Often confused with Gene Roddenberry’s unsold 1973 TV pilot movie Genesis II, which co-starred actress Mariette Hartley, Earth II was a 1971 unsold TV pilot movie, also co-starring actress Mariette Hartley. Other than Ms. Hartley, though, the two shows had nothing in common.
The rest of Earth II’s cast is quite impressive, too. Gary Lockwood, Tony Franciosa, Gary Merrill, Hari Rhodes, James Hong, Inga Swenson, Scott Hylands, and Lew Ayres are the other most recognizable faces involved.
Lockwood, remembered for his roles in the final Star Trek pilot and 2001: A Space Odyssey, is back in space, here one of three Apollo astronauts who set up and run the first ever space station, the titular Earth II, as an independent, unarmed, orbiting Earth colony. Don’t ask me why the writers chose to name Lockwood’s character “David Seville,” especially since Alvin and the Chipmunks cartoons were probably still in syndication at that time.
The overall look of the film clearly tries to emulate, on a TV budget, the majestic spacecraft and special effects of Kubrick’s 1968 classic 2001. In retrospect, one can’t help but think as well of the coincidental similarities to the much later Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Plotwise, after the semi-realistic opening, we jarringly jump ahead several years and see the gigantic space station fully populated and thriving, with hundreds of people. Franciosa’s scientist, one of the designers of the entire concept, arrives with his wife and young son, just in time for political turmoil to erupt between the peaceful station and the usual problematic nations on Earth—The Soviet Union and The People’s Republic of China. Franciosa, here fresh from being fired from The Name of the Game, is his usual cool, charming self, although playing it a bit more serious this time out. He strongly feels the station should be armed and butts heads with Lockwood’s determined desire to keep wars out of space. They hold a formal meeting to discuss the situation.
All of this is well-written and well-acted in a mostly sterile, squeaky-clean environment, but philosophy, as a rule, doesn’t make for great episodic television. With a pilot, one has to take into account where a resulting series could go, and what other types of plots would fit its premise.
The building tension of the plot comes from having to deal with a Chinese nuclear device but, as directed by veteran TV director Tom Gries, it’s all pretty slow going. That said, slow is something the public would have been used to at the time from the often lengthy, slow-moving network coverage of the still-ongoing Apollo moon flights in real life. The legendary Buckminster Fuller is listed as a consultant.
All the performances are on the mark, although Lockwood comes across a bit bland. Merrill is, as always, authoritative, and Hartley, in an early performance here, creates a very nuanced character. Ayres, the Doctor Kildare of the 1930s, is just a cameo.
Music is by my personal favorite movie and TV composer, Lalo Schifrin, (Mission: Impossible, Enter the Dragon) and comes across as much more experimental than his usual memorable offerings…but not in a good way.
Watching Earth II today, it’s interesting to see which future predictions came true, and which ones missed the mark. My favorite is when the big meeting is being seen live throughout the space station on monitors, and we see on-screen real-time fact-checking.
If you’re an old fogey like this reviewer, you’ll enjoy seeing all the familiar actors but the picture’s low-rent special effects can be laughable. All in all, I can only presume that Earth II’s outdated, gimmicky appeal, so clearly designed to reflect both then-recent movies and then-recent reality, as well as the then-prevalent hope for NASA’s future space plans, would be completely lost on modern viewers accustomed to Star Wars and space shuttles, especially in this 4K restored print, which makes the film look even more dated than previous releases.
I myself kind of dug it, but I can’t really recommend it to anyone under the age of 50.
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