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Amazon.co.uk Review
UFO was Gerry Anderson's first live-action TV series after a decade of producing such children's animated classics as Stingray (1963) and Thunderbirds (1964). The premise of UFO, which ran for a single season of 26 episodes, was like a more serious version of Anderson's Captain Scarlet (1967)--in the near future of 1980 a hi-tech secret organisation, SHADO, waged covert war against mysterious alien attackers. Ed Bishop played the American head of SHADO--he had had previously featured in Captain Scarlet and Anderson's Doppelganger (1969)--though in all other respects this was a thoroughly British production. As with all Anderson series UFO evidenced remarkable technological inventiveness and groundbreaking production values, coupled with startling lapses in fundamental logic too numerous to list.
Much more adult in story and content than earlier Anderson productions, and surprisingly dark with its pragmatic view of human nature and downbeat endings, the show now seems like a forerunner of The X Files and the equally short-lived Dark Skies (1996). Barry Gray's memorable theme and atmospheric music greatly enhanced the overall impact. Stylishly made, though terribly sexist by current standards and featuring eye-catching costumes more fitted for a camp fancy dress party than the front line of a futuristic war, this cult classic eventually evolved into Space 1999 (1975).
On the DVD: this four-disc deluxe box features the first 13 episodes. The first disc includes an alternate, more violent opening scene, while later discs feature text transcriptions and photographs from scenes cut due to TV running time restrictions. All discs provide extensive galleries of publicity and behind the scenes photos, as well as character profiles or a history of SHADO. The opening episode, "Identified", features a commentary by Gerry Anderson, in which he talks in general about the production of the series and Ed Bishop does the same for the episode "Sub Smash". From the animated menus onwards these DVDs have been beautifully designed and produced. The mono sound is exceptionally strong and the restored and remastered picture is almost unbelievably good for a 1970 TV show. With barely a flaw anywhere the episodes look so clear, colourful and detailed that they could have been filmed last week. --Gary S Dalkin
Special Features
4:3
English
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital English
Dolby Digital
Gerry Anderson Commentary
Alternate Opening Sequence
Production Gallery
Deleted Scenes Gallery
Behind The Scenes
Main Character Profile
SHADO Dossiers
English
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital English
Dolby Digital
Gerry Anderson Commentary
Alternate Opening Sequence
Production Gallery
Deleted Scenes Gallery
Behind The Scenes
Main Character Profile
SHADO Dossiers
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
40 of 40 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
It's great to see what some of the fellow British reviewers have said about this show. UFO, in my opinion, does rank as the best British sci-fi televsion series to date. These earlier episodes are sometimes a little slower than the later ones but in no account to they suffer for it as they do tend to study more character driven plotlines with a nice balance to some great action set pieces. This especially applies to Commander Straker in episodes such as 'A Question of Priorities' which is compelling viewing. The imagination here is also stunning. Much has been written about the purple wigs and who cares why they have them; they look awesome as do the girls that wear them but that's another story! The design work on the show including it's vehicles and special effects is also of the same high standard including SID, the talking satellite with a cool, polished voice.
In reading some of the american reviews I was stunned to see some people attacking this show for it so so-called 'low budget special effects' or 'Thunderbirds-style special effects'. The show was indeed produced by the very same team that produced Thunderbirds and the effects are stunning. Even when Thunderbirds and Stingray were made in the mid 60's let alone UFO, the effects the shows demonstrated were way ahead of their time, especially considering they were made often made on a low budget and for television.
One other factor I must agree on is the standard of re-mastering. All 26 episodes in both box sets are stunning both on the visuals and the audio and are a real credit to the team at Carlton Visual Entertainment.
To finish with, I highly recommend this set. Its great television on most fronts and is a worthy rival to some of the best of Star Trek.
In reading some of the american reviews I was stunned to see some people attacking this show for it so so-called 'low budget special effects' or 'Thunderbirds-style special effects'. The show was indeed produced by the very same team that produced Thunderbirds and the effects are stunning. Even when Thunderbirds and Stingray were made in the mid 60's let alone UFO, the effects the shows demonstrated were way ahead of their time, especially considering they were made often made on a low budget and for television.
One other factor I must agree on is the standard of re-mastering. All 26 episodes in both box sets are stunning both on the visuals and the audio and are a real credit to the team at Carlton Visual Entertainment.
To finish with, I highly recommend this set. Its great television on most fronts and is a worthy rival to some of the best of Star Trek.
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
At last, UFO as it was always meant to be seen - as a vision of the future it may be fatally flawed (why put the delectable Gabrielle Drake in a purple wig?!), but it was (and remains) a thought-provoking adult sci fi prog. It is difficult to believe that this masterpiece was the creation of the same man as the execrable 'Terrahawks'.
The transfer to DVD is nothing short of miraculous - probably the best TV to DVD release I have ever seen. The original masters must have been used - there is no drop out, no fading, it is as though it was made last week, using a retro 60s look. In fact, given the poor technical state of TV when this was first released, no one will ever have seen this series looking so polished. If there is an award for restoration of TV programmes, the people responsible for this release should win it. And no, I'm not related to them. Buy it! JG
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Arguably Gerry Anderson's television masterpiece, UFO receives a superb spit-and-polish in the shiny shape of this 13-episode digipack. Made between 1969 and 1970 and set, laughably, in the eighties, the series concerned the efforts of a secret military organisation to repel sinister visitations from a distant planet. It was Anderson's first live-action series following a succession of family-friendly puppet shows. The themes and plotlines were noticably adult in content, a fact that goes some way to explaining the difficulties TV schedulers had with it at the time.
Uniformly attractive characters inhabit a bizarre world of string vests and purple wigs - the programme may have had a unique look but occupied no reality known to mankind. Suspend your disbelief, however, and there is much to enjoy here: mostly excellent stories, great hardware, Derek Meddings' fabulous miniatures and far-out Hammond-organ jazz! The tone is often jaw-droppingly pessimistic - surprising after the fun-filled antics of Thunderbirds - and in Ed Bishop, we had a charismatic, no-nonsense lead, even if wardrobe did undermine much of his authoritative work by squeezing him into romper suits.
The extras have been studiously assembled, if you like squinting through pages of tiny text, but at least they include a cherishably honest director's commentary from Gerry Anderson on the opening episode, and plenty of insightful behind-the-scenes stills and info. The animated menus are nice, too - full marks to Carlton, once again. The main reason to buy these, however, is the digital remastering. The crisp images, especially the studio scenes, look as though they could have been shot yesterday. Indeed, you can even see how the make-up's been applied.
Interceptors, immediate launch!
Uniformly attractive characters inhabit a bizarre world of string vests and purple wigs - the programme may have had a unique look but occupied no reality known to mankind. Suspend your disbelief, however, and there is much to enjoy here: mostly excellent stories, great hardware, Derek Meddings' fabulous miniatures and far-out Hammond-organ jazz! The tone is often jaw-droppingly pessimistic - surprising after the fun-filled antics of Thunderbirds - and in Ed Bishop, we had a charismatic, no-nonsense lead, even if wardrobe did undermine much of his authoritative work by squeezing him into romper suits.
The extras have been studiously assembled, if you like squinting through pages of tiny text, but at least they include a cherishably honest director's commentary from Gerry Anderson on the opening episode, and plenty of insightful behind-the-scenes stills and info. The animated menus are nice, too - full marks to Carlton, once again. The main reason to buy these, however, is the digital remastering. The crisp images, especially the studio scenes, look as though they could have been shot yesterday. Indeed, you can even see how the make-up's been applied.
Interceptors, immediate launch!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
UFO part one
UFO was the first real life action series produced by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson after the success of the puppet series such as Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet. Read more
Published 8 days ago by Ms. M. Potter
UFO Volumes 1-4
Discs had to be cleaned and leaflet missing. I used to work for Carlton and I am fully aware that their UFO DVDs were issued with these. Read more
Published 18 days ago by Graham
UFO Collector's Edition DVD
As a fan of the series in the early 1970s, I thoroughly recommend buying the DVD set. Even without the C.G.I. Read more
Published 18 days ago by Brian
Fantastic retro tv at its best !
I watched U.F.O. during my child hood and watched it with great delight, I was a Thunderbird fan and i thought U.F.O. was FAB and really grown up !. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Barrie
ufo vol 1-4
A trip back in time to the 70's. The quality of the digital remastering is truly amazing (though less so when you view it against the remastered Star Trek TOS) Then you are... Read more
Published 3 months ago by albert's dad
The Future's Not What It Used To Be
UFO was something of a departure for Gerry Anderson. Previous productions included the confidently ambitious Stingray and Thunderbirds, the curious yet acceptable face of the... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mr. P. J. Turner
UFO volumes 1-4
Volumes 1 and 2 watched now on volume 3. Every bit as good as I remember all those years ago. Didn't see many episodes back then if memory serves me right, as it was on at some... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Prof G. J. Parker
I just like it.
No nonsense sci-fi.
Love the plots - Just watched E.S.P. last night in bed - The less we know about the Aliens, the more we crave about them. Read more
Love the plots - Just watched E.S.P. last night in bed - The less we know about the Aliens, the more we crave about them. Read more
Published 12 months ago by MANFACE
Well worth watching
UFO is actually surprsingly good. As Gerry Anderson has always worked with high quality sets and models most FX actually still look pretty good today. Read more
Published 14 months ago by TKr
UFO - Classic Entertainment
Watching the DVD collection of UFO provided almost endless entertainment. Jerry & Silvia Anderson certainly pushed the boundaries of possibility both in terms of each serials plot... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Phil4Sure
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