"Space" (1985) TV mini-series

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Directors:

Lee Philips
Joseph Sargent

Writers:

Richard Berg (writer)
James Michener (novel)

Release Date:

14 April 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A 13-hour mini-series detailing James A. Michner's fictional account of the American space program from the years after World War II to the Apollo landings on the moon in the early 1970's.

Plot Keywords:

Space | Moon | Apollo | NASA | Astronaut

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 3 nominations

Cast

James Garner	...	Sen. Norman Grant
Susan Anspach	...	Elinor Grant
Beau Bridges	...	Randy Claggett
Blair Brown	...	Penny Hardesty Pope
Bruce Dern	...	Stanley Mott
Melinda Dillon	...	Rachel Mott
David Dukes	...	Martin Scorcella / Leopold Strabismus
Harry Hamlin	...	John Pope
Barbara Sukowa	...	Leisel Kolff
Michael York	...	Dieter Kolff
Ralph Bellamy	...	Paul Stidham
Roscoe Lee Browne	...	Farquar
Martin Balsam	...	Sen. Glancey
James Sutorius	...	Finnerty
Stephanie Faracy	...	Debbie Dee Claggett

Also Known As:

"James A. Michener's Space"

Runtime:

120 min (5 parts)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Orfordness, Suffolk, England, UK

Company:

Dick Berg-Stonehenge Productions

Trivia:

Norman Grant (James Garner) was a Republican senator in the book upon which this was based, but the character's political affiliation, along with other factors, were changed to suit Garner's personal (Democratic) politics.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the Saturn V rocket is shown on the launch pad for Apollo 18, the scene changes between shots from a Saturn V to a Saturn IB.

A keeper if you have it!

This adaptation of James Michener's novel was especially well done and was made in the heyday of mini-series production. I was lucky enough to have recorded the original showing of the program and watched it just recently.

This program depicts the race for space from the closing days of World War II through a fictional end of the Apollo program. It follows the lives of five fictional main characters, which interweave from 1944 through the late 1970's. During these years we see a fictional, but accurate, portrayal of how the space program in the US developed from early failures to successful moon landings.

The cast of characters is lengthy and all of the main characters turned in very good performances. The technical and special effects were very good for the period. If you get a chance to watch a copy of this, please be prepared for a long viewing time, as even with the commercials edited out, it will last over 10 hours.