Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet: Complete Series 1 [DVD]

Thankfully I was utterly wrong! NEW CAPTAIN SCARLET is a revelation, providing new bench marks for television by triumphing as a visually satisfying and smart, well written series.

The overall plot remains the same, with Earth security service SPECTRUM defending us from the intangible Mysterons and their deadly human duplicates, but already the new series has surpassed the original in every way possible. Initially it is odd to hear someone other than Francis Matthews and the late Ed Bishop as Captain's SCARLET & BLUE respectively, but the 'new' voice artists quickly become the "norm" after just a couple of episodes, making the roles their own.
Visually the show is staggering, with the CGI animation being quite literally the best ever seen on the small screen - Characters move fluidly and with weight, while vehicles look stunning and photo-realistic. Direction is accomplished, and the editing of some scenes leaves the viewer gasping in exhileration. A recently screened episode called VIRUS (not included in this set but it'll be in box set #2!) contained the most intense aeriel dogfight I have ever seen in ANY medium - It only lasted for two minutes yet was a dizzying ballet of aircraft and dedicated combat pilots at work defending their friends' lives....
And there lies the real strength of this series: There's no low-brow, cringeworthy banter or embarassing "kiddie" jokes here; the characters are portrayed as intelligent, real people with no triumphal 'air punching' or declarations of "radical" every few minutes. Plots are as adult as a series of this nature can get, and I am continually amazed at how much is packed into a 22 minute episode. Never once do the writers talk down to their audience, and congratulations to main scribe PHIL FORD for being brave enough to treat the audience with respect.
The first 13 episodes provide solid viewing without a single bad episode present. My personal favourites are the creepy RAT TRAP, the exciting MERCURY FALLING and best of all, THE ACHILLES MESSENGER, a story that hints at some very interesting developments to come.
Although I recorded the series off air, this boxset will be the only way to view the episodes in all their widescreen, high definition, surround-sound glory. After being so personally disappointed by the update of DR WHO, I know I can at least find good adult (in the best sense of the word) television somewhere. Read more ›

First, remember Thunderbirds? Even the film version of recent years? Right, now forget it.

Second, anyone who has ever met Starship Trooper Chronicles, also by Ron Thornton, please forget that, too.

Finally, if you haven't seen Captain Scarlet, the origianl series, don't panic - this is simply superb. Fans of the original will be really pleased with how close it remains to the original strings and puppet ideal, but with the use of state of the art CGI; and SOTA it is! The level of detail is stunning - whereas Starship Troopers suffered from the odd touch of neglect or simply bad production values, you can TELL this is something Gerry Anderson's hand has touched - it oozes quality. I mean it - I can freeze frame the DVD at any moment and either count pores on the face of a character, or figureout the stitching pattern on a character's clothing! Quality, Quality, Quality.

This is true, not only in the quality of the visuals, but also in the story - this DVD is PG, and it actually earns it, not through stupidly obvious ways, but through what is simply a gritty and enjoyable yarn, spun from episode to episode. Sure, there's the odd bright and fluffy moment, but it's the sort that'll have you grinning from ear to ear (the involvement of a Lancaster Bomber in one of the episodes is delightful, including Colonel White's closing comment about "prangs"!)....

Captain Scarlet could have been horribly updated, but you can identify with principle characters very quickly - and while existing strong relationships from the 1960s original have been kept, others have received welcome make-overs - the Angels are still all-female, but White's XO, Lieutenant Green is now female (and seems to work much better that way). Black's history with Destiny, the fact that Destiny is now one of the three principle characters. The story always seems to rattle on at breakneck speed, which does much to avoid any potential "look, we're Spectrum Agents and we're trying to look tough" moments.

What I'm saying is, I can't fault this DVD. Apart from the fact I want ANOTHER 13 episodes, RIGHT NOW! Read more ›