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I bought my set from a seller who viewed two CDs and auctioned it off. I agree with him. This British late 1960s UFO TV series is over hyped and grossly overpriced by A&E Network. I like Gerry Anderson's Thunderbirds. What he did with toys and dolls was amazing. Thunderbirds was aimed at Children. UFO could not keep most American Children awake. The star who plays Stryker is grossly miscast. I thought Space 1995 was ruined by casting the man & wife team for the lead, who were best employed doing perfume commercials. UFO has a super girlyman playing a macho hero, who never leaves his control room. I think young Brit boys may have loved this series because each episode begins with a babe who is naked under her skin tight body suit. The nifty looking land rover models are distracting because you can clearly see that the dolls inside are stiffs that never move. The episode scripts are extremely pedestrian, the dialog is terrible and the acting quality is sadly third rate. If you enjoy imaginative technology, well the interceptors are interesting and so is the underwater submarine and its flying machine but the major weapon is mounted on the front and looks like a CO2 air gun tube. The alien saucer (UFO) is shown a lot and it is so obviously a fake that I laughed everytime I saw it. Not only is the saucer lame, Anderson insisted on showing close ups of it that make it clear it is a toy and much too small to have the aliens in it. The attack scenes stink also. This supposed superior race of aliens bring their saucers out into the open and hover so our heroes can take aim and blast them. This reminds me of Hongkong martial arts flicks where the mouths moved wrong and behind the words and mobs were beaten by the hero, each gangster waiting his turn to be defeated.Read full review
As a fan, I never dreamed I'd be watching this on something as cool and futuristic as say an LCD tv, never mind having my own personal copy on DVD! Here it is ... one of the long-time classic production from the 'master' himself, Gerry Anderson ... creator of the 'Thunderbirds' and 'Captain Scarlet'. Hailed by many as the early chapters of 'SPACE 1999's Moonbase Alpha', the 'SHADO' organization had the original James Bond-like feel with it's very nifty toys, some very cheesy but memorable 70s music and fashion, sprinkled liberally with some pretty cool (granted, it was for it's time) special effects with miniatures, all wrapped around a story that still captivates people around the globe. This originally came in two separate volumes, nice to see this now available as one complete stand-alone box-set, and looking right at home next to the 'Space 1999' boxed series, with almost identical packaging. And it's come down in price considerably, the full box-set is two-thirds the price of an original single volume. Just the ticket for the original 'cool hair cut' and sci-fi fans alike!! d(-_-)bRead full review
Job well done and should not be missed by any serious fans of the "UFO" series, or fans of the sci-fi genre in general. The picture quality, as you would expect with DVD, is exceptional, ditto for the sound. The series, in particular, the special effects, seems very dated now, but still a lot of fun to watch. It seems unavoidable that comparisons between "Space:1999" and "UFO" will crop up, since Gerry and Sylvia Anderson were the driving force behind both shows. There are those who place "UFO" far ahead of "Space:1999" in quality and content but I do not agree. "Space:1999" was, in hardware and special effects, vastly superior to "UFO". Both series have their strengths and weak spots. But it's obvious from having watched them both, that "UFO" was the foundation on which "Space:1999" was built. My thanks to A&E for bringing this series back to life. I hope they will release "UFO", SET 2 very soon. "U.F.O." very much has the look, music and feel of the 1960's, since is when it was filmed: the infamous purple wigs that female Moonbase personnel wear, the occassional hippy party, the exuberant use of bright colors in homes and go-go boots. None of that takes away from the quality of the writing. The dialog may not have always been top notch, but the consistency with the plot as well as the revisiting of previous storylines made for a very engaging, character-driven series. In comparison with the Anderson's later TV series "Space 1999", "U.F.O." was far more consistent and interesting. "Space 1999", which was originally set to be a the second season of "U.F.O.", never achieved the same level of character development or consistency, though its special effects were improved. The four Gerry/Sylvia Anderson series with which I am familiar ("Thunderbirds", "Captain Scarlet", "UFO", and "Space 1999") all have much in common. At their best, they have high-spirited adventure, good character situations, campy humor, and gee-wiz sets, costumes, and gadgetry. At their worst, they have jaw dropping logical flaws, stock footage overused to the point of obvious inconsistency, and excruciatingly painful sci-babble.Read full review
To begin, let me say that I am a great fan of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's work from Supercar through Space:1999, and am generally quite forgiving of the occasional poor story. That said, UFO is, IMHO, the worst thing the couple ever produced. The acting was not at fault; it was probably the best element of this series. What I found unacceptable was the storyline, each individual segment of which was consistently depressing, with a completely hopeless air throughout, and the fact that there was an overwhelming sense of "We don't know what these things are, but we must destroy them", even though in a few episodes, the aliens showed themselves as compassionate, desperate for a new home in the galaxy, and under relentless, ignorant attack by SHADO whenever they even came within range of Earth. They obviously had no way to communicate with Earth, and kept sending UFO's (Pronounced, distressingly, to me, anyway, as a word, "Yoofoe" rather than as a series of initials, (You Eff Oh." I could not recommend this set to anyone except the die-hard Anderson fan who must own everything, regardless of quality, that the Andersons ever produced. On the positive side, the few vehicles used in the series were quite interesting excepting the single model of UFO used throughout. There were two episodes which I quite enjoyed, both toward the end of the run, one in which the leader of SHADO is caught in a time-loop and one in which he begins to see himself as an actor in a series paralelling the UFO series. Other than that, my comment has to be "Meh." Give this one a pass, or borrow it from the unfortunate friend who purchased it.Read full review
Ok UFO is a Gerry and Silva Anderson Production and it in some cheezy wayslooks every bit like one! The ships and models look like FX models. The sound effects for the space ship engines sound like they were made on the cheap. At times the Barry Gray soundtrack score is a totally forgetable snore fest that is repeated almost unchanged in Andersons other epic; Space: 1999. All that said for true science fiction storyline UFO is the best the Gerry Anderson effort. The Sci-Fi action and fun of UFO makes it easy to watch. There is just enough sci-fi in most UFO episodes to keep the average person interested. The acting is at times wooden but is far better than any Space: 1999 year 2 episodes. The continuity of UFO episodes is far better than that found on Space: 1999. Some of the plots do get silly at times. You find yourself asking why would a top secret organization allow a cat to visit the complex and wonder everywhere while people just coo and fondle it. If SHADO (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defense Organization) is so secret how come their are so many blatant security violations. Now to the cheezecake. UFO is nothing if it is not an effective ode to early 70's cheesecake. I mean look at those ladies in the tight fitting moonbase uniforms and purple hair. Or look at all the hunky male beefcake running about on the SkyDiver submarines clad in nothing but those fish net mesh uniforms. Oh UFO had a dual mission, it was sci fi but it also was designed to stir emotions decidely more primal. Why I brought UFO is because at the time of its airing I was still a young child. I was filled with hope of space exploration having just witnessed the success of the Apollo space program's moon landings. My heart lept at the idea of us building a moonbase and other fantastic things I saw in UFO. Compared to the Sci-Fi of the 1960's UFO was a giant leap forward in plot lines and production values. UFO reminds me of the the best parts of my youthful idealism. Now for the humorous side of UFO. The set designs. You look at the UFO sets and clothing and you wonder did we ever wear some of that stuff. You look at some of the wardobe and its enough to make you laugh yourself silly. You look at the moonbase set and see that some of the walls look like they are covered with only the cheapest most guady contact paper. The connecting coridors in the moonbase were a joke as were all the really old computers if as the title sequence suggests it UFO is supposed to be 1980's technology. Finally I can't talk about UFO without saying something about you guessed it, the UFO ships. The Alien ships looked like the kind of pretty reflective spinning tops designed to entertain 5 year olds. The Alien flying saucers bounced in ways when flying that told you they were on a string. The moon shuttle with its fish mouth like nose section was just plain ugly and not at all believable. The UFO moonbase which was reused as the nuclear waste domes in Space: 1999 was pretty. SID (Space Intruder Detector) while homely grows cool as the episodes progress. Skydriver is always at that same rocky outcroping whenever it launches Sky-1. UFO is not serious science fiction its more like Power Rangers qaulity fare only funny because it takes itself so seriously. Oh look at what the show predicted 1980's cars would look and sound like, they guessed a few things right but what they got wrong is hallarious. UFO is a good buy, its funny and enjoyable!Read full review