One of the most popular of the Gerry Anderson Marionette series and my personal favorite is of course, “Thunderbirds”! The series premiered in 1964 as originally a 30-minute program. When producer Sir Lew Grade saw the show and how good it was he demanded that the episodes were to be made as a 1-hour program, which was somewhat of a problem with 9 30-minute episodes already made. The series was created after Anderson watched a news program about a German Mine disaster and how they were rescued in 1963.
The show is about the Tracy family living on a secret island in the Pacific. The patriarch of the family is Jeff Tracy, father of 5 sons and a former Astronaut. Now a little bit about each son. Scott Tracy is pilot of Thunderbird 1-a rocket plane that would normally get to a disaster scene first and set up a mobile base for the other vehicles. Brother Virgil Tracy piloted Thunderbird 2-a cargo ship and overall workhorse. Thunderbird 3 was a rocket for space missions and for maintenance for the orbiting space station, Thunderbird 5 which monitored all broadcasts for rescue missions and piloting Thunderbird 3 was Alan Tracy and Thunderbird 5 was John Tracy which left the mini submarine Thunderbird 4 that was driven by Gordon Tracy.
All the sons were named after real-life astronauts at the time. The other intrepid team member was Lady Penelope, a British agent that helped the Tracy family on many mission along with her trusty butler and bodyguard, Parker a ex prize fighter. There was a recurring villain in the series by the name of “The Hood” which is a half brother of the Tracy’s house helper, Kyrano. The most noticeable voice on the show was Canadian actor Shane Rimmer, the voice of Scott Tracy whose is most notable as the captain of the American submarine on the James Bond movie “The Spy Who Loved Me” as well as the Star Wars films. The best thing about the TV series to me was the fantastic and realistic special effects done by the legendary Derek Meddings who also worked on the Bond films and Superman films. Barry Gray who also composed many of Anderson’s series composed the music for this show.
Over the years, the series has spawned 3 motion pictures-“Thunderbirds Are Go” in 1966 and “Thunderbird 6” in 1968 and most recently “Thunderbirds” in 2004. This megaset includes all 32 digitally remastered episodes in glorious 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound. For prints that are over 40 years old, they look and sound superb. Also in the set are a behind the scenes featurette, a making of featurette and a Tech TV episode version with pop up info and a 40 minutes retrospective with Gerry Anderson about his TV series and much more.
VIDEO
The video quality is great! All episodes are shot on 35 mm film with little to no dirt or specks. Each episode runs apporx 51 mins each.
Audio
Was originally recorded in Mono. It is also available in 5.1 Dolby Surround sound.
Disc 1- 1. “Trapped In The Sky”
2. “Pit of Peril”
3. “City Of Fire”
Disc 2- 1. “Sun Probe”
2. “The Uninvited”
3. “The Mighty Atom”
Disc 3- 1. “Vault of Death”
2. “Operation Crash Dive”
3. “Move and Your Dead”
Disc 4-1. “Martian Invasion”
2. “Brink Of Disaster”
3. “The Perils of Penelope”
Disc 5- 1. “Terror In New York City”
2. “End of the Road”
3. “Day Of Disaster”
Disc 6- 1. “Edge of Impact”
2. “Desperate Intruder”
3. “30 Minutes After Noon”
Disc 7- 1. “The Imposters”
2. “The Man From MI5”
3. “Cry Wolf”
Disc 8- 1. “Danger At Ocean Deep”
2. “The Duchess Assignment”
3. “Attack of the Alligators”
Disc 9- 1. “The Cham Cham”
2. “Security Hazard”
4. “Atlantic Inferno”
Disc 10-1. “Path of Destruction”
2. “Alias Mr. Hackenbaker”
Disc 11- 1. “Lord Parker’s “Oliday”
2. “Ricochet”
3. “Give of Take a Million”
Disc 12- Bonus Disc
The Brains Behind the Thunderbirds-featurette- (54:18)
The Making of the Thunderbirds- (09:21) in B/W
Pit of Peril-pop up episode form Tech TV- (44:09)
Gerry speaks: An Inside look at Anderson’s 7 fantastic series- (40:57)
Extras
Disc 1- Behind the Scenes featurette –(03:24)
Disc 2- Photo Gallery
Disc 3- Behind the Scenes featurette –(03:24)
Photo Gallery
Disc 4- Photo Gallery
Disc 5- Photo Gallery
Disc 6- Photo Gallery
Disc 7- Photo Gallery
Disc 8- Photo Gallery
Disc 9- Photo Gallery
Disc 10- Gerry Anderson-The Creator –Nowhere on the disc.
Photo Gallery
Disc 11- Photo Gallery
Disc 12- See Above
Verdict
A well-done production! Defiantly get this one for your collection!
Rating; *****!
The show is about the Tracy family living on a secret island in the Pacific. The patriarch of the family is Jeff Tracy, father of 5 sons and a former Astronaut. Now a little bit about each son. Scott Tracy is pilot of Thunderbird 1-a rocket plane that would normally get to a disaster scene first and set up a mobile base for the other vehicles. Brother Virgil Tracy piloted Thunderbird 2-a cargo ship and overall workhorse. Thunderbird 3 was a rocket for space missions and for maintenance for the orbiting space station, Thunderbird 5 which monitored all broadcasts for rescue missions and piloting Thunderbird 3 was Alan Tracy and Thunderbird 5 was John Tracy which left the mini submarine Thunderbird 4 that was driven by Gordon Tracy.
All the sons were named after real-life astronauts at the time. The other intrepid team member was Lady Penelope, a British agent that helped the Tracy family on many mission along with her trusty butler and bodyguard, Parker a ex prize fighter. There was a recurring villain in the series by the name of “The Hood” which is a half brother of the Tracy’s house helper, Kyrano. The most noticeable voice on the show was Canadian actor Shane Rimmer, the voice of Scott Tracy whose is most notable as the captain of the American submarine on the James Bond movie “The Spy Who Loved Me” as well as the Star Wars films. The best thing about the TV series to me was the fantastic and realistic special effects done by the legendary Derek Meddings who also worked on the Bond films and Superman films. Barry Gray who also composed many of Anderson’s series composed the music for this show.
Over the years, the series has spawned 3 motion pictures-“Thunderbirds Are Go” in 1966 and “Thunderbird 6” in 1968 and most recently “Thunderbirds” in 2004. This megaset includes all 32 digitally remastered episodes in glorious 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound. For prints that are over 40 years old, they look and sound superb. Also in the set are a behind the scenes featurette, a making of featurette and a Tech TV episode version with pop up info and a 40 minutes retrospective with Gerry Anderson about his TV series and much more.
VIDEO
The video quality is great! All episodes are shot on 35 mm film with little to no dirt or specks. Each episode runs apporx 51 mins each.
Audio
Was originally recorded in Mono. It is also available in 5.1 Dolby Surround sound.
Disc 1- 1. “Trapped In The Sky”
2. “Pit of Peril”
3. “City Of Fire”
Disc 2- 1. “Sun Probe”
2. “The Uninvited”
3. “The Mighty Atom”
Disc 3- 1. “Vault of Death”
2. “Operation Crash Dive”
3. “Move and Your Dead”
Disc 4-1. “Martian Invasion”
2. “Brink Of Disaster”
3. “The Perils of Penelope”
Disc 5- 1. “Terror In New York City”
2. “End of the Road”
3. “Day Of Disaster”
Disc 6- 1. “Edge of Impact”
2. “Desperate Intruder”
3. “30 Minutes After Noon”
Disc 7- 1. “The Imposters”
2. “The Man From MI5”
3. “Cry Wolf”
Disc 8- 1. “Danger At Ocean Deep”
2. “The Duchess Assignment”
3. “Attack of the Alligators”
Disc 9- 1. “The Cham Cham”
2. “Security Hazard”
4. “Atlantic Inferno”
Disc 10-1. “Path of Destruction”
2. “Alias Mr. Hackenbaker”
Disc 11- 1. “Lord Parker’s “Oliday”
2. “Ricochet”
3. “Give of Take a Million”
Disc 12- Bonus Disc
The Brains Behind the Thunderbirds-featurette- (54:18)
The Making of the Thunderbirds- (09:21) in B/W
Pit of Peril-pop up episode form Tech TV- (44:09)
Gerry speaks: An Inside look at Anderson’s 7 fantastic series- (40:57)
Extras
Disc 1- Behind the Scenes featurette –(03:24)
Disc 2- Photo Gallery
Disc 3- Behind the Scenes featurette –(03:24)
Photo Gallery
Disc 4- Photo Gallery
Disc 5- Photo Gallery
Disc 6- Photo Gallery
Disc 7- Photo Gallery
Disc 8- Photo Gallery
Disc 9- Photo Gallery
Disc 10- Gerry Anderson-The Creator –Nowhere on the disc.
Photo Gallery
Disc 11- Photo Gallery
Disc 12- See Above
Verdict
A well-done production! Defiantly get this one for your collection!
Rating; *****!
No comments:
Post a Comment