This episode just seems to me to be a lot of trouble for nothing (sort of like Matter of Life and Death). If these aliens don't want the Alphans to bother them, and they have the power to control their minds so that they see Hawk warships, etc., then why not make the Alphans imagine the planet is a wasteland? I would think it would be easier to make them imagine the planet is a desert....but then there wouldn't be an episode, would there???

Another thing, the aliens say they tapped into the Alphans own fears. Fair enough, but what does that say about the stability of the Alphan personnel that they would imagine that Alpha would get totalled by ship from Earth. Helena also states that they attack with Hawks and Bombers from the planet Earth. Now I can see some justification for fighter ships, acting maybe as escorts in a deep space mission, but what the hell would they need that humunguous bomber for????????????

This is my favorite episode next to Dragon's
Domain, Breakaway , Black Sun and The
Infernal Machine. The theme of this episode is
that the Alphans are fundamentally
incompatible with the civilzation that exists on
this planet. They explain to Dr. Russel that
they are so advanced they bring events into
being through the power of will alone, through
their vast network of brains. They explain that
they have evolved beyond base reptile-brain
emotions like fear. On this planet there can be
no fear. Thus, they truthfully state thay did not
make the atack on Alpha happen, rather the
Alphans made it happen. Because they were
afraid it could happen, they willed it into
ocurring. That's why the attack used weapons
dredged up from their own experience. That's
why nearly every effort the Alphans make here
fails, their own doubts do them in. Murphy's
Law becomes a hard rule of physics. The
aliens at least give the Alphans a taste of what
would happen should they approach and
persist in their efforts to land. The episode
ends on a poigniant note, as do many of the
good Year 1 episodes, when Helena is the
only
one with a clear inkling of what has transpired:
"I remember. It was a world without fear. It was
very strange...and beautiful. We've lost it."

Remember those terriffic shots of stunt
Alphans flying through ruptured hatches and
windows from the explosive decompression?
I can't recall similar FX work that looked as
good until the climactic scene from Aliens.(the
stuff in Outland, The Back Hole and Saturn 3
all sucked. Alien and The Empire Strikes Back
had somewhat better explo-decomp FX.)

Douglas Nicol wrote:

Now I can see some
justification for fighter ships, acting maybe as escorts in a deep space mission, but what the hell would they need
that humunguous bomber for????????????

The bomber was taken from the Alphans' memory of the Alpha Child alien ship not from an Earth ship.

But Helena did say

"Hawks and bombers from the Planet Earth"

I know I'm not the first person to mention this, nor will I be the last, but Bergman's "Goodbye, Alpha" speech has to be one of the most moving monologues from the entire series. It was especially moving as recited by Barry Morse; I can't imagine anyone else pulling it off with just the right combination of emotion and restraint he displayed.

Koenig's final recording (as he floated helplessly in space) was also well done, showing that he knew his ultimate fate was at hand and he was ready to face it.

A few other things...

When I first watched this as a child, my mom (who normally didn't watch Space: 1999) commented that it looked like it was going to be the last episode. I was stunned, first that she was actually watching, and second that it looked like she was right! (Sigh of relief from me by episode's end.)

The decompression effects were very well done, and to this day is still one of the few shows to even deal with such an all-too-real problem.

Twin suns...definitely something different for sf tv of that day. Nice touch.

Watching it tonight I noticed a nice little non-nit. The helmet that Koenig is wearing when he and Alan try to attack the planet DOESN'T have his name on it, which is as it should be since he didn't bring a helmet along. Instead he used one that was already on the Eagle. Its also interesting that his chest pack in this sequence has the number 4 on it, when usually if Koenig is wearing a spacesuit his chest pack will be labelled number 1. On the other hand Alan's Eagle One door is labelled 9, implying that Eagle One is simply whatever Eagle Carter or Koenig happen to be flying, and not a specific craft.

The Alphan responsible for the properly numbered sticker on the door must be dead.

While reading the DVD reviews for Space:1999, it is often stated that it has never looked better ( than it does on DVD)...this is true except for one episode;"War Games". The video images may be good, but for sharpness and clarity they don't compare to something from 1975; the Viewmaster 3D reels featuring the "War Games" episode...After getting this episode on DVD, I compared freeze-frame images of the episode to the images in the 3D reels; there's no comparison. The viewmaster reels featured some sharpest and best photos ever taken of the show,and they're in 3D (particularly impressive are the shots of dustclouds and beams falling in medical center and Main Mission;they really accentuate the 3D effect)...The packet also contains a nice little pamphlet explaining the story...For some reason,the quality of the photography of the Space:1999 reels was much better than that of some other shows(I also have Star Trek, UFO, Moonraker,ST:TMP, and others, but Space:1999 looks especially good)...If you have never seen this episode on a Viewmaster Reel (it was issued in 1975,but mine are in pristine quality,being treasured momentos of the show) you are missing a real treat!

I agree about that "War Games" View Master set, Mark. I still have mine in very good shape, although the envelope for them has fallen apart over the years. (I still have all the pieces of the envelope, though!) As an added bonus, I recently managed to find another set at an antique shop for $5.00US (although its envelope had fallen apart, too, and was taped back together). I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do with it, but I couldn't pass it up. (I also picked up a set of The Black Hole, which I'd sold several years earlier for some reason; the photo quality in that is nothing compared to the "War Games" set.)
For many years, my View Master set was the only S99 thing I had with really nice quality color photos, and the 3-D effect made them all the better.
In addition to the pics Mark already pointed out, the explosion on the launch pad looked even better than any 2-D one seen on tv. Even the first frame, a shot of Koenig standing in front of the monitors below the big screen, looks awesome, both for its depth and its color.

A few more thoughts on the View-Master set and on the episode itself....It took a bit of searching to find my set. I had been looking from 1975 to 1980. Just when I had about given up on finding it, I found one in a huge toy store on a trip to another city. For me, it was like finding King Tut's treasure!....As to the set itself, some positive and negative points; What's nice about the photos is that they are original on the set photos and not just publicity pics. Looking at the set again, I would have to say that my favorite picture is the shot of the alien landscape. The vivid color,sharpness, and depth are quite striking. Although the landscape is obviously a miniature (no atmospheric haze and the trees in the foreground look minute), it is still impressive (For some stunningly realistic miniature "sets", one should take a look at a couple of pics from the UFO set. The photos of a rocket taking off from a launch pad and of a radar tracking dish are totally convincing. I've always considered the miniature work on UFO to be the finest of any science fiction show,ever!). Another "effects" pic is awful; the photo of the Eagle in space- it's a special "set", arranged for the View-Master reel,and depicts an overlit Eagle model in front of a cut-out of the Earth. It's not as bad as an "effects" photo from the Star Trek set (of two tiny Enterprise models suspended in front of an awful star background). Since the television scenes involved multiple exposures, obviously no 3D photos could be taken of them (The UFO reels contain the most impressive effects photos simply because all of the pics are of the series own model sets. The photos of a lunar module, an Inteceptor, and a space probe depict the same scenes as shown on tv (again, the 3D effect is stunning,but the clarity of the images reveals the moon to be just a flat,painted background,1999's use of a model moon was a definate improvement)....One photo which stands out for looking ridiculous is the posed shot of Helena pointing a stun gun at the aliens(although her acting has been criticised for being wooden,her "posing" is even more wooden!)....There's one thing which is conspicuously missing from the reels; the Hawks. The booklet mentions the Hawks but then depicts some Eagles in combat with a trio of battlecruisers (and also has an illustration of Koenig and Helena on the lunar surface without their helmuts on!)....What's also nice about the 1999 set is the use of full-frame photos (later sets such as ST:TMP,Moonraker,etc. used many flat publicity photos-in which the 3D effect was achieved by pasting cut-outs and texts over photos)....I remember back in the 80's of how I eagerly anticipated seeing a couple of 3D films; Parasite and Friday the 13th Part 3. I was expecting the films' 3D effects to be like the View-Master reels...I sure was disappointed! Not only were the films 3D effects not effective, they were a strain on the eyes (the only 3 dimensional thing about Parasite was the black folder given out to filmgoers at the door; it featured a pop-out centerfold of the film's title creature)....Overall, I would just like to say that the "War Games" View-Master set is a very enjoyable way to view this episode (too bad more reels weren't made of other episodes-think of how great the sets of "The Gaurdian of Piri" would look in 3D!).

The battlecruiser in "War Games" could be described as an inspired tribute to 2001's Discovery...for an uninspired tribute to 2001's Discovery; Josie and the Pussycat's spaceship ( just some 70's pop culture observations)!

WAR GAMES is a brutish glorification of violence.

Um... if that's not a sarcastic post, I believe the whole point of the episode is to show that violence is not the preferable way to handle things, and the results of violence are, well, violent. Brutish, if you will.
Glorification of violence would show mass destruction having a positive effect, such as the Alphan survivors claiming what's left of the alien planet for themselves and saying "At least revenge paid off and got us a new home!"

They don't want the Alphans to land on their planet, but the Alphans decide to attempt a mass landing anyway. Those insensitve Alphans!

Only after half the moonbase has been pummelled beyond reasonable repair.

I wonder how things would have proceeded if at the episode's beginning, the Alphans had launched a recon party to the panet, and the aliens had sent up a blockade of fighters (with the huge battlecruiser prominently hovering nearby), firing warning shots to make their intentions of "home defence" very clear.
I should think that the Alphans would have taken the hint and turned back, hoping like crazy that the aliens wouldn't pursue them.
(As a side note, it's the Alphan's who are the aliens in this ep!)
Of course, that would have made for a short episode...

Considering how xenophobic the aliens are, the "plague of fear" they label the humans with seems somewhat a double standard. Unless they are referring to humans spreading fear, because so many other races are afraid of them.

Of course, the aliens assumed from the outset that the Alphans would fight, rather than take a hint from warning shots. So what else does that say about the aliens' views of humans?

Speaking of aliens, why do they talk in a computer like manner? If they are so advanced shouldn't they be beyond talking like an archaic "Earth" computer? (Anthony Valentine's performance is beyond wooden and awkward, it's annoying).

"The Infernal Machine" reused one shot from "War Games" and improved it. A red laser beam striking the Eagle was added to the shot of an Eagle hovering over the moonbase. The Hawks flashing lights definately weren't as dramatic as animated laser beams. Then again, lasers aren't the most feasible space weapons.

I wish I knew where my box of Viewmaster reels is...I'd love to pull this out and check it out. I agree that this was a good episode choice for the packet; much better than the Original Trek episode chosen, The Omega Glory (hmmm, maybe one of the Alphans brought that with them, and the aliens knew about it! That explains why they wee so scared of these humans, because Kirk wasn't there! LOL) It's always interesting to see Viewmaster packets in Toys R Us or Target and see that they are still going strong. One would have thought that video tapes would have driven them out of business; they still have those classic travel sets in new versions as well as the kid-oriented packets. Maybe it's just the three-d effect: my favorite of all of the Peanuts packets was one shot with carved models so it really was 3d and not simply the comic strip scene or cel from the animated cartoon. And I totally adored The Little Yellow Dinosaur for the same reason...moved me in a way with it's cheesy models, that Jurassic Park (the movie) never could.

I agree with you about The Omega Glory. Why was one of the most visually unimpressive episodes chosen for the Star Trek set (probably because it didn't require a lot of effects shots for the reel). I always thought an episode such as Amok Time would have been an obvious choice. The vivid red sky backdrops and on set Stonehenge-like architecture would look impressive in 3-D.....I had the same reaction as a kid to miniature sets. My parents bought me a story book of "Hansel and Gretel" from Europe. The illustrations in the book consisted of highly detailed miniature sets and characters. I was totally enchanted by the book. It was definately more interesting than my books with just drawings for illustrations. Then again, I always loved the stop motion puppet shows on tv (Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, The Year Without a Santa Claus, and even the Pal puppetoons when they would show up occasionally)....I'm trying to catch up on all my favorite old Harryhausen movies on DVD. Plus, I just bought the first season of Lost in Space on DVD, so I have quite a bit of viewing to do.

I agree about the holiday specials. The Animagic style of Rankin-Bass will live forever, always winning the hearts of new kids, no matter how much modern CGI work advances. Say! Those Rankin-Bass shows would make for great silly 1999 crossovers..."The Year Without a Moon", "Tony the Red-Nosed Beer Maker", "Moonbase Alpha is Comin' To Town", "Frosty's Hat: The Force of Life", "The Rules of The Night Before Christmas", "Here Comes Balor" (where the guest villain instead of Vincent Price's Irontail is even nastier at trying to become the Easter Beast...LOL)...LOL I'm too twisted for color tv...

You forgot one. "The Mad Monster Party" from the sixties and aired every once in a while on cable. It could be the inspiration for "Maya's Mad Monster Party"...

Speaking of those Rankin-Bass shows, I was able to see them (Rudolph, Little Drummer Boy,etc.) on the big screen in the 70's. American kids living overseas on American Military bases then didn't have American television to watch. So some of the bases would have Saturday specials for kids. A typical special would include a cartoon, sometimes a serial from the forties (I remember seeing an old black and white Superman serial), a short documentary (usually on travel), and a children's or monster movie, most often several years old. I remember seeing "Destroy All Monsters","When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth" (a film which floored me as a kid, I was amazed by that film!),etc. .... and all for just 25 cents (the theaters were always cheaper than the civilian ones back home).....As for the big screen, I know that "War Games" was seen overseas in some theaters as part of the "Alien Attack" film (ITC had to jump on the Star Wars bandwagon by releasing this compilation of Breakaway and War Games). I don't recall any theaters in America showing it theatrically. It usually showed up on tv later with other ITC 'film' versions of other ITC shows (Space:1999, UFO or "Alien Invasion", Thunderbirds)...

The films did leave one nifty thing. A nice bit of artwork for each release. So one can download a nice wallpaper of the "Alien Attack" as a sort of pictorial momento of "War Games"! I remember back in 79, NBC used to advertise each show in the paper with a painting of the principal characters/action featured in the show. I used to clip out and save each week's ad for Buck Rogers. Then again, I used to clip out each ad/poster for every sci-fi film advertised in the paper. What kids had to do before the internet!

An important question.
What is the "Little Yellow Dinosaur".
Sounds like "Dopey" the Brontosaurus baby in "Land of the Lost".

If those War Games viewmaster discs are so great could somebody try to scan them with a slide scanner and share the images with the rest of us?

There are some rather dark, blurry images of them at The Catacombs Merchandise Guide. When you open the page, scroll down to the ViewMaster entry and make a selection.
The images do not do proper justice to what you'd see with the actual ViewMaster viewer!

Every pic from a reel reproduced on the web seems disappointing. When viewing a reel, one can make the light as bright or dim as one wants...just pick your own light source!

As long as it isn't the sun! (Dangerous, that!)

Some new 3D reels could be made...Welcome to a S99 convention, see Catherine Schell and Brian Johnson in 3D. Look at these props from the show in three dimension.
Just kidding,... but a fun thought!

Based on an idea by Curious on the Sink 1999 2 board, here's my list of improved effects for "War Games": This ought to be fun, but there are so many FX, I'm sure I'll miss a few things!
The biggest one that stands out to me is the cardboard cutout Rescue Eagle that gets blasted on the lift... as in "The Full Circle," just fixing the command module would help the look of things. I suppose while we're at it, we could make it a standard Eagle instead of a Rescue Eagle. I still like the idea that the aliens were blasting everything, though, so maybe having a rescue Eagle get blasted during the strafing run that hits Medical would be appropriate.
The explosion with the debris that hits Carter's Eagle is a continuation of a previous explosion. Replace the first explosion, so this one seems new (and still shows the debris that hits the Eagle).
Add external damage to Carter's Eagle.
The front-view footage of Carter's Eagle drifting in space is clearly a photo being moved around in a circular motion. Replace it with new model footage!

Aw, nuts, something's come up and I have to leave! I'll continue this tomorrow (hopefully).

This is simply a magnificent episode. When I viewed it again a couple of monthes ago, several things impressed me about it. It's an ambitious and action packed ep. With all the mini-climaxes (the initial space battle, the destruction of large parts of Alpha, the explosion of the Battlecruiser, the capture of Helena, Koenig and Alan's Eagle being destroyed in the forcefield, and the destruction of the Alien city), this almost seems to be structured like the film "Aliens". Just after seeing one great action scene, another even more spectacular one comes.

As I've noted about other Y1 eps, there are many wonderful surprises in this ep. Bergman's farewell speech, Koenig's philosophical reflections on death (most other shows would depict some one in his situation as merely being concerned with running out of air), the concept of Helena becoming part of the Aliens' "collective".

My biggest gripe about this episode is Anthony Valentine's performance as the male Alien. He delivers his lines in an excessively stilted manner. I found his performance downright irritating, especially after the wonderful performances of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee in similar roles. I thought Barb Bain and Ilsa Blair were fine in those scenes. I enjoyed seeing Ilsa use her native British accent as compared to her 'Texan' accent in Journey to Where.

Most of the flaws in the special effects could be fixed with better editing. The cardboard cut-out of the rescue Eagle could be edited out with no loss to the ep. A couple of other scenes could benefit from trimming. When Koenig and Helena's Eagle lands on the Alien pad, the wires become very obvious towards the end of the shot. The shot lasts 14 seconds. Just using the first five seconds would suffice (the wires aren't really visible in those first seconds). When Koenig and Alan's Eagle explodes, the explosion's first couple of seconds show the illuminated black square behind the explosion. Just edit out the first 2 seconds. A nit about that explosion. The Eagle explodes and there is no debris left: only Koenig and Carter remain. I also would have expected their spacesuits to have been singed or at least scratched up by shrapnel ( but I can forgive that, I wouldn't want those expensive costumes to be ruined for just some brief shots in this ep).

A shadow of a boom microphone is briefly visible in Main Mission (in the upper part of the screen) in a scene right after cutting away from Alan cutting power in the Eagle. Some of the lighting was a bit sloppy too. In the Command Conference, a light is being very visibly moved to follow Koenig. On the subject of lighting, Main Mission and Medical Center look great with illuminated red panels.

Another small nit. Exiting the Eagle on the Alien landing pad, Koenig and Helena step out into a cylinder in a bright white expanse. The Eagle doors should have opened to a view of the planet's sky. One nifty effect occurs in one of the interior scenes. The camera pulls from a closeup of Helena to a multi-hued tunnel of color as Helena enters the Alien 'thought collective'.

A few other nits and observations. A wire supporting the Battlecruiser is visible in the shot where it is shown entering from the top of the screen. The spacebattles are appealing to me because they have a style unique to the show. I've seen rather too many CGI spacebattles of late; they all start to look alike after awhile. As this ep used photo cutouts for shots of the Eagles and Hawks exploding, one can freeze-frame a very interesting effect. As the explosions start, the 'ships' are surrounded by a spectacular aurora of flames. The show also had its own unique style for the 'sounds' of the spacecraft. Rewatching this ep, another thing became apparent to me. In the first year, the space scenes featured 'twinkling' stars in the background (which some critics denounced). Although not scientifically accurate, the twinkling stars did make the space scenes more vibrant. The twinkling effect was abandoned in the show's second year.

If I could suggest one CGI enhancement. In the scenes where Alphans are sucked out of the moonbase (by explosive decompression), it would be nice if an exterior shot could be added. Specifically, showing bodies and debris in an exterior longshot(nothing graphic). ST:Voyager and Enterprise feature such shots where bodies and debris are shown being sucked into space after explosions.

The new Battlestar Galactica miniseries had a good shot of decompression in an exterior scene I noticed, something similiar would be quite good Mark.

I'm back, but with very little more to add that Mark hasn't already covered in his most recent post... I like the idea of debris from Koenig & Carter's Eagle; a few pieces here and there in the background (becoming fewer and further apart as time went on) would be a nice touch.
I noticed that light tracking Koenig in the Command Conference, too. I wonder if that could be toned down or not...
Near the episode's end, somewhat famous (or at least very well-known by the 1970's) footage of atomic bomb tests (covered by a red filter) was used to show the enormous explosions that rock the planet, and drive home the destructiveness wrought by war. The use of A-bomb test footage doesn't completely bother me, except that in at least one shot, one can see Earth battleships, cruisers and other vessels near the base of the explosion. Understandable, considering the source material, but it might be nice to hide the ships.

Another nit:
The surface shots of the alien planet show twin suns. Both suns are shown to be disks inside the atmosphere as they are in front of the sky background (clouds should be in front of the sun, not behind it). "Testament of Arkadia" has the same problem (an Eagle flies out from behind the sun).

Perhaps I was being inattentive, but I never noticed the Eagle destroyed on the rising lift pad was a photographic cut-out until I read about it on fan sites; it's such a brief but effective shot, one of my favorites in the episode. It only becomes apparent with repeated viewing.

A later shot shows 'debris' of a burnt photo on the launch pad.

This to me is the kind of episode that made the first season of Space:1999 unique. The thing about Space:1999 year one is that a lot of episodes have to be viewed multiple times before many of the nuances in them can begin to be appreciated. To be honest, the first time I saw this episode, I found it completely incomprehensible and thought that the script must have surely been written by a room full of trained monkeys. But since then, I've come to appreciate many of the themes and layers of "War Games" (such as pointed out by Peter Stoller on the third post early on this board) and have gotten more out of it with each repeat viewing, things fall into place which seem nonsensical before. I think this is a characteristic of a lot of the first season episodes, and a reason for a lot of the critical and popular animosity toward the show: In the medium of television, if someone can't digest an episode on the first viewing, they'll just automatically dismiss it without giving it a second look.

Another nuance to appreciate: Alan Carter manages to destroy his targets where others fail because he is confident in his ability to do so successfully. Later, he's not so confident he can penetrate the planet's defenses, despite Koenig's determination to do so, and he is killed…but Koenig survives.

And thanks for the appreciation Todd.

People criticize Anthony Valentine's performance for his mechanical intonations. That may have been at the director's prompting, an attempt on both their parts to evoke an entirely dispassionate, supremely rational mind with no sympathy for the Alphans…maybe even thinly veiled contempt. The resulting performance is, I agree, unpleasantly stiff (but makes for some nifty sound samples).

As for critical reactions towards acting styles: I feel Barbara Bain's work in the first season has often been overly harshly dismissed as 'wooden'. I might be alone, but I really enjoy her restrained acting style. Not every one has to be a ham like William Shatner. As for Shatner, although his acting style has drawn much criticism, I find his acting to be one of the charms of original Trek.

I feel that when Bain occasionally acted hysterically (such as this ep when she screams in the alien chamber), her acting seemed less credible to me. It just didn't seem natural enough. I accepted her otherwise restrained performances as part of the character, and they were fairly consistent throughout the season.
As for some of the older (1970's) criticisms of her acting style, maybe part of that criticism stems from the era, when both women and men were "supposed to act" rather than restrain themselves. You know, to be "dramatic" and all that. Plus, in America at least, audiences were used to Star Trek's style. Each show had problems and were usually at opposite sides from each other... for example, ST had many instances of "overacting," while S99 had many instances of "wooden acting." Yet both shows are enjoyable on their own merits. (I'm not trying to dis Star Trek here, but I'm still amazed at how many ST fans praise ST's ideals of open-mindedness while routinely criticizing S99 so viciously on so many fronts, including its stars' acting style.)

I agree about over reaction in some cases. I watched "The Troubled Spirit" last week, and I was struck by Helena's reaction at the end towards the burned and dead Mateo. She looked overly shocked and covered her face with her hands. As a doctor, I think she would have been more used to seeing terrible injuries. She's performed autopsies too (to say nothing of all the gruesome work with cadavers she would have had to do at medical school).
Maybe, the reaction might have been an expression of her compassion? The death of any human being would be cause for alarm. As a doctor, I just expected her to be more cool-headed.

The laser on Alan's Eagle didn't seem like it was powerful enough to destroy the alien battlecruiser and cause a "Death Star" size explosion.

I assumed that since he was firing at the rear of the vessel, he struck a reactor that powered the engines. (Obviously a design flaw, having a lack of armor around such a highly sensitive area. But hey, even the Death Stars had serious design flaws! Overconfidence in one's supposed invulnerability leads to disaster.)

More importantly, Carter was confident he would succeed in destroying the bomber, so he does. Remember, the Alphan's mindsets determined what was going to happen. Bob Mathias voices his fear that the window he's reinforcing won't hold, and sure enough it gives way before him. His goal at the very least was to buy time enough for the others to evacuate medical, and in that he succeeds.

Sorry, I was thinking like an Alphan there! In their minds, they probably rationalized the ship's destruction similar to how I did in my post (but without the Death Star reference, of course).

Which also explains that the Eagle piloted by Koenig and Carter meets resistance since it is expected by them.

Also, the first three Hawks destroyed by Carter's flight are regarded as 'too easy' by Carter himself, moments later, new contacts appear.

I've wondered about the first Hawks; were they meant to test the Alphan's nerve? Most likely they didn't expect the aliens' first gesture to be so overtly threatening, so I find it harder to attribute the appearance of those ships solely to the Alphan's fears. Since the ships made absolutely no move to defend themselves, considering the ease of their destruction lead to the fear that they were decoys to lure away the defending Eagles, and instantly new ships appeared to justfy that fear and strike at the vulnerable base.

Although when the same scenario is replayed near the end of the episode, when Carter is ordered not to fire, the ships disappear, so I think it's partly a nerve test. The second wave of ships is a consequence of what happens when you act aggresively without any seeming provocation.

That's my two pennies worth anyway.

Peter, I find your comments about Mathias' fear becoming "reality" to be quite interesting. I'd never made that connection. This is definately an episode that one can appreciate more when viewed more than once. It's not just another space battle!

Ahh, nothing like The Big Rewind Button....

I thought it was interesting that these ships could be taken out in one shot.

I definitely remember this episode from my youth - I remember Helena in the box. However, the deep message would have gone over my 8 year old head.

My wife said it best - they were smoking some good stuff that week.

This month, TV Zone has a special Gerry Anderson issue. The article on Space:1999 also cites what they consider to be the best and worst episode for each season. "Dragon's Domain" was chosen as the best year one episode (no argument there), while "War Games" was chosen as the worst. That comes as a bit of a surprise as "War Games" is usually in many fans selection of their top five episodes:

"So why mark it down as a disappointment? Well, for a start, there's the frankly bizarre performances of the usually excellent Anthony Valentine and Isla Blair as the aliens - a text book example of how not to 'act alien'. But more than this, there's the ending. It's all a dream."

I found it interesting that the article's author found the performances of the 'aliens' to be one of the ep's biggest faults. I also said my biggest gripe about the episode was Anthony Valentine's acting. And I thought it was just me who was overly annoyed by that bad performance!

I disagree with the 'dream' criticism. In terms of the story, I thought it worked quite well (since the point of the story was that it was all an illusion in the Alphans minds). There is really only one "dream" I object to in the series: Koenig, Helena, and Alan "sleepwalk" through the second season as if they're totally unaware that everything around them has changed. Never so much as a single word about Bergman (especially galling in "Catacombs of the Moon" when Helena is preoccupied with constructing an artificial heart- how could she forget Victor had an artificial heart?) That "dream" is almost as bad as the infamous Dallas cliffhanger (when a dead Bobby reappears) which pretended as if a whole season didn't exist. The second year basically only acknowledged "Breakaway" ("The Seance Spectre" mentions the initial blast).

Christopher Penfold considers "War Games" to be the best story he wrote for Space:1999 (he also wrote the screenplays for Alpha Child, Last Sunset, Space Brain, Dragon's Domain, and Dorzak). I can see why Dorzak isn't his favorite as it was extensively rewritten by Fred "Rules of Luton" Freiberger. Still, I consider War Games to be an excellent episode. It's an ambitious story filled with interesting ideas.

Freddie Freiberger was da bomb. Man could write and direct like noweezy biz! Dude aint got the props he deserves.

What the hell is the previous poster on?

Why didn't the aliens just tell the Alphans to get lost in the first place. Koenig and Co. would have respected their decision. They didn't seem like the type to just go in and grab a planet.

Alan identifies the attacking ships as Hawks. How come no one wondered why an alien planet was sending Earth attack ships against Alpha.

Nice to see Sandra acting compitent for once. Koenig even leaves her in charge of Main Mission at one point. Far cry from the usual Sandra "Freak out and faint" Benes!

Sorry folks,this episode did nothing for me at all.As an earlier post mentioned,if these aliens had such fantastic mental powers why bother going through all of this hoopla at all? Simply make their planet appear as uninhabitable,or render it totally invisible to Moonbase Alpha.Koenig says to Helena that some instruments in the aliens chamber is vital to them,he then proceeds to smash them.How did he possibly come to that conclusion? The aliens never stated this,Koenig never met this race before so how could he deduce how their tech worked?

if these aliens had such fantastic mental powers why bother going through all of this hoopla at all? Simply make their planet appear as uninhabitable,or render it totally invisible to Moonbase Alpha


Three words: Short show syndrome

The aliens sending military spaceships against Alpha with no attempt to make contact is quite provocative.

If the aliens really wanted to test people why not send an unknown ship?

Craig R. - "When I first watched this as a child, my mom (who normally didn't watch Space: 1999) commented that it looked like it was going to be the last episode."

I was the same! I was so upset that it looked like this was the end, that I remember almost crying! And I was 44 years old! Actually, no I was 14!

Tim G. - "Alan's Eagle One door is labelled 9, implying that Eagle One is simply whatever Eagle Carter or Koenig happen to be flying, and not a specific craft."

Nice try, Tim, but it's definitely a blooper. It was a lack of communication between the director and set decorator and script editor.
It's like Virgil Tracy is on Thunderbird 2 and he arrives on the scene before Scot Tracy in Thunderbird 1, but Virgil is referred to as 'Thunderbird 1'. Numerically, it just doesn't make sense.

Mike - "Koenig says to Helena that some instruments in the aliens chamber is vital to them, he then proceeds to smash them. How did he possibly come to that conclusion? The aliens never stated this, Koenig never met this race before so how could he deduce how their tech worked?"

I'd say it was a logical deduction. Two aliens beam in and out of sealed boxes, so I would think that the equipment in that room would be the machinery that allows them to transport and have life support.
At the very least, he released his anger on them for killing so many of his people.

I've always thought that the female alien, played by Isla Blair, was the voice of Computer, but checking her resume on imdb.com, I see that she's not listed as such.
She is still active in acting, among others she was in 'Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade', and played Isabella in the 2-part Doctor Who episode, 'King's Demons'.

When the Alphans have nearly cleared out of Alpha, some of the Main Mission consoles are missing, as are any connection into the floors. How do all of those buttons on the consoles work if there aren't any wires or connections into the floor and into the walls?

Long shots of Koenig in space show stars, but every close-up of him has him in completely black space, without so much as a single star behind him. Would it have killed the set decorator to put a half-dozen bits of silver paper in the background to make it realistic?

After the planet surface has exploded and the aliens are (seemingly) wiped out, Koenig calls the Eagles to tell them that they need to turn back, that the planet isn't worth it. Really? You just blew away the inhabitants, so wouldn't it be ripe for colonization, now that there's nobody left to stop you?

The aliens call the Alphans a 'plague of fear' Judging by Koenig's attitude, it would seem more like a plague of 'anger'.

The Hawks sound like several other rumbling alien spaceships seen in other episodes. Being Earth-made, they should have sounded similar to the Eagles, as far as I'm concerned.

I know the bomber was a test, but it was unnecessary. Do you guys realize that a SINGLE Hawk was responsible for the death of Alpha? The last Hawk left from the second wave obliterated half of the base and killed 131 people. The bomber was completely unnecessary by that time.

The Hawks sound like several other rumbling alien spaceships seen in other episodes. Being Earth-made, they should have sounded similar to the Eagles, as far as I'm concerned.

How come no one on Alpha wondered why Earth ships were coming from an alien planet?

Exactly! It seemed to just be for the benefit of the viewers, but not the storyline. Unless the Guardian was effecting their judgment even then, in a way of telling them, 'You are about to be attacked. These are not diplomatic contact ships.'

If it wasn't that, they just needed Victor or Alan or even Sandra to say, "But how?! It doesn't make sense!" But, no such luck.

What a weird scene I just noticed this viewing. Alpha has come under attack, an Eagle has been blown away, and the shock wave damages Main Mission, with conduits falling down and dust everywhere, and some people have been sucked into space.
Then while Koenig gets reports on status, an Alphan woman hands Tanya Alexander a report in the background...and she's completely calm! She even smiles! She's acting like it was a quiet afternoon and, oh, by the way, here's my report! She even seems to say 'you're welcome'! The director completely missed this!

Something that's always bothered me about this episode..

at the beginning, when Main Mission is watching the Hawks approach, it's Bergman that's egging Koenig on to attack them :

"Its an attack, John"

"John, Alpha's wide open."

Isn't this out of character for Bergman? The "we dont understand things out here, lets take time to study" guy? The same guy who argued in favor of risking the destruction of Alpha in order to get the data from the Queller Probe?

Carter is usually the shoot-first hothead. Bergman joined him on this one.

An unusual first season blunder.