This is one of those films that had always escaped me back in the day though not through any fault of my own – it just never seemed to play here in New Zealand, and if it did, it was a here today gone tomorrow enterprise which is unfortunate as it’s a really neat little sci-fi epic. The idea of there being an identical planet ‘Earth’ at the other side of the sun is an intriguing one and for the most part the film really delivers some great concepts, though the whole show ends too abruptly to have properly developed that alter-ego strategy sadly.
Like so many others I’d grown up on all of the Gerry Anderson shows in the 1960’s and couldn’t contain myself in anxious wait for next weeks’ episode, be it STINGRAY, FIREBALL XL, CAPTAIN SCARLETT, JOE 90, UFO or best of all THUNDERBIRDS.
Naturally what bothered us most was the not so subtle “in colour” title card thrust into our faces each week – a slap in the face as all we had on offer in NZ until 1973 or so was good old black and white television sets. Despite the Government mandated monochromatic viewing option and having just the one and only channel – we kids just couldn’t get enough of all Gerry and Sylvia and their ace special effects chief Derek Meddings had to offer – and boy, oh boy did they deliver! Every week without fail some bloody big behemoth of a mechanised contraption would fall off of a bridge, slide down a canyon or just plain blow up – jeepers, who could ask for more?? Excitement all the way, amd so much so that it took like minded kids a day or so to ‘come down’ after the televised events of the night before.
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A Tribute to Golden Era Special FX
Please Note: Now, I am going further back into the archives of Matte Shot – A Tribute to Golden Era Special FX to feature even more articles from this great site.
This blog is intended primarily as a tribute to the inventiveness and ingenuity of the craft of the matte painter during Hollywoods’ Golden Era. Some of the shots will amaze in their grandeur and epic quality while others will surprise in their ‘invisibility’ to even the sophisticated viewer. I hope this collection will serve as an appreciation of the artform and both casual visitors and those with a specialist interest may benefit, enjoy and be amazed at skills largely unknown today.