Planet Earth (film)

Plot

In the year 2133, decades after a nuclear war devastated Earth, the science-based society PAX sends a team to survey central California. On returning to PAX headquarters, the team is attacked by militaristic mutants called the Kreeg. They escape via a hyperloop-like subshuttle that travels through underground tubes built before the final conflict. Team member Pater Kimbridge is severely wounded, requiring a bioplastic prosthesis to repair a sheared pulmonary artery.

PAX Team 21, led by Dylan Hunt, seeks the only surgeon who can perform the operation, Dr. Jonathan Connor. Their search leads them to the Confederacy of Ruth, a society of latter-day Amazons where women dominate and men are enslaved. Harper-Smythe binds Hunt and enters the territory with him as her property. She meets Marg, the leader, who claims Hunt.

Hunt learns the men, called Dinks, are subjugated by a drug in their food, and he soon succumbs to its effects. Harper-Smythe reclaims her property by defeating Marg in a challenge. Unable to find Connor, she is invited to see Marg's newcomer Dinks. Connor comes forward with an antidote, and they decide to swap Hunt for Connor.

Marg agrees, and Connor and Harper-Smythe leave for PAX after distributing the antidote in the Dink food supply. That evening, free of the drug, Hunt seduces Marg. The next morning, Kreeg arrive demanding the secret of male compliance. Hunt leads the un-drugged men in overpowering them, and the women's council suspends the drug treatment. Kimbridge recovers from surgery.

Production

Planet Earth was Roddenberry's second attempt to create a weekly series set on a post-apocalyptic future Earth, following the pilot Genesis II. It redeveloped many concepts and characters from that earlier pilot, mostly recast. A third pilot, Strange New World, aired in 1975, but Roddenberry removed his name after Planet Earth failed to lead to a series. None of the three pilots became a series, though some characters served as prototypes for the later series Andromeda, which also featured a lead named Dylan Hunt who emerges from suspended animation into a chaotic post-apocalyptic universe.

Reception

The PAX Team 21 uniform worn by John Saxon appeared in a 1977 episode of Fantastic Journey. Critics have compared the film to other Roddenberry works, especially Star Trek. Saxon's character was seen as closer to Captain Kirk in physical beauty and charming arrogance than the darker protagonist of Genesis II. Saxon's fighting skills were noted, including a drop-kick to a Kreeg. Janet Margolin was compared favorably to Star Trek's Yeoman Colt. Critics remarked on a catfight between Muldaur and Margolin, noting the actresses performed much of their own stuntwork. Another fight scene between Harper-Smythe and Treece, witnessed by Treece's children, ends with Harper-Smythe apologizing to the children. This mirrors a scene in Genesis II where a nuclear shock wave affects children, reflecting Roddenberry's pacifistic touch.