Customer Reviews

Blake's 7, Vol. 4 - Mission to Destiny / Duel [VHS]

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<b>Mission to Destiny</b> is is a good ol' British Mystery in space. Interesting how the different film stocks used, at times give the ship a different atmosphere.

<b>Duel</b> is very reminiscent of an episode of Star Trek; but here is much more insight into the emotion inherent behind action. Watch for the interplay between the guardian/gatekeeper, and how Travis' motivation afects the outcome.

Destiny is an interesting murder mystery with twists and turns throughout. Duel is a showdown between Blake and Travis in a bizarre setting. Reveals much about the personality of Travis and tells us about the lowly existence of the mutoids. Both stories are interesting and worth watching. END

The next volume of Blake 7 entitled Mission to Destiny and Duel
blake and the crew find a ship out in space drifitng. The board it and find a crew asleep thanks to someone druging the air supply. They also find a dead body. The people on the drugged ship first blame Blake and the others. But realzing that thier special cargo hasn't been stolen they ask Blake for help. Blake and the other minus Avon and Cally, as a sign of trust stay on board the ship. Blake goes speeding off, Avon has to figure who killed the poor person who knew the killer. Before the killer strikes again. Unlike some of my other reviews this is more of a who done it so I won't give to much away in this epsidoe. Besides it would spoil it for all who like watching Blake's 7
The next episode entitled Duel
Travis has finally caught up with Blake. Federation pursuit ships trap the Liberator near a dead planet. Blake and the others realizing that the only way to get away from Travis is to teleport down to the planet. There they find a dead world and a million graves but all are the same a person standing with thier arms streched out holding two knives. A strange old woman and a young woman watch Blake and Travis fight in the sky. They then send Blake, Jenna to a strange forest that wasn't on the planet to begin with. Travis and a solider are also sent to this forest where both Blake and Travis duel to the death. Rather reminds me of star trek in this episode but then where would we all be if someone hadn't taken an idea from someone else? All in all good clean fun for fans of Blake 7

Volume 4 of the "Blake's 7" videos contains two more episodes of this classic British sci-fi TV series. In "Mission to Destiny," the B7 crew encounters a murder mystery onboard a spaceship from the planet Destiny. In "Duel," Blake and his rival, Federation Space Commander Travis, are forced to engage in personal combat on an alien world.

Together, these episodes offer interesting insights into the characters and politics of the B7 universe. The mystery angle of "Mission" gives us a chance to see an interesting side of series regular Avon.

"Duel" is reminiscent of the classic "Star Trek" episode "Arena," in which Kirk battles a Gorn captain; the big difference in the B7 story is that the hero battles a recurring character, and not just an alien-of-the-week. So "Duel" has ramifications that extend beyond this episode. "Duel" also offers some fascinating insights into the Mutoids, the vampire-like altered humans who are used in the Federation space service.

If you like sci-fi television with witty dialogue and an intelligent political edge, check out these, and other episodes of "Blake's 7."

Although a brilliant show, Blake's 7 is also a very derivative one, taking inspiration and ideas from a collection of genres, both inside and outside of science fiction. This tape consists of two such stories; one of them is realised quite successfully, the other not so. "Mission to Destiny" is the show's obligatory whodunnit (all TV shows of this type seem to have one). It is a very skilful adaptation of the murder mystery, confining the action to a ship adrift in space (the equivalent of the mansion cut off by a storm, or on a lonely island). There are moments of claustrophobia and intrigue, and the supporting characters come across well. At this stage of Blake's 7, with the crew and enemies introduced, the ongoing characters are now explored with more depth, usually on an individual or "partnered up" basis. The episode allows Avon and Cally to develop an already obvious rapport, by leaving the two on board the ship while the Liberator crew departs for the planet Destiny. Their interaction is very good, if a bit stilted; it's almost as if they suppress their relationship while investigating the mystery - time to act professionally with each other as the situation commands. Avon playing detective is also nice to see, although he is doing it out of self interest, not any desire to see justice done. (But the audience knows Avon well enough now, so this is hardly a surprise.) The denouement, in which Avon gathers everyone together is another nice tip of the hat to Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot, if the solution is a little obvious (and implausible). In all, there is not much to fault "Mission to Destiny", except perhaps the fashions. They were always fairly bad in "Blake's 7", but the outfits of the Ortega crew are ghastly to the extreme! But a minor criticism doesn't detract from calling this a fine episode of "Blake's 7". Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the next one which uses as its source of inspiration the science fiction chestnut of the duel, in which the hero is pitted against an enemy/monster, with primitive weapons, for the benefit of an alien audience. The first (and most obvious) example of this in TV sci-fi is the Star Trek episode, "Arena". The Blake's 7 equivalent, unimaginatively titled "Duel", is very slow moving at times, with the short bursts of action very unengaging. There is some unnecessary sermonising, with Blake and Travis required to learn the lessons of "the death of an enemy" and "the death of a friend". There is a clear message about the horrors of nuclear war - the visuals of the graveyard are chilling, as is the tale of how Sinofar's civilisation destroyed itself, but the didacticism of the episode detracts from the impact it should have. However there are moments that save "Duel" from sinking entirely - the visuals, the performance of the beautiful Isla Blair as Sinofar, and the genuine sense of siege as Travis's pursuit ships surround the powerless Liberator. Mutoids are also first seen in this episode, showing another horrible side to the Federation. "Duel" is, overall, flat and boring, with a few saving graces that lift it from being totally bad.