Alien Nation: The Udara Legacy (1997) (TV)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Kenneth Johnson

Writers (WGA):

Rockne S. O'Bannon (characters)
Kenneth Johnson (developer)

Release Date:

29 July 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Plot:

Matt and George investigate a series of strange occurences involving newcomers, who are found to be programmed to carry out someone's dirty work...

Plot Keywords:

Alien | Detective | Police | Sequel

Cast

Gary Graham	...	Detective Matt Sikes
Eric Pierpoint	...	George Francisco
Michele Scarabelli	...	Susan Francisco
Terri Treas	...	Cathy Frankel
Lauren Woodland	...	Emily Francisco
Sean Six	...	Buck Francisco
Jeff Marcus	...	Albert Einstein
Ron Fassler	...	Captain Bryan Grazer
Jenny Gago	...	Detective Beatrice Zapeda
Peggy McCay	...	Avra
Tim De Zarn	...	Leonard Guini
Michael Mantell	...	Larry
Robert Gossett	...	Cummings
Jeff Allin
Lane Smith	...	Senator Silverthorne

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:PG | Poland:15

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Trivia:

The long time President of The Alien Nation Appreciation Society, Pete Chambers, has a cameo role in this production as a Vagrant called Cliff Hanger. It was a thank-you from Producer Kenneth Johnson for all his work. Pete Chambers's face also appears on a wanted poster in Alien Nation-Millennium.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Changing Faces (2007) (V)

Finally the a chink in the alien's armor!

AlienNation was an excellent show that really went beyond just scifi images of aliens. I was to my memory the first sci-fi show where the culture of the aliens was just as important as the actual beings themselves. To this end, often they came up looking superior or more advanced then the humans they were now coexisting with. Having that come up continuously was kind of a turn off, but here is where we see the almost perfect and advanced veneer of the aliens peel away as we explore the darkest crevices of Tenctonese society and history. The Udara: a collective of Tenctonese slaves dedicated to destroying the "Overseers" at any cost resurface in the most controversial and frightening of fashions. This not only proves troublesome for the humans as the Udara are now connected to killings in Los Angeles but the sinister history of the Udara even reaches into heart of the Francisco family. Though the formula for the Udara is not anything new the insertion of this style of subterfuge into the increasingly perfect "new age" world of the Tenctonese and their long suffering status as alien flotsom was a master stroke. It was good to see that these perfect little aliens that fell to Earth and wanted all the humans to drop everything in order to make them feel loved, needed to clean up their own houses and affairs and reflect on the injustice and horror they put themselves through for once. This was AlienNation at its most mature state and its a shame it never lasted beyond the movies.