The Avengers and The New Avengers OOP on DVD. The Saint and The Persuaders!? (1 Viewer)

[Osato]

I wish that they would rerelease the Linda Thorson series sets again as I purchased only a single complete set(s) and wouldn't mind having a backup.At this late stage I would be much more interested in a blu-ray release of THE AVENGERS (ABC 1966-69) which surely must be in the works.In its original ABC Television U.S. Network primetime broadcast there was a "third" season of Emma Peel episodes comprised of 8 Emma Peel episodes and 7 Linda Thorson episodes which aired from January 1968 to September 1968.These initial 7 Linda Thorson episodes had a completely different title from what is currently featured in the DVD releases and I wish that these would be restored:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnPBXPB2qEQJeff T.

I believe that intro is also included as an extra on the 50th UK DVD set.

 

[jsteed]

I've owned the Optimum UK DVD's for both Series 4 and Series 5 of The Avengers for a while now and have always been impressed with the transfers and the many special features. It is very disappointing that there still is no NTSC Region 1 release with the new remasters but for me these DVD's are why I invested in a Region free player. Plus Network has released several British ITC series that are either out of print or never been released in region 1.

 

[JeffT.]

I know! Network released HAWKEYE AND THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS (CBC 1957-58) in Region 2 utilizing beautiful pristine video transfers while absolutely nothing was done about it here.I still believe that celebrated popular favourites like THE AVENGERS (ABC 1966-67) and THE SAINT (Syndicated 1962-65, NBC 1966-67, 1968-69) will make it in blu-ray Region 1.One thing that I didn't care about with THE AVENGERS tv series DVDs was the manner in which three episodes were lumped together on a single disc with only the first having the "In Colour" preteaser bumper.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGQAXCktRa8Jeff T.

 

[Jack P]

I have all of the old A+E releases and I am not going to get a "mega-set" for shelf space compression when the transfers are still the same ones and also the fact that the "mega-set" wouldn't blend in with the boxes of the Blackman and Thorson episodes. Until this series gets a Blu-Ray release no upgrading by me!

 

[DVDvision]

Sad to have confirmation it's still the same old discs from 99. They were state of the art then, obsolete now.

I'll ring my friend at StudioCanal to see what's going on re any Blu-ray possibility.

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

Yeah, as much as I would like this set for this price, I can't support not using the remastered versions, so I will wait for any confirmation of a Blu-ray release or get a region free BD player next time.

 

[Harry-N]

I was suckered into re-buying THE PRISONER on DVD in a similar situation. THE PRISONER had been issued on DVD in the US by the same company, A&E. In the UK, we got reports of a wonderful new remastering job that wasn't offered in the US. Suddenly a repackage job from A&E appeared on the shelves, selling for an astronomical price of around $50 - high for a series with only 17 episodes.

I jumped at the chance to again buy this series, just KNOWING that I'd be getting these magnificent new remasters, only to find out upon arriving home that I'd been duped into buying the exact same discs all over again in a sleek, new packaging job. It wouldn't be until I got a Blu-ray player that I'd get to see those great PRISONER remasters.

Now it seems that A&E is playing the same game with THE AVENGERS, giving a repackage job to the same old masters from more than a decade ago. I'll wait for something better and allow my old AVENGERS two-packs to continue taking up space on the shelf.

Harry

 

[JeffT.]

As I (previously) said on two counts:

a) I wasn't happy the way only one pre-main title "In Colour" bumper was used to cover all three Emma Peel episodes on a disc.

b) I am open to a reissue of the Linda Thorson episodes.

Beyond this I will patiently wait for a blu-ray release.

But there may well be others out there who still haven't purchased the original A&E issues and this is now their chance to do so.

For the record here are the "third season" Emma Peel episodes and their respective airdates as telecast in U.S. primetime television:

Diana Rigg (These can be clearly identified as being latter produced because of the conspicuous absence of the previous season's on-screen printed "two liners" [ie. Steed is shot full of holes (and) Emma sees stars!])

01) "Mission... Highly Improbable" (10/01/1968)
02) "The Positive Negative Man" (17/01/1968)
03) "You Have Just Been Murdered" (24/01/1968)
04) "Death's Door" (31/01/1968)
05) "Murdersville" (07/02/1968)
06) "Return of the Cybernauts" (21/02/1968)
07) "The £50,000 Breakfast" (28/02/1968)
08) "Deadman's Treasure" (13/03/1968)

Linda Thorson

09) "The Forget-Me-Knot" (20/03/1968)
10) "Invasion of the Earthmen" (27/03/1968)
11) "The Curious Case of the Countless Clues" (03/04/1968)
12) "Split" (10/04/1968)
13) "Get-A-Way" (24/04/1968)
14) "Have Guns--Will Haggle" (01/05/1968)
15) "Look (Stop Me If You Heard This One) But There Were These Two Fellers" (08/05/1968)

Jeff T.

 

[mark-edk]

I liked the Tara King 'shooting gallery' credits way better than the one with the armor and bouquet of flowers.

 

[JohnMor]

I liked the Tara King 'shooting gallery' credits way better than the one with the armor and bouquet of flowers.

The only problem with them is Tara King!

 

[DVDvision]

Is there an option to hate the above post?

 

[Jack P]

I've come to appreciate Tara more on the second viewings. Thorson got thrust into an unenviable situation and it also didn't help IMO that the producers tried to make her over and botched it with a peroxide job that failed (her hair fell out and she had to wear wigs much of the early episodes) and also some horrible fashion choices I felt. I had to see a number of post-Avengers pix to get a better sense of how Thorson was more beautiful than I realized at first.

 

[JeffT.]

Diana Rigg was an impossible act to follow for anyone. I was just telling my supervisor last week that I considered Ms. Rigg to be the most beautiful woman on 1960s tv. And I was a boy at time!I really wish that Sean Connery had done ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE (1969) teamed with Diana Rigg. What a class pairing! The mind boggles. At times it seems that nothing works out the way it should.But whomever was cast in the female lead THE AVENGERS could/should have gone on a few more years. I (at the time) certainly wasn't ready to let go of it.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-GmH8eFJFUJeff T.

 

[JohnMor]

I think Thorson's very beautiful. And I agree that she had big shoes to step into and I give her props for tackling a difficult role with aplomb. And I can't blame her for not being Diana Rigg (or even Honor Blackman). But I'm not a fan of the Tara King character, nor of the writing during those episodes.

 

[Jack P]

The thing is, if Connery had been in OHMSS, then Rigg wouldn't have been cast in the film. She was hired solely to provide gravitas and audience recognition to balance off George Lazenby's inexperience. Had Connery done the film, the producers would have cast an unknown European as was their habit in previous films (Honor Blackman it should be remembered was unknown to American audiences in 1964 since her Avengers episodes didn't air in the US).

Frankly, I doubt Connery could have credibly handled the emotional depth required for OHMSS. He was much too macho-ballsy in his interpretation of 007 that I think the audience would have laughed at him getting tender and emotional. Lazenby, because of his inexperience I felt was more credible for those scenes.

 

[DVDvision]

Guys who think Linda Thorson isn't a worthy follow up to Diana haven't seen her coming up to them wearing a see-thru shirt and no bra. I did.

 

[JeffT.]

When I compliment Diana Rigg it isn't just for her (uncommonly) exquisite beauty but (of course) the lady was an exceptional actress (which should go without saying).The "original" shooting script for ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE (1969) would have been written with Sean Connery in mind. Once George Lazenby was cast it surely must have been considerably revised and reshaped to accomodate his specific persona.Sean (a much more accomplished actor) could have easily handled the more "serious" emotional aspects necessary (just watch the gentleman emote during the tragic death of Aki in YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE [1967]).Just as important Sean (likely) could have handled the masquerade of Sir Hilary Bray without any idiotic post-production dubbing. Seeing it done to poor George Lazenby makes it a complete farce.Sean Connery is better looking than George Lazenby and has a powerful "screen" presence which his subsequent successors never really had. George Lazenby sounds like he mumbling when he's talking and (at times) it is difficult to understand just what he is saying.When I first saw ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE (1969) I had a completely open mind to George Lazenby but over the years I (personally) have become increasingly disatisfied and critical of his weak performance.Even the director Peter Hunt ironically admitted that they had all the necessary elements for a "great" Bond film except a good James Bond.(In my opinion) I think that the producers always had Diana Rigg in mind as the ill-fated Tracy.Sean Connery made two mistakes in his career-legacy as Bond:a) He should have done the first 7 films inclusive in the franchise before finally bowing out.b) He should have done one more follow-up to NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN (1983) continuing the further exploits of his "older" James Bond. What is the point in just doing one?Next to Sean Connery I consider Timothy Dalton to be the "second" best screen Bond. That gentleman has a sleek elegant coolness about him that was exactly right for the part. I wish that Mr. Dalton could have done more!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXEdgV58XyIJeff T.

 

[Jack P]

Sorry, but after watching the overly rough way Connery behaves in "Thunderball" in which he literally forces Pat Fearing to have sex with him, I can not buy him as a sensitive guy for the weight of the scenes necessary to sell the romance in OHMSS that he'd be prepared to settle down. In a similar vein, he probably would have been more apt to hop in with Lynn Holly-Johnson in "For Your Eyes Only".

And they did not have Diana Rigg in mind from the get-go. After Lazenby was signed on, the first offer was for Bardot and then Catherine Deneuve. The idea that there was any serious chance of Rigg being paired with Connery just doesn't pass muster.

Timothy Dalton I couldn't stand at all. To me "Licence To Kill" is the worst film in the franchise I ever saw (I have not seen any of the current Bond) and I would rather sit through "Moonraker" a hundred times before ever watching "Licence" again.

 

[Osato]

Any official reviews on the A&E reissue set then?

I'm glad I ordered the 50th Anniversary set from the UK.

All of the episodes have been remastered in this set.

 

[JeffT.]

" In a similar vein, he probably would have been more apt to hop in with Lynn Holly-Johnson in 'For Your Eyes Only'."

I think that this character is something that would not have been done in an adult oriented Sean Connery Bond film.

As far as sensitivity is concerned it is somewhat of an ironic paradox that a professional killer would have his more benign emotional side to his character. And maybe that's the point!

Pertaining to THUNDERBALL (1965) Bond approaches differing women in a different manner. At the time (the 1960s) certain factions (especially religious groups) found the character to be offensively amoral. Bond (in all his incarnations) tends to have a "rough" way with women.

In a James Bond film it is questionable whether Brigitte Bardot or Catherine Deneuve would have been secured regardless of who was Bond albeit it is more likely with Sean Connery as the lead. Obviously with two prominent actresses (apparently) seriously being considered the producers had some grandly lofty ambitions for their intended film. Logistically speaking, I still think that Diana Rigg would have been settled on just the same.

In an interview George Lazenby said that "Sean should have done this picture." The gentlemen candidly admitted that he had "nothing" to bring to the role. He wasn't a professional actor. In some ways this parallels the problems with Linda Thorson who both series producers Albert Fennell and Brian Clemens (neither of whom were involved with her selection) were dissatisfied with. It is interesting that both surfaced about around the same time and both were too young and too inexperienced to assume such high profile prominent leads.

When ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE (1969) was first carried on national television around the mid-1970s I remember a work colleague at the time (who was well familiar with both Sean Connery and Roger Moore) after seeing it (inoffensively) commenting, "Where was James Bond?!"

I don't dislike either George Lazenby or Linda Thorson as individuals but (realistically speaking) they were pale shadows of their immediate predecessors.

Inflation taken into consideration both of Timothy Dalton's Bond film outgrossed ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE (1969).

The bottom line is with so many Bonds each is likely to have their own devout fan following. To each his own.

Jeff T.