Customer Reviews

Blake's 7, Vol. 01 - The Way Back / Space Fall [VHS]

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"The Way Back" and "Space Fall" are the first two episodes of the classic British sci-fi series "Blake's 7." B7 is a sort of "anti-Star Trek." Like ST, it takes place in a future where humans have interplanetary space travel and have established a federation of worlds. But in B7, the Federation is an oppressive, totalitarian regime that keeps its citizens docile with drugs, and ruthlessly crushes those who stand for freedom. The heroes of B7 are rebels who oppose the Federation.

"The Way Back" effectively establishes the dark, grimy tone of the series, as hero Blake is falsely charged with a crime by the Federation justice system. But this episode is mostly set-up, with Blake seeming almost like a secondary character. The second episode, "Space Fall," is better. This exciting story involves a revolt on a Federation transport that is bringing prisoners to a penal colony. The character dynamics that distinguish the series really begin to emerge in "Space Fall." And the drama involving the crew of the transport ship is an effective counterpart to the interactions of Blake and his cohorts.

Yes, the special effects fairly primitive, but the acting, dialogue, and daring vision of series creator Terry Nation make this video special. These episodes are good science fiction on their own, and are the foundation for even better episodes to come.

Blake 7 is a wonderful BBC t.v. production. Many Doctor Who fans should note that Terry Nation was head writer for many of the epsiodes. Anyway on to the first installment of Blake 7 entitled "The Way Back". We are given the setting of earth in the distant future where most of the human population live inside of domes due to the severe radiation outside of the domes. The domes are run by the federation a world goverment whose hand has reached to the stars themselves and has much influence. We are intoduced to a man called Roj Blake who from watching the first few minutes is a rather normal person. However when he meets a few of his freinds his life takes on a new twist. He finds that the earth has never had radation and that the human population insdie of the dome is a lie. He then finds out that he was once the leader of a rebel band bent on stopping the true agenda of the Fedeartion total domiantion of the universe. Soon freinds turn into false memories his future uncertain his life is without meaning and then the Federation find him with the new rebels. He is soon brought on false charges and a mockery of a trail sends Blake to the penal planet to live out the rest of his life. This is the first installment of the Blake 7 story. Although this is by no means the first epsiode. In the next epsiodes to come Blake has his fighters and a reason to stop the Federation.
In the Epsiode entilted "Space Fall" Blake is being shipped to the penal planet Cygnus Alpha. Along with Blake he meets Avon the egocentric computer genuis, Jan the tough as nails female piolt, Villa the cowardly safe cracker and Gan the brutal yet computer controled chipped prisoner. Blake trying to find a way to take over the ship and start his plans of stopping the Federation. The captain of the prisoner ship finds a large ship dirfiting unkonwing it would be the doom of most aboard. He sends men over to try and take over the ship. They end up mad or dead. The captain sends Blake over along with Jan and Avon. Soon Blake is confronted by the ships computer called Zen who tries and kill those with false images. Blake overcomes and takes over the newly dubbed ship the Liberator. Now with a ship and gathering a crew is easy. But the captain has written off Blake and the others dead and heads on to the penal planet to drop off the remaining prionsers. Blake speeds off to try and save those others and begin his plans to stop the Fedeartion. ...

From start to finish, the entire run of Blake's 7 was a great show. I have the entire VHS set and would replace them all with DVD the moment they come out -- which I have found it is doing so, but unfortunately it's an overseas release and therefore not in NTSC format. But hopefully this means it will be released here sometime after that.

This tape comprises the first two episodes of the brilliant British series. Loosely based as science fiction due to its setting in the future, this is primarily a drama series based in fact, dealing with human rights abuses that unhappily occur in our present. In an unspecified time (although not too far in the future), Earth is run by a totalitarian Federation - dissidents are murdered or sent to penal colonies and the populace is drugged into a state of subservient apathy. Into this scenario enters Roj Blake, a seemingly unassuming man. Blake is asked by a friend to join a meeting of rebels; this he does, with fateful consequences. The first episode, "The Way Back" is the best to authentically capture the Orwellian atmosphere the series is based on. The sterile, white corridors of the domed city; the ruthless and murderous black suited security patrols; the psycho-manipulators - they all depict perfectly this depressing possibility of the future. Blake's nightmarish journey as he rediscovers his repressed past is harrowing - his mental breakdown, complete with horrific and violent flashbacks, is a disturbing indicator of what this regime is capable of. The second episode, "Space Fall", deals with the formation of the group that will become Blake's crew. Of particular interest is the introduction of Kerr Avon, the cynical would-be computer fraudster, who will become the series' most interesting character. One of the down sides to "Blake's 7" is that the introduction is very slow - it continues over the next two episodes. A casual viewer may be put off by this, despite the importance of understanding the background and motivation of the characters in the later stories. In short, essential for the sake of continuity, but very heavygoing. But perserverance will reward the new viewer.

Whilst Blake's 7 is easily my favorite sci-fi series, it gets off to an incredibly poor start. The first two episodes are packed with "scene setting" plot details which, whilst they are rather vital to your understanding and perhaps even enjoyment of the later episodes, do little enliven these two rather staid stories.

Please don't get me wrong - I am a big fan of Blake's 7, it is just the almost every other episode is much better! Even "Cygnus Alpha" with Brian Blessed making a noisy appearance does not deliver. These episodes lack the banter and bickering between Avon and Villa, the tension between Blake and Avon, or even the pressure of persuit and evasion between the Federation and the Liberator. And these are the elements that lift the story, help the script to fly and draw you in to ful enjoyment of what is an excellent, compelling and surprisingly complex series.

If you are serious about Blake's 7, you need this video in your collection. But if you are trying to introduce a friend to the series, don't make these the first episodes that they see!

Blake's 7 came out in the late 70's and early 80's. It stands as a shining example of classic science fiction. Too many science fiction movies and series attempt to use special effects to carry the series. Blake's 7 used intelligent plots and extremely well written characters. This video is the first in the series. And you do need to watch them in order to know what's going on. This series is also one of the most realistic I've seen. The good guys sometimes lose (and lose horribly!), and the bad guys sometimes win. Main characters are killed, new ones are reruited. It is fluid.

"The Way Back" hooked me on this series and I couldn't wait to see what happened next. Intriguing plot, revealing Blake's motivations and demonstrating the Federation's desires for total domination and their ruthless methods. "Cygnus Alpha" establishes the creation of most of Blake's crew and introduces the Liberator. Watch these before you see any other episodes. END

The beginning of an absolutely wonderful (although underfunded) science fiction series.

A must see for any science fiction fan. Now if they would only offer this series on DVD in the USA (Region 1 or 0).

The Terran federation is a fascist dictatorship, the bad guys are bad and the good guys are sometimes worse. This is perhaps the least watched episode in the series (perhaps due to the lack of Paul Darrow)

"The Way Back" hooked me on this series and I couldn't stop watching. Intriguing plot, revealing Blake's motivations and the Federation's desires for power and ruthless methods. "Cygnus Alpha" establishes the creation of most of Blake's crew and introduces the Liberator. Watch these before you see any other episodes. END