The pilot episode begins on 7 August 2007, which was 5 years into the future when the programme began. Five people are on a routine space flight - three are astronauts, one is a scientist, and one is a television news reporter.
Whilst this group are on their flight the Earth explodes, and the crew of the shuttle are the only survivors. They are rescused by a being known as The Seeker. It seems that fifty other planets have been destroyed in just the same way and The Seeker always arrives just too late to observe the event or to find any survivors. This is the first time he has managed to meet any survivors.
The Seeker sends the team back in time 5 years to prevent the disaster. However physical time travel is not possible and so he sends back their consciousnesses into the bodies they had 5 years ago. The team then have to live the next 5 years over, trying to find out what happened and how to stop it. This then forms the storyline for the remainder of the series.
---------------- THE CAST ---------------- Although this
is an ensemble cast there is a leader, and this is Chuck Taggart, the commander of the fateful mission. Taggart is played by Peter Weller who is perhaps best known for his role in the first 2 RoboCop movies, although he has also appeared in a variety of other movies and television shows over the years.
Chuck's son Neil was also on the mission. He's a 22 year old computer genius whose main problem when he gets transferred 5 years back in time is that as a 17 year old he was a bit of a typical teenage screwup, and this discrepancy, of a mature 22 year old brain in an immature 17 year old's body is a highlight of the storylines. Neil is played by Christopher Gorham who is better known for his most recent role as Betty's love interest in the comedy drama series UGLY
Leslie Silva plays Sarah Forbes, a TV newsreader whose main problem is that her son died of cancer. By going back 5 years in time Sarah hopes to stop this horrendous event from ever happening and part of her storylines involve the fact that this is sometimes of more importance to her than the whole planet being destroyed. ODYSSEY 5 is Silva's only regular series to date, she has mainly been seen as a guest star in other TV shows, including CSI Miami.
Sebastian Roche (who appears in the new Robert Zemeckis movie BEOWULF) and Tamara Craig Thomas (better known as Detective Mickey Kollander in the crime drama Cold Squad) round out the crew who have been sent back in time.
----------------------- THE CREATORS ----------------------- The show ODYSSEY 5 was created by Manny Coto. Coto claimed to have a 5 year plan for the series and so it is a great shame that he was not able to fulfil his desire to see the programme through to its conclusion. However the cancellation of ODYSSEY 5 meant that Coto was able to move over to be a writer and producer on the ill-fated final STAR TREK television series ENTERPRISE, in its penultimate and final seasons. He would go on to write some of the best episodes of that series, and since that show's cancellation he has gone on to be writer/producer for the action show '24'.
Other recognisable names from television science fiction who are involved behind-the-scenes include Jonathan Glassner (who was a producer on Stargate SG1), Tracy Torme and Melinda Snodgrass 9who both wrote for Star Trek: The Next Generation), and Tommy Thompson (who was involved in the writing and production of one of my favourite TV shows ever, QUANTUM LEAP).
---------------- MY VIEW ON THE SERIES ---------------- ODYSSEY 5 is a fun series with an interesting concept. The cast are fun to watch and it is enjoyable seeing Peter Weller without his RoboCop headpiece. Sometimes the plots can be a little convoluted so the viewer does need to engage his or her brain, which is no bad thing. It is a real shame that the series was not able to see out Coto's five-year plan, and equally a shame that the final episode ends on a cliffhanger which will seemingly never be resolved. I know that some viewers don't like watching programmes where they never get the 'final' answers, but if you can deal with not getting an ending which wraps up all of the plots, then this is certainly a series to watch. It is worth noting that the series is not averse to showing some female nudity, and indeed the DVD set is rated as '15' so this is definitely not a series to watch with young children. Manny Coto is featured in a commentary on one of the episodes on the DVD.
Amazon UK currently have the DVD with the complete series available for under £15 and I would recommend that you buy it now!
-------------------- THE EPISODES -------------------- The titles of each episode are as follows:
1. Odyssey 5 [feature-length episode] 2. The Shatterer 3. Astronaut Dreams 4. Time Out Of Mind 5. Symbiosis 6. The Choices We Make 7. Rapture 8. L.D.U.-7 9. Flex 10. Kitten 11. Dark At The End Of The Tunnel 12. The Trouble With Harry 13. Skin 14. Begotten 15. Vanishing Point 16. Follow The Leader 17. Half-Life 18. Rage 19. Fossil
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2007 - Science Fiction - Director: Francis Lawrence - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Dash Mihok, Will Smith, Salli Richardson, Willow Smith
Science Fiction - Director: Hiroyuki Yamaga - Original Language: Japanese - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Ayako Kawasumi, Fujiko Takimoto
Sorry for the H, but if this is to be a full DVD review, I would prefer to see a review of the extras in similar detail to the way you've reviewed the film, rather than just a passing mention of one of them.
Earth can be darker than space. The crew of the Odyssey a space shuttle orbiting above ... more
the Earth's surface looks on in horror as the Earth explodes before their eyes. Commander Chuck Taggart (Peter Weller) a geneticist (Sebastian Roche) Taggart's ...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
The crew of the Odyssey, a space shuttle orbiting above the Earth's surface, look on in ... more
horror as the Earth explodes before their eyes. Commander Chuck Taggart (Peter Weller), a geneticist (Sebastian Roche), Taggart's son (Christopher Gorham), a TV new...
Advantages: Great plot, great subplots, great characters (when they get into it) Disadvantages: Well that fairly major issue... it ends at episode 19, with no finale!
Advantages: Great plot, great subplots, great characters (when they get into it) Disadvantages: Well that fairly major issue... it ends at episode 19, with no finale!
![Odyssey 5 - The Complete Series [DVD] [2002]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78495714.jpg "Odyssey 5 - The Complete Series [DVD] [2002]")
very helpful by (86%):
helpful by (14%):
