Amazon.com: Farscape is genre television at its most ambitious, inspired both by the cult appeal of Babylon 5 and the continuing success of the Star Trek franchise, but taking a visual and conceptual leap beyond those shows. Making extensive use of CGI, prosthetics, and state-of-the-art puppetry, courtesy of Jim Henson's Creature Shop, the Farscape concept has a freshness that makes it look and feel completely original. Among the first season's 22 episodes, "Premiere" introduces the characters and the basic premise: American astronaut John Crichton (Ben Browder) is flung through a wormhole and comes out in the midst of an interstellar prison escape on the other side of the universe. When the galactic cops (called "Peacekeepers") mark him as the new public enemy number one, Crichton is forced to ally himself with the convicts: hulking warrior D'Argo (Anthony Simcoe), blue-skinned priest Zhaan (Virginia Hey), fugitive peacekeeper Aeryn (Claudia Black), exiled king Rygel (Jonathan Hardy), and Pilot, the giant insectlike nerve center of their living ship, Moya.
In the action-packed and stylishly directed "Throne for a Loss," a race of mercenary criminals called the Tavleks kidnap the imperious Rygel. "PK Tech Girl" and "That Old Black Magic" feature a peek into the pasts of Rygel and Zhaan as they hide from the fleets of Peacekeeper soldiers in the galactic frontier known as the Uncharted Territories. Leading toward the climax of the show's first season, "Nerve" and "The Hidden Memory" make for a bold two-parter that reunites Crichton with his Peacekeeper Tech girlfriend, Gilina, and introduces the dreaded Scorpius, who uses his Aurora Chair torture device to extract what he mistakenly believes is vital knowledge from Crichton. The final episode, "Family Ties," ends with a cliffhanger guaranteed to bring viewers back for more, as the duplicitous Rygel plans to turn traitor, which eventually leaves the fates of Crichton and D'Argo up for grabs and Moya's young offspring under the control of the conflicted villain Crais, among other developments.
great series but not cc this is a great series, with a lot of action, great effects and a very good story, the sound is outstanding, the image very good. but note this, the first season is NOT CC. Despite the seasons 2, 3 and 4 (WITH CC). anyway I recommend totally the series.
Best Show ever THis is the best sci fi tv show ever made. Its like watching a full length movie in each episode!!
Sci-Fi Channel Really Frelled Itself When They Canceled This What in the hazmanna were they thinkng? Was it to have more airtime for "Sci-Fi Originals," like Mansquito? As I write this, Farscape is syndicated everywhere--even in Israel--except in the States, probably because they're too cheap to pay residuals to the show's writers et. al. Sci-Fi is itself to blame for the "drop" in ratings when they monkeyed around with its scheduling. Everything about this show was top-notch, from the writing to the lighting, from the directing to the high-octave wheeze of Rygel's helium farts. And they killed the goose, for what? 'Cause it wasn't layin enough golden eggs. How myopic of them to mistake a drop (which was their fault) for a lull due to poor programing. Well, the auriferous pullet is dead, stuffed, baked and served. The only thing Sci-Fi serves up these days is recycled hazmanna.
Product good shipping needs work The product looks great I have watched all of t he videos and they came out great. The only problem I had was when it arrived a few of the cases had broke the clasp that holds the dvds in place. So in the process of moving they slid around in the case. The movies were handled with enough care that the scratches possed no harm in viewing the dvds. It is clear some harm was done to the cases, but there is no skipping so it's fine. The group I used also got it here in less time than they predicted.
Farscape's First Season 1998 ushered in a new type of sci-fi television show. This was a show that dared to explore character development and story arcs that would last for more than a few shows. It was also a time when the Jim Hensen Creature Shop came into its own on television instead of just in feature films. However for all of its innovation the series had some hit and miss episodes and several bumps in the road on the way to what it would become in future seasons.
Farscape is the story of John Crichton (Ben Browder) who has been sucked through a wormhole and into a different part of the galaxy where a war is raging between a group of fugitives who have stolen a living spaceship and the galactic Peacekeepers who are supposed to represent order. Through 22 episodes Crichton and his fellow travelers encounter new problems and races of aliens that must be dealt with.
If you are a fan you are familiar with the premise of the show so this review will focus on the box set released by ADV Films. The set released in a number of editions has been long out of print. This has created a seller's market that is finally stabilizing. I bought my set for over 300 dollars but now the price is around 150.00. The episodes are presented two per disc with both Dolby 2.0 and Dolby 5.1 sound. While the surrounds are impressive sometimes the soundfield overwhelms the dialogue making individual episodes hard to understand. The picture quality is superb and makeup and black levels come across almost perfectly.
The extras are a series of video profiles of individual characters and crew and are well worth watching. The commentaries on eight individual episodes are also well worth a listen. Because of its cost this is a box set designed more for fans than for casual watchers of the series but it is well worth seeking out.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Trevor
