The second TV movie (of four) leading up to the weekly series.
Mark and his cohorts at The Foundation of Oceanic Research investigate the strange disappearances of three divers and what baffles them is that the water surrounding their boat is acidic. One of the divers turns up dead but the other two are very much alive...but now sport webbed hands just like Mark.
Mark discovers a space ship and finds in it the exact same logo that he sports on his swim trunks. Could he be an extra terrestrial like those to new visitors?
Again; everything is resolved in a very non-violent way. Budget restrictions seem to be quite evident here but solid imagination and some artistic flair (i.e. the only room visible in the space ship) go a long way and this ends up being enjoyable harmless fun.
It's quite stretched though; some scenes drag on for a long time and this could easily fit in one tightly paced hour long episode.
The solid premise behind the concept of "Man From Atlantis" gets expanded on and the possible explanation that Mark is indeed an extra terrestrial opens doors for countless interesting possibilities. Maybe they will be explored further in the coming TV movies or weekly episodes.
As is; "The Death Scouts" is an enjoyable sit-through for people interested in 70's Sci-Fi/Adventure on the TV scale. There's nothing impressive in the special effects department but there's quite a lot of imagination running loose here. The writing is mostly OK; good ideas but, occasionally, some stiff dialog and the action scenes (I guess you'd call them that) fall pretty flat. Still; I like those underwater sequences a lot - Duffy looks great doing his stuff.
Patrick Duffy is very likable as the aquatic hero and what he lacks in dramatic gestures and expressions he more than makes up for with charisma.
Well; on to "Killer Spores"...
Mark and his cohorts at The Foundation of Oceanic Research investigate the strange disappearances of three divers and what baffles them is that the water surrounding their boat is acidic. One of the divers turns up dead but the other two are very much alive...but now sport webbed hands just like Mark.
Mark discovers a space ship and finds in it the exact same logo that he sports on his swim trunks. Could he be an extra terrestrial like those to new visitors?
Again; everything is resolved in a very non-violent way. Budget restrictions seem to be quite evident here but solid imagination and some artistic flair (i.e. the only room visible in the space ship) go a long way and this ends up being enjoyable harmless fun.
It's quite stretched though; some scenes drag on for a long time and this could easily fit in one tightly paced hour long episode.
The solid premise behind the concept of "Man From Atlantis" gets expanded on and the possible explanation that Mark is indeed an extra terrestrial opens doors for countless interesting possibilities. Maybe they will be explored further in the coming TV movies or weekly episodes.
As is; "The Death Scouts" is an enjoyable sit-through for people interested in 70's Sci-Fi/Adventure on the TV scale. There's nothing impressive in the special effects department but there's quite a lot of imagination running loose here. The writing is mostly OK; good ideas but, occasionally, some stiff dialog and the action scenes (I guess you'd call them that) fall pretty flat. Still; I like those underwater sequences a lot - Duffy looks great doing his stuff.
Patrick Duffy is very likable as the aquatic hero and what he lacks in dramatic gestures and expressions he more than makes up for with charisma.
Well; on to "Killer Spores"...
