For those not who have not yet discovered FARSCAPE, it is one of the hottest science fiction franchises to come down the pike in quite some time. This American/Australian co-production is the brainchild of writer/producer Rockne S. O’Bannon, whose creative juices fueled such high profile TV series as SEAQUEST DSV, ALIEN NATION, and AMAZING STORIES. Joining him in bringing FARSCAPE to the small screen each week is producer Brian Henson, whose Jim Henson’s Creature Shop provides all the unbelievable aliens and monsters for the series. The cast is fairly good too, considering that many of them are buried under layers of makeup. FARSCAPE debuted in North America on the Sci-Fi channel in 1999, and has quickly garnered a cult following of STAR TREK and BABYLON 5 proportions. One of the keys to the series success is that it is so different in style than anything we have seen on cable TV. The creature works, digital effects, and production design, are superior to anything on American TV, and they all blend together seamlessly to take the viewer into the escapist universe of FARSCAPE. Though the entire two seasons of the show have been available on DVD in Region 2 for some time, animation merchants ADV Films secured the DVD rights in 2000. They released the first two episodes of FARSCAPE on DVD in first quarter 2001, incorporating bonus footage not seen on the Sci-Fi channel.

The DVD contains two episodes:

Premiere

Astronaut John Crichton, while testing out a slingshot maneuver in his own specially designed spacecraft, is catapulted across the universe by a wormhole accidentally created by a combination of factors (solar flares, maneuver, etc.). Arriving on the other side, his ship, Farscape 1, appears in the middle of a battle and is clipped by one of the fighter craft, a Peacekeeper Prowler, which spins out of control and is destroyed by a nearby asteroid. Farscape 1 is pulled on board Moya, a living ship being used to transport prisoners, where John is led by the DRDs (maintenance robots) to the command area where two aliens are conversing with each other and a hologram of another. After being injected with translator microbes, John finds that he can now understand the aliens, who want to know if his wormhole technology will help them to escape. The alien warrior called D'Argo pulls various cables from one of the consoles, but none of those release the control collar the Peacekeepers have on their living ship, Moya, while the blue-skinned Zhaan attempts to break through the coding wall to release it that way. Zhaan succeeds, the control collar is freed, and Moya starbursts away, sucking a Prowler along in her wake. The escaped prisoners capture the Prowler pilot and knock John out, examining him while he is unconscious and then placing him in a cell with the Prowler pilot, Officer Aeryn Sun. Captain Bialar Crais, in command of the PK vessel escorting Moya, is furious to discover that his brother had been killed by this unknown pilot and demands to see his face in the scanner image. After an unsuccessful attempt to gain information from Aeryn during dinner, Zhaan, Rygel, and D'Argo go down to a commerce planet to trade for supplies. John and Aeryn are left in their cell on Moya, but break free and also travel down to the planet in Aeryn's Prowler. Aeryn contacts Captain Crais, who arrives in the system. Pilot warns Zhaan and D'Argo that the prisoners have escaped and that they have contacted the Peacekeepers. Zhaan and Rygel return to Moya, while D'Argo goes looking for John and Aeryn to deal with them himself. Crais surrounds them just after D'Argo finds them, taking them all prisoner. He plans on taking care of John personally, and when Aeryn speaks up for John, he calls her "irreversibly contaminated" by the aliens, which is basically means the death penalty. John's toy puzzle ring distracts their Peace Keeper guards long enough to get a weapon from them. John, D'Argo and Aeryn get free and return to Moya, where they now must evade capture by the command carrier. John uses his slingshot maneuver to give Moya enough velocity to get away. Now lost in the Uncharted Territories, the crew search for a way to return to their homes, except Aeryn who can never return home. John tells his dad on his tape recorder that he's feeling those rattlers in the stomach now.

I, E.T.

A high-pitched squealing alarm sounds repeatedly through Moya, and the crew tries to find some way of stopping it. It is a Paddoc Beacon, and it is transmitting their exact coordinates to any nearby Peace Keepers. Pilot thought he had disabled all the devices, but he was wrong. The crew planned to just cut out the beacon, but Pilot tells them it is located on Moya's neural nexus and cannot be simply cut away without causing her extreme pain. John suggested submersing Moya in the muddy swamps of a nearby planet to muffle the signal, but Moya cannot last long in a planet's atmosphere under full gravity. Pilot tells the crew that clorium, which is one of the 7 forbidden cargoes, acts as an anesthetic on Leviathans. John, Aeryn, and D'Argo leave Moya to look for clorium on the planet, while Zhaan and Rygel attempt to begin the surgery with Zhaan taking on some of Moya's pain. John tells Aeryn that the planet reminds him of Louisiana or Dagobah, "where Yoda lives". The aliens on the planet are of about late twentieth century technologically, and have not had contact with other races (to their knowledge). Aeryn and D'Argo lead the government searchers away, while sending John after the nearby source of clorium. John meets two of the aliens, Lyneea and her son Fostro, who shelter him after initial misgivings about his intentions. John discovers that clorium is a common element on the planet, which the natives use as seasoning. Aeryn returns to Moya, but D'Argo is captured by the government forces and brought to Lyneea's home. John and D'Argo escape back to Moya, where Rygel completes the operation, removing the paddock beacon, and Moya takes off from the planet shortly before her bulkheads would have collapsed from the added weight.

This episode is a 180-degree change from the galactic scale and grand adventure of the first episode. The characters are stranded on a primitive Earth-like planet. Crichton establishes contact with Lyneena, a female Fox Mulder-type who sympathizes with her planet’s "invaders". Most of the episode focuses on the relationship between Crichton and Lyneena, while the other crew members toil away on Moya, or act as distractions so Crichton won’t get captured. The gist of the episode is that it is the exact opposite of your typical first-contact situation. This time humans are the visitors, while these primitive aliens get to do things like form hunting parties and conspire with the government (so they can dissect humans). The acting is good, and the script has substance, but it lacks the sense of excitement and adventure of the pilot episode. The pilot has Crichton whizzing through the galaxy, encountering all kinds of strange beings along the way, and making friends and enemies. This episode has him sitting in Lyneena’s kitchen, discussing her dreams and fantasies of meeting extraterrestrials.

From the extras menu, you can view the Image Gallery, and step through photos of actor Ben Browder. There is also a gallery of conceptual artwork, including technical schematics of the spaceships and their interiors. You can view the video profile of John Crichton, which is actuality a full-fledged mini-documentary on the character. Actor Ben Browder provides all the background information on his American astronaut/scientist character. Creator Rockne S. O’Bannon also puts in his two cents on the character. The video profile is full frame, DD 2.0, and runs 10:23. The other more comprehensive documentary is called The Farscape Effect. It features interviews with O’Bannon, Brian Henson, and the principal cast. This is a pretty good documentary which covers all aspects of the production including special effects and Henson’s creature works stuff. It is a hoot finally seeing some of these actors sans make-up, like the doofus actor who plays fearsome warrior D’argo. This documentary is full frame, DD 2.0, and runs 22.31. Also is the audio commentary with O’Bannon and the cast. This lends a new appreciation for this small screen series, as you hear about all the difficulties involved with bringing this show to fruition. This O’Bannon guy is the Gene Roddenbury of his time (in other words, a creative genius). The actors all provide more insight about their characters and their relationships to each other. Finally there are a few ADV trailers (that play soon as you pop in the disc):

• SPRIGGAN
• REBOOT
• SHADOWRAIDERS

ADV’s DVD authoring is very good. The disc features some nice menu navigation with graphics and music from the show.

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