World Famous Comics: Alien Nation - The Complete Series
Alien Nation - The Complete Series
Starring: Gary Graham, Eric Pierpoint, Michele Scarabelli, Lauren Woodland, Sean Six Directed By: Kenneth Johnson, Harry Longstreet Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Audience Rating: Unrated Binding: DVD Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC Label: 20th Century Fox Number of Items: 6 Region Code: 1 Release Date: January 03, 2006 Running Time: 989 minutes Theatrical Release Date: September 18, 1989
Description: As Newcomers -- fugitive slaves from the planet Tencton -- Detective George Francisco and his family face prejudice and intolerance as they struggle to assimilate to life on their adopted planet. Together with his human partner, hard-edged Detective Matt Sikes, George walks the beat in Slagtown, Los Angeles, a Newcomer slum teeming with vice and corruption. More than just another cop show or science fiction show, Alien Nation utilizes a unique and exciting blend of action, suspense, humor, and social drama to explore the sociology of what it means to be an outsider striving to fit in.
Spectacular series I truly loved this no nonsense series. Slavery, racism and other issues come to light as "humans" of all ethnicities come face to face with another race from another planet, no where else to go, former slaves who are trying to find themselves and make a life amidst fear, stupidity and hatred. The opening tv movie was amazingly powerful, the series was riveting. But, sadly, as with all Fox's hits, was cancelled at the height of it's popularity. It's too bad Fox doesn't know how to handle great shows.
Great show and even better price! This is a great show. A must get for anyone who calls themselves a sci-fi fan!
Rather watch these reruns I've been enjoying these instead of the reruns of reruns of movies on many stations on Sunday afternoons. If you aren't a sports fan, Sunday afternoon TV is boring.
Warning to serious science fiction fans! I have bought a number of DVDs and DVD sets from here at amazon, and before I did, I read customer reviews. Complete series of Star Trek, Smallville, Battlestar Galactica (the new series), and Supernatural. Reviews for all of those encouraged me to buy them, and I am pleased that they did. I also read reviews for some series that I have rented from Blockbuster Online: Surface, Invasion, and Threshold. I rented and watched all the episodes for those three series. I was pleased with them too, and I am thankful for the reviews.
The Alien Nation series was different, however.
I have seen the original movie, starring James Caan. It has its weaknesses, perhaps mainly because it's an old movie lacking the production qualities of a good contemporary science fiction movie. But it has some strong points, and as a discerning fan of good science fiction I find it tolerable enough for a full viewing.
With the recent DVD release of Alien Nation - Ultimate Movie Collection, I read reviews for the TV series and the TV movies. Amazon bundled the the series and the movie collection together; so I bought them all. That was a mistake.
I watched about half of the series' pilot episode before giving up on it. I just could not stomach the lack of respect that was shown for what should be treated as a serious subject matter. Instead of feeling like a dedicated science fiction production, it felt like a blend of science fiction and sit-com.
For example in the police station there's a sequence with the alien ("Newcomer") janitor. While replacing fire extinguishers, he accidentally activates one, giving himself a blast of carbon dioxide, which has a potent effect on the aliens. It knocks him out flat on the floor, and people walk around him as if he didn't even exist. It was nothing less than slapstick comedy. It was out place.
But that's just one obvious example. The underlying spirit of the entire show seems to be of unconvincing levity. It is the direct opposite of the devotion shown in the production of the contemporary Battlestar Galactica series. The people making THAT series are serious. They make me believe, or at least want to believe. But I believe the Alien Nation TV series and the Alien Nation TV movies are not worth the attention of a serious science fiction fan.
Great! I loved the original movie, but this series can stand on it's own very well. Though it takes place in ( our ) past - it's still a fun show to watch. If you have seen it aired on TV it's still as good as it was then and if you are new to it - watch it with an open mind and I bet you will love it!!! The follow up TV Movies are worth watching too, yes I am a fan - but I consider myself to be rather picky. ENJOY!!!
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tailipoe
Trevor
