Rating: 
Summary: Thunderbirds are GO!
Review: It was the 1960s-- Stereotypes still existed, bad guys were obviously bad, good guys were obviously good. The Thunderbirds were obviously good guys, and obviously marionettes. The Anderson special effects are very good, even if some of the underwater scenes were obviously shot through an aquarium! The DVD captures all the nuances of the show, including the strings! (: The plots are at least as good as a James Bond flick. Remember that the Andersons and ITC went on to do UFO and SPACE:1999. The special effects on these live action shows were of the same style as on the Thunderbirds (except the strings were easier to hide in space!). I kept thinking that UFO and SPACE:1999 ought to have splashed the "SUPERMARIONATION" logo on the screen!
Rating:
Summary: International Rescue to Bored and Jaded Viewers
Review: Money well spent, definitely. This DVD set is very impressive on all counts and truly packed (over 5 hours of entertainment!). Back in the mid 60's, THUNDERBIRDS were huge on Brazilian prime time television. I use to sit in the living-room with my father and younger brother, hypnotized by the show, although we only had black and white TV in my country back then. Now, over thirty-five years later, I can't help but wonder at the cool perfection of the whole enterprise, the complete devotion and seriousness of the producing team -- so much care and talent in every little detail! Make no mistake, this is no nostalgia lure, it is still really thrilling and magical with that kind of pure Zen pleasure in its optimistic display of futuristic technology and gadgetry without a trace of the cynicism and irony that prevail lately. In fact, these remarkable puppets look and act far better than many a real-life actor today... The soundtrack and music score are also of the highest standards, the picture quality a delight.
Rating:
Summary: Thunderbirds are GO, indeed!
Review: My standard disclaimer applies. I am not reviewing the artistic merits of this release. I happen to like this rather quirky and esoteric series but that does not mean you will. I will, however, review the technical merits of this release. The image is stable and clear. I found few, if any, obvious decompression artifacts. Edge enhancement is about as good as an uncompressed NTSC studio source. Colors are consistent and stable. As far as I can tell, these DVDs look about as good as the series did when it was first broadcast. Some care was given to the sound, which appears to have been re-mastered in surround. Either this track or the standard soundtrack sounds fairly good -- though the limitations of the original 1960's-era recording equipment are clearly audible. As an aside, A&E has been releasing some very well produced DVDs of old TV series. I'd like to find A&E's DVD producers and give them all a big sloppy kiss. They're producing some really great products. I'm now purchasing DVDs from them without hesitation. If you liked this series, I think you will like this DVD set. In fact, I liked this set so much, I'm planning on ordering the second one as well.
Rating:
Summary: Dolby Digital is GO!
Review: Other reviewers have glowed about how much fun this series is to watch, but one thing NOT to miss if you have a home theater are the Dolby Digital tracks on these disks. They were entirely remixed into glorious 5.1 and the subwoofer when Thunderbird 2 takes off should knock you off your feet! After hearing the first episode's mix Gerry Anderson himself said, "Brilliant!" Have fun!
Rating:
Summary: Thunderbirds - set 1 is a must have !!!
Review: this 1st set is a must have for Thunderbirds fans! if you only
buy one set you should get this one for sure ! actually set 1 & 2 are my favorite ! the sound and color are crisp and clear like
it was made yesterday ! it's a real classic.
Rating: 
Summary: Thunderbirds - F.A.B.
Review: This DVD is great! it was delivered to my home this morning and I spent my lunch break watching the first episode. The sound has been converted to stereo and may even be surround sound. The picture quality is not as good as I hoped, apparently by putting 3 hours of episodes on one disk they sacrificed some details, you can see some jagged edges to moving shapes. It is still a lot better than vhs though. The espisodes are in sequence and set 1 contains 2 dvds, each with 3 episodes. Set 2 was also released with the second 6. Heres hoping that all the Thunderbirds episodes are released and then Joe 90, Captain Scarlet as well. Look out for Space 1999 too, that has just been released.
Rating:
Summary: Oops, Forgot The Other Four Episodes
Review: This is a follow-up to my first review of this set, as I neglected to comment on the other four episodes within. City Of Fire - The Towering Inferno in miniature, as a ten thousand foot tall skyscraper that serves as a monster shopping mall is opened to considerable TV coverage via a hoverjet TV remote. When a woman's foot slips off her brake onto the accelerator, her car plows into parked vehicles, and as the couple on board make for safety, their car explodes and detonates other vehicles within a four-mile-long underground lot. IR is called in as the fire overwhelms all safety systems within the building and ultimately collapses the building - trapping a family of three in a corridor with firedoors stalled shut. Scott and Virgil must cut through firedoors - and must do so with a cutting gas that knocked them unconscious in testing. There are admittedly nits to pick here - that they would use a cutting gas that knocked them out is a huge stretch, as is the notion that a regular car crash would set off a fire so large as to overwhelm a ten thousand floor skyscraper's safety systems. Still, the episode is a treat. Sunprobe - Thunderbirds in space, as an audacious space mission - to collect energy matter from the sun - goes wrong. Thunderbird Three with Alan, Tin-Tin, and Scott is launched to fire a radio beam to ignite the Sunprobe's retrothrusters, which have been shut off due to solar radiation. They succeed in saving the Sunprobe, but the real horror begins when Thunderbird Three cannot fire its own retros, and Virgil and Brains must use a vastly powerful mobile transmitter on a ice-covered mountaintop to send a similar radio beam - a task made harder as parameter changes must be calculated out, a task that may take too long. The Uninvited - This is a break from the standard rescue formula, as Scott is shot down by mysterious fighters over the Egyptian desert and is found by two bickering archeologists seeking a lost pyramid - a search that leads them and Scott to more trouble. The Mighty Atom - The Hood is back. In a flashback sequence to before the launching of International Rescue, he must sabotage a nuclear powerplant in the Australian outback that is powering a desert reclamation project - a project that desalinates oceanwater and pumps it into the desert, thus breeding plantlife. When a firefight detonates part of the pump system, the resulting fire spreads with terrifying speed - and shutdown attempts fail as they cannot cut off the ocean intake. The plant explodes in a frightening fireball (and I mean genuinely frightening), that releases a cloud of radiation that threatens Melbourne. The cloud sequence is genuinely scary in its own right as series composer Barry Gray uses synythesizers and a choir to create a tremendously effective aura of death as the cloud rolls forward before shifting winds break it up and save Melbourne. The opening act of the episode leaves the viewer already exhausted, so the ensuing three acts are inevitably something of a disappointment, though not all that much. The Mighty Atom is a toy mouse - one that can photograph computer consoles and other important databanks where other espionage means cannot succeed. The Hood uses the mouse to spy on another nuclear-powered desert reclamation project, then sabotages it to bring out IR.
Rating:
Summary: Thunderbirds are Go!
Review: This is amazing stuff! You will see great vision & imagination
that now is hard to find. Parents-do not fear this series:
Kids will be shown the high value placed on human life, as well as family values a.k.a. the Tracy Family, something missing in todays single-parent households. This is not mindless violence or pokemon' drivel, this is adventure presented on an intelligent level.
Rating:
Summary: Finally, International Rescue Available For All To See
Review: Thunderbirds is a "lost" gem finally found. Using marionettes amid elaborate sets, Gerry & Sylvia Anderson told the epic story of International Rescue, a family (the Tracys) in the mid-21st century operating a vast array of cutting-edge machinery tasked with rescuing people in extremely perilous situations, while striving to maintain secrecy so their fantastic devices do not fall into the wrong hands. The sets, props, and special effects are enjoyable, but even these are secondary to the charm of the characters - partriarch Jeff Tracy and his five sons, named after the Mercury astronauts he knew in his days when he entered America's space program himself. Aiding the Tracy family are Jeff's loving mom, his manservant Kyrano and his spunky daughter Tin-Tin, and Hiram K. Hackenbacker, a Michigan-born genius orphaned at an early age whose scientific perfection earned him the moniker he is universally known by - Brains. The show was originally slated to run at 30 minutes, as was the case with the Andersons' previous Supermarionation shows. But Sir Lew Grade of ITC recommended expanding Thunderbirds to one hour - it has proven an inspired choice, as the extra 30 minutes allow character and plot interplay that nicely flesh out the varied goings-on within the storylines. The show's voice cast remains superior to many contemporary cartoon voice casts - Peter Dyneley as Jeff, Shane Rimmer (a periodic extra in the James Bond movies, notably You Only Live Twice and Spy Who Loved Me) as Scott, David Holliday as Virgil (curiously, Jeremy Wilkin took over the role in 1966 episodes), Matt Zimmerman as Alan, David Graham as Brains, Kyrano, and Gordon, Ray Barrett as John as well as IR's arch-nemesis The Hood, Christine Finn as Tin-Tin, and Sylvia Anderson as the family's London Agent Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward, aided by her humorously Cockney ex-con bulter Parker (Graham again). The DVD telecasts the show's first two episodes. Trapped In The Sky (curiously not using a title card) displays International Rescue's debut and introduces the family as well as Lady Penelope. They ust go into action when The Hood, who seeks the technical secrets of IR to sell to the highest bidder, plants a bomb on a nuclear-powered Mach-Six capable jetliner. The hour-long format allows the buildup of tension as well as strong character interplay. The episode's middle third involves a laborous attempt by an RAF lieutenant to remove the bomb, an attempt that fails but which adds nicely to the episode's suspense. The actual rescue involves elevator cars used to land gear-up aircraft, as the jetliner must be else the roughness of a normal landing will detonate the bomb. Fallability is displayed when one elevator car breaks loose and crashes into parked aircraft - a scene written into the episode when the FX crew filmed the landing and one of the model cars broke loose, a scene they felt would go perfectly with the story as it indeed does. The show's second episode was one Gerry Anderson was always frustrated with. Pit Of Peril involves a fantastic walking tank, the Sidewinder (which likely inspired the AT-AT walkers of The Empire Strikes Back), that falls into a gigantic burning pit when the ground gives way. The crew of three are trapped 300 feet below the ground, and there is simply no time for the Army to fly in necessary lifting machinery. After two men are badly burned in failed attempts to recover the Sidewider, IR is called in and sets to work on the methodical task of clearing a way to drag the machine to the surface. This episode's slowish pace is not a weakness - instead it allows greater emotion and tension to operate, leading to a more satisfying climax. Fully Advised & Briefed!
Rating: 
Summary: Thunderbirds...ALL RIGHT ! But....
Review: Yeah, a Thunderbirds dvd box set sounds really cool, but I believe that anyone interested in buying this set has already a couple of tapes at home with episodes recordings (commercially released and/or TV recorded) ...So beside the expected good quality of image and sound, the appeal of a DVD box set is realy the "supplemental material" ...Which in this case,is NOT as expected.Just consider that recently a U.K based magazine has given away with it's December 2000 issue,an excellent documentary on T-Birds called "The Thunderbirds companion" , on a DVD-Rom over 53 minutes long !) ...so I think that a 5 minute look back on the making of thunderbirds,with pictures that are not that interesting, is really not appealing to the real fan.So, I think that the producer of this set should really consider a better "supplemental matierial" package for future releases. Eric
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