Genesis II (1973)

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

A scientist is placed in our distant future.Star Trek (1966) has been a lifelong interest of mine so it was great see the maker of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry, do this in 1973. Genesis 11 held me from beginning to end, however I saw it in the form of a terrible print on YouTube, so it was a bit hard to make out some images/sets clearly. The middle sections of the film needed a bit more punch but it all comes together in the later sections. The star of the show, Alex Cord, does a fine job here.Another TV movie like this came the following year, Planet Earth, and it contains one of the best 1970s sci-fi theme tunes.

Genesis II is stunning sci-fi with an absorbing dilemma. A scientist (Alex Cord) volunteers for a suspended animation experiment, and due to an earthquake is buried. When he is finally excavated it is over 200 years in the future. He finds himself with the choice of joining one of the two factions left on future earth after nuclear war, both factions rather authoritarian in different ways. In ignorance, he chooses the wrong (worst) one and then has to figure out how to extricate himself and return to the original faction which found him (PAX). Mariette Hartley is wonderful as the manipulative beautiful mutant who cozens Dylan Hunt (Alex Cord) into joining the Terraneans. Cord makes a terrific hero, note particularly the scene of his defiance when commanded to repair the Terranean nuclear generator when he is tortured with a "stem", the Terranean pain-inducing taser. The contrast between the two factions is fascinating, with Dylan caught on the horns of a dilemma. Unlike most other stories of this kind, there is no way for Dylan to return to his past, he must live in his present on the best terms he can make.

The architecture referred to by another reviewer is actually the campus of the University of California at Riverside. It was filmed while I was a student there, during spring break so no students were around. While I loved the film, it was hard to suspend my disbelief looking at buildings I saw every day. We hoped it would take off as a series, since the campus got a paint job, some landscaping, and a few thousand dollars for our scholarship funds in exchange for letting them film. That "futuristic" architecture was mostly built in the early to mid 1960's. But it still has that "future" look. One of my fond memories of my undergraduate alma mater.

As you would expect from Roddenberry there are many themes about the good and bad sides of human nature explored, and his optimism about the fate of the Human race shows through as it often does in Star Trek.The plot follows a scientist who is researching suspended animation in deep underground caverns. He is supposed to be asleep for a week, but due to an Earth quake he is buried for 150 years.When he awakes, he finds his world has been destroyed by war. PACS - a group of Unisex humans live underground, while the mutants (the only outwardly sign being 2 navels!)live outside. Little is know about the ancient technology of the Nuclear Power plants and both sides fight to have the "man from the past" help them.The moral dilema for out hero is which side he chooses to help.Despite its age, this film ain't too bad. There's no flashy special effects , but an entertaining moral tale against slavery and oppressive regimes. Look out for Gene Roddenberry's wife making an appearance (better known as Counsellor Troi's Mother in Star Trek The Next Generation).