Thunderbirds are Blu! (1 Viewer)

[Duncan Harvey]

Just received from my rental company the first three discs of the Blu-ray release of the classic Supermarionation series "Thunderbirds"

First of all, the episodes have been cropped from 4:3 to 16:9 which whilst "morally" unacceptable, doesnt actually harm the enjoyment of the episodes.

As the show was shot on colour 35mm film, like many of the classic ITC series, it's a prime choice for HD, and the picture is very pleasing to the eye.

Hilariously the packaging shows the Tracy boys being watched over omnously by the kindly Butler Kyrano rather than his villainous brother The Hood - nice to see that this was put together by someone who had clearly never actually seen the show...

For those in the US who know and love the show the good news is that the discs appear to be region free, as they worked fine on my US as well as my UK PS3s. Bad news is the price - £120 although Amazon in the UK have it for £80. Either way its at least 50% too expensive.

One would presume that if this sells well, then other Supermarionation shows will follow, albeit cropped along with Space 1999 and possibly UFO.

 

[Ed St. Clair]

I'd rather have the films (movies).

However... if they're releasing this, they could/should release everything.

So, good news for HDM.

 

[TonyD]

is this a non U.S. release?
if yes, could that please be added to the title?

 

[MatthewA]

Why would they (or rather, why should they) go to the bother of cropping 4x3 material for 16x9 when 4x3 takes up less disc space on a BD?

 

[Nelson Au]

I was just looking for any threads on the Thunderbirds. I have the original DVD release sets from 1999 by Carlton/A&E. A great series with many great childhood memories from the 60's.

I was going to ask about the 40th Anniversary box set and how that set compared to the older set I have. Is that 40th Anniversary set improved over the older set?

But now I see they really did do a Blu Ray set. Though cropped. I'm really curious about this as well.

I thought the original set that I have looks really good, but I've never seen the 40th Anniversary discs, so I have nothing to compare to. Is the color better resolved, or better image quality? The Blu Ray must be interesting. The DVD's I have reveals a lot, the wires, the hair and details on the puppets and models. So I'm curious about the 40th set and the BD!

edit: Actually, I was so curious, I did find some screencaps. There is a small amount of extra image on the sides, but with the top and bottoms cropped off, they do look cramped a bit.

 

[Holer]

Gosh yes, it would be great if MGM gave the Thunderbird movies the Blu treatment - especially 'Thunderbirds are Go!' with Paul's dream and the crazy space sequences. Probably a long shot but one can hope...

 

[Brian Borst]

Originally Posted by MatthewA /forum/thread/276929/thunderbirds-are-blu#post_3440570
Why would they (or rather, why should they) go to the bother of cropping 4x3 material for 16x9 when 4x3 takes up less disc space on a BD?

Because that way it fills the screens. Seinfeld, for example is being broadcast in HD the same way, even though it wasn't meant for 16:9 viewings.

 

[Nelson Au]

On another threads, they said that in the UK, they did that to Space: 1999 for the broadcast versions they are airing. But the home video BD's are 4:3.

 

[Nelson Au]

Thought I'd resurrect this thread.I was feeling like watching some of my Thunderbirds DVD's. Did some searching also and found that there is a very recent release of Thunderbirds on blu ray. It comes from Japan and in the reviews I've found, it's a splendid remastering. Image quality is very good with original mono and new audio tracks. The only two downsides is a lip-synch problem for the episode Pit of Peril, ironic given the technique they used to synch up the voices to the lips on the puppets! That's the only episode with the lip-synch issue. And the second is the cost. If I read right on the Japanese Amazon site, over $300 US dollars. I've seen copies on eBay in the $500 range. The other issue is the cropping from the UK blu rays. These Japanese discs are the original 4:3. English audio of course. I still have the original DVD releases from 1999-2000. I never got the remastered sets from 2004. Wasn't sure it was worth it. The A&E DVDs are holding up well and I enjoy them from time to time. Of all the Gerry Anderson shows, this and the first season of Space: 1999 hold up to repeat viewings. I still enjoy Stingray and while very juvenile, Fireball XL-5 was a childhood favorite. I still have yet to open the Supercar set. And I loved that as a kid too.I'd be curious if anyone knows more about the Japanese blu rays or owns it. It's a lot for the set!

 

[Ruz-El]

Interesting. I'm going to continue to hold out for an uncropped set.

 

[Nelson Au]

The new Japanese set is the original 4:3.

 

[HotRodHank]

Thunderbirds Are Go being released by Twilight Time/SAE on May 13th.

 

[Keith Cobby]

I grew up watching this series and have seen all episodes countless times. I really wanted to buy this set but the cropping is unacceptable to me. If Network had released this it would have been done properly and I live in hope.

 

[Konstantinos]

Thunderbirds Are Go being released by Twilight Time/SAE on May 13th.

I've bought it and I'm looking forward to receiving it!

Also, Thunderbird 6 is in the same disc!

 

[Randy Korstick]

Would rather have the original series as a US release.

 

[bluelaughaminute]

The UK 16:9 versions actually aren't too bad .
I'm against cropping usually for things like Star Trek , Space 1999 etc but in this case the zoom into the image increases the clarity of the incredible detail in the models .
There's no way on earth the model makers must have ever expected us to be able to see their creations in this quality.
That's the one positive aspect of the 16:9 versions.
The set is often quite reasonably priced these days after the ludicrous price it was when first released.
You can sometimes get it for 10% of the Japanese version.