johnhsmith-00056

This is one of those shows where the nostalgic memories are better than the actual product.

Back in the 70s we were younger and more naive. We didn't really question the premise of every alien looking human and speaking English (yes, that was the case on Star Trek also, but they at least created the "universal translator" as their excuse). We didn't even think about the variable speed of the moon - traveling so fast that it would encounter another solar system every week, yet would seemingly hang around every new planet for a few days at a time. We didn't think the random blinking lights looked ridiculous, or wonder why a command center on such a major installation would use cheap plastic chairs. With a larger budget it would have been amazing.

Still, it's heart was in the right place, and the episodes were imaginative. The pre-CGI special effects have a certain charm, as do the 1970s telescoping antennas, big plastic control buttons, and polyester uniforms.

This movie is DARK. And I don't mean dark mood, or film noire, but I mean there was no good lighting used during the indoor shots it's all in shadows and half the time I couldn't see what was going on. Maybe they did that on purpose because they didn't use a real set.

Most of the film takes place in some kind of inpatient treatment center for women with mental health issues (sure is a strange coincidence that all the women there are young and sexy). The plot also doesn't make sense about why the mermaid is there instead of being studied by professionals.

The beginning and the ending of the film are the strongest parts, you could skip the middle without missing a lot.

The sub in this film or whatever was used looks really old, probably last used in the 1990s. There's white paneling with wood trim. The controls look 1970s era and there are some 1990s era small televisions.

So they could have set this film in an earlier era. Some other things still aren't quite right though. The captain looks like he's only 30 and has sleeve tattoos. One of the crewmembers is severely overweight, like what the heck is he doing on the sub?

Outside of that, the film is an interesting storyline but could have been presented better. The central character, the mysterious woman, is just not that interesting to watch.