Space: Above and Beyond on DVD by maxgremlin

OTHER SCIENCE FICTION SERIES

Space: Above and Beyond on DVD

POSTED BY: MAXGREMLIN
UPDATED: Monday, June 12, 2006 17:30
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VIEWED: 4441
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Tuesday, November 15, 2005 7:21 AM

On another post someone poised the question what was there favorite 1 season tv show other than firefly. I was suprised that alot people listed Space: Above and Beyond as one of their favorites. I'm glad to see that so many others remember that show. For me, I think its one of the best sci-fi tv shows ever made.

Finally the show is out on DVD now available at Amazon.com. Sadly it is just the episodes and no extras. But it was a great show and if you never had a chance to catch it I strongly suggest you give it a try.

For those of you unfamliar with the show, it takes place in future and mankind is just begining to colonize outside of our solar system. Then out of nowhere an unknown alien force destroys 2 defenseless earth colonies without reason. Suddenly the earth is plunged into a war with an enemy they know pratically nothing about.

The show follows the exploits of the 58th Squadron "The Wildcards", an air/space Marine Corp unit formed just prior to the war. Over the course of the show this unit goes from a bunch of raw recruits to attaining near legendary status in the war with the aliens.

what was unigue at the time about the show was unlike shows like Star Trek and Babylon 5, SAAB told its stories from the point of view of the average solider. And there was a strong adherence and respect for military tradition and values, suggesting that such things remain constant not matter how far in the future you set the story.

Like Firefly, it had a great ensemble cast playing a wide range of different characters. The stories were smart & thought provoking and the special effects were great.

And like Firefly, SAAB was royally screwed by the Fox newtwork who frequently bounced the show around the schedule, having it prempted by football games and hardly promoted it at all. They essentially set the show up to fail while spending a million bucks an episode. Can anyone explain the logic of that?

Anyway its out of on DVD now and although the first 3 episodes are a little rough, when the show hit its stride it was terrific!!! (In my opinion of cource)Its definetly worth checking out.

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Tuesday, November 15, 2005 7:36 AM

STATIC

I agree wholeheartedly!!!!

http://burstsofstatic.blogspot.com

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Tuesday, November 15, 2005 8:21 AM

JRC

Quote:
Originally posted by maxgremlin:

Yea, what he said!!

Everyone dies alone.

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Tuesday, November 15, 2005 12:23 PM

DARKJESTER

I also agree. The characters were diverse, the storyline and arc were compelling, and the science made sense, for the most part. (The episode about the black hole, though.... not too sure about that one)

MAL "You only gotta scare him."
JAYNE "Pain is scary..."

http://www.fireflytalk.com - Big Damn Podcast

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Tuesday, November 15, 2005 12:51 PM

GUNRUNNER

Hoo-Yah! My S:AAB DVDs sit right next to my Firefly DVDs.

It so deserved a season two!

EV Nova Firefly mod Message Board:
http://s4.invisionfree.com/GunRunner/index.php?act=idx

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Tuesday, November 15, 2005 2:09 PM

EISVIXEN

I loved this show and knew early on from SAB that Firefly would be canceled by #@!ing

Fox. They hate big budget shows and are not to be trusted. SAB was the show that got me to watch the X-Fles. I'd not cared for it before then.

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Tuesday, November 15, 2005 3:00 PM

MAXGREMLIN

That does bring up an interesting question. Why is it that Fox greenlights these shows if there going to give them a chance? Does it occur to anyone over at Fox that a high concept show takes some time to cultivate an audience? Either a show is a nova explosion of ratings or its just not worth their time. Makes me wonder why producers of genre shows even bother to pitch anything to Fox at all.SAAB, Firefly, Brisco County, John Doe, Brimstone. The list goes on.....

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Sunday, December 25, 2005 3:39 AM

CLJOHNSTON108

Along with the dueSOUTH episode, "Gift of the Wheelman", S:AAB had the best Christmas episode ever, "The River of Stars"!

Since this is the first year these two shows have been available on DVD*, I'm making it my new Christmas tradition to show them both to as many friends as I can.

*(dueSOUTH's been available on DVD in Canada for years but, thanks to Paul Haggis' success with Million Dollar Baby & Crash this year, it's just now available in the States)

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Sunday, December 25, 2005 4:54 AM

CITIZEN

S:AAB ruled! I watched it on it's first run in the UK and downloaded as many episodes as I could get thereafter.

So as soon as There's a UK release (I'm looking to see if there is one right now) I'm there.

Also Due South, that show was great, I'll be looking for that too!

More insane ramblings by the people who brought you beeeer milkshakes!
Remember, the ice caps aren't melting, the water is being liberated.

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Monday, January 16, 2006 9:54 AM

GISKARD

Before watching Firefly for the first time (2 weeks back), and knowing that the show had suffered a similar fate as Space Above and Beyond, I didnt wanna watch it.

Space A&B was to me what Firefly is to many of you who watched Firefly when it was being aired (I only ever heard about it last month after watching Serenity).

One of the best sci-fi series that didn't... last. Although, I think that Firefly as a whole is better still.

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Monday, January 16, 2006 11:38 AM

CITIZEN

Giskard:
Yeah, I caught a FireFly episode in early 2003, I don't know if it was the first run over here or not, what I do know is that I didn't watch anymore FireFly episodes for sometime because I found this site immediatly and found out it had been cancelled.

I stopped watching for very much the same reasons as you.

More insane ramblings by the people who brought you beeeer milkshakes!
The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four persons is suffering from some sort of mental illness. Think of your three best friends -- if they're okay, then it's you.

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Tuesday, January 17, 2006 8:36 PM

BROWNCOATER

SAAB was an awesome show. Another one hung out to dry by Fox.

I don't think of myself as a lion....
Does that seem right to you?

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Thursday, January 19, 2006 5:06 PM

GISKARD

I just looked up some fan sites for Space Above and Beyond. Appears it too had a rather large following (granted not at the peak of the internet activity). And despite letters written to the FOX people and other TV stations with regards to S:AAB, it never happened.

I for one hope that Firefly gets another shot.

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Monday, May 22, 2006 6:23 PM

BIGDAMNNOBODY

I would highly recommend this show to fellow Browncoats. Pick it up and check it out if you can. I remember catching a few episodes back in it's run and thinking it was pretty good. It stands up really well considering it aired 10 years ago. The effects are even pretty good which compliment the strong writing and performances. Several good guest stars through the first disk alone (don't forget to flip them). Early favorite has to be "Ray Butts".

De-lurking to eat pancakes

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Monday, June 5, 2006 7:09 AM

CHRISISALL

Quote:
Originally posted by citizen:
S:AAB ruled!

Ruled as like, better than the new Galactica?
BTW, did you get a DVD set of it over there yet?

Inquiring mind Chrisisall

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Monday, June 5, 2006 7:31 AM

CITIZEN

Yes, and no.

I mean Gallactica is good, like the best sci-fi currently on TV good, but it's no S:AAB.

Now if S:AAB could be made with the money and technology of Galactica...

More insane ramblings by the people who brought you beeeer milkshakes!
"I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalog: 'No good in a bed, but fine against a wall'." -- Eleanor Roosevelt.

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Monday, June 5, 2006 7:42 AM

NVGHOSTRIDER

Thanks to MAXGREMLIN. S:AAB is on my list every time. Even in the featured music threads (Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash along with a few modern bands at that time were writen into the shows soundtrack). BROWNCOATS abroad should definately see this show.

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Friday, June 9, 2006 2:34 AM

JAYNEZTOWN

Quote:
Originally posted by Browncoater:
SAAB was an awesome show. Another one hung out to dry by Fox.

A great tv show - unjustly cancelled by faux

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Monday, June 12, 2006 5:30 PM

CAB1729

Fox's thought process:

They get a show, no great ratings but they don't have anything else in the pipeline, so they leave it on for a couple of years.

Lo! and Behold! it develops a following! Pretty soon it's winning its time slot!! Next thing you know it's the highest rated show on Fridays!!!

Fox gets all excited, thinks they have to get these people to do another series for them. Some of the people go "Heck yeah" and write a kick-ass high-budget series. Fox puts it on the air, expecting immediate high ratings. The ratings don't come immediately because it's well written with character-driven arcs that need time to develop.

Fox goes "WTF? Where's the frackin' ratings?" and cancels the show, leaving millions of fans in the dark.

The saga of SAaB.

___________________________________________
Hobbes: How come we play war and not peace?
Calvin: Too few role models.

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