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UFO Set 1

UFO Set 1

List Price: $79.95
Your Price: $71.96
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: UFO Set 1
Review: UFO was a good tv series back in the 1970s. it was a show before its time. I own it on dvd and it is still fun to watch. I am glad that it is on dvd, now I can continue to enjoy it for a long time to come.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: UFO Set 1
Review: UFO was a good tv series back in the 1970s. it was a show before its time. I own it on dvd and it is still fun to watch. I am glad that it is on dvd, now I can continue to enjoy it for a long time to come.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Only in the world of Gerry & Sylvia Anderson...
Review: Up to now, I had not had the pleasure of seeing more than a few bits of Gerry & Sylvia Anderson's "UFO". Now at long last I have been able to screen the first 13 episodes of the series in this new set.

A bizzare mixture of forward-thinking and backwards-thinking, character and caricature, the futuristic and the dated, sci-fi cool and outright dopeiness, "UFO" (pronounced in a very British-sounding way as "You-FOE"), is one of the strangest and most unique offerings in modern sci-fi.

While the women slink around in sexy catsuits in this 1970 effort, the men sport shaggy hair and wear decidedly 60's neru jackets and turtleneck sweaters. Not much seems to have progressed very far in the time that our story takes place (1980), with crewmen smoking on duty (even on the Moonbase!), and enjoying a drink to help ease the pressure (very late 60's, early 70's thinking).

Strange ideas abound in other areas as well. Launching a fighter plane from a sub underwater may look cool, but is not in any way imaginable a practical method to get a plane in the air (let alone the question of how to get it docked back on the sub). And having only three ships to defend the Earth and Moonbase is kinda dumb, especially when you consider that each ship only carries one missle!

On the other hand, the futuristic cars (all two of them) are used effectively to appear like a fleet of automobiles. The effects are excellent. The production design is first-rate. And best of all, there are some real human moments hiding in amongst all of the fruge dancing, groovy 60's moog music, and oppressing danger from UFOs.

Even Ed Bishop's usual portrayal of the impolite, uptight, and anal-retentive Commander Ed Straker is allowed to be laced with humanity. Both "A Matter of Priorities" and "Confetti Check, A-OK" allow Bishop to showcase not only his talent, but to show his character as a real, human person.

Fans of the next live-action Anderson work "Space: 1999" will see the prototypes for Alpha and the Eagle spacecraft, and hear some familliar incidental music throughout "UFO". Fans of other Anderson delights such as "Captain Scarlet" and "Journey to the Far Side of the Sun" will also be able to pick out some similar music and props. Shane Rimmer (the voice of Thunderbird pilot Scott Tracy), appears once or twice, and Ed Bishop, of course, voiced Captain Blue in "Captain Scarlet".

The transfer is very good, nice and sharp, and the colors just blaze off the screen. Anderson gives a good commentary on the first episode, and overall I think the set is a keeper (if for nothing else, then for the two episodes mentioned above).

The extras on the DVDs range from alternate edits to tests of S.I.D.'s voice pattern, and even some interesting Anderson commentary on the first episode that gives insights on the SHADO cars, set design, etc. All in all, a nicely packaged set for a show that is frankly rather bizzare. However, "UFO" is also quite entertaining, dramatic, and human.

And did I mention the catsuits?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Only the case is cheap
Review: What can I say. This show has never looked or sounded better, even when it was new. I enjoyed UFO when I was really young, but it never left my mind. I have borrowed VHS tapes from friends, but it always lacked that charm of a good DVD. I bought it at a very good price and it came so fast it was a total surprise. I have been watching it since and enjoying a little of my childhood. Don't think twice about it if you remember the show. Like the title of this review, the worse thing is the case it comes in. If you have the Star Trek TNG DVD sets or the X-Files, you will be disappointed in the case, but not the DVDs.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Fashionwise, it was years before its time!
Review: What I recall most of this series were the black girls with blue hair. Who would've thought that three decades later, my sisters would be sporting some hair colors to rival the ones shown on this barely remembered show?

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Fashionwise, it was years before its time!
Review: What I recall most of this series were the black girls with blue hair. Who would've thought that three decades later, my sisters would be sporting some hair colors to rival the ones shown on this barely remembered show?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: impressive sci-fi series
Review: wow. i've only watched a couple of the episodes so far. but this is one impressive sci-fi series.

some of the dialogue was stilted and the acting wooden...but come on, gerry anderson's, [the writer/director/producer] previous programs all used marionettes! other than that, it was good. very good. the special effects hold up pretty well considering they are 30 years old.

the premise and story are very good. the production values very high. imagine if the tom baker "dr. who" programs had had a budget! that's how good this is.

i'd forgotten the shows were an hour long. all the cars and gadgets are what i remember most from watching it on tv as a kid. i remember being disappointed that there wasn't a second season. i also remember being pretty creeped out by the flying saucers. after watching them now as an adult, the quality of the program is what made it so "real" for me as a kid.

as for the dvd itself, there are a few spots, about 10 seconds long, when the dvd player in my lap top doesn't read the compressed file too well and it jerks a bit. this is caused by the file compression on the dvd's. i wonder if my home player would read it better?

i hesitated to buy it because of the cost. but it's worth every penny!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: impressive sci-fi series
Review: wow. i've only watched a couple of the episodes so far. but this is one impressive sci-fi series.

some of the dialogue was stilted and the acting wooden...but come on, gerry anderson's, [the writer/director/producer] previous programs all used marionettes! other than that, it was good. very good. the special effects hold up pretty well considering they are 30 years old.

the premise and story are very good. the production values very high. imagine if the tom baker "dr. who" programs had had a budget! that's how good this is.

i'd forgotten the shows were an hour long. all the cars and gadgets are what i remember most from watching it on tv as a kid. i remember being disappointed that there wasn't a second season. i also remember being pretty creeped out by the flying saucers. after watching them now as an adult, the quality of the program is what made it so "real" for me as a kid.

as for the dvd itself, there are a few spots, about 10 seconds long, when the dvd player in my lap top doesn't read the compressed file too well and it jerks a bit. this is caused by the file compression on the dvd's. i wonder if my home player would read it better?

i hesitated to buy it because of the cost. but it's worth every penny!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great in a certain kind of way
Review: You know you love something when you can honestly point out it's flaws but still not lose interest. That's what the old UFO series is to me. Sure, it looks and sounds very dated, and the "futuristic" events have come and gone by 22 years already. But what this show has is great acting, serious conflict, and all around good scripts. When you consider that the special effects were created 32 years ago you'll be amazed at what they pulled off.
The pilot episode quickly sets up events that lead to the formation of SHADO, a secret organization with the sole purpose of protecting Earth from UFO incursions. Each episode has the UFO aliens, themselves also quite secretive and mysterious, plotting some kind of mission or another and our heroes doing their best to stop them. UFO is, for lack of a better term, a "guilty pleasure."


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