Customer Reviews

Starhunter - The Complete Series

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

Okay, so I'm glad there's finally a Region 1 set of the entire first series of this interesting and underrated SF series. Nice that it's on four disks instead of six individual disks in my Australian Region 4 PAL set of the same series. The NTSC set also has a crisper image transfer than the Aussie set. However, Echo Bridge Entertainment, would it have been too much trouble to actually place the episodes IN ORDER on the disks? For those of you not initiated on Starhunter yet, "The Divinity Cluster" is the first episode in the series, although it's number 4 on the first disk. View it first. It contains key points that run through the rest of the series. Why they were not transfered in order is unfathomable to me, but oh well...

This is the original series that spawned Starhunter 2300. The production values are nowhere close to Starhunter 2300 and the special effects are necessarily far short of the subsequent series. However, the stories are reasonably well scripted and the characters interesting. It's not up to the standards of "Farscape" but it does have its moments.

There is a huge discontinuity between Starhunter and Starhunter 2300 and there is little done to explain the breaks in the storyline. But it's still superior to most "made for tv" films that you say on *ahem* tv stations dedicated to sci-fi.

Don't expect too much, enjoy the quirky characters and you'll be ready for a better experience with Starhunter 2300.

The disks have zero "extras" and no interviews with the cast or production crew. Which is a shame because anyone buying this set is probably a fan and would've appreciated the extra effort. The studios are getting lazy.

This new set is an improvement over the old ones. They reduced the number of episodes per disc which cleared up the picture problems. It's still grainy and in full frame but I'll take it. Pick it up at this great price.

This is a pretty good Sci-Fi series that gets better as you go. I was a bit unsure at first, but I was really involved by the end and hated to see it end. The characters developed very well and the story line was pretty good.

Definitely a low budget affair and some of the writing a bit amateurish, but the cast and crew really seemed to give it a go and won me over. The whole here is greater than the sum of its parts.

If you like Sci-fi along the lines of Firefly, you should enjoy this. In fact, I found many things here that seemed to have been payed homage in the Firefly series itself. I won't spoil your fun, but they're pretty clear. Firefly had much better scripts, but this series has heart. Money well spent and good enough that I will enjoy watching many times over.

2011-12-07 The current price has dropped below $9 which makes this a steal and a great value. I still find myself intrigued by this series and coming back to it from time to time. There's a touch of "magic" in this production, clearly a lot of the people involved put their heart into what they were doing.

I've always been a HUGE fan of the Starhunter series, and this complete box set (finally!) is really a treat to behold. Don't be fooled by the "complete series", though...they did retool the show for the second season under the new name of Starhunter 2300. This is a very bare-bones set-simple menus, and no extras. It does, however, have the extra footage that was cut from the original U.S. showings.

The show itself follows the bounty-hunting crew of Dante Montana (Michael Paré), his niece Percy Montana (Tanya Allen), and Lucretia Scott (Claudette Roche). Despite being plagued with some VERY cheap effects, and less than stellar writing, the show still manages to engage and captivate. Some of Percy's one liners alone warrant a purchase. Besides, you can't really beat the price.

At first it is striking all the similarities between Firefly and Starhunter. But before you go thinking about this as a Firefly wannabe, keep this in mind - STARHUNTER CAME FIRST!

I know. It surprised me too. This feels almost like Firefly fan fiction to me.

Anyway, despite the similarities, I would not compare this show to Firefly. When it comes to scifi, Firefly is in an exclusive league. It is unfair to compare Starhunter to a show like it. Firefly had a budget of over $2 million per episode. I doubt Starhunter had a tenth of that.

Now Babylon 5, there's something you can compare this to. Good stories, bad scripting, bad acting, cheap sets.

The fx rate poor to fair in SH whereas they are fair to good in B5.

So with all that how can I give this show 4 stars? It's a matter of expectations. I caught a few episodes a few years ago when my Tivo grabbed them for me off of late night syndication. I had never heard of Starhunter. I had NO expectations and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Although the acting overall is subpar, the three main actors are all solid performers. Tanya Allen, who plays Percy (SH's Kaylee for all you Firefly fans), is ADORABLE. The guest stars range from very good to the worst you've ever seen. (Seriously, I'd love to hear somebody argue with that after watching the first episode - you'll know who I'm talking about.)

The stories are good, but the plotting and the characterization are often frustratingly lazy.

These DVDs are only $20! Understand what you are getting and control your expectations and there is no way you will think it wasn't worth it.

Starhunter is a bad show in many senses of the word. Much of the acting is abysmal, often including that of the main characters. The production values were considered low when it came out, and that was going on 10 years ago. It's got this weird lighting issue pervading most of the series where the characters are little more than black shapes wandering about their ship. And, as most of my fellow reviewers were quick to point out, most of the things Starhunter set out to do were done far better by Firefly a few years later.

Not exactly a glowing endorsement there. So why, you may ask, would you ever watch it?

Well, it takes a certain type of person to enjoy Starhunter, and I am proud to admit to being one of them. If you're thinking about buying this series, do yourself a favor and go in expecting the corniest sci-fi has to offer. It's for the same type of guilty pleasure that you would watch a movie showcased on Mystery Science Theater. Okay, maybe not that bad, but don't expect to be taking it too seriously. That said, in my humblest of opinions, Starhunter provides just as many moments of emotional engagement and genuine interest as it does campy laughs. The main story arc, involving main character Dante's search for his son and, to a lesser extent, a mysterious alien gene in human DNA, is intriguing enough, and isn't shoved in your face all the time. The small cast of three main characters allows for quite a bit of character development among them, and seeing how the show favors drama over action for the most part, you feel that you really know them by the end. I found it especially interesting to see the tension and trust issues caused by the two-faced Luc develop. The show builds to a pretty exciting climax, and I think season one works on its own as a standalone story. You can tell that the producers put a lot of heart into the show, even though it doesn't always translate well. Episodes were hit-and-miss for me, but taken as a whole, I quite enjoyed Starhunter. I would definitely recommend watching an episode or two before deciding to buy the series, but if you're the type of person who enjoys cheesy sci-fi and are willing to forgive Starhunter's more egregious faults, I think you'll find it to be a worthwhile experience.

Torchwood is the only other SciFi series I can truly compare Starhunter with. I know it bears a much greater superficial resemblance to Firefly, in that it involves a commercial spaceship moving from one dangerous encounter to another. But that's where the similarity with Firefly ends and the similarity with Torchwood begins. Where Firefly, for all the danger and violence the crew encounters, is essentially an upbeat show presenting the triumph of good over evil, Starhunter - like Torchwood - presents a rather bleak picture of the real world, in which the good guys may triumph, but at a cost almost greater than whatever victory they attain. And, as with Torchwood, it makes for a riveting experience watching the stories unfold with unexpected twists and turns that render the inevitable defeat of the bad guys as almost anti-climactic. In only one of the stories, in fact - Cell Game - was the ending satisfying in the usual SciFi sort of way.

The three main characters are among the most unique SciFi characters the genre has to offer. The first two episodes I despised Percy (the Tanya Allen character) as a meddling brat; but, as the season unfolded, she actually became the most sensible and most useful in getting the crew through whatever they encountered. Both Dante (Michael Pare) and Luc (Claudette Roche) have overriding obsessions that render them almost useless at times; and they think nothing of risking everything on any chance, however slim, to gratify those obsessions.

The stories are great, with excellent writing, extremely bizarre villains and, in my opinion, very effective special effects - but then, I'm not a special effects freak who finds neat computer gimmicks the be-all and end-all. But the show's not for people who need happy endings to make watching a worthwhile experience. The stories are dark and foreboding, giving a picture of the kind of world one would definitely not wish to live in.

I must confess I didn't expect much out of this series; However I found the original series and plotline more engrossing than the follow-up series Starhunter 2300. The acting is better and the writing much better. For those who enjoy original sci-fi concepts go with the first season and the divinity cluster concept. Avoid the second season.... very bland.

The Good Things

*Some nifty special effects (even if they are low-grade) and a little bit of action.

*Pretty good characters. You get to know them well by the end of the show.

*Pretty good stories. Interesting story arc throughout the show.

*Each episode starts with a monologue by one of the characters, which is neat.

The Bad Things

*Low production value; fake-looking sets and lower-grade special effects.

*Basis is more on drama and less on action. It gets a little slow.

*Don't really like the music.

For the price, I am generally pleased with the show. It has a good cast of characters and some interesting stories. Special effects aren't great, but are used effectively. Even though it gets a little slow, it's worthwhile to sci-fi fans (especially if you liked "Firefly").