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fleet of alien spacecraft enters Earth's solar system and settles in Mars orbit; that Mars looks like the leftover model of the moon from Anderson's Space: 1999 tinted red does not fool the hostile intruders. The NASA geological survey base on Mars broadcasts to the fleet that their mission is peaceful. But to no avail. The aliens obliterate the base from space in a rain of Thunderbirds-like destruction. Then the craft link into one superstructure that lands on Mars, forming a large ready-made colony/habitat.
The aliens are led by the evil Queen Zelda from the Planet Guk. She is of a race of androids that rebelled against their humanoid masters. Her followers are an array of alien exiles, criminals and monsters. Zelda, who can alter matter with her mind, uses Mars as a staging area for her intended invasion of Earth. Her closest confidants for this effort are her semi-idiot son Yung-star and her sibling Cy-star, both of whom diabolically laugh in unison with Zelda at the drop of a hat.
Standing between Zelda and her conquest of Earth are the Terrahawks, an elite military and scientific organization led by the genius Dr. "Tiger" Ninestein, who is one of nine clones; if Ninestein dies, his memories can be data-dumped into the mind of one of his fellow clones. Also on the Terrahawks team: avionics expert Capt. Mary Falconer; computer and engineering prodigy Lt. Hiro; fighter pilots Lt. Hawkeye and Capt. Kate Kestrel (who happens to be an international singing sensation on the side).
Armed with advanced weapons and vehicles, with the aid of spherical robots called Zeroids (who are commanded by Sgt. Major Zero, whose military bearing puts to shame Doctor Who's Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart), the Terrahawks repel the repeated attacks of Zelda and her followers.
An overlooked gem in the Anderson canon
Not true SuperMarionation like Anderson's hits The Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet (the puppets aren't operated by strings), produced during the glut of ILM effects extravaganzas and filmed in 16mm on a low budget, Terrahawks is not too fondly remembered. Peter Nichols in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction called Terrahawks "tired and self-parodic." But enough water has gone under the bridge to allow Terrahawks, which bursts with '80s kitsch, to attain a Wedding Singer-like charm almost equivalent to the Austin Powers-like charm of seeing a Cliff Richard puppet swingin' in 1966's Thunderbirds Are Go.
Perhaps what's most pleasant about Terrahawks is the fact that our "hero," Tiger Ninestein, is a very unpleasant person. This clone has a pathological dislike for artificially created beings. He disses the Zeroids in a way that's refreshing in a post-R2-D2 world. He's a snob. He's mean. This lends welcome moments of darkness to Terrahawks.
Despite the aforementioned low budget and 16mm format, the special effects are good fun, and there are always lots of cool spaceships. Steady improvement in the effects work over the run of the show can be seen as supervisor Steven Begg and his crew got increasingly adept at producing miracles on a shoestring. Some shots rival the best effects work produced at the time. Best of all, in each episode, something blows up. It blows up real good.
Zelda and her clan get boring after a while, as do the plots (Zelda hatches a scheme to compromise the Terrahawks' base, is foiled). But her troupe of alien bad guys is always fun, most notably Sram, whose voice can level mountains, Lord Tempo, who can manipulate time, and MOID, Master of Infinite Disguise.
Despite the show's many shortcomings, it's still great entertainment, and watching episode after episode on disc is like devouring potato chips; one is always in the mood for "just one more."
Terrahawks is shockingly "politically incorrect" at times, with much fun being poked at Lt. Hiro's accent and at the speech patterns of one rather effete Zeroid. Still, the show has a special place in my heart; I watched it back in the '80s during its very limited run in the United States. — Mike
Also in this issue: Hellboy and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) Set 1 DVD
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