A&E Home Video presents

Thunderbirds: Set #2 (1965)

"Parker, get the Rolls Royce. We're going for a little ride!"- Lady Penelope

Stars: Ray Barrett, Peter Dynley, Sylvia Anderson, David Holliday
Other Stars: Matt Zimmerman, Christine Finn, David Grahm
Director: David Elliot, David Lane, Brian Burgess

MPAA Rating: Not Rated for (marionation excitement)
Run Time: 05h:12m:00s
Release Date: 2001-02-27
Genre: television

Style Grade	Substance Grade	Image Transfer Grade	Audio Transfer Grade	Extras Grade
A	A-	A-	A-	C-

 

DVD Review

Ready for more Thunderbirds action? Well, you better be, because Set #2 brings us another 6 episodes of the "F.A.B!" team of International Rescuers. In this set, we see more of London agent Lady Penelope, more of The Hood, and more of the Thunderbirds doing their best to thwart disaster in "SuperMarionation!"

Episode 7: Vault Of Death
"It's just a bit of chloroform, ma'am!" -Parker

We find Lady Penelope breaking into the Bank of England in this episode. Why? To prove how weak their security is. Once the bank gets a better vault installed, a stubborn, workaholic banker gets stuck inside. Time for a brave rescue!
Rating: 4 out of 5 Thunderbirds.



Episode 8: Operation Crash-Dive
"Sorry I'm late. I had to milk the cows before I took off!" -Scott Tracy

This episode functions as something of a sequel to the first episode, Trapped In The Sky. Once again, Fireflash planes are flying, but now they keep crashing. Is someone sabotaging them again? The Thunderbirds check it out, by daring to crash one themselves!
Rating: 5 out of 5 Thunderbirds



Episode 9: Move And You're Dead
I..must..tell...the...whole...story..." -Alan Tracy

Alan Tracy and Grandma Tracy are trapped on top of a bridge by a bomb that will go off if they move! International Rescue comes to aid their comrade, and while they fly there, there's just enough time for Alan to have a flashback about how he got up there in the first place. They certainly weren't base jumping!
Rating: 4 out of 5 Thunderbirds.



Episode 10: Martian Invasion
"Within a month, you will have film of International Rescue's technology. It will cost you 200 million dollars!!" -The Hood

The Hood finds himself as the head of a production studio. He funds a project to make a movie about Martians invading the Earth, but he is really just luring International Rescue out again and trying to discover the secret behind their advanced craft. Is this how ID4 got off the ground?
Rating: 4 out of 5 Thunderbirds



Episode 11: Brink Of Disaster
"Ahh, the work of a butler is never done." -Parker

The Thunderbirds investigate a fraudulent transport developer, but in the process, they get themselves mixed up in one of his schemes. They board one of his faulty monorails and must be rescued from certain death.
Rating: 3 out of 5 Thunderbirds



Episode 12: The Perils Of Penelope
"Well viewers, excitement is mounting in blockhouse 42, here at Cape Kennedy, as the most daring rocket launching of all time counts down." -TV announcer
No, this episode isn't about how hard it is to be Lady Penelope's butler; it's about her attempts to locate a missing scientist. Penelope takes the spotlight above the Thunderbirds here, as she winds up kidnapped by mysterious fiends!
Rating: 3 out of 5 Thunderbirds



Rating for Style: A
Rating for Substance: A-

 

Image Transfer

	One
Aspect Ratio	1.33:1 - Full Frame
Original Aspect Ratio	yes
Anamorphic	no

Image Transfer Review: Nothing has changed much from the quality of Set #1. While a bit damaged in some areas, the episodes are very clear and free of pixelation or artifacting. The colors are a little faded, but otherwise everything seems intact and the transfer has preserved the "Thunderbirds look" without incident.

Image Transfer Grade: A-
 

Audio Transfer

	Language	Remote Access
DS 2.0	English	yes
Dolby Digital 5.1	English	yes

Audio Transfer Review: The same quality audio mixes are present again. The 2.0 Surround mix provides a slightly beefed-up enhancement to the original way the show sounded, whereas the 5.1 mix adds some major directionality, active surround usage, and major LFE channel boosts. As with Set #1, both mixes sound very good (the 2.0 being more faithful to the original mono), but the 5.1 can sometimes get a bit too loud, with explosions and other sound effects often being much louder than the standard level. Oddly enough, a few of the episodes here don't have 5.1 audio during the introductions anymore, but the episodes themselves are fine.

Audio Transfer Grade: A- 

Disc Extras

Static menu with music
Scene Access with 6 cues and remote access
1 Featurette(s)
Packaging: Alpha
Picture Disc
2 Discs
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: single

Extra Extras:

1. Photo Gallery

Extras Review: Each disc contains a photo gallery of stills taken from each episode (and sometimes other episodes). The Behind-the-Scenes featurette is the same 3-minute piece that appeared on Set #1, which is kind of disappointing. I'm sure that plenty of features have been made about Thunderbirds, especially considering how wildly popular they are in England. So, the repeated short is a bit of a downer.

Extras Grade: C-
 

Final Comments

More quality Thunderbirds action can be found here, so all you fans better run out and buy these sets NOW! Of course, you can use a car or bike or something, too. I mean, so long as you actually MAKE it to the store and pick up the discs, you'll be O.K. (Visit the official Thunderbirds website at Thunderbirds Online.)

Dan Lopez 2001-02-27