Thunderbirds: The Complete Series

Thunderbirds was one of my favorite childhood TV shows, along with Supercar and Fireball XL-5. With all the technology these days, these shows look hokey and disjointed in their large heads, big eyes, bushy eyebrows/hair lines, awkward movements, contrived set-ups, and dated ethnic references (but not offensive) but I liked their ingenuity, their clever villains, their inventive settings/backgrounds and plotlines.They've done a great job in restoring the series to their original quality, the episodes are crisp, clear and no blurred or shaky runs.This series is not for everyone, and granted it's mostly for nostalgic purposes only, but I love spending time with my crew from The Thunderbirds - the Tracy Family, Tintin, Lady Penelope and the adventures they have.

Geeks and nerds of a certain age, and Brit's of almost any will fondly remember Gerry Anderson's classic "Supermarionation" puppet based shows. More modern viewers may recognize the technique as that same one used by the South Park boys Matt Stone and Trey Parker to make Team America World Police a few years back. Well Thunderbirds is unquestionably the best known and in many ways the best of Gerry's offerings. The show wa sthe stuff of dreams for teh late 60's. A retired American Astronaut, now a Billionaire builds a fleet of 4 super vehicles. Flown by his sons, to act as a sort of secret Coast Guard. International Rescue. Monitoring the earth from an orbital satellite the team can swiftly respond to any global crisis big or small. They can go where others cannot, do what others cannot.While the puppets, are both creepy and yet oddly engaging, the real star of teh series is those amazing vehicles. Thunderbirds 1 through 4 and the Sattelite Thunderbird 5. We atched breathlessly each week to see them. If ever you wonder what the evolutionary step that got us from old school Flash Gordon and Captain Video type SciFi to 2001 and Star Wars effects and design work. This show is it. The late Derrick Medding's masterful designs were cutting edge yet incredibly grounded back in the 60's. And they still hold up well today. Everything about the show is grounded and oddly believable. Thunderbird 1 is a fast responding atomic powered Ballistic Ramjet. A true hypersonic transport designed to launch and arrive first and act as forward command and control. Much the way a Fire Chief does in his Chief's car for real emergencies. Thunderbird 2 is the heavy lifter. A massive VTOL cargo craft with a host of swappable cargo pods that can be loaded and equipped with a broad range of specialized ground or water vehicles. From high tech fire fighters to specialized digging or collapse rescue craft. You never know what will come out and watch breathlessly each week. Thunderbird 3 is the atomic orbital space shuttle. Mainly used to service the space station or to perform orbital rescues of astronauts. Thunderbird 4 is the least seen and arguably weakest of the lot, the small submarine. Carried in Thunderbird 2 it is a DSRV with robot arms. (Of all the vehicles Thunderbird 4 stands out as something of a holdover design wise from earlier shows. It feels more Stingray than Thunderbirds. The other three main vehicles actually not only look believable, but have been proven to actually be not simply viable, but outstanding aircraft designs by several major universities. T 4, not so much.)Perhaps the greatest charm os Thunderbirds is that while it was a kids show, it never talked down to kids or sought to dumb it down. The show was largely a straight up problem solving procedural. Think Apollo 13 or The Martian as a half hour weekly show. The cast and crew were steely eyed missile men out to save people by solving problems using their amazing technology. All while taking great lengths to avoid having that same tech fall into the wrong hands. While targeted at kids, it treats the kids as adults. It doesn't shy away from the fact that it was a cold war era show. Rather it quietly and subtly factors it in, in real and truthful ways. (Heck in one episode T1 gets shot down over a surprisingly Libya like Middle Eastern nation.)This show ran for several seasons and spawned two follow up movies Thunderbirds Are Go and Thunderbird 6. The concept has also been revisited several times. There was a Japanese Anime in the 80's (hard to find), the rather awful Nikolodean Jonathan Frakes directed Hollywood movie from a few years back. And the new reasonably decent CGI offering. While the new one isn't bad... it is still unquestionably a silly kids show. Something that the original managed to never be. All of the new ones pale before the pure genius and fun that was the 60's puppets.If you like SciFi, and in particular of you have a fondness for special effects and really good model work, Thunderbirds is a must see.

The painstaking detail that went into the design of every show's environment, etc. is amazing, especially for the time. It's a great way for children today to enjoy the fun from the era of string puppets. The sound effects and music make things feel especially genuine. I enjoy it as an adult simply recognizing the wonderful creativity that went into every scene. The stories are great for those looking for stories for children about courage, etc. Both younger boys and girls will identify with the bravery of the characters, and the fun moments as well!

The last time I watched Thunderbirds I was a kid who no money who SWORE they would one day own this whole series. Well, now I do own it and I don't regret a cent. The series revolves around the Tracy family and the International Rescue: as may be inferred by that, the plot of each episode revolves around an impossible-seeming rescue and how the Tracy family (usually Scott and Virgil using their magnificent Thunderbird machines) manage to pull it off. It is a million times better than most shows they have now - I may even be so bold to say the acting is better than most shows nowadays, and the whole cast is marionettes.

It appears that SHOUT! Factory did use the Japanese masters for this BD release and Shout!'s results are comparable. It IS the original 4x3 aspect ratio, which should make most fans happy. It doesn't look as great as Screen Archives Entertainment's BD release of the two movies, but they were filmed to show off lots of detail on a theatrical screen whereas the series was filmed to be shown on a low-resolution 19" diagonal (or smaller) TV screen from the 1960's where it was next to impossible to make out certain details (BTW, if you want to order that 2-movie set, Screen Archives has the best price - even with shipping costs). For a 50-year-old TV show to look this good in HD is ... impressive!In my original pre-release "caveat" which I wrote before much info about this then-upcoming American BD release of the TV show was known, I had compared the UK "widescreen" BD edition where the top & bottom of the original 4 x 3 images had been cropped to fit a 16 x 9 screen, to the Japanese BD edition, which left the original aspect ratio intact (& how the Japanese BD looked gorgeous), along with some other info, with hopes that SHOUT! Factory would be using the Japanese masters for their BD release in the US, and that I would revisit this review once I had viewed these discs (which I have now done). My intention was to provide a caveat to the consumer who might not ask certain questions, and without knowing the facts about the set beforehand, hastily pre-order it (& have to go through the hassle of returning it if it was not what was expected). This spirit of consumer protection was not received favorably by some who questioned a "review" of a product I'd not seen yet. It is now a moot point.The set is out, it lives up to my high expectations for it, and my updated rating reflects this.

I have been a fan of Thunderbirds since I first saw it (on ITV) as a 5 year old, in 1965. I am now 56 years old & it is still as great now as back then. Lets be honest this must be one of the greatest and most popular television series ever made!! I have owned the series in every video format through the years - VHS tape, then DVD, then the first Blu Ray- which as we all know was re-sized/cropped for widescreen viewing 16:9 ratio. That version was "like Marmite" - you either loved it or hated it. Personally I did not mind the 'cropping' because I consoled myself with the knowledge that it was 'the best' version we were going to get at that time, and the video quality of the 'cropped' blu ray was excellent. However I always hoped that ITV would bring out 'the holy grail' of Blu Ray versions of Thunderbirds - which would be in its original 4:3 aspect ratio as originally broadcast all those years ago. It was always in the back of my mind that 'we were missing some portion of the picture' - at the top & bottom - I'm a bit of a purist/nerd really!! There was a Japanese Blu ray version brought out in the original 4:3 aspect ratio but it was prohibitively expensive & you needed to remortgage your house to get hold of it!!! All of a sudden news came that the 'Shout' factory, in the USA were bringing out the series on Blu ray in the original 4:3 ratio, & you did not need to be Donald Trump to afford it - it was being offered at a very reasonable price. I pre-ordered it and it duly arrived (from Canada) today. I put the pilot episode (Trapped In The Sky) on first. All I can say is "I think I have died & gone to heaven"!!! The old cliche "it looks like these episodes were made yesterday" certainly applies here!! The images are fantastic and completely blemish free. If you already own the 'British' cropped Blu Ray set - this new 'Shout factory' set is the best 'by a country mile' on video quality, and best of all it is in 4:3 aspect ratio & you get to see ALL the picture as Gerry Anderson intended!! Do not hesitate, all you British Thunderbirds fans (and there are millions of us in the UK) - purchase this immediately - you will not be disappointed. One down side is that I can confirm that this set IS locked to Region A (USA/Canada) so you will need a multiregion Blu Ray player (or a player bought from North America) in order to play them. But, believe me, hang the expense - just do it - Thunderbirds fans in Britain have been waiting too long 'to let this opportunity get away'. Anyway enough of this; I am off now to put on my favourite episode - 'The Cham-Cham' - F.A.B!!!

I Was Always put off by buying Thunderbirds on Blu ray Having read so much negative reviews against it. The picture is cropped it's in widescreen not The same I Decided to settle with my DVD collection of The series. Thank Goodness for Amazon Reviewer's one particular review got my attention The collection is in it's original 4.3 Ratio picture quality I thought I had died and gone to Heaven That stirred me and I promptly ordered The same collection. What can I say it's all True Really blown away with The HD Transfers Thunderbird 2 is really Green if you know what I mean.The sound is in The original mono Which I do prefer But most important it fills your screen just has it did When you first came into contact with Thunderbirds and of course it's all in stunning Blu ray. Nice short Documentary on The making of Thunderbirds That's really it for extras But just to get all The episodes in The original Ratio is a Godsend. Only real low point The collection is Region A locked you will need multi region to view Them But again I second The original Amazon reviewer it's worth it. The Artwork on The jacket features all The Tracy Brothers which is similar to The UK Blu ray release I would have preferred all The Thunderbird crafts on The cover But Thunderbird 2 Does zoom along on The jackets flipside. Could it be The best version of Thunderbirds out There it might well be It's a Go in My collection. Thank you all Amazon Reviewer's Keep up The Good Work.

I was put off by the reviews of UK release so purchased this set from Amazon US. Very well priced and delivered very quickly. Great picture, best it's been. Original aspect ratio (4:3). Just to confirm this is definitely Region locked so you will need a Multi region Blu-Ray player for to watch it. It's ironic that a programme made in UK has the best release in the US !! Somebody at ITV Studios needs a talking to!

This is the only blu-ray set of Thunderbirds worth having IF you have a region-a capable player (USA region locked). The video and audio quality are superb and the 4:3 aspect ratio means that we actually get to see Thunderbirds and not an alternate version of it! 100% recommended.

Bought this for the correct aspect ratio of the presentation. Was surprised how good the picture and sound quality are when projected on a large screen.