Visual FX from "Jason Of Star Command 7-16

[CaptainBuckRogers]

I miss this show! I loved it! Loovee the girl. Scotty is so cool here, he got better-looking with age!

[destronia123]

I remember this show -- it was totally non-violent. The evil fighters were always unmanned drones, so it was ok for the good guys to blow them up.

[Gunh3d1]

Thats some pretty decent FX for a series that was supposed to be for children...

..i have to seek this on DVD.Its such a great contrast to the harsh new Battlestar Galactica...

...i am missing the escapism...and the colorful laser rays..i hate machine guns and missiles in SF...;)

[mturnerr11]

so which would win in a fight.draco's command ship VS SDF-1 macross(my money's on the macross)

[Skulldini]

These visuals are actualy pretty decent for television of this period. There was a big surgence of space-adventure shows, like this, at this time because of the then-recent succes of Star Wars.

[barnstormer4]

When I was a kid, I was hoping some company would make plastic models of the Starfire/Mini-Cat, Drago's drones, etc., just like there were models available from 'Space:1999' and other sci-fi series. Was I disappointed when it never happened, but seeing these FX reels again brings back fond memories of Saturday mornings before our current glut of CGI.

Thank you very much for posting this. Maybe someone might finally make some models available from these!

[professorcurtis]

Fantastic! I can make my own story based on your presentation.  Thank you for posting this entertaining video!

[Simcore999]

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+Great idea, to keep effect shots =)

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[t526tgc]

The effects shots are highly adventurous but the models are pretty crude compared to Gerry Anderson stuff..

[marty1968]

To quote ButtHead:

"These special effects aren't very special"

[Lx3IV]

Has anyone noticed that music from Star Trek TAS is being used at 3:08?

[alpha1productions]

FILMATION used the same music in many of their shows!

[Starbuckin]

Yes, and I can hear ALOT of the sound effects as well that were used in He Man as well as Blackstar, amazing! thanks for this!

[MrNeutronSF]

I think it's just stock FIlmation music that appeared on many of their shows.

[cloverfield911]

i knew there was a show i watched as a kid with asteroid ships... could never remember the name till now

[snoopysam1987]

There were two related shows - Space Academy and its spinoff Jason of Star Command. You can get them now from Amazon.

[IronChefSpam]

The music!!! The music!!! Why aren't there more comments about the awsome soundtrack?!?!?!

I listened to the same short cheesy loops on this and about a half dozen other shows in the Filmation library way back when.....sigh.

[abacab987]

I love science fiction. read books and used to build elaborate space models. I was 10 yrs. old when this stuff was on, but for some reason it did not hold my interest at all. I think it may have been because of the no-talent yuppie/preppy cast. Some of the props seem to have been built on a piece of lava-rock, which I thought was obtrusive and disconcerting. The scripts were the worst sort of tripe and the comedy-relief was tedious. The optical negative cutting and lighting was also badly done.

[xxxphunky]

these are some hardcore effects

[cubdukat]

Oh, man, I'm almost ashamed to say I liked this show when I was younger! It's vintage Filmation--hella-cheesy!

[stegaflaps]

Wow!! I remember this! I watched this on saturday mornings- it was in the midst of the cartoon show! I wondered what its name was. Where the hell did you find it? It was pretty good for the time. I clearly remember Jason's last line in the series........when the Dragonship blew up.............."If you look at the screen you might see some fireworks!" We used to race our bikes up and down the street pretending to be the "Starfire" and the "Red dragons!" Those were the days!

[straker2]

God, this takes me back! I remember the last time they showed it here I made a concerted effort to see the whole thing from ep 1 to the very last and the whole epic was quite impressive for the budget limits, really enjoyed it! I liked the villain, Drago, he was better as a Vader-like baddie than the villains on prime time space adventures like Galactica and Buck Rogers.

[crmfghtr]

There is nothing wrong with the show, if you like all action it can be enjoyed as an adult too. The spacecraft were awesome and lets not forget the great Ray Harryhausen like stop motion monsters. Lot of work lavished on the show.

[martok2112]

I loved this show as a kid, and some of the VFX hold up well even to this day. As I recall, some of the folks who were brought in to do the FX on this show were from Star Wars...no wonder it had such high production values. This gave me awesome sci fi weekends. JoSC on Saturday mornings, and Battlestar Galactica on Sunday evenings. I have this on DVD, and it's a great blast from the past.

[SB111058]

Amazing stuff.

Assume a lot of it is bi-packed in-camera vfx.

The miniatures are very crude though compared to Space 1999 made several years before..

[will4ward]

Actually the models are pretty good!

a lot depends on how you age and dirty them up!

-which they did not do here.

I worked with the Skotak Bros (ALIENS VFX) and learned that the lighting and angles can make all the difference!

[SB111058]

So did I, funnily enough...

[will4ward]

Then you know: with an airbrush and a brass mask I could make those models "sing"

Maya kids nowadays will never know he satisfaction of putting a finished model up for shooting!

-I never had the opportunity to work with the Skotaks on a major film,though. -darn!

[chapita14bis]

Muy bueno, me trajo recuerdos de mi infancia!

[luvindogadis411]

This was made by Filmation. They did some good stuff like: He-man, Young Sentinels, Flash Gordon (animated), Tarzan Lord of the Jungle, The Archies, Sabrina, Groovie Goolies, Freedom Force, Blackstarr, Fat Albert & The Cosby Kids, Isis, Shazam and more. I think for cartoons like Flash Gordon they used rotoscope animation technology. MOCAP (motion capture) wasn't around yet. Some of Krofft's stuff are classics like: Land of the Lost (still awesome!), Far Out Space Nuts and The Lost Saucer.

[akaflint10]

Was this Kroft? I thought it was Filmation.

[altha2008]

this is on dvd on netflix

[bukster1]

This show was years ahead of its time. The special effects are pre-computer generated, but the producers made good use of the technology available.

[justin811j]

Enough of the buttons already! Lol! This stuff is gold!

[1Radioflyer911]

I remember being something like nine or ten and seeing some of the episodes but I'm sure I missed a few. Those Krofft shows were corny, cheap, campy even then but there was something about them that just draws you in.

[Beamshipcaptain]

I used to watch this show on Saturday mornnings when I was juniour or senior year in high-scool, just after STAR WARS came out, amid an explosion of sci-fi shows and movies. It was like the times I had waited for all my life. Things are pretty-good now, where technology and science of the inner worlds is at an all-time peak, etc. Just wish we were furter along in interplanetary-travel. The Chinese are going to beat us back to the Moon!

[Flashmikko]

I'm an 18 year old and boy do I wish I grew up on shows like this when I was a little guy. The closest I had to it was power rangers.

[markd222]

This is the most wonderful thing, ever.

[satweavers]

Was this that show that had Jonathan Harris running some sort of Space Cadet School with a bunch of kids?

The miniatures are pretty good, but cheesy laser effects can't compare with Gerry Anderson's miniature pyrotechnics.

THAT was satisfying!

I think Revel and Monogram benefited from that, too. We used to buy kits and build them just to blow them up with fire crackers.

[cratercritter]

Where the heck are kids shows like this today?

[squidfartz]

Oh sweet lord is this beautiful. These clips have made my day.

[theironclads]

The model work here is still impressive for this show even 30-years after its debut.Plus,Saturday morning kid shows had miniscule budgets as compared to prime time series.The average 1978 sitcom had a much larger budget than what these FX teams were given to produce the incredible visuals that they did.

[librano]

whats the name of the tiny robot with 2 legs... they used to send it to do stuff... i used to wish i had one of those...

[alpha1productions]

WIKI

[Beamshipcaptain]

The robot's name was Peepo.

[DFORCE1969]

Good model work is always better than CGI because you are filming a REAL object;The only deception being one of scale rather than some glossy textured animated shit produced by over-rated nerds;

Bring back the craftsmen & artisans to special effects!

[shardy70]

i LOVED watching this show on saturday mornings

(circa 1000 years ago)

this show, and then bike riding all day long afterwards...

until the sun went down.

then looking forward to Battlestar Galactica on sunday evenings. (what happened to those carefree days???)

AAAAAAAARGH!

[garyeberly916]

well...I think we know where the klingon bird of prey came from...

[BigBillCox]

You know, these effects are pretty damn good considering they are from a late 70's saturday morning TV show. These guys did a pretty good job here, and they did it all 'old school'. CG was pure science fiction way back then. This is all minature work, and they did pretty good with what they had to work with.

[ernestmac13]

I had forgotten that, Jason of Star Command used the music from the animated Star Trek series.

[rpmartin01]

Where is DR. Theopolis?

[bipolarber]

You know, these effects aren't that bad. You want to see some bad effects? Go rent "Starcrash" sometime. The fact that the guys from JOSC could turn out decent work, sans computers, on a shoestring is amazing.

[mavericstud9]

TV has always fugured-and goes Lost in Space whatever-that little kids are watching.so make retarded,after they'll watch anything,and look at some the comments proves em right.

[thelionwaits]

I Loved this show. What kills me, though. Here you have the Academy, populated by literally thousands of beings. And the Academy itself his hijacked and attacked constantly but nobody within the Space Academy ever seemed to notice (the shows ran concurrently when Jason came out).

[mavericstud9]

What kills is all Star Wars imatation stunk.Buck Rogers was atleast funny.Starbuck,the gals and ships only BattleStar Galactica passable.I hated all the other shit.

[supremeobliterator]

You can so tell those are models. Why do currnet space shows like the New BattleStar Galactica have to Soap Opera ish ?

[rpmartin01]

You're kidding right? Those are not models, they are real.  They were filmed in outer space by the crew of Skylab. Read the credits.

[Seadweller451]

The new BSG is mindless crap!!!

[supremeobliterator]

Yeah, as much of a Sci Fi junky I have been historically, I can't seem to get into the Soap Opera stuff of today's shows. Much of Voyger and DS9 "Exept for the Dominion war part" is Soap Opera's ish as well.

If I wanna watch Soap Opera's I will, but I like Sci Fi and they should seperate the two !

[rpmartin01]

You are gay.

[blender1970]

The original bsg WAS mindless crap!

[palacio154]

I remember this show. Wasn't it on Saturday mornings? Was there more than 1 season?

[marky2112]

Button push finale. Bravo. Those old shows got a lot of mileage from pushing buttons.

[Dulcimerist]

What's with the gangsta rap music at about 4:15? That genre of music wasn't supposed to be invented until 15 years later! LOL. I loved this show!

[ndazzle]

Oh man. I have not seen this in so long. I loved that voice in the beginning. Anyone know who that could be? Also the sound effects are great. MediaGold is right about the button pushing. But is a great touch. Imagine those being touchscreen buttons.

[PoPoNellie]

The Voice in the beginning is probably Lou Scheimer.

[MediaGold]

BTW, I heard Jason of Star Command is coming out or is out on DVD. Os that where you got these from? Is the show worth watching in your opinion?

[JJFlash1965]

MediaGold, they are definitely worth getting on DVD, they don't make these kind of shows much anymore, if at all. Plus they're good fun

[MediaGold]

Wow, I haven't seen this show in something like 30 years. You know, for a 70s Saturday morning show made by the cheapmasters at Filmation, the effects were actually pretty good! I was watching one of my favorite shows the other day, one of the later seasons of Red Dwarf which was made 20 years after this, and these model shots are actually a lot better.

They sure did like getting close ups of fingers pushing buttons though, didn't they?