[Digital Howie]

This has got to be one of my all time favorite sci-fi shows., with one of the best television opening theme songs (at least for science fiction programs).


A and E has announced an official release date of July 30th, although if you want to pay a bit extra you can buy it earlier from their website. Set One features the first 13 episodes, commentary by Gerry Anderson on episode one, episode outtakes, and a photo gallery.


The series was recently released in Region 2 and is now on its way to the U.S. as well...I can't wait!


Howie

 

[hob]

I never heard of it Howie.

 

[Digital Howie]

Hob


There are quite a few fan clubs devoted to UFO.


Check out:

http://www.ufo-dvd.com/#

http://www.ufoseries.com


Be sure to check out the theme song.


If not for the brave men and women of S.H.A.D.O. the earth might no longer belong to the humans!


Howie

 

[lennyr]

One of my favorite shows of all time. Excellent, and still to this day, highly influential production design. Sylvia Anderson is at least as talented as Gerry. Gotta love those moonbase chicks.

 

[Digital Howie]

Lenny,


I think if more film execs would spend just a bit more time in their secret underground command centers then hollywood would be a much better place!


Howie

 

[DuaneAA]

Just received my copy from Amazon and watched the first two episodes.


Wow, I haven't seen this show in at least 20 years and it is more fun than I remembered.


The show set in the year 1980 was shot in 1969 in England. Definitely the British 60's mod style was in high vogue when this was filmed. Very bright colors, lots of Mao style suits. Love the purple-haired lunar base women. And for the women in the audience the submarine crews in their fishnet shirts!


You will definitely see the 'Thunderbirds' heritage in the design and animation of the aircraft, spacecraft, and submersibles. Very dated by present standards, but if you just sit back and use your imagination you will enjoy it.


Surprises that I didn't remember:

1. Fairly risque scenes on the moonbase.

2. Episode 2 has a subtly handled story about the relationship between a black astronaut and a white female officer on the moonbase. Very progressive for America in that era. While no kissing is shown, a more serious relationship is implied than the famous Kirk-Uhura kiss.

3. Smoking, smoking, smoking. . . It sure feels like every character is smoking in just about every scene.

4. One of the main characters has a line about a belly-dancer and a g-string that would have gone right over my head when I saw this as a kid.



Video Quality - The show is in full screen format. The colors are very vibrant. Lots of close-ups of people's faces with very natural colors and lots of detail. The blacks are perfectly black. During the dark space scenes, the only way I could tell where the vertical sidebars began is looking for where the stars stopped. For a 30 year old TV show the picture quality was excellent. I would rate it much better than the episode of Mission Impossible on HDnet (But to be fair, the picture quality was much less than the episode of Hogan's Heroes. I would say it is halfway between the two.)


If you enjoy old sci-fi shows, I would stongly recommend picking up this DVD set. (Personally, I like it much better than the Anderson's later, more famous 'Space:1999')



Duane

 

[General_Bogin]

No W. in S.H.A.D.O. Howie. I bought both sets from R2. The Region 2 releases feature some Ed Bishop commentary that R1 lacks. I agree that these shows are great fun. I've just finished the 1st set & will start set #2. The quality of the transfer is fabulous considering the age of the source material. If I recall correctly DuaneAA, "Space 1999" evolved out of UFO, since UFO only lasted the one season. I can't recall where I read that off hand.

 

[drcos]

Sorry I missed getting it earlier...only in stock at aande.com (for 79.99)

Out of stock at dvdplanet, amazon, and buy.com (for around $60)

Anywhere else to look???

 

[Digital Howie]

Well, my local Best Buy usually has a good stock of all the AandE releases as soon as they are available. Unfortunately, this has not been the case with the UFO Set 1.


Anyway, deepdiscountdvd.com has the sets in stock for about $43.00...I'm looking forward to my set arriving any day!


General B...you are absolutely right...shame on me and accept my apologies...S.H.A.D.O. now and forever...it really has been a long time since I've seen the show!


Howie

 

[General_Bogin]

That's alright Howie we all misspell once in a while. You're right in that Best Buy has not had or kept this title in stock. The 2 in my city have not had them at all as far as I can see. I was going to buy from DDD too until I got my multi-region player. After I bought the player I decided that the R2 release was more preferable.

 

[jdonigan]

Boy, they better come out with Set 2 in a hurry or my wife will be going through withdrawal.

(She's holding off on watching the last episode in the set so it won't hit her quite so badly - "I _could_ watch this now if I wanted to...")

She never saw it when it was originally on, I bought it and she gave me "that look" until I put the first one on, now she's hooked!


PS: I got mine from DDD also.


John

 

[Digital Howie]

Boy do I love this show! Its been a very long time since seeing any of these episodes...I think I appreciate them more than ever.


This saga has a little something for everyone combining bits of James Bond, The X-Files, old Japanese Godzillaesque Saturday morning movies, and even whiskey-a-go-go T & A ala Austin Powers.


I love Commander Strakers' job!...from now on I think my work day will be much better if I indulge regularly in a good smoke, a stiff drink or three, and encourage my female co-workers to wear plenty of light colored spandex...ah the 60's...that seems like a long time ago.


With the endless supply of remakes and adaptions coming out of Hollywood these days, I'm sure UFO the movie is only around the corner.


Howie

 

[lennyr]

On an only slightly OT note, has anybody noticed that Thunderbirds is airing on TechTV now? It has semi-subtitles with production notes, trivia, lame witticisms, etc. Very entertaining.


One weird thing watching UFO and Thunderbirds now (vs. when I was a kid) is that UFO seems to make way less sense, and Thunderbirds seems much more linear and logical.

 

[drcos]

Only a fan such as myself is aloud to ask the obvious questions...

1. @hy shoot three missiles all at once at a single ufo??

2. How on earth does a single sub/plane manage to intercept (almost) every ufo coming towards earth?? do they all head towards the same hemisphere???

3. Wouldn't people outside straker's office notice the inside going down and coming up??

4. Why do they never show the 'diver' part inside when the plane launches?

5. Wasn't Henderson in the car in the first episode that blew up??

6. Doesn't Captain Carlin do anything besides sit in his cabin, smoke, and wait for a call from SHADO HQ??

 

[KennyG]

As a kid, I always used to watch the Thunderbirds...I don't think I've ever seen UFO

 

[cessnaace]

I used to watch this show back in the mid 70's. Although I think Space: 1999 is ok, I like UFO much better. The stories are for adults, but there is action for the kiddies. And those ladies! Anderson seemed to follow the Hammer school of female casting. Well-built women in skimpy outfits!


The opening is totally cool. It was the first show I remember seeing that used quick edits. There are at least 30 edits in the show's open.


And yes, SPACE: 1999 was orginally to be UFO: 1999, but as the show developed more of the focus was on moonbase. Finally, Earth was left behind altogether.

 

[Nich]

Is that the show where they can disappear?


I remember something from my younger years...

Mostly Space 1999 and blake's 7....But there is

something about 'transporting' right?


Nicholas

 

[cessnaace]

Quote:

Originally posted by Nich Is that the show where they can disappear? I remember something from my younger years... Mostly Space 1999 and blake's 7....But there is something about 'transporting' right? Nicholas

Nicholas,


No disappearing, exactly. The Earth was defended by SHADO (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defense Organization). This name never made complete sense to me. Sure, I get that it's a "secret" organization operating in the "shado" of normal Earth society. But I would think that only the headquarters hidden under Straker's office at the film studio could go by the name SHADO, since it IS the SUPREME HEADQUARTERS. The rest of the organization should logically go by the name ADO (Alien Defense Organization). Then the base under Straker's office would be SHADO (SUPREME HEADQUARTERS, etc.)


Mark