Stargate Theatre

Métal Hurlant Chronicles - Master of Destiny

On this episode of the Stargate Archives podcast we once again visit the Stargate Theatre and watch a member of the Stargate family do their stuff, in this case it is Joe Flanigan in the Métal Hurlant Chronicles episode Master of Destiny.

Métal Hurlant was originally a scifi/horror graphic novel/comic anthology series which was first published in France back in 1974, it initially ran for 13 years and made a brief come back in 2002 for another two years. and was better known as Heavy Metal in the US and other English speaking markets. Métal Hurlant Chronicles was a French/Belgium production which took its inspiration from the stories contained with the comics and had two seasons (6 episodes each) which premiered in France on the 27th of October 2012. The series was shown across Europe and reached the UK and US and despite drawing a cast from across the globe did not generate good reviews or a healthy audience.

In this podcast I am watching and doing a running commentary on the fifth episode of the first season “Masters of Destiny” in which we follow the mercenary Hondo (Joe Flanigan) who after losing his partner Kull (Charlie Dupont) begins a search for a world believed to be the home of an alien race who can predict the day of your death. Unbeknown to him this race do indeed have the ability to see the future and know that Hondo will find them and when he arrives he will meet the woman of his dreams and together they will burn across the stars doing wonderful and terrible things until at the prescribed time their lives will end, on the same day, at the same time, by the same means….

As with The Outer Limits most of the Metal Hurlant stories have a twist or a bite in the narrative and Master of Destiny is no exception and we see the adventures of Hondo and Skarr (Kelly Brook) as they steal, butcher and love each other across time and space as the mysterious alien reptilian race observe and then Metal Hurlant itself arrives heralding the end of things. Metal Hurlant being the last remnants of a dead world but carrying the psychic terrors of its last inhabitants and this entity plays a part in all the stories from the comics and the tv show.

Master of Destiny was an entertaining idea backed by some solid but not spectacular graphics (it was 2012 tv after all) and the casting was acceptable but perhaps the weakest aspect. Naturally the actors cast in the “glamour” roles were stunning and Joe easily worked with the script but we know he can do so much more given the material. The biggest success was the makeup and prosthetics used on the reptiles, it was quite stunning and allowed the actors to emote and look good both in the wide and close up shots.

The two seasons are both on Blu-ray and I’ve owned Season 1 for quite a while and just bought Season 2 for £3.99 so if nothing else they are short form entertaining scifi and hand on heart “Master of Destiny” is not the best from season 1 but it had Joe so that’s why I watched it for the podcast.

IMDB WIKI

Many thanks for joining me for this visit to the Métal Hurlant Chronicles and as always reviews, ratings and comments are always welcome. If you want to join me on the podcast and talk Stargate SG1, Atlantis or Universe please get in touch or perhaps you want to chat about a “b” movie featuring a Stargate actor then we can do that as well. I have plans to record a couple of SG1 episodes in September and then we’ll see what the rest of the year brings. So visit us on social media and if you are on twitter then follow and support @StargateNow_EU and their year long push for We Want Stargate.