects budget. The actors too had become major stars and also commanded greater salaries. These things of course happen naturally. Well, each successive year rolled into the next and Stargate SG-1 somehow managed renewal each time despite the ever present threat of cancellation looming around the corner going as far as the end of its first year, Season Six, on the, then, Sci Fi Channel. There was clearly a fear the money would simply run out.

The brilliant David Hewlett as Rodney McKay would be a big part of the success of Stargate Atlantis. The strategy for Stargate SG-1 Season Seven was to conclude with a film implementing the Lost City concept as the focus. This inevitably led to the briliant two-parter by Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper and directed by Martin Wood for that season's end called Lost City.

This evolved into the Ancients' outpost as a wonderful plot thread and building block within the fantastic Stargate mythlogy. Wright planned to have Atlantis under Antarctica and ready to go to supplant the closure of Stargate Command [SGC] when Stargate SG-1 ended, but renewal of the aforementioned franchise forced their hand again.

It was Cooper who suggested the city be in a galaxy, far, far away and as Wright put it in Sharon Gosling's wonderful series of companion guides, "I think the series is much better for that change."
The writing partnership of Wright and Cooper mandated the new series, Stargate Atlantis, have a life of its own since both Stargate SG-1 (Season Nine and Ten) and Stargate Atlantis (Season One and Two) would need to run concurrently for two years.

Cooper said this in Stargate Atlantis: The Official Companion Season 1: "We wanted the new show ... to have a distinct life of its own." Cooper wanted this new Stargate team to be in a remote galaxy away from the possibility of SG-1 saving the day whenever trouble was brewing. Granted, a collaborative action episode between both teams was always a special option. Think Stargate Atlantis, Season Four, Episode 17, Midway, or Stargate SG-1, Season Ten, Episode 3, The Pegasus Project. It was like Avengers Assemble.

Robert Patrick as Marshall Sumner always delivers. Ultimately, Stargate Atlantis received a greenlight and Wright and the team had to work very quickly at writing, set building, casting and pulling together their new series in a very short space of time. What's remarkable is how damn, big, epic and exciting this new series looked. What's even more amazing is how lightning in a bottle struck twice in casting a group of actors this stunningly good out of the gate. Everything clicked once again.

Director Martin Wood launched the script for Rising, by Wright and Cooper again. "The movie was really, really good, but no one will ever see it now!" Still, Wood kept some of the best aspects of that film plan and applied them here and Rising is positively cinematic and beautiful. A longer shooting schedule for the pilot allowed them to deliver a fine piece of television. Everything is up there on the screen in Rising and it's easy to see why this series beat out Stargate SG-1 in the ratings. There was vibrancy, a color, an energy, an enthusiasm, excitement and a newness about it that really captured the imagination. The coral contrast to the dark greens and browns of SG-1 was fairly stark. The creative team worked wonders in separating their Stargate children from a stylistic perspective. The New York Times' felt the introduction was "dull" oddly enough despite being impressed by the "lavish special effects." She called it a "relic of our own unenlightened time." Sounds like the words of a self-loathing journalist. Unfortunately, you just can't please everyone.

Garwin Sanford, previously Narim from Stargate SG-1's Enigma [Season One], Pretense [Season Three] and Between Two Fires [Season Five], plays the love interest to Torri Higginson's Elizabeth Weir character on Stargate Atlantis. With Stargate Universe, the team went back to the darker tone and made it even darker than the original and perhaps in a television universe filled with anti-heroes and the skepticism of mankind the world either wasn't ready or simply had enough. The third franchise was markedly different in style and tone and I can't help but think perhaps its premature death was the result more of timing than anything else.

Joe Flanigan was perfectly cast as the Atlantis expedition's version of Colonel Jack O'Neill. With the second series changing the dynamic was important and thus Stargate Atlantis moved away from the core of the four member team found on Stargate SG-1, and moved Stargate Atlantis into a roughly five actor ensemble with even more recurring characters. Utilizing a group of virtual unknowns with tremendous talent made for an engaging energy and that made Rising feel different. More on the rise of Stargate Atlantis and its tremendous cast of talent that became the internationally-comprised face of this new series for five seasons in Rising (Part II). Rising (Part I) introduces science fiction fans to a most auspicious debut for a well-constructed, entertaining series that was, unlike some franchise arms, strong out of the gate. Rising (Part I): B+. Writer: Robert C. Cooper & Brad Wright. Director: Martin Wood.

Season One Cast: John Sheppard [Joe Flanigan]/ Rodney McKay [David Hewlett]/ Teyla Emmagan [Rachel Luttrell]/ Elizabeth Weir [Torri Higginson]/ Carson Beckett [Paul McGillion]/ Aiden Ford [Rainbow Sun Francks].

Hall & Oates: Big Bam Boom & Daryl Hall: Three Hearts In The Happy Ending Machine

The seemingly flawless days of radioactive MTV when artists put the music video in music television.

I's funny how inspiration works and how things come together rather nicely at times. Director Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man [2012] opened to reasonably positive reviews. I've been unfairly dismissive of the film, not because of Webb, but primarily because I was such a fan of director Sam Raimi's take on it and his inspired casting choice of Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker. I was particularly dismayed over the choice of Andrew Garfield as Parker. Some actors just don't invite me in. I just really enjoyed those first two films by Raimi and Maguire and the idea of a reboot with Garfield left me unenthused. Thus, I've been quick to sort of discount Webb's take on the classic character. I know that's not cool.

Cut to a recent visit of the local library and the fact that director Marc Webb's (500) Days Of Summer [2009] was finally sitting on the shelves after about 500 tries to pick it up. Taking it home I was duly impressed with Webb's approach to this atypical love story or as the film submits "not a love story" even though it's a great story about love with all of the required pain that goes along with it. Webb's visual approach and style was invigorating too and fresh and suited the strong script in which it complemented visually.

Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt [Treasure Planet, The Lookout, Inception, Looper, The Dark Knight Rises] has been an up and coming talent since his days with TV series 3rd Rock From The Sun. It's funny he should feature with Christian Bale in The Dark Knight Rises [2012] as they've both had generally strong and gradual career trajectories. Levitt really shines in the Webb film here. It's the kind of film opportunity, minus all those excessive special effects, most actors dream of living and shining in. Speaking of shine, Zoey Deschanel [Tin Man, The Happening] is superb. She is one of the few actresses who can play quirky, peculiar, sexy and seductive all at once. It's a bizarre and beautiful gift and I've adored her since Elf [2003]. Take that talent and couple it with the fact this girl can really sing and she's like a little ball of talent fire. Deschanel continues to pursue a music career parallel to her work in cinema with M. Ward as part of the lovely indie folk pop duo She & Him.

And of course, as you know, I love music. She & Him is worth investigating if you have a predilection toward gentle indie pop music. She & Him have even recorded their own version of The Smiths' Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want for the soundtrack to (500) Days of Summer.

As a love of music goes, director Webb too had a significant career as a music video director before making his film debut with the aforementioned splash of a film. He's worked with Maroon 5, Green Day, Fergie, Miley Cyrus and even She & Him.

So, what about Daryl Hall & John Oates? What does all of this have to do with Hall & Oates? Well, I was so inspired to write a little something about the Philadelphia, PA born duo after experiencing the wonderful Webb-directed film, (500) Days Of Summer, because whether a fan of the duo or not, he utilized one of their songs, You Make My Dreams from Voices, in a terrific fantasy sequence. After all, Webb knows how to direct a music video. In fact, I had originally thought of calling this post Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Han Solo And Hall & Oates with just a brief blurb about the sequence and my affection for the pop duo, one of the most successful and celebrated in pop music history as essentially unknown as they might be to the same crowds piling into theatres for Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man. But that fleeting moment all changed and thus turned into one of my traditional 80s Classics posts here at Musings Of A Sci-Fi Fanatic a.k.a. Musings Of An 80s Maniac.

Yes, Daryl Hall & John Oates have been making beautiful music together since 1972 when they formed in Philadelphia during a hail of gang gunfire following a band competition. Taking refuge behind a parked vehicle the two sowed the seeds to music history. The brilliant act was skilled at mixing their blue-eyed Philly soul with new wave and pop rock combined with some of the most insanely catchy melodies to grace the human ear.

After a slow start in the 1970s hitting the charts, and mind you I understand there are fans out there who feel the act betrayed themselves for Top 40 success, Hall & Oates finally arrived in the 1980s in a very big way.

Things began gradually though with eight albums in the 1970s and a handful of classic singles like She's Gone [Abandoned Luncheonette] [1973], Sara Smile [the self-titled Daryl Hall & John Oates] [1975], Rich Girl [Bigger Than Both Of Us] [1976], It's A Laugh [Along The Red Ledge] [1978] and Wait For Me [X-Static] [1979]. Over the course of that decade, the duo worked twice with famed producer Arif Mardin, twice with David Foster and once with Todd Rundgren just to name a few. Hall & Oates were the real deal making it the hard way with hard work, blood, sweat and tears in an era free of iTunes and at the mercy of the major labels.

It wasn't until 1980, the band released Voices [1980] and self-produced the project that the duo began making a major impression in the pop world. A remake of The Righteous Brothers' You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' combined with the big Hall hits Kiss Is On My List [reaching number one] and You Make My Dreams, put the duo on the map. Don't believe me? Voices' track Everytime You Go Away became a number one hit for English vocalist Paul Young. Top 40 radio was in its hey day for me and it seemed the airwaves of the 1980s was packed wall to wall with great pop songs.

A year later and the flood gates were opened as Hall & Oates issued Private Eyes [1981], one of their strongest records to date and easily one of their classics. Your Imagination, Did It In A Minute and the two number ones, the title track and the unforgettable genius of the silky smooth I Can't Go For That [No Can Do], took the world by storm.

There was a magic between these two men and as a result of that synergy, for a time, I wondered if there wasn't some kind of homoerotic connection, but that was clearly an overactive imagination. Still, that mustache made me wonder. A year later, the prolific, seemingly tireless duo continued to make waves stateside and overseas with H2O [1982]. H20 was a steamroller for the band and continued the act's run of apparently effortless pop classics. It was their third self-produced title. The number one Maneater was backed by such classics as One On One, the underrated Family Man, Crime Pays, Open All Night and Go Solo.

And going solo was precisely what Daryl Hall would do after just one more mammoth mark on the charts. Self-producing along with mix master Arthur Baker [New Order; Hall co-wrote and produced Swept Away by Diana Ross with Baker in 1984] and Bob Clearmountain the act was going BIG. In fact, the duo went Big Bam Boom [1984] with Daryl Hall at the top of his vocal game. Soul pop never sounded better than this mid-80s standard. Some considered the production a misstep, but others like myself loved this bold piece of explosive pop. The entirety of the classic recording was a smash including Out Of Touch, Method Of Modern Love, Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid and wonderful album cuts like Bank Of Your Love. The classic American masterpiece was preceded by two equally potent singles for the collection Rock N' Soul Part 1 [1983] including the fantastic Say It Isn't So and Adult Education, a video that left an indelible mark during the height of the MTV era when acts like Hall & Oates, Duran Duran and Van Halen were putting the video in music television [the Adult Education video always freaked me out].

Hall & Oates were so big and so well known at one point, The Human League's Phil Oakey was once compared to vocalist Daryl Hall in a UK promotional interview based on his vocal for Octopus [1995] especially for the track Filling Up With Heaven. Oakey's response, "Oh brilliant, I love Hall & Oates! I think they're very underrated in Britain. You know, they knew how good they were in America. But I thought what a talent they had." Daryl Hall was quite simply one of the finest singer/ songwriter/ producers going in the day along with John Oates and they made some of the most memorable melodies and pop songs ever recorded. In my humble opinion, Hall is still one of the best.

Following Big Bam Boom and the height of success for Hall & Oates, Daryl Hall went solo. It wasn't a new idea. Hall released Sacred Songs [1980] six years earlier to little notice before Hall & Oates' Voices arrived a year later. But now things were different.

Hall collaborated with Eurythmics' producing and writing genius David A. Stewart [normally a fixture with Annie Lennox] as well as longtime friend and musical collaborator Tom 'T-Bone' Wolk [who passed away in 2010] for Three Hearts In The Happy Ending Machine [1986] creating one of the finest collection of songs that I've ever had the pleasure to enjoy year after year.

In fact, as much as I love Big Bam Boom as a pop effort, H20 and Private Eyes, Three Hearts In The Happy Ending Machine trumps them all. It's that damn good. Dreamtime, Only A Vision, I Wasn't Born Yesterday, Someone Like You, For You, Right As Rain, Foolish Pride, and What's Gonna Happen To Us all make for a sweeping beauty.

One of the more fascinating subplots that impacted Hall's music emotionally was his thirty year relationship with girlfriend Sara Allen. If there was ever such a thing as the artist's muse, Sara Allen was that to Daryl Hall. The two split after never having been married in 2001 and the work on Three Hearts In The Happy Ending Machine takes on a particularly strong emotional resonance when you hear it and understand the bigger picture. It was an album written mostly without Allen.

But the relationship between Hall and Allen was indeed fertile. Not only was Sara the inspiration behind Sara Smile, but she eventually co-wrote some of the finest ever recorded by Hall & Oates. He compositions and her sister's work, Janna Allen, began appearing as early as Bigger Than Both Of Us [1976]. Sara's work appeared sporadically each release. Janna co-penned Kiss On My List with Hall. Sara partnered with Hall for You Make My Dreams. Sara and Janna were also involved with Daryl Hall [and Oates] as writing partners in some form or another for Private Eyes, Did It In A Minute, I Can't Go For That (No Can Do), Head Above Water, Maneater, Crime Pays, Art Of Heartbreak, Method Of Modern Love, Bank On Your Love, Going Thru The Motions, All American Girl, Possession Obsession, Downtown Life, Missed Opportunity, The Sky Is Falling and many more. But look at the list of singles. Hall and the Allens were a veritable hit machine. Sara's influence with the exception of Change Of Season [1990] can be felt all the way until Marigold Sky [1997] with one sweet holdover in Something About You from Do It For Love [2003]. When the relationship was all said and done it was clear Sara's impact on their partnership, and on the collaboration that was Hall & Oates, with Hall had spanned the course of over twenty remarkable years.

Following a VH-1 special, Behind The Music, Daryl Hall re-recorded an equally powerful, stripped down rendition of Someone Like You [2002] the next year. It's clear that the closing of that chapter in his life with Allen was both painful and certainly influential and it is reflected in that song, one of the most beautiful I've ever heard. The back story and the personal nature of Hall and Allen's working relationship is indeed fascinating and certainly shouldn't be discounted.

In 1988, as a duo, Hall & Oates were back at what they do best, but the pop world was changing and so too had Daryl Hall and John Oates. The sound was changing and though their recordings continue to remain prized purchases for me personally, I stand by the fact these 1980s classics are the one to purchase. Nevertheless, the mostly interesting Ooh Yeah! [1988] was a stab at late 80s electronic soul while the aptly titled Change of Season [1990] captured Hall & Oates in a reflective mood guitar-based acoustic mood. A year later, the duo took it home and delivered a perfectly tweaked soulful rendition of Elton John's Philadelphia Freedom for Two Rooms: Celebrating The Songs Of Elton John & Bernie Taupin [1991].

Since Big Bam Boom, the duo has released six more recordings and since Daryl Hall's classic Three Hearts In The Happy Ending Machine he has released three more additional efforts. All of these projects are worth exploration if you're a fan of the classic American voice that is the soul of Daryl Hall's work.

So, I don't know if Marc Webb is a fan of Daryl Hall and John Oates, despite clearly being a fan of music, but his choice of You Make My Dreams in the film (500) Days Of Summer is indeed inspired and I thank him for recognizing a classic. It was perfectly appropriate and a pleasure to see this number on film. So thank you Webb for this amazing move. You make my dreams come true. You also made me revisit one of America's finest bands ever to grace the airwaves.

Hall & Oates Discography: Whole Oats [1972]/ Abandoned Luncheonette [1973]/ War Babies [1974]/ Daryl Hall & John Oates [1975]/ Bigger Than Both Of Us [1976]/ Beauty On A Back Street [1977]/ No Goodbyes [1977] [collection] / Along The Red Ledge [1978]/ X-Static [1978]/ Voices [1980]/ Private Eyes [1981] */ H2O [1982] */ Rock N' Soul Part 1 [1983]/ Big Bam Boom [1984] */ Ooh Yeah! [1988]/ Change Of Season [1990]/ Looking Back: The Best Of Daryl Hall & John Oates [1991] [UK collection]/ The Best Of Times: Greatest Hits [1995] [Japan collection]/ Marigold Sky [1997]/ The Very Best Of Daryl Hall & John Oates [2001] */ VH-1 Behind The Music: The Daryl Hall And John Oates Collection [2002]/ Do It For Love [2003]/ 12 Inch Collection Vol 1 & 2 [2003] [Japan] / Our Kind Of Soul [2004]/ The Essential Daryl Hall & John Oates [2005]/ Home For Christmas [2006]/ Do What You Want, Be What You Are: The Music Of Hall & Oates [2009]. The live recordings are not included here. Key collections are noted.

Daryl Hall Discography: Sacred Songs [1980]/ Three Hearts In The Happy Ending Machine [1986] */ Soul Alone [1993]/ Can't Stop Dreaming [1996]/ Laughing Down Crying [2011] * essential.

Here is that beautiful little clip featuring Joseph-Gordon Levitt clearly in love and how fitting Webb should channel the positively ebullient and bursting You Make My Dreams, a song penned by Daryl Hall, John Oates and Sara Allen.

She gives us love, love, love... crazy love!

UFO Ep8: A Question Of Priorities

"These things are always a question of priorities." -Commander Ed Straker-

"He had such a fantastic voice. I remember thinking how wonderful it was.... His acting in UFO was just tremendous. He has a great deal of depth." -The late Peter Gordeno on Ed Bishop as Ed Straker in FAB #38-

All aboard! It's FAB FRIDAY people! Welcome to the out of this world exploits of all things by all people enabled by the minds of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson.

UFO actor Peter Gordeno reflected on the talent of Ed Bishop, George Sewell and Michael Billington in that aforementioned interview and how their combined talents genuinely elevated the material when it faltered. They lifted a handful of gems into cult classic status. UFO remains one of those early science fiction highlights falling in line behind Star Trek: The Original Series and Lost In Space. There was certainly a great deal to be proud of on the series. Ironically, Gordeno appeared in just six episodes of UFO in his small role as Captain Peter Carlin. A Question Of Priorities would be his last.

While A Question Of Priorities would mark the exciting return of the irresistible Lt. Gay Ellis, played by Gabrielle Drake, and the handsome Captain Peter Carlin, the installment would also mark the final appearance of the Carlin character. Unfortunately his part as the pilot of Sky 1 was ever so brief.

Regarding Gordeno's brief time on the series, Gordeno noted in FAB #38 his limited input had a lot to do with his management. His agent was tentative to the role and feared Gordeno might be "pigeon-holed" thus limiting his availability. Gordeno felt many parts originally intended for him were divided up as a result of his lack of commitment. Michael Billington usurped many of the parts originally intended for him. Legend has it the Billington role at the health farm in Episode 9, Ordeal, was actually intended for Gordeno. Still, Gordeno remembered fondly Gerry Anderson and his patience and understanding with him as an untrained actor. Gordeno was the recipent of a good amount of success at the time as a dancer and listened to his agent's advice. In retrospect, Gordeno wished he had "stood up" to his manager. Gordeno really had high regard for Billington though who really took over for Gordeno in many appreciable respects. Gordeno really respected what the Andersons were achieving with UFO and although he was slated as a leading man for the series along with Ed Bishop it was not to be. That fact is self-evident with his notable appearance opposite Bishop in the series debut, Identified.

In general, Gordeno saw UFO as "first rate" and was never embarrassed by his work on the series. Here are his reflections from FAB #38 roughly thirty years after UFO finished production.

"The whole set-up in the studios was first rate. The stories were great and the effects were just fantastic. Gerry and Sylvia Anderson were so clever." He added after seeing the series again just shy of the interview, "It really is impressive visually. I don't think that it was cliched and I don't think that it has really dated. The actors often show great depth and I really don't think that the programme looks 30 years old." Yes, UFO still packs a visual punch with its intelligent tales that grow ever more complex as the series grows.

Gordeno wrapped it up succinctly. "UFO... still stands up to anything done today. It was never tacky or cheap like some science-fiction stuff is. It was just top quality stuff and I'm so proud to have been involved in such a forward-thinking, well made programme." Amen. Top cast, directors, writers, guest stars and top shelf visual effects still puts UFO on a map charting science fiction history. There's little doubt about it and A Question Of Priorities takes us a step closer to the work on the series that really seals the deal.

Turning attention back to Gordeno's opening reflection on actor Ed Bishop, nowhere to date has the series exemplified more so the man's range as an actor and the character of Commander Ed Straker than the latest installment. UFO, Episode 8, A Question Of Priorities shines a light on actor Ed Bishop and a story classic as penned by Tony Barwick.

The entry opens with the unsettling portrait of a woman in jeopardy by a man wearing a nylon mask choking her. The camera rolls back to reveal a the horrific image to be nothing more than a scene being filmed at none other than Harlington-Straker Studios, the front for SHADO and clever artifice for the actual studios UFO was filmed in.

Images reveal Straker spending time with his son offering a new glimpse into a leader's world that had yet to be revealed. En route home, Straker's son, John, plays about in his father's classic brown future vehicle complete with built in telephone and gadgets galore.

The blond haired boy looks like a chip off the old block with that bleached out blond hair. He's the spitting image of a young Straker. Straker arrives home amid variations on the theme to UFO played on an organ that sounds like it might make The Doors' Ray Manzarek proud.

The episode not only sees the return of the lovely Gabrielle Drake as Lt. Gay Ellis, but introduces UFO fans to the gorgeous Suzanne Neve, as the ex-wife of John Straker, now remarried as Mary Rutland to Steven Rutland, played by Philip Madoc [Doctor Who: The Brain of Morbius; cameo as Commander Anton Gorski in Space:1999 pilot Breakaway and replaced by Martin Landau's Commander John Koenig]. Madoc would appear again as a different character in UFO, Episode 20, Destruction.

I can only imagine the subject of divorce might have seemed particularly new to television in 1970. Though divorce rates were clearly on the rise it was still considered fairly taboo by many. The discomfort of that trend and the general discomfort of facing a former loved one with apparently strained relations and the involvement of a new partner can be felt here. This is a fairly moving and authentic scene that does touch a nerve. And this is just the beginning of A Question Of Priorities.

This touching and clearly emotional exchange is quickly followed by perhaps one of the most traumatic moments in Gerry Anderson television history. For a program bursting and seemingly colorized as an invitation to children this had to be something of an evening shocker [see Additional Commentary]. This horrifying event merely compounds an already strained connection.

The stunning scene is followed by the haunting ring of a British ambulance rushing John to the hospital. It all plays out very well and is particularly unnerving. Mary accompanies her fallen child. Ed follows closely behind.

Inside the hospital, the waiting game is played with deadly seriousness as both Straker and his ex-wife sit and suffer in near silence. The deafening quiet is only broken by the ring of a phone. Mary sits with her husband, Steven, just feet away smoking of course. The unfortunate union is awkward indeed. The silence is interrupted by a visiting nurse who informs them that their son is "as well as can be expected." The fact not a single string instrument or score of any kind accompanies the scene makes it all the more powerful and resonant.

Meanwhile on Moonbase, Colonel Alec Freeman continues to monitor the incoming UFOs. Moonbase reports to SHADO control via Lt. Ellis the UFOs are coming in hot. Carlin and Sky 1 launch to intercept the inbound UFO. Speaking of Sky 1, the set of UFO even had a full-on mock-up of the Sky 1 cockpit to give the impression of genuine flight as stage hands literally, physically rocked the set piece with Gordeno in it. It's worth noting, I've been a bit harsh on Mike Trim's work on the Interceptors early in my coverage, but, as I've said before, I've always loved those SHADO mobiles and the Skydiver is winning me over now too.

At the hospital a doctor informs Straker and Mary Rutland of the boy's status pointing out he is allergic to certain anti-biotics. There is a known alternative in the United States, but will need to be rushed to London. Straker, a connected man with some degree of influence, indicates he will take care of it. No one is sure how, only that Straker has the ability to do it and after all, as he puts it, "he's still my son." Much is hanging in the balance. Staker's communication device beeps informing him he must go and underlining to Mary that he "always had to leave." It's pretty clear there's some tension between them and that Mary has always questioned his priorities. Straker contacts Miss Ealand, an underrated and undeniably smoking hot secretary who could give 007's Miss Moneypenny a run for her money, to have the SHADO New York office transport the drug for his son.

A UFO crashes off the coast of Western Ireland but why? Straker arrives at SHADO control and is updated by Miss Ealand. Using the code word "Straker" and voiceprint recognition his office recedes underground. Freeman updates Straker regarding the crashed UFO but doesn't expect there will be much left of it. Straker is curt in his responses and noticeably distracted literally with the weight of the world on his mind. It's understandable, but Freeman is unaware despite his intuition. Freeman probes Straker regarding his state of mind, but Straker indicates he's fine. Straker contacts New York and demands an immediate take off. Many of the actions in play underscore the man that is Ed Straker.

This is a rather affecting moment whereby Straker's normally tough exterior and outward armor is seemingly pierced when it comes to his family and the discovery of a fact that seems to highlight or accentuate the seeming imbalance in his life. The tricky balance of favoring his command over dedication to his son as a father is an interesting one to analyze, because it is delicate and Straker is tormented by his efforts throughout A Question of Priorities. Nothing comes easy in this one.

The fact his son bears the name of a different man is painful to Straker as a man and father. It's a positively brutal position and none of us would envy. No matter how powerful Straker is as a leader it is painfully obvious there is a sense of powerlessness concerning his situation. There is a sense of emptiness in his eyes. It's truly gut-wrenching stuff.

Elsewhere Carlin surveys the ocean crash site. Nearby, an old woman and her parrot are disturbed by a nighttime visitor. The woman goes to the door to find the presence of a humanoid. She apologizes that she cannot see the alien because she is blind. Can you imagine an old woman answering the door at night to strange sounds in today? Talk about optimistic science fiction. I guess. To compound the unbelievable she allows the stranger into her home. She pleads kindly that the stranger not touch her bird. What about her own welfare? I mean shoot. Seriously?! But, it was 1970 and hot off the heels of peace and love. Though the whole sequence today plays a bit weird with the blind woman showing surprising restraint in the face of potentially terrifying stranger. Her response is an indignant, "What's that noise? What are you doing? Why don't you go away? Why don't you leave my house?" Weird stuff indeed. She has let the man in her home while she sits in a rocking chair by the fire.

Straker determines the transport has lifted off with the required shipment. Freeman pays Straker another visit. With a sense of helplessness and perhaps failure on his mind Straker stews over his inability to set things right with his son and his ex-wife. This is magnified when Freeman tells him to go home. "What home?," asks Straker. Freeman and Straker begin making deductions as to why the crashed UFO passed by Moonbase but never decelerated when approaching Earth. Straker gets Freeman thinking when he suggests the second UFO that veered away may have taken a shot at the first UFO. Inspired, Straker heads off and indicates he's "going home." John Straker is the symbol of home within Straker. It's illustrative of a man that is much more than merely the icy commander of SHADO Control.

Straker contacts Mary and indicates everything will be fine for John, but it's clear Mary is indeed fragile and has little faith in her ex-husband. The fact she seemingly still cares for him makes it all the more painful for her to believe in him. This is another particularly good scene that illuminates the relationship between Ed and Mary.

Will Straker's assurance be just another false promise to his once beloved wife and son? Clearly Ed Straker is on a crash course with destiny. Will a man forever in control, making decisions and making choices that affect the planet be forced to choose? Will his priorities come down to one child, his own?

Freeman intercepts audio from the old woman with their SHADO control monitoring equipment as it scans for alien transmitters. Ireland is the location. The alien has set up a transmitter from the old woman's home. As SHADO zeroes in Straker cancels his planned departure to see his son clearly demonstrating where his priorities remain. Freeman asks where the nearest transporter is located. Yes, there's one headed for England over the Atlantic from New York.

Off the coast of Ireland, Carlin does a little scuba diving to determine the downed UFO was indeed fired upon by something. There is some real depth and scope to the interior of the Skydiver and its sense of space also seems to speak to the proper dimensions of the underwater craft quite effectively.

At the hospital, John's life hangs in the balance. Back at SHADO control it's relatively clear that the weight of the world and his son is on the mind of Straker. Freeman and Straker continue to deduct the whereabouts of the alien intruder and why it is he is transmitting. Straker discovers that Freeman has inadvertently diverted the transporter to Ireland. Straker is filled with a look of horror, but he says nothing, speaking to the priorities of a SHADO control commander. Straker sits in silence. Will he seal his son's fate by remaining silent? It's an interesting twist because the order to divert the transporter was given by Freeman and not Straker.

At the hospital Mary waits patiently for the drug's arrival. Meanwhile, Straker paces smoking cigars. Straker phones the hospital to speak with Mary, but Steven Rutland picks up. Straker is pained to inform him that there has been a "delay" on the drug. He delivers the news with a visible degree of guilt in his decision/indecision. Straker wishes to speak with Mary and "explain." One gets the sense that Straker is out of explanations. "Important!? What can be more important than your own son's life!?"

Straker sits alone in near isolation as if personifying the lonely life of a SHADO commander.

The transporter unloads Mobile units in Ireland and Straker demands the transporter be back in the air in minutes. "These things are always a question of priorities," he tells Freeman who asks Straker if something important was happening, still ignorant to the fate of Straker's son. It speaks to the strict, confidential nature of Straker's life. Straker will not allow his personal matters to influence the perception of his leadership. Straker will not seek solace or empathy.

At John's bedside Mary cries. At the cottage, Mobile 1 has moved into position awaiting orders. Straker believes the alien may be a defector. Back at Moonbase the second UFO is spotted and Interceptors are launched. The Interceptors are unsuccessful in their mission. Their front-loaded single missiles can't quite cut the mustard. The UFO is en route to Earth. Sky 1 is launched to intercept.

The alien packs up his transmitter equipment and exits the blind woman's home. In an open field, the alien is shot and apparently killed by the incoming UFO, which in turn is shot and destroyed by Sky 1. It seems the intentions of the alien humanoid remain unclear.

When the final crushing minutes arrive Straker returns to the hospital to an emotionally distraught Mary who is simply and understandably inconsolable. Straker is too late. His decision to put a global initiative first failed his son. Further, the question of priorities also failed to excavate any real, legitimate, new information from the alien who is also killed. The decision not only cost his agency an intelligence failure but the loss of his son's life is an even greater cost. This decision by Straker reveals much about the man that is the tough-as-nails leader of SHADO. He is clearly a man not without emotion nor without love for his son, but his committment to an interplanetary war has indeed cost him his family, life as he once knew it and now the one thing he truly loved, his son. The question of Straker's priority is indeed painfully answered. The final moments of A Question Of Priorities is all the more shocking in that it is a dramatic, severe, very unhappy ending to a series that had children turned into TV in 1970. The bright flourescent color of the future was indeed deceiving to fans of this fairly substantive science fiction series. A Question Of Priorities is one of its character-centric and shining moments. Pulling off that ending could not have been an easy sell, because it's a real stunner. If John had survived, it would have indeed undercut the substance of the episode and the consequences associated with such difficult priorities for Straker. It's safe to say Lane and Barwick made the right call. Placing the character in that light was a courageous decision and one that is unbearable to imagine.

The loss of a child has certainly been dealt with time in memoriam in television, but rarely so tragically or with such courage as it is handled here in UFO. Honestly, people can say what they want about Gerry Anderson and his UFO as inconsequential or insubstantial, but A Question Of Priorities deals with a very delicate issue more candidly and more honestly than most with an extraordinary, but believable, set of circumstances within the context of the series.

Most moments of loss on this scale are handled with an almost cursory, inauthentic approach lacking the bravery needed to take the character and viewer into more deeply emotional and even scarring territory. Some of the most recent examples that underscore the power of our relationships with a child can be seen in Stargate SG-1, Season One, Episode 7, Cold Lazarus and understanding Colonel Jack O'Neill's sense of loss and internalized grief. Stargate SG-1, Season One, Episode 15, Singularity offers another impressive child-centric tale. If others come to mind please share them here and enlighten us.

Minor quibbles regarding the alien make-up or motivations aside, A Question Of Priorities is powerfully dramatic and eventful. The aliens are clearly intelligent despite their inability to communicate. A Question Of Priorities may not be perfect, but it does delve into the Straker character in ways yet explored on UFO and takes major risks for a program in 1970. There's a great depth on display in the deceivingly bright 1970s world of Anderson science fiction. Director David Lane returns for a smashingly solid third outing following his work on Episode 2, Computer Affair and Episode 5, Exposed. Lane not only takes us up close into Straker's world via a splendid script by Tony Barwick, but does so through a series of fine close-ups particularly through Neve and Bishop. He demonstrates a great many emotions through his camera work and A Question Of Priorities largely succeeds on this basis coupled with one of Barwick's unforgettably best UFO renderings and that's a fact without question.

A Question Of Priorities: A-. Writer: Tony Barwick. Director: David Lane.

Additional commentary: Inspired by a reading of the Gerry Anderson biography, What Made Thunderbirds Go! The Authorized Biography Of Gerry Anderson by Simon Archer and Marcus Hearn [p.197-198] and the Fanderson UFO Documentary on DVD, A Question Of Priorities demanded further investigation. The episode is a riveting piece of dramatic entertainment and offers up the epitome of the catch-22 or double bind. Ed Straker is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. Two scenarios unfold before his very eyes and the question of his priorities reveals that the commander of SHADO and the father of one will be a villain one way or another. A catch-22 or double bind is an emotionally distressing dilemma whereby a variable [an individual] is faced with two or more conflicting options whereby one option negates the other. In essence, the successful response to one option results in a failed response to the other. The person will fail, err, be unsuccessful or the villain regardless of the response. The double bind forces near paralysis. Save the planet or save your son in this case.

Rarely does television present such a bold scenario and in 1970 it was considered a major break from format as revealed by Gerry Anderson. It was indeed a strikingly bold maneuver.

A Question Of Priorities was indeed generously risky television so much so Anderson revealed he would be restrained from making such a character-centric plea again like this one in the future despite initially being asked to infuse the series with greater character components. Anderson drew upon his own vast experience as a television writer/ creator/ producer and the split loyalties between the demands of television and the demands of family to influence the work of his good friend scriptwriter Tony Barwick and director David Lane who handled the responsibility seat here "with considerable poignancy." Anderson was no stranger to the double bind scenario. If A Question Of Priorities seems emotionally genuine it's because Anderson drew from his own charged life and the episode is infused with that reality making it a story that people, however sensitive the material, could easily identify with.

Working long hours Anderson reflected on striking the difficult balance. "It wasn't a case of me never seeing my child, but like any businessman, you never see as much of your children as you'd like to. Life is simply not perfect." Anderson was reminded of remarks by one Lord Thomson where the man hoped one day his children would find it in their hearts to forgive him for being so busy. Anderson could relate to that sentiment.

So it comes as no surprise that this Straker-centric entry would not only be one of Gerry Anderson's favorites, but also Ed Bishop's personal favorite of the series.

Again, sadly, Abe Mandell and ITC were down on the possibility of episodes that were this emotionally real with regard to character and Anderson was advised against such material in the future.

"A Question Of Priorities proved unpopular with Abe Mandell, who accused Gerry of trying to move away from science fiction into the field of soap opera. Gerry had no choice but to comply with the New York office, and no further scripts of this type were commissioned." That's a shame too, because like some of the best character-based stories of Battlestar Galactica new and classic or Stargate SG-1, this particular moment in science fiction places UFO high atop the character-based story stratosphere where the genre marries to human drama to brilliant effect. At least for one shining moment UFO had created one of the unquestionable best.