Golden Vision Blog

"L et's see if he'd like to drag a little with us."   -Jason- I t's a mostly well-known fact to fan circles of Battle Of The Planets , the American adaptation of Science Ninja Team Gatchaman , that our fearless, young, orphaned heroes, Mark, Jason, Princess, Tiny and Keyop were actually translated from their Japanese counterparts. In Japan, the heroes are Ken the Eagle, Joe the Condor, Jun the Swan, Ryu the Owl and Jinpei the Swallow respectively. In keeping with our effort to continue to shed light on the classic, beloved, heralded by few, anime series  Battle Of The Planets we dig deeper yet again. President Ippei Kuri of Tatsunoko Productions lent some insight into the avian motif behind the characters of his company's Science Ninja Team Gatchaman in Newtype USA . Ken Washio (washi translates as Eagle), or Ken the Eagle, highlights Kuri's efforts to run with the cloaked bird style for their superhero look. Who doesn't like a good cape

"I f the writers had dealt with the little people's emotions more, it would have made for better drama---and for a better show. Irwin Allen steered away from personal relationships and human emotions. His Time Tunnel series was the same thing. The characters were dealing with what was 'out there' rather than what was inside."   -Don Marshall, Starlog Magazine #230 (p.23)- (c) Susan Okoro's Blog

"L and Of The Giants was pure escapism." -Esther Mitchell, Starlog Magazine  #160 (p.60)- A s we enter the little people, big world universe of Land Of The Giants with Season One, Episode 3, Framed , we continue to be in awe of the ideas and ingenuity of the series' production design work and the many astounding, gargantuan props to create the illusion of this giant land. The concept of miniature people and large props has been employed in film. The Borrowers (1973, 1997), The 3 Worlds Of Gulliver (1960), Attack Of The Puppet People (1958), Honey, I Shrunk The Kids (1989),  Ant-Man (2015), Downsizing (2017), Fantastic Voyage (1966), Inner Space (1987), The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957), The Indian In The Cupboard (1995) and more all have fun with the process of miniaturization in comedy, science fiction and horror. To see a TV show tackle such a concept for the small screen was indeed no small feat. Here in Land Of The Giants Irwin Allen and c

"H e (Chris Carter) had this pretty radical idea for a show that openly acknowledged that there was evil in this world---which was a dynamic that Thomas Harris had dealt with, both with his books and with his movies like Silence Of The Lambs and Red Dragon, but which nobody had ever had the balls to present on national television, in any fashion, before. But what Chris did was take that idea a little bit further and temper it with the central focus of a somewhat long-in-the-tooth guy, played brilliantly by Lance Henriksen, whose agenda was to actively root out this evil and vanquish it while simultaneously trying to cultivate, within the safe confines of his home, a 'normal American family.'" -David Nutter, SciFiNow #18, p.63- M illennium concluded its television run on May 21st, 1999, ten years ago this day. It seemed like a good opportunity to sneak in a little post regarding the series. The Millennium (1996-1999) series worked brilliantly and this appr

"T his is International Rescue. Now I'm requesting you to stop and hand over the film of the rescue operation. Now do as I ask, please! If you don't hand over the film now I'm going to have to use more persuasive methods." -Scott Tracy (voiced by Shame Rimmer)- Y es, it's F A B F R I D A Y ! And the latest heavenly creation from Gerry and Sylvia Anderson . Martian Invasion has little to do with actual real Martians or aliens. It's almost refreshing when you consider UFO (1970-1973) and Space:1999 (1975-1977) as Anderson productions. The Martians here are simply part of a science fiction film production. The film being produced features Martians attacking two police officers. With the set sabotaged by the sinister Hood two of the actors lives are jeopardized and International Rescue is called in to save the day. Earlier The Hood reaches through to his brother, Kyrano, with a mind link and manipulates his brother, a man servant to the Trac