Thunderbirds: The Complete Series [Blu-ray]

This is a review for "Thunderbirds: The Complete Series" on BluRay.First off, allow me to give thanks to "SHOUT FACTORY" for their always top quality job of restoring a series to its full original quality. "SHOUT" does not change video content or audio content. You get what was originally put on film. And they always do a great job. So 5 Stars to "SHOUT".I am today 69 years old and I remember "Thunderbirds" when I was just a kid watching this great show on a 17 inch B&W TV. When you are just a kid, you can sometimes feel like a puppet or marionette. Adults are always pulling your strings, telling you what and when to do everything. So when shows like Supercar, Stingray, and Thunderbirds came out, I was glued to the screen. Us kids finally had TV characters we could relate to. It looked so real to us. It made us feel like we could someday have that future.But it had plenty of appeal to adults as well. The whole family could sit together and watch this cool show. It was a winning formula with real grown up stories from the genius mind of Gerry Anderson.The restoration of the series was very good. I have the BluRay version and the definition is very crisp and clean, full 1080p. Colors are vivid and bright. They did a masterful job. My last view of this series was as a kid watching in 4x3 B&W. So this version being in color and in full 16:9 Widescreen was like watching it for the first time.The original soundtrack was the old MONO. But the producers revamped the soundtrack with a bit of true effect separation and good acoustic surround added at just the right moments making for a bright and pleasant DTS HDMA 5.1 Surround experience. They do not go crazy with the stereo or surround effects so it does not sound fake or annoying. The enhanced sound only happens at the right times during action scenes. It adds a very good effect to the action and storylines. Normal dialogue is always on the center channel where it belongs and sounds perfect. Very clean audio. No trouble understanding any part of the dialogue. If you prefer, you also have the original MONO series soundtrack available on all episodes.This BluRay package contains all 32 episodes on just 6 discs. Each episode is complete and in full original lengths. The BluRay packaging is also very nice. Like I said, "SHOUT FACTORY" knows how to revisit old TV shows and big hit movies with quality and class. And they know how to putdiscs in a proper package.I loved this restored series so much, I also bought the UK TV Movie "Thunderbirds are GO!!!!". The only full length movie with the entire original SUPERMARIONATION cast. About 90 minutes. Very good story too! I also got the first live action USA release Thunderbirds theatrical move with actor Bill Paxton as Jeff Tracy. Not a bad live action version with a good story. I would have liked to seen more movies or even a TV series with the live action crew.If you are an old fan or a new kid on the block, I highly recommend this restored series. The sound and picture quality is TOPS and well worth having in the collection.

It appears that SHOUT! Factory did use the Japanese masters for this BD release and Shout!'s results are comparable. It IS the original 4x3 aspect ratio, which should make most fans happy. It doesn't look as great as Screen Archives Entertainment's BD release of the two movies, but they were filmed to show off lots of detail on a theatrical screen whereas the series was filmed to be shown on a low-resolution 19" diagonal (or smaller) TV screen from the 1960's where it was next to impossible to make out certain details (BTW, if you want to order that 2-movie set, Screen Archives has the best price - even with shipping costs). For a 50-year-old TV show to look this good in HD is ... impressive!In my original pre-release "caveat" which I wrote before much info about this then-upcoming American BD release of the TV show was known, I had compared the UK "widescreen" BD edition where the top & bottom of the original 4 x 3 images had been cropped to fit a 16 x 9 screen, to the Japanese BD edition, which left the original aspect ratio intact (& how the Japanese BD looked gorgeous), along with some other info, with hopes that SHOUT! Factory would be using the Japanese masters for their BD release in the US, and that I would revisit this review once I had viewed these discs (which I have now done). My intention was to provide a caveat to the consumer who might not ask certain questions, and without knowing the facts about the set beforehand, hastily pre-order it (& have to go through the hassle of returning it if it was not what was expected). This spirit of consumer protection was not received favorably by some who questioned a "review" of a product I'd not seen yet. It is now a moot point.The set is out, it lives up to my high expectations for it, and my updated rating reflects this.

I enjoy now as much as I did as a kid.

I'm going out of my way to write this, out of a love for Thunderbirds and to state a few things I've run into with this Blu-ray collection.First off, this is the absolute definitive way of owning these episodes. The video is absolutely crisp given the transfer to HD, the special features are perfect and not overdone, and I must say that I am proud to display this on my shelf next to my kickstarted new-1965 episodes Blu-ray.Reading further into the comments, I noticed some absolutely silly comments and some notable ones. Of the silly, to clarify, these episodes were never shot in widescreen. Those complaining about pillarboxing need to revisit their film history books. This is a TV show.Of the more serious, and most notable, the Blu-ray appears to not be compatible with ALL players. I use an Xbox One as a primary player, and it had problems playing this disc, and my PC had a similar issue. This disc DOES work on PS4 without issue though, so this is something to keep in mind when buying.All-in-all, or tldr, this is an amazing set that works in most players, but not all. I'm giving 5 stars because Thunderbirds are go!

Every review I've read raves about the video quality of this Blu-ray set, so I may be alone in my disappointment at the moderate blur throughout the first episode (and I'm assuming this is how the whole series will look). To my eye, this looks like a high-quality DVD, not the 1080p transfer I read about. Is it owing to the age of the film? I own numerous Blu-rays of movies and TV shows from the 1940s and '50s that have sharper images than this. Was the show shot on videotape? I can't find an answer anywhere.All the same, I'm glad to have this phenomenal show on Blu-ray. And it occurs to me while watching it, that the set would make an excellent present for a model-jetplane or -spacecraft enthusiast -- especially a young person who may never have heard of the show before.

Me recordó buenos momentos

Makes me feel like a kid again

No information on the product about it being region locked to Region 1. Came to my surprise after almost a month of waiting to get it to Sweden only to see it say "UNAVAILABLE REGION" when launched from my PS4.

Got this collection for a friend at his request and he loves this series. Takes you back to your childhood watching them on TV.Not a lot more I can say really.A great piece of nostalgia.

Très bon état