Written by Pirata Hermosa
In 1973 writer/producer Gene Roddenberry with the help of director John Llewellyn Moxey introduced another view of the future to the public in the shape of a made-for-TV movie. In 2009, Warner Brothers has made it available as part of their Archive Collection, and as common with the collection there are no special features.
People familiar with Roddenberry through his famous creation Star Trek know that he has a very optimistic look into the future of mankind. In Genesis II you can see sparks of that hope for the future, but it’s quite a bit darker.
The year is 1979 and NASA scientist, Dylan Hunt (Alex Cord), has come across a major breakthrough. Long-distance space travel has always been a hurdle for astronauts. In order for them to explore the vast expanse of space they needed a way to keep from dying of old age before they reached their destination. But Dylan has found the answer and has been able to successfully place lab rats in suspended animation for 10 years while the rats age only one day.
Once a discovery has been thoroughly tested, the next step is to test it on a human subject. That volunteer is none other than Dylan himself. Just moments after entering suspended animation, an earthquake strikes the underground facility in Carlsbad Canyon, burying the entire facility and leaving him trapped inside the pressure chamber.
Expecting to only be asleep for a few days, Dylan awakens in the year 2133 when a group of people called the PAX discover the hidden chamber and revive him from his long sleep. While he slowly recovers from the effects of his 154-year slumber, Dylan learns that there have been a lot of changes to the world. The planet has been devastated by nuclear war and only a handful of human settlements remain.
In order to help with his rehabilitation and teach him about the ways of the new world, the PAX make a huge mistake by assigning Lyra-a (Mariette Hartley) to be his caretaker. She may have voluntarily joined the PAX, but she is actually a spy sent by the Tyranians, a group of mutated humans that live near the ancient city of Phoenix.
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