Rating: 
Summary: A great trip back to when sci-fi TV kicked
Review: Not just this set of episodes, but the Thunderbirds saga as a whole. Now there's tremendous news that Volumes 3 and 4 will be coming out for Thanksgiving. No details yet on the episodes or whatever extras may be included, but figure 6 more episodes in each set. So that's 24 of the 32 episodes which will be seen. It still holds up well, even 35 years later. I'm glad A&E has seen fit to release two excellent Gerry Anderson series, two of his best.
Rating: 
Summary: From The Vault Of Death To The Perils Of Penelope
Review: The second half-dozen episodes of Thunderbirds are available on DVD and they encompass several of the series' best moments. Vault of Death - A more comedic-oriented episode than usual, it details Lady Penelope and Parker's break-in at the Bank of England - designed to prove to the bank's officials the need for more modern vaults - but the ensuing change may kill an absent-minded employee, who becomes trapped in a high-tech vault programmed to purge out all the air inside. The strongest aspect of this episode is that it delves into Parker's past and gives the viewer a look at the man and helps explain how he became who he presently is. Operation Crashdive - A sequel to the series pilot, to which there is a reference in a newscast about the crash of a Fireflash airliner. Additional such craft are mysteriously crashing, and IR must deduce the reason why - to the point that Scott must fly a Fireflash craft with Captain Hanson, the pilot of the first Fireflash. This episode also features one of the best "intro" shots of the series as Fireflash taxis out of its form-fitting hangar in Act IV underscored by one of Barry Gray's most powerful cues. Move And You're Dead - This episode is told almost entirely in flashback, and the use of the technique by writer-director Alan Patillo is strikingly effective. Alan and Grandma are kidnapped by a jealous racecar driver and left on a bridge with a bomb and motion detector - the motion detector will detonate the bomb if the two prisoners try to escape. Jeff and tinTin must talk Alan through retelling his story while Scott and Virgil fly to the area. Martian Invasion - The Hood uses his hypnotic power over the Tracys' manservant Kyrano to shut off camera detectors about Thunderbird One, and then uses a sci-fi movie as cover to lure IR to the Nevada desert, where he films them in action for a mysterious international general. The premise is good and well presented, especially the chase in the third and fourth acts, but there are some plot holes and the denoument of the chase is too comedic, an uncharacteristic failing of the show's best writer, Alan Fennell. Brink of Disaster - Basically two unrelated plots in this Fennell script are tied together by the central premise of Warren Grafton, a monorail executive in need of a big infusion of quick cash to finance his US-based monorail system, a system overly dependent on automated train systems and a fleet of patrolling hoverjets, one of which crashes and severs an overhanging section of track. The episode's subplot involves thieves with Grafton's company who break into Penelope's home to steal her valuable collection of jewels to finance Grafton's business. This aspect appears more an effort to kill time than a believeable subplot, as the train-crash angle does not contain enough screentime to fill out an hour-long format. The Perils Of Penelope - Penny gets involved with the kidnapping of a famed scientist, and it is up to IR to find them amid the blackness of a monorail tunnel in Switzerland. The episode used two directors, Alan Patillo and Desmond Saunders, perhaps because of the extensive use of footage from the Saunders-directed episode Sunprobe at the beginning - which suggests Sunprobe and Perils were filmed simultaneously.
Rating:
Summary: The greatest sci-fi of the '60's!!!
Review: This series was intellegentlly written and the effects were awesome. You must keep in mind that this written in the mind 1960's, but well ahead of it's time.
Rating:
Summary: The greatest sci-fi of the '60's!!!
Review: This series was intellegentlly written and the effects were awesome. You must keep in mind that this written in the mind 1960's, but well ahead of it's time.
Rating:
Summary: Thunderbirds Series
Review: This set is already available in England and hopefully the entire series box set will become available. It is the only way to obtain the entire Thunderbirds series since Columbia House reniged on their promise to provide the entire series on video. Better picture and far better graphics.
Rating:
Summary: Great, but. . .
Review: This set is great for fans. 6 FAB-tastic episodes, what more could you ask for? But, where is this so called "Brand new Behind-the-Scenes featurette?" I seem to have the name old "Making-of" film from 1965 that appears on set 1. Is this some kind of mis-print? Still, don't let this stop you from getting this excellent set.
Rating:
Summary: Calling International Rescue...
Review: This should be the 2nd set of the classic Gerry Anderson TV series, The Thunderbirds. I don't know what episodes are going to be on it, but my understanding is that it should be the remastered (video and sound) version recently broadcast in England. The show is popular worldwide, but seems to lack any kind of following here in the U.S. Filmed in Supermarionation (ie., puppets), this is unlike anything seen before to the unitiated. The production values, f/x and model work are all top notch. Amazon needs to label this for what it is too. FAB!
Rating:
Summary: F.A.B.-tastic!!!
Review: Though I as born fully one decade after the series was originally shown, my brother and I still have fond memories of watching this show as children. And though many of the details of the show were for so long shrouded in the faint rememberings of this true classic, I still did not hesitate to purchase set two the instant I saw it. And I was not disappointed. First of all, the effects are truelly breathtaking in their cheesiness. But that is absolutely the charm of the show. Never mind that you can see the damn strings sticking out of them. Additionally the remastering is first rate. Sound and picture quality are tip top. Possibly better than back in '65, when you consider that they had to watch it sans digital home theater systems! Every episode brings a new, thrilling, and death defying challenge to the indomitable crew that are the Thunderbirds. They're rolling XXX large in their incredible machines that defy the laws of physics, and the limits of the human imagination. Whats more is that they smoke! Cigars, cigarettes, and who knows what else? You will also notice that they not only sweat, constantly; but that mysteriously, they always manage to some how get filthy. It is obvious that the budget was of little issue in the making of this truelly original sci-fi masterpiece, as every special effect will get your heart racing with uncontrolable laughter. I especially liked that from time to time, real human hands and other limbs are used to give some continuity to the story line. Bravo! If you loved this show as a kid, which most of us, of a certain age did... you should also not hesitate a moment in purchasing either, or both sets. It's approx. 312 minutes for both discs, so you will be getting your moneys worth.
Rating:
Summary: I want rest of the series also
Review: When I first watched the series on black-and-white TV screen, I was wrongly informed that it was stop-motion animation. And much later when I got news that it came on DVD, I learned that it was marionation that called the puppets to life. Anyway I've been longing to watch it again for really a long time. And I want the rest of the series on DVD.... About the series itself, the essence is that the IR has wonderful equipments which powers the drama and feeds the excitement to the viewers in each episode of the series. And there's the not-superhuman-strong but courageous characters, somewhat unrealistic, self-sacrificing for their mission -- from their unknown motives(What do they get from their work? Suspicious. But it's okay for enjoying the show.). And this show is pollitically more right than "Superman" series. It's the equipments that makes them hero, not their muscular body. Men and women show the same validity in their work. It's not polluted by macho chauvinism while it's a story of heroes. Sorry for my gibberish :-p
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