Product Details

• Actors: Richard Benjamin, Tim Thomerson, Richard Kelton
• Directors: Hy Averback
• Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
  PLEASE NOTE: Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on RCE, click here.
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: SONY PICTURES
• DVD Release Date: September 2, 2008
• Run Time: 222 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001DHE9GA
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,753 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Quark - The Complete Series" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
The cancellation of Quark after a mere eight episodes makes us ponder yet again the existence of intelligent life in the television universe. Created by Buck Henry, who with Mel Brooks, sent up the spy genre with Get Smart, this quite funny 1978 series spoofs space operas like Star Trek and Star Wars. Richard Benjamin stars as Adam Quark, an "ordinary human," who commands a United Galaxy Sanitation Patrol ship. His mission: "To boldly seek out grime and grit, to collect the uncollectible space baggie, and to always leave the area cleaner than when I found it." His eccentric crew includes Ficus (Richard Kelton), a Spock-like Vegeton; Gene/Jean ("Timothy" Thomerson), a male/female "transmute"; the gorgeous, hot pantsed navigators Betty I and Betty II (Cyb and Patricia Barnstable, who gained commercial fame as the Doublemint Twins), one of which is a clone; and Andy; the cowardly robot. The hapless Quark yearns for greater adventures, but gets no votes of confidence from bureaucrat Otto Palindrome (a pre-Mork & Mindy Conrad Janis), who administers Space Station Perma One as the behest of the behemoth The Head (Alan Caillou). Proceed with warp speed past the pilot episode. The series really takes off with the second episode, "May the Source Be With You," featuring the voice of Hans Conreid as the galaxy's supposed greatest weapon, but, that, after 200 years of inaction, is a little rusty. The Force may not be entirely with the cheesy-looking Quark, but, like Mel Brooks' When Things Were Rotten, this dimly remembered curiosity rates rediscovery. May it live long and prosper on DVD. --Donald Liebenson

Stills from Quark – The Complete Series (click for larger image)

Product Description
A spoof of science fiction films and TV series, these are the adventures of Adam Quark, captain of a United Galactic Sanitation Patrol ship. His cohorts include Gene/Jean, a "transmute" with male and female characteristics; a Vegeton (a highly-evolved plant-man) named Ficus; and Andy the Android and Betty and Betty (who always argue over who's the clone of the other). Based at Space Station Perma One are Otto Palindrome and The Head. Though Quark is supposed to stick to his sanitization patrols, he and his crew often meet adventure with such colorful space denizens as the evil High Gorgon (head of the villainous Gorgons), Zoltar the Magnificent, and Zargon the Malevolent.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Is What George Lucas Really Intended To Write :), August 16, 2008

By	J. Penrose "Elvanion" (Kelfour's Landing) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Truly a bit of comic SF genius! It poked fun at every current SF blockbuster out there at the time...the take -off on Star Wars with Hans Conried as the voice of "The Source" is worth the price of the series by itself as it is one of the best of the early parodies of the movies.

The series is hokey, it *knows* it's hokey and revels in it. Like the equally little-known "Wizards and Warriors", it mercilessly impales and lampoons an entire genre with a few well-written quips.

If you enjoy good parody, buy this baby. We need to encourage the studios to both bring these gems out of the vaults and to create more.

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At Long Last! Quark On DVD!, August 4, 2008

By	Mark Shields "Super Genius" (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"It" hit the television world on February 24, 1978 like a galaxy-class starship slamming into a Quasi-norm. Quark, NBC's fantastic science-fiction spoof from the mind of Buck Henry, was released about the same time as Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century and Battlestar Galactica were making their impact on the science fiction community. The short-lived series featured Richard Benjamin as Adam Quark along with his crazy crew aboard a spacefaring garbage scow. Well ahead of it's time, the series has become a cult classic with precious few original copies available -- until now! Buck Henry's oddball creation will easily bring you back (and forth) in time. Although Amazon briefly covers what the series is all about, here's a little more information on the crew...

Our hero, Adam Quark (Richard Benjamin) commands the United Galaxy Sanitation Patrol ship. Quark's mission? To collect space baggies from United Galactic spacecraft. His other mission? Always getting himself into (and out of) trouble.

Quark's love interests are Betty I and Betty II (Cyb and Patricia Barnstable, the Doublemint twins of the 70s). The Betties co-pilot and co-co-pilot the 23rd century starship. The pretty one is the clone.

Ficus Pandorata (Richard Kelton) is a Vegeton. He is the ship's half-man, half-plant, Spock-like science officer. Wait until you see how he mates!

Gene/Jean (Timothy Thomerson) is a transmute. He/she has an equal number of male and female chromosomes (i.e., he's half-man, half-woman). His male half is never around when Quark needs it -- typically during a fight.

Quark's bosses are Dr. Otto Palindrome (Conrad Janis from Mork and Mindy) and an entity simply known as The Head (Alan Caillou). The head is a disembodied head floating through space. Together, they rule the galaxy! Well, not really. They rule Quark, and that's good enough for constant laughs. You'll see...

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This *is* a parody after all, November 25, 2008

By	Jonathan A. Allan - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

You have to know the shows and characters (OMG, the character names!!! ;-) being satirized, parodied, lampooned and otherwise skewered. There are many hysterical moments:
* The Betty's blowing up an evil ship, then making hash-marks with a lipstick on their battle station.
* Quark apologizing to Princess Libido in her guard disguise just before she decks him.
* The enraged Betty's screaming "Plant!" at Ficus after he criticizes their dancing on Polumbus.
* Ficus and Joan Van Ark pollinating together: "Was it good for you?" "I think so?!????!?"
* An antique Quark falling face down onto Princess Carna's sleeping dais and having to be rolled over like a log by Carna's serving wenches.

Yes, the EFX are hokey. Yes, the plots are questionable. Yes, the acting is a bit rough in spots. Yes, the female flesh is all too apparent. Get over it; so was the original Star Trek for the first 8 episodes (and if you doubt that, go back and compare the first 8 episodes when the writers and actors were also still struggling with the characters to the second season shows when everything had gelled).

Alas, we got no more than the first draft of Quark. But it was hysterical while it lasted, if you know your pre-quark SF and enjoy a good harpooning.

Four stars only because of a complete lack of any Quark-related content except the shows. We could easily have had a section of publicity stills or other material, but we got nothing.