UFO - Volumes 1-4 Collector's Edition [1970] [DVD]

A lot has already been said of the quality of the transfer to DVD already so I won't go overboard here except to say that the quality is exceptional - good enough to read prop newspaper articles (see below).Menu system is slightly annoying - for example toggling subtitles on/off - and the extras include footage to the same high quality as the restored original material but with no audio - so it is slightly bizarre to see the extended version where the video continues but the sound cuts out - but better than nothing I guess.I watched this series when first broadcast in the late 1960's as an 11-year old (and the US had just landed on the Moon for real). Gerry Anderson setting this series only 11 years into the future.It is very interesting to note several things now (viewing as an adult) that escaped me as a child but don't distract from the enjoyable experience of re-living my childhood TV. Things like the errant apostrophes "SID Space Intruder Detector - Maintaining scan for UFO's", spelling mistakes such as "Computor Display" in Episode 7 (The Dalotek Affair), continuity mistakes such as the same registration number appearing on SHADO Mobiles 1 & 3 (224579) in Episode 2 (Computer Affair) and a young George Cole (Roper) miraculously swapping hands carrying the rocket launcher and box of missiles between one shot and the next and the gold gull-wing car driven by Cmdr Straker (Ed Bishop) and by Roper having the same registration number (A21-384) in Episode 3 (Flight Path) - Straker drives this car later in Episode 8 Question of Priorities) - but hey, this show was made on a shoestring and was for kids - and when I was 11, I didn't spot them!One very funny thing I spotted was two pieces in the Daily Express under the headline "Cabinet Minister Killed - Miracle Escape for US Colonel" which is actually about the launch of a new central heating system (the Servowarm Supreme which happened in January 1969) and the adjacent article "Resorts Face New Oil Slick Crisis" which is a story about a confession to a village priest which led to the rescue of kidnapped Maria - in Episode 4 (Exposed).But oh how I remember the cool title music, the scantily-clad crew of the submarine SKYDIVER (seriously - string vests as a uniform - how did the male crew concentrate on their jobs), the sexy silver-clad women of Moonbase - I can remember it all now!One thing I don't remember is that virtually every male member of the cast smokes - either cigars or cigarettes - in virtually every episode. Oh how things change!As has also already been mentioned it is interesting to see the "futuristic technology" - computers being used for psychological testing for example - albeit on a single monochrome TV monitor several feet away from the candidates (and even then, they aren't computer graphics but a video of someone turning over pages on an IQ test)! Other technology includes video calls, wireless phones and gas-turbine powered cars with gull-wing doors (heaven help anyone who had a head-on accident in one though with those steering wheels and no air bags/safety belts in evidence)!Still, being able to re-visit my youth (yes, I remember the TV21 and Countdown comics as well) makes it all worth while.A whole-hearted thumbs up from me. If you remember this series as fondly as I do, you'll not be disappointed.Buy it!Art

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.

This was Gerry Anderson's first series using real "live" actors--his previous efforts were mostly sophisticated children's fare filmed in Supermarination, shows like "Stingray" and "Captain Scarlett"--basically impressively detailed puppets used on scaled-down sets. UFO is an interesting pop artifact from 1969-70 about an elite paramilitary organization--SHADO--dedicated to fighting a worldwide threat from an alien race. Although somewhat dated, the series has an expensive look to it--the use of miniatures and special effects are impressive as is the costume design, the cars, the sets, and yes, those crazy purple wigs (never explained)--but the acting remainssomewhat wooden especially in the lead players with the exception of George Sewell, a noted English TV actor who has appeared in many fine UK dramas such as Special Branch and Public Eye. Many see the series as a precursor to Space 1999, but the similarity ends there. In UFO, there was no real attempt to understand the alien race-just to destroy them. Space 1999, for all its faults, at least attempted to explore the "let's just try to communicate with them" theme four years later. As a result, these green skinned aliens from UFO--albeit very human looking ones (low rent special effects here--just extras from Pinewood Studios with green makeup on their hands and faces) only serve as merely cannon fodder for our intrepid band of 70's mod superheroes. But if you like British sci-fi like I do, then give this set a spin on your DVD player.

I only wish there where more. I found all 8 disks and have watched them all. What a great show.

私はUFO [DVD] [Import]から先に購入しましたが、やはりガブリエル　ドレイク氏の演じるエリス中尉が登場するのは前半の本DVD集なので購入しました。本作もディスク4枚で、その収録内容はディスク1　第1話「Identified」(日本公開時第1話「宇宙人捕虜第1号」)、第2話「Computer Affair」(第12話「宇宙人捕虜第2号」)、第3話「Flight Pass」（第13話「UFO月面破壊作戦」）、第4話「Exposed」（第2話「シャドー秘密指令」）ディスク2　第5話「Survival」（第3話「我が友宇宙人」）、第6話「Conflict」（第4話「円盤基地爆破作戦」）、第7話「The Dalotek Affair」(第21話「ムーンベース応答なし！」)ディスク3　第8話「A Question Of Priorities」(第25話「宇宙人・地球逃亡！」)、第9話「Ordeal」（第10話「宇宙人フォスター大佐」）、第10話「The Responsibility Seat」(第18話「ムーンベース衝突コース」)ディスク4　第11話「The Square Triangle」(第14話「UFO攻撃中止命令」)、第12話「Court Marshal」（第23話「フォスター大佐死刑」）、第13話「Close Up」(第5話「惑星Xクローズ・アップ作戦」)本作もディスクは自動的に全話が再生される訳では無くメニューで1話毎（更に各話が4つの部分に分かれており、選択部分以降が自動的に再生される頭出しが可能になっています）選択するスタイルになっています。また各ディスクにはスチル画像やストレイカー司令官、シャドーの設定説明等の特典映像と標準ではオフになる英語字幕の表示が選択できます。尚リージョンは2ですが再生方式がPAL方式で日本とは異なるので対応機種でしか視聴はできません。日本語でない点を除けば各セットとも安価なので英語でも良いという方にはお勧めです。但しディスクの収納方法は取り出しが不便なのでマイナスポイントです。

Meilleure que la version TF1 video que j'ai aussi, dont l'image parait sombre sur beaucoup d'épisodes.Evidemment il n'y a que l'anglais avec des sous titres anglais, mais franchement couleurs éclatantes, image lumineuse, très loin devant la version TF1 video. L'amateur est comblé.En attendant une version bluray correcte, il n'y a que ce DVD et sa suite (vol.5 à 8) pour obtenir la meilleure version.

Superb pictures, clear sound. Good script. A nice series wich is a revival of the 70' - not boring and compared to today series, quite modern.

UFO, peu connue en France est la série de Gerry Anderson qui précède Cosmos 1999. Plus précisemment, les pistes envisagée pour l'hypothétique saison 2 d'UFO ont servi de base àCosmos 1999. Au final une série sans grand surprise mais qui fleure bon les années 60.A noter que le coffret est à réserver aux anglophones car pas de français dans la bande son comme pour les sous-titres