Roddenberry’s pilot movies Genesis II and Planet Earth on DVD
by Doc on Oct.07, 2009, under Movies, Video/DVD
Gene Roddenberry didn’t rest after Star Trek ended – he tried a few other things, and then tried to return to the genre with a post-apocalyptic vision of the future in the pilot movie Genesis II, where a scientist from the present day named Dylan Hunt (Alex Cord) who undergoes an experimental suspended animation procedure – only to remain frozen during a war and awakens 154 years later, and must decide whether the Pax or the Tyranian woman who helped revive him is worthy of his help. When that didn’t get picked up as a series, he took a page out of Trek history, and made another pilot movie, Planet Earth. Same situation, same protagonist (although now played by John Saxon), but set some time later and perhaps giving a better picture of how the series would be. Still it was not picked up. Read More for more info…
The movies were played from time to time on independent stations and late night fare, but are now both available on DVD either separately or together for one price exclusively at The Warner Archive. The basic premise of a man from the past returning to a post-apocalyptic future was reused in the TV series Andromeda, produced by Roddenberry’s widow the late Majel Barrett-Roddenberry – they even kept the name Dylan Hunt for the title character.
I’m hoping to be able to review this soon. In the meantime, here are a couple of scenes from both movies:
Genesis II:
Planet Earth: