|
Hot Picks
| |
|
UFO - Reflections in the Water
episode 24
UK 1971
produced by
Reg Hill, Gerry Anderson (executive) for Century 21 Television, ITC
directed by David Tomblin
starring Ed Bishop, Michael Billington, James Cosmo, David Warbeck, Anouska Hempel, Barry Stokes, Wanda Ventham, Vladek Sheybal, Richard Caldicot, David Griffith, Keith Bell, Gordon Sterne, Conrad Phillips, Fredric Abbott, Gerald Cross, Dolores Mantez, Ayshea Brough, Steven Berkoff
screenplay by David Tomblin, created by Gerry Anderson, Sylvia Anderson, Reg Hill, visual effects by Derek Meddings, costumes by Sylvia Anderson/Century 21
TV-series
UFO
review by
Mike Haberfelner
|
|
|
 |
Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
|
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
|
|
|
 |
|
A freighter in the South Atlantic is sunk by a UFO, the seawater near
the Cornwall coast is uncharacteristically warm, and 25 UFOs are in a
waiting position near earth as if waiting to fly on ... but the aliens
must be very much aware that they have no chance of breaking through
earth's (or rather the UFO defense organisation SHADO's) defenses. So
what on earth is going on? Exactly, what on earth, more specifically
under water - that's where SHADO's commander Straker (Ed Bishop) starts
his investigations, and it isn't long before his team finds an underwater
dome of alien origin. Straker and his right-hand man Foster (Michael
Billington) dive down to the dome, and find ... clones of themselves and
their crew populating the dome, and a perfect copy of SHADO-hq at the
center of it. Turns out the clones in the dome (of course of UFO origin)
are planning to take over SHADO operations and to order all of SHADO's
defenses down before the 25 UFOs attack in a concerted effort. Once
Straker and Foster have found that out, they have the dome blown up, then
they let the UFOs attack, just to put up defenses just in time for all of
them to be bombed out of the skies ... An episode made special
by its wonderful miniature effects, plus its psychedelic dome interiors -
but led down to a degree by the story as a whole: On one hand, it's never
properly explained why the aliens have gone through all the trouble of
cloning all SHADO personell and recreate SHADO-hq when they just want to
send out a few phony messages, on the other this set-up is never fully
exploited and in the end just blown up (literally) rather prematurely, and
on the third hand, the first finale (Straker and Foster escaping the dome)
is played out a bit too much to-the-numbers to really create suspense,
while the second finale (the UFOs being blasted out of the skies) just
lacks tension and is little more than an effects-fest. Still, an
entertaining episode, maybe nowhere near as good as it could have been,
but fun nevertheless.
|
amazon.co.uk
eThaiCD.com
find UFO - Reflections in the Water at adultvideouniverse.com
