The setup for this episode is actually sort of fun - a mole in a space program collaborates with a pilot to hijack a space shuttle and use it to turn a satellite into a terrorist weapon. OK, it sounds pretty silly. And it remains silly.
The tone of the episode isn't helped by a massive amount of stock footage being used, which generally doesn't match the original footage very well. There are some cheap props. Several of the shots of the shuttle standing on the launch pad are hilarious - they look like a giant cardboard cutout is being used. The rockets on the bottom look unstable.
But this show isn't about the effects. I'm pretty forgiving about cheap effects. Except in this case, the work was so bad and so constant that it took away from the ability to focus on the plot.
For the rest of the team, the mission seems kind of dull. They spend most of their time milling around in ground control. They manage to somehow lock all the terrorists up (although, upon reflection, that doesn't make sense. They were made aware that they were being duped, and they still had their guns).
Then the agent in space gets to first do a spacewalk, then get knocked, untethered, off into space, where she uses her air supply as a jet pack, and manages to get back into the shuttle. Then she overcomes the other pilot, and lands the shuttle. It looks like we're supposed to understand that she has managed to land the shuttle in the same general location it took off from.
There's a small amount of tension in the episode, but this is one of the more laughable episodes of the 80s series.
The tone of the episode isn't helped by a massive amount of stock footage being used, which generally doesn't match the original footage very well. There are some cheap props. Several of the shots of the shuttle standing on the launch pad are hilarious - they look like a giant cardboard cutout is being used. The rockets on the bottom look unstable.
But this show isn't about the effects. I'm pretty forgiving about cheap effects. Except in this case, the work was so bad and so constant that it took away from the ability to focus on the plot.
For the rest of the team, the mission seems kind of dull. They spend most of their time milling around in ground control. They manage to somehow lock all the terrorists up (although, upon reflection, that doesn't make sense. They were made aware that they were being duped, and they still had their guns).
Then the agent in space gets to first do a spacewalk, then get knocked, untethered, off into space, where she uses her air supply as a jet pack, and manages to get back into the shuttle. Then she overcomes the other pilot, and lands the shuttle. It looks like we're supposed to understand that she has managed to land the shuttle in the same general location it took off from.
There's a small amount of tension in the episode, but this is one of the more laughable episodes of the 80s series.
