Genesis II / Planet Earth Blu-ray

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

directed by John Llewellyn Moxey / Marc Daniels
USA 1973 / 1974

“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.

***

When a 20th century NASA scientist revives from suspended animation in the 22nd century, he finds a post-apocalyptic world that has fragmented into different, feuding societies on Planet Earth. Living in Pax, a society dedicated to the preservation of the best of old earth, scientist Dylan Hunt must use Pax's supersonic, worldwide subway system to recover a missing surgeon, traveling to a land ruled by women (Diana Muldaur) who drug their men and keep them as docile slaves to work and stud.

Posters etc.

Television Broadcast: March 23rd, 1973 - April 23rd, 1974

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Comparison:

Warner Archive - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Warner Archive - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Box Cover
		Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Warner Archive - Region 0 - NTSC	Warner Archive - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:13:48	Genesis II: 1:13:54.471 Planet Earth: 1:13:49.466
Video	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.92 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.33:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 43,142,883,872 bytes Genesis II: 21,511,729,152 bytes Planet Earth: 21,559,965,696 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate DVD:
Bitrate Genesis II Blu-ray:
Bitrate Planet Earth Blu-ray:
Audio	English (Dolby Digital mono)	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1859 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1859 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitles	None	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Warner Home Video Aspect Ratio: Original - 1.33:1 Edition Details: • trailer (2:02) DVD Release Date: November 11th, 2009 Keep Case Chapters 8	Release Information: Studio: Warner Archive 1.33:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 43,142,883,872 bytes Genesis II: 21,511,729,152 bytes Planet Earth: 21,559,965,696 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • None Blu-ray Release Date: September 29th, 2020 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 7 / 8

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Warner Archive Blu-ray (September 2020): Warner Archive have transferred two Gene Roddenberry produced science-fiction TV movies from the 70's; Genesis II and Planet Earth to Blu-ray. They were written as a connected series although airing almost a year apart with the Dylan Hunt lead charcater changing from Alex Cord to John Saxon.

We only have the DVD of Genesis II to compare but the differences are quite striking. The 1080P transfer is superior in every visual area - far brighter, more detailed, richer, deeper colors, more information in the frame... it's a huge upgrade in video quality with the Blu-ray having 5X the bitrate of the SD. Minor speckles are gone. Planet Earth in HD looks similar - there is grain texture support and the weakest part of the image are the dated art production and costume budget limitations. Overall though, the image quality is surprisingly impressive!

NOTE: We have added 8 more Genesis II and 24 Planet Earth large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Warner Archive use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel track (24-bit) in the original English language for both films. It is another advancement in the film's audio and score by Harry Sukman (A Bullet For Joey, Forty Guns, Verboten!, The Crimson Kimono, Underworld U.S.A., Someone's Watching Me!) who composes for both Roddenberry efforts here - sounding a bit deeper with more consistent dialogue than lossy supports. Effects are minimal but anything aggressive comes through with more, if relatively minor, depth. Warner Archive offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Warner Archive Blu-ray has only the two films - no extras at all.

I think both Genesis II and Planet Earth have come full circle. They had some appeal in early 70's during the prevalent sci-fi revival that reached its zenith with Star Wars a few years later. I don't even recall this made-for-TV flic being rehashed for broadcast in the decades since its première. But now we enter the realm of nostalgia and 'camp' value. And this definitely has some for a sect of the science-fiction community. What we have is mid 70's cheesy TOS-style sets and costumes - for many this may be a cool trip down memory lane to see what we used to get in the sci-fi milieu. The plot concept is engaging for fans of the genre - but it is not carried well to completion. Saying that, I am a fan of John Llewellyn Moxey (The City of the Dead.) They were probably made as pilots for a series. I think the benefits exist more in the Roddenberry-nostalgia factor than anything else - which may be enough for some fans... like me. These have a 'cool enough' factor to revisit - for fans of Gene, hunky John Saxon, beauties Mariette Hartley and Diana Muldaur and the Warner Archive Blu-ray a/v upgrade is highly remarkable. Supplements - even a commentary would have been appreciated, but we still endorse to the right crowd.