Gerry Anderson Sci-Fi Work (1 Viewer)

Hi all,


There are some very old threads related to Gerry Anderson as such I decided to start a thread on Gerry Anderson. I really like Gerry Anderson's work as such I have been watching Captain Scarlett and Mysterious. I have order Captain Scarlett and the Mysterions as well as Stingray!!

Captain Scarlet (one T) and the Mysterons is a great show . If you're really keen there are some episodes in HD on Bluray available on these UK releases - and very nice they are too.


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Filmed-Supermarionation-This-Blu-ray/dp/B00NP0N1LC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422228148&sr=8-1&keywords=supermarionation


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Supermarionation-Limited-Blu-Gerry-Anderson/dp/B00OP6ES4Y/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1422228148&sr=8-3&keywords=supermarionation


http://networkonair.com/shop/2126-hd21-5027626802547.html


The Limited Edition boxset is a beauty but really only for the dedicated hardcore Anderson collector . Its still only £100 on the Network site so much cheaper than Amazon sellers at the moment


The documentary is region free but the episodes are Region B

I have the following GA shows on DVD:


Supercar


Fireball XL5


Stingray


Thunderbirds (My first introduction to the genre known as Science-Fiction).


Captain Scarlett and the Mysterons


Joe 90


Secret Service


UFO


Space: 1999


Along with these movies:


Thunderbirds are Go!


Thunderbird 6


Journey to the far side of the Sun

I only have Space:1999, UFO and Journey to the Far Side of the Sun. When I was a kid, I preferred Space over UFO and season 2 of Space over 1 but now it's the opposite. Now I find Season 2 to be a mixed bag, some episodes are very hard to watch but others are quite good while I uniformly like season 1. UFO was an interesting but weird show that I didn't get but appreciate more now.

These shows are fun, especially Joe 90 and Secret Service have some cool sets. I also like his western series Four Feather Falls, the first puppet show.

HenryDuBrow said:

These shows are fun, especially Joe 90 and Secret Service have some cool sets. I also like his western series Four Feather Falls, the first puppet show.

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Anderson did 2 puppet series before Four Feather Falls.

The Adventures of Twizzle - which I think no longer exists and he also did a season of Torchy the Battery Boy.


Apparently only one episode of FFF exists on its original 35mm film ( the dvd boxset are from 16mm copies) and this episode has been remastered for HD and is included in the above mentioned boxset but its also a bonus on the Bluray of Fireball XL5 which contains just one episode of that show that's been colourised . It also includes a feature length documentary on the making of XL5 too.



UFO fans should note the recent Bluray release in Germany . It's an entirely English friendly set available for 1/3 of the price of the Japanese set.


The Gerry Anderson fanclub has long been offering several Anderson pilots that never went to series on dvd but these have now been withdrawn because I believe Andersons son is now cashing in on his fathers work and is trying to get the rights to whatever he can so these pilots are down for a general release later this year.


The fanclub also produced a couple of great documentaries . The Space 1999 one is in 2 parts with 50 minutes on each season and still available.


The UFO documentary is also still available although it is also a bonus feature on the Australian dvd set which is available for a very low price at the moment from its publisher Umbrella Entertainment. The Australian set includes more commentaries and bonus features than any other UFO release.

UFO fans use it against Space: 1999 (Seasons 1 and 2). Space: 1999 Season 1 fans use Season 1 against Season 2. The implication always is that the more people who debase something, the more right they are, and that if you like what's being debased, there's something wrong with you.

I find my enjoyment of all three is subverted for long periods of time as a result of this. Right now, I can't watch any of them. The constant detraction is all I can think about.

Liking all three. Now, there's a concept! Sadly, it seems to be frowned upon, where it exists at all. ... Everything has to be used against something else.

Kevin L McCorry said:

UFO fans use it against Space: 1999 (Seasons 1 and 2). Space: 1999 Season 1 fans use Season 1 against Season 2. The implication always is that the more people who debase something, the more right they are, and that if you like what's being debased, there's something wrong with you.

I find my enjoyment of all three is subverted for long periods of time as a result of this. Right now, I can't watch any of them. The constant detraction is all I can think about.

Liking all three. Now, there's a concept! Sadly, it seems to be frowned upon, where it exists at all. ... Everything has to be used against something else.

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Not really familiar with what you are talking about.

Here in the UK Anderson fans usually split into 2 camps but I've not heard of anyone criticising them for it.


Some prefer UFO , some prefer 1999 and the ones that prefer 1999 usually prefer Year One over Year 2.

Year 2 did have a bad reputation for a long time but its unavailability for some years since the UK dvd was deleted seems to have softened opinion and now many people are willing to admit to liking Year 2 specially now we have a Bluray appearing later in the year and also admitting they've purchased the sampler with Bringers of Wonder Parts 1 and 2.


Year 2 anticipation is at a high . Those of us who also enjoy UFO bought the German set while we wait for a UK one should it ever appear

Regulus said:

I have the following GA shows on DVD:


Supercar


Fireball XL5


Stingray


Thunderbirds (My first introduction to the genre known as Science-Fiction).


Captain Scarlett and the Mysterons


Joe 90


Secret Service


UFO


Space: 1999


Along with these movies:


Thunderbirds are Go!


Thunderbird 6


Journey to the far side of the Sun

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I have all these too... also...


Torchy the Battery Boy, huge collectors of weird kid TV should grab this right away.

Four Feather Falls, but I'd sure like a region 1...

Terrahawks

Thunderbirds also has the distinction of being the first DVD Box Set of any TV Show I purchased. On December 26, 2002 I made a beeline to Best Buy and asked where this series was stocked. Once I had that info I made my way to the Aisle where this show was stocked. I spotted an employee who was stacking this show on the rack and snatched one out of his hand!


The most recent GA shows I acquired were Supercar, Fireball XL-5, and Stingray - got em all for five bux a piece at a yard sale a few years ago. Good Stuff for sure.

youworkmen said:

Some prefer UFO , some prefer 1999 and the ones that prefer 1999 usually prefer Year One over Year 2.

Year 2 did have a bad reputation for a long time but its unavailability for some years since the UK dvd was deleted seems to have softened opinion and now many people are willing to admit to liking Year 2 specially now we have a Bluray appearing later in the year and also admitting they've purchased the sampler with Bringers of Wonder Parts 1 and 2.


Year 2 anticipation is at a high . Those of us who also enjoy UFO bought the German set while we wait for a UK one should it ever appear

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Often times it doesn't come down to a matter of mere preference. It comes down to sheer hatred and disdain for the "other" season. It isn't enough that their favorite season is "better", the "other" season has to be contemptible (there's no limit to the "colorful" pejoratives used). I see the same contempt in fans of UFO for Space: 1999. There is blame, always blame for the latter "replacing" the former, as if they all can't peacefully co-exist and be appreciated. Lew Grade had reasons for making the decisions that he did, but fans can't accept that and need to have scapegoats.

It's the snarky, quasi-intellectual, disdainful posturing that is so poisonous, the argument that such is the legitimate bearing of the true fan by overwhelming majority decision, and that that liking Season 2 is indeed something to be "admitted to", as if it's some kind of transgression or crime, or the very least some kind of deficiency in taste or "good sense" or mental stability. I've heard it all. I've seen it all. One can't defend one's liking or preference of Season 2 without abjectly putting oneself down first. And if one doesn't, out pour the accusations of being "one can short of a sixpack".

The "bad reputation" of Season 2 is also something I can't relate to. It was presented in Canada on our premiere TV network and well-received. It wasn't cancelled halfway through for bad ratings or bad reviews. It was fully run in fall/winter and repeated in spring/summer. I'm sure that CBC was waiting for a third season, to continue broadcasting the show. And did so anyway by airing a further year of nation-wide reruns of Season 1 for the regions that had missed it in '75-'76, and running both seasons in regional repeats through the '80s. Most of the quibbling I've subsequently seen has come down to the science-fiction-can-only-be-this-or-that kind of argument. "Good" SF has to be metaphysical. It has to be etherial. You can't have monsters in it, or worlds where the evolution of life took a different and alien path. Etc..

I saw "Year 2" first, then "Year 1", and many years later, UFO, and enjoyed them all and saw merit in all of them. Took me quite awhile to fully warm to UFO, because it *is* Earth-centric. I do prefer the later episodes which have more of an SF element to them, and don't tend to watch the earlier ones very much. The fans of both shows would label me pejoratively for having this view and for not kowtowing to their superiority. I am a seasoned veteran of the fan movement and bear all of the scars.

There was something about the Gerry Anderson depiction of space that appealed to me very much. Journey to the Far Side of the Sun, likewise. And "Into Infinity", too. It's there in everything that he did that was space-based (including "Year 2" of Space: 1999). And it's distinguishable from Star Trek, Star Wars, and most everything else. I just don't understand why people can't make that distinction and appreciate it fully. It was clear to my eyes at the age of 11 when I first saw Star Trek and Space: 1999 airing hours apart, and Star Wars playing at the cinema. All of Space: 1999 was aesthetically distinct. Even if some concepts, at a basic level, were used by a plurality of TV series of different origins and different reverence for the material. ... People comparing Season 2 to Lost in Space or Star Trek just doesn't register with me, I'm afraid, as any kind of absolute. For that, I was branded a freak and bullied and teased. ... But that's fandom.

Unlike what a lot of people seem to be doing, I'm not rejecting my 11-year-old self's tastes, but embracing them for their purity and their wide-ranging compass. There was a nobility to that person I was. And his imagination. The older I get, the more appreciative I am of that. Especially with the very rigid dictates today of Hollywood's opuses.

I'm afraid the "Bringers of Wonder" disc has only fanned the flames and increased my disaffection from viewing the shows-- but I knew it would. All I can think about is the detraction, the "ripping apart" that is certain to be done. A nice surprise every now and then would help, but when it comes to fan attitudes and their reach over the Web, such is a forlorn hope.

* I use the term, pseudo-intellectual, because I cringe from assigning the notion of pure intellectualism to any view that comes not from an open mind-- which most fans proudly profess as not having. Strange as it may seem. ... Again, that's fandom.

Has anybody bought the recent Network Supermarionation blu-ray sets?

Keith Cobby said:

Has anybody bought the recent Network Supermarionation blu-ray sets?

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I bought the boxset with everything in - it's great . I'm in the UK so it was ok for me but US buyers should be aware the episodes are in 50i.



I'm glad I don't move in the same circles as Kevin where fans "hate" each others shows.


The disdain for 1999 Year 2 was quite just from the viewpoint of those who saw Year One first with its otherworldly adventures and majestic presentation and stories that were too much ahead of their time .


Fred Freiberger took Year 2 into Star Trek territory and its easy to see why it got a bad reputation because of too many monsters running around , many of those monsters were embarassing quality costumes and in the case of the 3 stories written by Freiberger under a pseudonym which were mostly dire.

Overall I prefer Year 2 but I think the weakest stories of the whole 48 are also in Year 2.


Unfortunately for UFO fans it was down to the US viewing figures that it was replaced by 1999 so one could say it was the fans fault.

Gerry was already working on a second season of UFO and much money had been spent which is why when it was decided to cancel it Gerry was able to persuade Lew Grade to allow him to adjust what was already being done into something new.


So if 1999 had not been made it does not mean that UFO would have continued because it wouldn't.


Like the majority of ITC shows not just Gerrys the production of each season was completed months before any episodes were aired anywhere so any feedback could only be taken into account if the show went to another season.

In the UK Year 2 was a flop with most ITV regions throwing it away in lacklustre slots including saturday morning kids tv.


It was reported that a Year 3 would have gone ahead if not for Grade needing the funds to move into his period of several years trying to make movies that sold well in the US.

None did . I believe it was this move into concentrating on product that appealed to the US to the detriment of his UK responsibilities that cost Grade his ITV franchise a couple of years later which saw the end of ATV and instantly stopped any ITC product having a UK broadcast outlet so that was the end of that.

It's just amazing the imprint that TV can put upon one's memory. As soon as I saw Gerry Anderson's name when scanning the list of Recent Topics, instantly, what sprang to mind was: "That's the guy who put marionettes into sci-fi stories." Don't think that I even watched a total of 5 episodes from

Mr Anderson's various series, (even at roughly age 10 I still preferred live actors in my sci-fi) but his work still made an obvious impression on me, especially considering that I saw it more than half a century ago.

Mike Boone said:

It's just amazing the imprint that TV can put upon one's memory. As soon as I saw Gerry Anderson's name when scanning the list of Recent Topics, instantly, what sprang to mind was: "That's the guy who put marionettes into sci-fi stories." Don't think that I even watched a total of 5 episodes from

Mr Anderson's various series, (even at roughly age 10 I still preferred live actors in my sci-fi) but his work still made an obvious impression on me, especially considering that I saw it more than half a century ago.

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He spent 15 years putting puppets into sci fi but then he made UFO , The Protectors ( 2 seasons) Space 1999 ( 2 seasons) and Space Precinct so you've missed out on some good stuff that you should try and catch up on.


His first live action sci - fi venture was the cinema film Journey to the Far Side of the Sun - a kind of foreunner to UFO and coincidentally announced just today for a Bluray release in April

youworkmen said:

He spent 15 years putting puppets into sci fi but then he made UFO , The Protectors ( 2 seasons) Space 1999 ( 2 seasons) and Space Precinct so you've missed out on some good stuff that you should try and catch up on.


His first live action sci - fi venture was the cinema film Journey to the Far Side of the Sun - a kind of foreunner to UFO and coincidentally announced just today for a Bluray release in April

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Now that you've clued me into it, I'll be ordering the Blu-ray of Journey to the Far Side of the Sun. Appreciate you bringing it up.


I get a big charge out of watching some of the older sci-fi films. I make some popcorn, then turn out the lights, and a sci-fi film can make me feel almost

like a kid again, watching a sci-fi or monster matinee at the old Levittown Theater, circa 1963-65. Levittown, NY (on Long Island) is where I grew up.


Recently, I purchased the Blu-ray of Mario Bava's 1965 Planet of the Vampires, from Amazon. Can't wait to check that one out, either. And, besides, I read on Wikipedia that it was an influence on Ridley Scott when he made Alien.

Thanks for all the comments!


I have pre-order Captain Scarlett as I have watched few episodes as such was impress with the quality of the episodes.


I was hoping to see the secret service released again as it looks also interesting as well.

If you like Stingray and Captain Scarlett you should also check out Joe 90 and of course Thunderbirds.

I would like Network to release Thunderbirds in the correct AR on blu-ray which I would expect to do well. I would also buy UFO, Joe 90, and Captain Scarlett as these were my favourites growing up and seemed to play endlessly on television. Never been a fan of Space 1999 though.


I watched Journey to the Far Side of the Sun recently and it hadn't aged as well as I expected.

Randy Korstick said:

If you like Stingray and Captain Scarlett you should also check out Joe 90 and of course Thunderbirds.

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Joe 90, Thunderbirds along with Secret Service are on my list, but it will be slow process due to budget constraints.


I am expecting my Captain Scarlett to come next week as I have it on a pre-order from amazon. It seems me that Region 1 is re-releasing the Gerry Anderson sets as such I am hoping this means that Secret Service will see a re-boot along with other sets!!