Diagonaldi
Very well executed
Nonureva
Really Surprised!
RipDelight
This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.
Michelle Ridley
The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity
Muldwych
Star Cops was a brilliant fusion of speculative and crime fiction unfortunately cut down in its prime. The nine episodes it does have to show for itself are well worth your time, engagingly portraying as they do a pretty credible look at what life might be like a couple of decades from now when mankind takes its first steps into space and establishes a permanent presence there. In the new frontier, where the laws have yet to be codified and the interests of corporations and rival governments can be pursued without consequence, Earth-bound authorities soon realise the need for a dedicated police force to be stationed where the action is. Seasoned terrestrial detective Nathan Spring is sent skyward to take charge of this very first attempt at extraterrestrial law enforcement - disparagingly nicknamed the Star Cops. With a team comprising members from across the globe, the Star Cops discover that while the base motivations for things like murder, espionage, kidnappings and fraud are little different in zero gravity, the rapidly different environment in which they take place and the technology affording extraterrestrial habitation allow them to be conducted in a variety of new ways, from sabotaging space suits or atmospheric decompression to alien hoaxes. It's far easier to make people disappear, far simpler to traffic drugs and far harder to receive any help when it's millions of kilometres away.The show is a genuine attempt at speculative fiction based on real-world foundations, making it more Doomwatch than Doctor Who, the former based around extrapolations of the real science of the day. Meanwhile, the production team constructed models and sets that didn't stray too far from what we are rapidly seeing in the space stations of today and perhaps the moonbases of tomorrow. Help was even supplied by the McDonnell Douglas Corporation (now part of Boeing) to incorporate real flight simulators, giving the series that extra touch of authenticity. Actors were suspended on wires to simulate weightlessness, though in time, dramatic license prevailed - it's hard to look dignified when you're floating. An excellent cast headed by David Calder breathed life into the disparate characters who initially take time to trust each other, but bonds are developed even over the short span of the series.The show was not without its faults, some of which are only more evident in our more politically-correct age. Sexism, particularly on the part of Colin Devis, the rough, slightly misogynistic, but nonetheless caring and likable detective inspector hired by Spring in episode 2. While such behavior is even less likely to be tolerated in 2027, when the action takes place, it does at least underscore the fact that Star Cops was not meant to be Star Trek - this was not the enlightened 23rd Century. Equally more jarring today are the racial stereotypes - the Americans are cowboys, the Italians are all in the mafia, the Japanese are excessively polite, and so on. It's a welcome indicator of at least one way in which television has progressed in the decades since - even if the actual content hasn't. None of this however greatly detracts from all the things Star Cops gets right - solid storytelling, and great characterisation. Humanity is at the core of the series, good and bad.Unusually for a series of this nature, the incidental music is neither synthesised nor orchestral, but rock-based, through the talents of Moody Blues frontman Justin Hayward, who himself sings the theme tune. You'll find it hard to meet someone who thought any of this was a good idea (not even the show's creator), but I'll go at least halfway by saying that I do like the theme, though 80s rock instrumentals do not work to underscore the drama any more than 'Yakkety Sax' would work in a documentary about the First World War. However, I applaud experimentation - Evan Chen's unusual score for 'Crusade' was a far better attempt at something completely different.Star Cops is generally considered to have failed due to conflict behind the scenes, constant rescheduling by the BBC and its inability to find an audience: it wasn't 'ET' enough for sci-fi fans and too much so for lovers of crime fiction. It was an attempt at something new, which didn't sit well with a Britain that had in the late 80s grown tired of what they considered sci-fi to be (now that opinions have turned 180 degrees, maybe it's time for someone to carry on where the series left off). The title itself doesn't help either, bringing to mind images of ray guns and spandex. Trust me - you won't come across any of that here. All of which is a great shame, and as time has passed, it's become more favourably re-appraised. I certainly give it the thumbs up and recommend it to the curious.
teqjack
OK, it is a bit dated (the USSR still around). And the effects are not terrific - but for what I am sure was a minimal budget, not bad, in fact if what I've seen was basically the pilot, pretty decent. Especially for 1986-7 TV. Come to that, the movie *Outland* with Sean Connery in 1981 is the only one I've seen to outdo *2001*, made in 1968 (they at least knew that you cannot see into a shadow without a light - that is still being done wrong in 2005)! And it is a cop show, not a science fiction show. So if you're expecting a space opera, forget it. But if you like cop shows, this is pretty darn good - at least episode one, which is all I've seen so far. And as a computer programmer since 1965, I know whence the lead character's skepticism comes - Hello son!
Bob_Arctor
I remembered this series after seeing The Moody Blues on breakfast TV the other morning. It reminded me of Justin Hayward's haunting theme song for the show ("Like a ripple on the water...")Great series. Hard Sci Fi, uncompromising and willing to take a risk. Like a previous reviewer said. The stories weren't huge "save the world" epics but they were so well written they didn't need to be. Even the effects were just a little above the Dr Who budget level, but it didn't matterI hope it'll turn up on TV again some day.
marc-one
This was sci-fi at its best. No hard-nosed, crew-cut heroes, this was full of people with flaws (I.E. real people). This had everything, politics, corruption...oh and BOX!!!!!!!I want box! I do not care about any other invention, I want the world's scientists to make one for me now :)Aside from that, this is a series that made me like sci-fi again, after the rubbish mainstream offerings from Hollywood with their weak plots and special effects-driven scenarios. I am glad I got the videos when they escaped from the BBC archives a few years ago and still enjoy the shows as much as I did when they were first shown.It's truly sad that Star Cops never got its second season. It was signed up for one, but with A TV technicians strike cutting the first season down to nine epidodes (the last one was also hugely amended after Erik Ray Evans took ill and David Calder replaced him (hence the strange romance bits between him and Pal) and with Calder moving on to another show, there was no realistic possibility of the crew getting back together to make another 13 episodes.Truly a classic.
