Genesis II – DVD Review

“My name is Dylan Hunt. My story begins on the day on which I died.”

“My name is Dylan Hunt. My story begins the day on which I died.” Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, brings fans another enthralling tale of the future. Set in a time between now and the era of the starship Enterprise, Genesis II follows Hunt (Alex Cord), who awakes after 154 years of suspended animation into a post-apocalyptic world that’s torn between the peace-loving citizens of Pax and the militaristic, mutant Tyranians. Both want Hunt to join their cause. But the Tyranians have two cruel weapons to persuade Hunt: a device of torture called a stim. And an alluring mutant (Mariette Hartley) with two navels…and one ice-cold heart.Gene Roddenberry achieved three season of Star Trek, but wouldn’t fare so well with some of his other sci-fi show tries. Genesis II is the pilot for a proposed series that never got off the ground and went into hibernation after he tried it a second time. In 1979, NASA scientist Dylan Hunt (Alex Cord) is developing a suspended animation system that will ensure that astronauts survive long space flights. The project is being done in NASA’s underground facility in Carlsbad Caverns and is to the point that they’re ready to start testing it on human subjects. Since Hunt developed it he feels that he should be the first one to try it out. He enters into the pressurized chamber, goes to sleep, and the test appears to be on track. Unfortunately a geographic fault is over the pressurized room and an earthquake results in the room being buried. Lucky for Dylan, he sleeps right through it because the timer to awaken him in damaged in the earthquake. He is found by some humans in the year 2133 and is revived. The world has gone through “The Great Conflict” aka World War III and the people that found him are part of PAX, Latin for peace, and led by Primus (Percy Rodrigues). The person charged with the recovery of Dylan is Lyra-a (Mariette Hartley). She’s not part of PAX, but is a mutant called a Tyranian. She tells Dylan that PAX is not as peaceful as they appear and that she wants him to return to Tyrania to repair their failing nuclear generator. Genesis II sprang from the fertile mind of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. The only thing shot was this 1973 pilot and the proposed television series never materialized. It would seem that for a long time that Roddenberry only had been blessed with Star Trek as he shot many one off pilots in hopes of a new series. My favorite would be Spectre (1977) with Robert Culp and Gig Young. Roddenberry would even try and revive Dylan Hunt again with 1973’s Planet Earth starring John Saxon as Hunt. The Questor Tapes (1974) and Strange New World (1975) would also fail to blossom into series. It would only be after Roddenberry’s 1991 death that series would appear, Earth: Final Conflict (1999-2002) and Andromeda (2000-2005) with Kevin Sorbo as Dylan Hunt. Genesis II has some interesting things going for it in the realm of ideas but the production is pure 70s cheese. It’s like it’s been pressurized and preserved and released by someone stumbling upon it in Warner’s Archive program [insert rimshot here]. I got a big laugh out of some of the costumes that the Tyranians wear. Alex Cord would be better know for his role on Airwolf, but feels a tad miscast here as the “intense” Hunt. One neat thing is an underground network of Subshuttle trains that run on magnetic rails. The effect is a bit old school, but the one set they built looks very expensive. If the show went to series I’d imagine they’d reuse that over and over again. If you’re a Mariette Hartley fan you’ll get to see her bare midriff here, but you’ll notice that she has two navels as the mutated Tyranian (obviously makeup as the colors don’t blend well, not that I’d imagine they would take Mariette into surgery for the show). Genesis II has some interesting concepts, but the pilot failed to catch fire. I’d be interested to see how the “primitive” Cord would function in the pacifist PAX society, but we’ll have to use our imagination on that count. Genesis II is presented in fullscreen. There are no special features are it’s a burnt disc from Warner’s Archive program. Planet Earth is also available and you can even buy both films in a set and save a little money. Gene Roddenberry was full of ideas, though only Trek seemed to make it to fruition. It was not for lack of trying though. Genesis II is now available at The Warner Archive Collection.