Contrary to other opinions, I absolutely love this mini-series. I own the Kino and also the Australian import for the extras.
Yes, the effects are dated, and were dated as soon as it was first aired, but the stories and ideas in this mini-series are incredibly thought-provoking, and it features some great performances by a large cast of characters.
Many don't realize this was based on a book assembled from a series of short stories that were never originally intended to be directly connected, but rather, loosely telling a series of unconnected short stories about the colonization of Mars in the future. After it being suggested to Bradbury that they would make a fascinating novel if the stories were connected together, he decided to tweak them, adding short connecting bits between stories, and released them in a book titled "The Martian Chronicles". The book was re-released a couple different times with several changes, included some of the short stories dropped in later editions while other related stories were added in. Dates were pushed forward for a later re-release to try to make the book seem less dated.
The TV series is based on the original book, featuring many but not all of the originally-included stories. The mini-series also merges a couple characters, especially Rock Hudson's character, as none of the original stories shared repeating characters. This allowed Hudson to be featured throughout the mini-series by having a recurring character in an otherwise fractured set of stories.
This approach did give the mini-series a fractured feel. It tries to tell one large story spread across several years involving several missions, as the book does. The martians seem to change form and even motivation and intentions several times in the series depending on which story is being told, making it rather confusing for first-time viewers unfamiliar with the background of the stories and book. Understanding this helps to make a bit better sense of it all, though it still plays a bit fractured even with this in mind. It plays as "chapters", each telling of a different attempt to land on Mars, and later what happens after we attempt to settle there. Each story has it's own characters, with some connecting between a couple stories, and Hudson's character recurring throughout.
The network was sadly hampered with a tiny budget and were unable to realize the sets and effects as they intended. I still feel the sets are very effective for what they are, and the stories are haunting and sometimes even frightening. Of course this was shot in the late 70's, so there's some "cheese" for sure, and not every actor is up to the task, though most are, especially Hudson who is fantastic. Many stories and characters leave a lasting impression. The music is haunting and beautiful. Some may find the main theme too cheesy or dated with it's disco rhythm, but I love it all.
As with many writers, Bradbury was not happy with the final product, especially underwhelmed by the effects and pacing, and called it "boring" in an interview printed just weeks before it was scheduled to air in late 1979. Out of panic the network pulled it before airing due to the bad publicity by Bradbury, and pushed it to air several months later in 1980 after the negative publicity died down. It was aired across 3 nights.
One haunting scene in particular was often cut after the initial airing, due to fear of upsetting some religious viewers. It's a product of it's time due to being a product of the end of the 1970's, yet the stories are timeless. I never forgot this series, having seen it during it's original airing, though I didn't understand it all of course back then at my age. But it always stuck with me even though as the years went on I forgot more and more about it. I was thrilled to finally have rediscovered it.
As far as the video quality on the Kino/Australian releases, it's solid and sounds great. Both releases I own are spread across two blu-ray discs for the 3 feature-length installments. This release will certainly use the same masters. Both releases also feature the original intros for parts 2 and 3 showing you scenes from the previous night, and the end segments for the first two parts showing you scenes from the next night's airing, just as they originally aired at the start and end of each segment. The aspect ratio is also as it should be (4:3). The Kino has no extras. The Australian set has a commentary on all 3 parts by a film historian, 3 interviews, and a feature-length doc on Ray Bradbury, as well as coming in a cool lenticular hard slipcase. This UK release also lists 2 discs but no extras have yet been announced.
After watching the Kino release last year, I decided to finally buy a copy of the original book and read the stories as they were originally written. That says a lot about this mini-series. It's certainly flawed in many aspects, but it's full of ideas and haunting imagery, and deserves a chance for those who dismissed it based on half-forgotten memories or hearing poor reviews over the years. Don't go into it expecting impressive effects work or snappy action scenes. It takes it's time, though action picks up a couple times. I forgive the effects because I understand it's not what they were trying to achieve and they were severely limited by what the network was allowing them to have for a budget. But if you're interested in actually seeing some thought-provoking stories and some good performances (and a couple minor iffy ones), it's worth a watch (or re-visit). It's one of my favorite TV mini-series of all time.
As an added bit of info, several individual short stories from the book were re-told as half-hour episodes for the late 80's-90's series "Ray Bradbury Theatre". In all cases, the original mini-sriies told the stories far better, with better sets and actors.
Contrary to other opinions, I absolutely love this mini-series. I own the Kino and also the Australian import for the extras.
Yes, the effects are dated, and were dated as soon as it was first aired, but the stories and ideas in this mini-series are incredibly thought-provoking, and it features some great performances by a large cast of characters.
Many don't realize this was based on a book assembled from a series of short stories that were never originally intended to be directly connected, but rather, loosely telling a series of unconnected short stories about the colonization of Mars in the future. After it being suggested to Bradbury that they would make a fascinating novel if the stories were connected together, he decided to tweak them, adding short connecting bits between stories, and released them in a book titled "The Martian Chronicles". The book was re-released a couple different times with several changes, included some of the short stories dropped in later editions while other related stories were added in. Dates were pushed forward for a later re-release to try to make the book seem less dated.
The TV series is based on the original book, featuring many but not all of the originally-included stories. The mini-series also merges a couple characters, especially Rock Hudson's character, as none of the original stories shared repeating characters. This allowed Hudson to be featured throughout the mini-series by having a recurring character in an otherwise fractured set of stories.
This approach did give the mini-series a fractured feel. It tries to tell one large story spread across several years involving several missions, as the book does. The martians seem to change form and even motivation and intentions several times in the series depending on which story is being told, making it rather confusing for first-time viewers unfamiliar with the background of the stories and book. Understanding this helps to make a bit better sense of it all, though it still plays a bit fractured even with this in mind. It plays as "chapters", each telling of a different attempt to land on Mars, and later what happens after we attempt to settle there. Each story has it's own characters, with some connecting between a couple stories, and Hudson's character recurring throughout.
The network was sadly hampered with a tiny budget and were unable to realize the sets and effects as they intended. I still feel the sets are very effective for what they are, and the stories are haunting and sometimes even frightening. Of course this was shot in the late 70's, so there's some "cheese" for sure, and not every actor is up to the task, though most are, especially Hudson who is fantastic. Many stories and characters leave a lasting impression. The music is haunting and beautiful. Some may find the main theme too cheesy or dated with it's disco rhythm, but I love it all.
As with many writers, Bradbury was not happy with the final product, especially underwhelmed by the effects and pacing, and called it "boring" in an interview printed just weeks before it was scheduled to air in late 1979. Out of panic the network pulled it before airing due to the bad publicity by Bradbury, and pushed it to air several months later in 1980 after the negative publicity died down. It was aired across 3 nights.
One haunting scene in particular was often cut after the initial airing, due to fear of upsetting some religious viewers. It's a product of it's time due to being a product of the end of the 1970's, yet the stories are timeless. I never forgot this series, having seen it during it's original airing, though I didn't understand it all of course back then at my age. But it always stuck with me even though as the years went on I forgot more and more about it. I was thrilled to finally have rediscovered it.
As far as the video quality on the Kino/Australian releases, it's solid and sounds great. Both releases I own are spread across two blu-ray discs for the 3 feature-length installments. This release will certainly use the same masters. Both releases also feature the original intros for parts 2 and 3 showing you scenes from the previous night, and the end segments for the first two parts showing you scenes from the next night's airing, just as they originally aired at the start and end of each segment. The aspect ratio is also as it should be (4:3). The Kino has no extras. The Australian set has a commentary on all 3 parts by a film historian, 3 interviews, and a feature-length doc on Ray Bradbury, as well as coming in a cool lenticular hard slipcase. This UK release also lists 2 discs but no extras have yet been announced.
After watching the Kino release last year, I decided to finally buy a copy of the original book and read the stories as they were originally written. That says a lot about this mini-series. It's certainly flawed in many aspects, but it's full of ideas and haunting imagery, and deserves a chance for those who dismissed it based on half-forgotten memories or hearing poor reviews over the years. Don't go into it expecting impressive effects work or snappy action scenes. It takes it's time, though action picks up a couple times. I forgive the effects because I understand it's not what they were trying to achieve and they were severely limited by what the network was allowing them to have for a budget. But if you're interested in actually seeing some thought-provoking stories and some good performances (and a couple minor iffy ones), it's worth a watch (or re-visit). It's one of my favorite TV mini-series of all time.
As an added bit of info, several individual short stories from the book were re-told as half-hour episodes for the late 80's-90's series "Ray Bradbury Theatre". In all cases, the original mini-series told the stories far better, with better sets and actors.
Thanks that info is great, I loved it when it was out, hope its uncut this time
Same interviews as the Australian Imprint release, but that release also included a commentary by Gary Gerani. I didn't love the commentary honestly.
Kino is re-releasing this as a special edition in November 2024 with 3 brand new commentaries and a new interview with the actor that played Mr. K in the first segment.
Kino is re-releasing this as a special edition in November 2024 with 3 brand new commentaries and a new interview with the actor that played Mr. K in the first segment.
I've seen this twice and liked it both times, but I'm looking at it from a writing standpoint - Richard Matheson had a formidable task ahead of him, taking a collection of short stories and trying to thread them together (each part of the miniseries has a different theme) with a recurring role for the Rock Hudson character to help keep it consistent. And the final line I find unforgettable. I don't really care about the budget, FX, etc.
Same interviews as the Australian Imprint release, but that release also included a commentary by Gary Gerani. I didn't love the commentary honestly.
According to the listing on Via Vision's website, the Imprint release also lacks the Cheryl Leigh interview (but does add the commentaries and the Ray Bradbury documentary). Is that correct? I'm deciding which one to get.
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The Martian Chronicles (Rock Hudson, March 2024)
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