FANTASTIC VOYAGE (1968) - the animated TV series is now on DVD

FANTASTIC VOYAGE

(1968, USA, TV)

Animated TV spin-offs are nothing new

The 1966 Oscar-winning sci-fi adventure Fantastic Voyage had huge full-scale sets and extensive modelwork portraying a futuristic submarine that's miniaturised for a mercy mission through a human body. The crew swim through veins, get attacked by antibodies, and steer their super-sub through the constricting valves of the heart. For the less scientific in the audience, there's Raquel Welch in a white wetsuit and a saboteur on board...

The plot-device of human miniaturisation was nothing new, even in 1968 (The Devil Doll, Dr Cyclops, The Incredible Shrinking Man), but Otto Clement and Jerome Bixby's story had realistic biological detail, and an unusual race against time. It also looked unique. I love the point-of-view shot of them hurtling down the inside of a hypodermic needle!

Two years later this span off as an animated series on TV, the same year as Irwin Allen's fairly similar Land of the Giants. However I don't remember seeing the animated Fantastic Voyage on British TV until the early 1970s.

While the applications of a Miniaturised Defence Force seem limited, the series had far more fantastical, less scientific storylines. Each episode the team investigates natural disasters which often turn out to be aliens, enemy spies or hostile governments.

One episode is very reminiscent of the Family Guy episode where Stewie duels with his evil self in miniaturised vehicles inside a human body.

The characters are also very different from the movie, introducing the very mystical Spock-like 'Guru', who uses magic more than the commander uses weaponry. The design of the sub was drastically overhauled so that it could now fly. A model kit of 'Voyager' was re-released in 2008.

The limited animation budget of all Filmation series was synonymous with numerous close-ups of motionless characters barely moving their lips. There'd be repeated shots and moving elements reused over different backgrounds. The music, the voice artists and the sound effects are either similar or identical!

The same company also produced the animated spin-off of Adam West's Batman (also 1968, when the live-action series became too costly to continue) and the animated Star Trek (in 1973). But their cost-cutting formula for producing weekly episodes ruled children's TV for many years with dozens of series.

What makes Fantastic Voyage enjoyable for me is the over-the-top soundtrack. It sounds much more exciting than it looks. The constant, uptempo music really holds the attention, right from the catchy (and loud) theme tune with the booming voiceover.

Added to this is extensive use of alternating red and blue flashing backgrounds in the titles and transformations, which is positively hypnotic. Precisely the same effect got a Pokemon episode into big trouble thirty years later for sparking epileptic seizures in hundreds of Japanese children. Personally, I enjoy the visual hit. This alarming but simple animation technique is also used in Filmation's Batman title sequence.

Noisy, fast-moving, patronisingly sexist, psychedelic and nostalgic, the whole Fantastic Voyage series is out in a 3-DVD set in the UK, PAL, region 2. It looks and sounds as good as new.

DR BLACK, MR HYDE (1976) - Dr Jekyll gets blaxploited

DR. BLACK, MR. HYDE
(1976, USA)
aka Dr. Black and Mr. White

Now on DVD

In the 1970s, low-budget 'blaxploitation' films took a stab at most movie genres, including horror. One of the more successful is this reworking of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde…

A successful black scientist called Dr Pride, is trying to find a serum to cure liver disease. He has a beautiful, intelligent girlfriend, Billie, who’s also a scientist. Under pressure to get results, he starts cutting ethical corners by testing serums on human rather than animal subjects. Aslo developing a drink problem, he starts hanging out at low-life bars, where he befriends a prostitute, Linda.

Caught between two worlds, and taking the serum himself, his life splits into a black half and a monstrous white half. As 'Hyde', he’s unable to control his impulse to kill…

Many plotlines are introduced that lead to dead-ends, and it’s hard to believe Pride’s motivations, such as cheating on his girlfriend, played by Rosalind Cash, an actress who shone in The Omega Man as a tough cookie who could give Cleopatra Jones a run for her money. Unfortunately her part here is quite small, as Pride gets more interested in Linda.

As the title character(s), ex-footballer Bernie Casey doesn't clue us in much as to what’s going on in his head. He also muffs the crucial transformation scene, which relies almost solely on performance rather than special effects. Incidentally, the make-ups were provided by Stan Winston. But Casey’s physical scenes are very convincing - he excels at throwing people across the room!


Technically, I think this is the best of the blaxploitation horror films - it's better written than most, with the money to provide enough action. Despite William Marshall’s princely performances as Blacula, I’ve found the other 'black' horror films dull and too cheaply mounted. Dr Black, Mr Hyde is faster-paced, with an interesting if scattershot premise.

While various sub-plots are introduced, little is made of them. Dr Pride gets whiter each time he transforms, and he seems to be falling for Linda, but then chooses her as another test subject.

The film has political points to make, but these are unbalanced by the harsh treatment of the female characters (like pimps keeping their girls in line), nudity expected of the female cast, and comedy relief being provided by drug-pusher characters. Dr Pride and his girlfriend Dr Worth would be fine professional role-models if it wasn’t for his greed for success.

This has now been released by VCI Entertainment on region 1 DVD.

A Dr Black, Mr Hyde trailer is here on YouTube...

Thrillers like Shaft and comedy-dramas like Cotton Comes to Harlem were far more successful vehicles for empowerment than horror films could ever hope to be. However, they were part of a wave of films that provided all-black casts (with a couple of token honkys) for every movie genre.

My favourites from that era were the bigger budgeted affairs that crossed over into the mainstream – Car Wash, a slice-of-life comedy with a classic soundtrack, and the all-action Shaft’s Big Score, starring ‘black James Bond’ Richard Roundtree.

Although horror is my bag, man, the blaxploitation horrors are mostly unenjoyable, partly because they are so hard to get to see in any decent state. To enjoy a film where the print is badly damaged and the audio hissy and inaudible, it's also difficult to evaluate them properly. But I don’t think even a sparkling new transfer of Blackenstein, Blacula, Abby (aka Black Exorcist), or The Zombies of Sugar Hill will change my mind.

Do you want to know more?
Here’s a starter list of blaxploitation films from Wikipedia…

And a review of Sugar Hill that made me want to go back and re-watch it.

(This is an updated article from October, 2006)

Universal Studios unlocks the movie Vault

In a similar arrangement to the flourishing Warner Brothers 'Archive' collection, where rare movies have been made available only from an online store, the WB Shop, Universal have started a similar arrangement. Teaming up with Turner Classic Movies, the first five releases in the new 'Vault Collection' are rare black-and-white horrors, including the must-see Murders In The Zoo (1933), a favourite of mine which I'll review shortly after another viewing.

Other good news is that both collections now appear to be available for purchase outside of North America. Initially, the Warner Brothers Shop wasn't open to international customers, but this restriction appears to have been lifted. Amazon.com is now selling these Warner DVDs and the TCM online store is also open for business outside of the US, but the $12 shipping fee (for one DVD) drives the price of these titles up considerably. Conveniently, TCM online also offers the Warner Brother Archive titles.


Warners continue to add titles to the Archive catalogue (which I previewed here), and I'm attempting to updated my older reviews to indicate that their 'Not On DVD' status has been revoked. For instance the movie Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, in my overview of TV horror. This unusual creepy nightmare, starring Kim Darby (who shone in True Grit) was last seen on home video on VHS.

DOC SAVAGE - MAN OF BRONZE (1975) - on DVD with other WB rarities

Warner Bros. is offering a new service that could lead the way for film fans to see rarities hidden in the studio archives. Movies that might not make their money back in a standard DVD release, are being released in limited numbers, depending on demand. There's also the option to 'download to own'. Whoever is interested can now see these older movies, and the studio doesn't waste money on over-production. The online store is linked here.

There've been two 'waves' of releases so far. The downside is that this is only available in the USA at the moment. Here's what initially caught my eye...


I can now officially take Doc Savage - Man of Bronze off my 'not on DVD' list. The 1975 adaption, of the long-running 1930s pulp action hero adventures, isn't popular with every fans of the bronze giant, but it still deserves to be out there. I reviewed the movie, fondly, here.

Want to see Francis Ford Coppola's 1969 'existential road movie'? Now you can - a youthful James Caan, Robert Duvall and Shirley Knight starred. I shouldn't be surprised when films by important directors aren't available, but I am.


Looking for information on early 'flight panic' movie Zero Hour, (the movie that largely inspired Airplane!), I heard about The Crowded Sky and it's close links with the genre. It's based on an Arthur Hailey book that was adapted before he had the huge hit with Airport (the template for 70s disaster movies). The Crowded Sky also pre-dates Dana Andrews mid-air collision in Airport 1975. Now if only I lived in America, I could get to see it...

Hammer films were all made by the same British studio but distributed by many different American distributors. Tracking them all down has become a lifetime quest. But Hammer fans can now see the psycho-thriller Crescendo (1970) starring Stefanie Powers (Hart to Hart, The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.) and James Olsen (The Andromeda Strain, Moon Zero Two).

Many of the movies on offer are early black-and-white film. Rasputin and the Empress (1932) impressed me greatly when I caught on late-night TV. A grand recreation of the legendary puppet master and his friendship with the Russian royal family. This is the only time the three heavyweights of the Barrymore acting dynasty starred together. Drew's grandad John has a terrifying showdown with Lionel, as Rasputin, where they beat bloody hell out of each other, in a violent approximation of real-life events. This movie being 'pre-code', it's a still shocking scene today.

Hopefully, this will be a success and Warners will continue to dust off more treasures from their vaults, and maybe other studios will follow on.

TOMIE vs TOMIE (2007) - she's back... both of her!

TOMIE vs TOMIE
(2007, Japan, Tomie x Tomie)

(Review updated on 19/01/2011)

I thought we'd seen the last of the movies about Junji Ito's creepy creation. But then came this eighth entry in the Tomie series (here's my guide to them all). It's been out on DVD in Japan since 2007, and I first saw it on a Chinese DVD in Malaysia, pictured above, but now Japan Flix have released it officially, online with English subtitles.

With Tomie's unnatural ability to completely regenerate from dismembered body parts, it's surprising she hasn't had to face herself before...


Two factory workers are tangling with Tomie, well, two different Tomies. One guy is recovering from the death of his girlfriend, but is being pursued by a Tomie, who has a gaggle of his colleagues at her bidding. Unknown to him, a close friend is helping another Tomie through a difficult regeneration...

In this 'episode' in the saga, Tomie is more in control than usual, manipulating many men around her in a small factory. But both the Tomies have a serious problem, decay...

The traditional mayhem, obsession and violence ensues. But the promised confrontation of the two Tomies is far too brief and falls short of the bizarre heights of the series. But this is still a creepy, coherent and occasionally bloody tale. It's an above-average but small-scale Tomie film, far better than the last two entries (Revenge and Beginning), and achieves the paranoid atmosphere of the best Tomies, of being in a bad dream.


Framed 16:9, it appears to have been shot on HD video, but is far better photographed than the previous two, with careful lighting and composition. It's well directed by Tomohiro Kubo, an assistant director on Tomie: Forbidden Fruit and Hideo Nakata's Sleeping Bride, adding visual layers to the many mysteries.


With consistently creepy music and creative shock moments, this is a Tomie overdue in the west. Though Japan Flix aren't yet releasing any DVDs, this is only available to rent online or purchase in HD on iTunes.

By the way, the English subtitles on the Malaysian DVD (at top) were very poor quality, as if they'd been translated in an online website, rarely making grammatical sense.

Here's a trailer on YouTube...

Malaysian DVD stores - gateways to Asian cinema

Before I forget, here’s a little about Malaysian DVDs – releasing movies from all over South East Asia. Plus a few locations of DVD stores that I descended on during a brief stay in Kuala Lumpur, if you should ever be passing through.

Malaysia lies on the peninsula between Thailand and Singapore, as well as owning a northern chunk of the island of Borneo. It was a different experience to Thailand, Malaysia is a very different mix of peoples and religions. While Thailand is predominantly Buddhist, Malaysia is largely Islamic, with Indian and Chinese temples sitting alongside mosques and Christian churches.

There are relatively few Malaysian movies, while Hollywood product and American franchised TV dominate the multiplexes and toy stores. But the larger DVD shops also has extensive selections from China (i.e. Hong Kong), as well as India, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. This makes Malaysia a great place to find a huge variety of movies from most of Asia.

Shelves of TV Boxsets are dominated by Japanese TV series and anime, and Malaysia releases English-subtitled DVDs that even Hong Kong hasn’t got. It’s a rare chance to get subtitled DVDs of practically every major Japanese TV series, like the live-action Hell Girl. Multiple releases can be due to Hong Kong versions being stocked as well as Malaysian, and also because some of them might be bootlegged.

The widest selection of Asian DVDs that I found, was at Classic World Entertainment, on the 3rd floor of the Times Square mall (nearest monorail stop: Imbi). The sign over the store simply says ‘Classic’. Here there were Hong Kong, Korean, Japanese, Indonesian, Indian and Malaysian horror films, plus a large section of anime.

Elsewhere in the Times Square mall were several stores devoted to Japanese anime figures and model kits – two can be found next to the indoor rollercoaster! I was pleased to find plenty of Ultraman and Masked Rider stuff in most of the toy stores too.

For anime fans, there's an even larger selection of DVDs in Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown, which has two stores of Hiro Comic World on neighbouring streets. They also have a branch on the 3rd floor of the amusingly-named S&M shopping arcade.


The Video Ezy chain offer a more limited choice, with more Hollywood product, but were easier to find, like in the Times Square mall, and in the KLLC mall at the base of the Petronas Towers (pictured). I also visited the large DVD section upstairs in the Sogo department store, which had a generous Japanese TV selection.

Like I said, not all of Malaysia’s DVD releases appear to be official, no matter how official-looking the packaging is. The cover details aren't always accurate about languages and aspect ratios. The quality of the English subtitling is fairly stilted, like the Hong Kong releases, but sometimes much worse - misspelled, mistimed and loosely paraphrased. I've persevered with awful subtitles in the past, with their challenges of lateral thinking, because there's been no alternative available anywhere else.

Like Thailand, be careful as the latest films are also released on the VCD (VideoCD) format – these play in DVD players, but are much more compressed (worse picture quality) and the subtitles are burnt-in (not optional). If the film is on two-discs (VCDs only hold one hour of video), check whether there’s a VCD symbol instead of a DVD one. The artwork for VCD releases can be different from the DVD.


So, huge choice, but varying quality of product and English translation. It’s still a good way to pick through many weird and wonderful films that may never appear in the west.


Until now, the only online Malaysian websites I’ve used is Zoom Movie, which doesn't list many details about the DVDs, like the languages. Also, MovieXclusive from Singapore offers similar titles. Both sites offer releases that won't be found on the major Asian DVD suppliers like YesAsia.

RAUMPATROUILLE (1966) - Germany's SPACE PATROL

RAUMPATROUILLE

(1966, West Germany, TV, Space Patrol))

'The fantastic adventures of the Spaceship Orion'

Some sixties sci-fi that used to look futuristic, now doesn't. But those retro-predictions now provide glimpses of alternate futures of varying optimisms. I've now seen most of what the fifties and sixties offered and am currently in the mood for black-and-white TV shows, like Fireball XL5. There are still a few films from the period that I haven't seen - I only recently caught Planeta Bur from Russia, for instance.

So, if you want to see spaceships taking off from an underwater base via a whirlpool, ironclad beehive hair-dos, space cardigans, and invading aliens (called Frogs), you're in luck. Raumpatrouille (literally Space Patrol) was the first major German sci-fi TV show. It threw a big budget at huge sets and major special effects. As a result of the cost, it only ran for seven one-hour shows, but achieved a unique look - another future that never was. A future where spaceships are spacious, and unnecessarily huge. When Earth is no longer divided up into countries (and, apparently, everyone is now German).

My introduction to the show was through the lounge music par excellence of Peter Thomas, also famous in Germany for his TV themes and krimi movie scores. A European answer to Vic Mizzy, his enthusiastic and eccentric electric tunes aimed at being catchy enough to turn into hit singles. During the lounge revival of the 1990s, several CDs featured his work and the soundtrack for Raumpatrouille even got its own CD release. Not to be confused with the American Space Patrol TV series of 1950, or the British Space Patrol puppet series of 1963, the German series was released on DVD in 1999, and I had to see it.


Now, I've just bought the German three-disc boxset, of 2005 (pictured at top). The first two discs are exactly the same as the 1999 2-disc release (pictured here), which also had all seven episodes, remastered 5.1 audio, plus a few extras. The difference now being a third disc, with additional extras and a 2003 'movie', condensing the series into a single 90 minute storyline. Because of the series' kitsch value in Germany, this re-edited 'redux' adds newly shot scenes of a newscaster setting the scene and filling in the story gaps, but for laughs. It's an easy target to lampoon, but viewers could easily work out for themselves that the hairstyles and dance moves look bizarre. This unwelcome additional footage is intrusive but fairly brief.


The best aspect of the movie version is that it is subtitled in English. Amazon.de lists the 2005 boxset as having English subtitles, but these only appear on the movie condensation, and unfortunately not on the individual episodes. At least we can now it's possible to understand the important plot points of the series. Usefully, this movie version, sometimes called 'the producers cut' is also available as a separate release (pictured here).

The series was digitally remastered for the DVDs and looks brand new. It appears to have been made on 35mm film, but some of the visual effects appear to have been composited electronically - this could either have been pioneering work, or recently added. In any case, there's much to admire. The spaceship is as impressive for its manoeuvrability as its design, though the enemy Frog ships are less convincing as they dart about. Any rare personal appearances by the Frog aliens are ethereal. A haunting effect, seen as barely humanoid, sparkling shadows.


The huge, solid sets, alive with built-in lighting, backlit plastic, and shiny surfaces date from when silver in sci-fi was compulsory. The spaceship interior features control panel designs that defy description and gravity, much like the floating multi-armed robots (see below). The centrepiece is the commander's impressive circular table-top viewscreen, displaying intricate navigational information, (stop-frame animation and back-projected into the set, presumably from below).


But for many, watching the series without subtitles won't be tempting, especially when it's so talky, but the 1999 boxset is now sold for under 10 euros - that's seven hours of future Euro retro, people.

In Germany, the story of the Spaceship Orion and its crew lived on in over 100 paperback novels. The popular Perry Rhodan was more famous for a similar space adventure premise, and ran into hundreds of novels (and two movies, which are also rare outside Germany).


I've not seen any other German sci-fi, except for Star Maidens (1976), a co-production with the UK, where more was spent on hair-styles than special effects. Again, the soundtrack was the series' most memorable legacy.


Do you want to know more?

There are some great stills and memorabilia on this English Peter Thomas site, and there's this extensive German Raumpatrouille fansite - the Starlight Casino.


Here's the opening of episode two, including the original theme tune, on YouTube...

...and here's a recent remix of the theme tune, with clips from the show...

DVD releases - region 2 updates

GHOST HUNT
(2006, Japan TV)

At last, Ghost Hunt (2006) has been announced for a DVD release in the UK. One of the few anime series of recent years that I've enjoyed watching through to the end, it gets released on May 4th, by Manga DVD. A group of exorcists and psychics from all different religions and beliefs, team together to research a string of hauntings. More about Ghost Hunt here.

HANSEL & GRETEL
(2007, South Korea)

I recently reviewed the beautiful South Korean dark fairytale redux, Hansel & Gretel (2007). The UK gets its own DVD release on April 6th from Terracotta Distribution. See my review here.

PUFNSTUF
(1970, USA)

Good news for March 23rd, one of my oldest Not On DVD wishlist movies is finally getting released, on Metrodome DVD. Pufnstuf is the 1970 movie that launched the TV series, and boasts a couple of songs from Mama Cass. This is easily more enjoyable and adult-friendly than the series, which has been out on DVD for years. I talked about the movie here in 2005! No cover art yet, that's the CD soundtrack cover.

BAD BIOLOGY
(2008, USA)

I'm in the middle of reviewing my favourite Frank Henenlotter movies at the moment. The director of the outrageous Basket Case trilogy has a new movie out on DVD on March 2nd, from Revolver Entertainment. I'm looking forward to seeing this after I've revisited Frankenhooker ("she'll cost you an arm and a leg") and Brain Damage.

A BLOODY ARIA
(2006, South Korea)

Out on DVD in the UK this week, is another South Korean film concerned with the nature of violence. A merciless drama in the vein of Straw Dogs and Last House on the Left. As a music professor drives a young student down a long dead-end road, his plans to seduce her run aground as he fights for survival with a gang of unhinged outlaws.

STAR FLEET
(1980, Japanese TV)

Originally a Japanese series, this was dubbed into English and given a new theme tune by Queen's Brian May. It landed in the UK in 1982 and has remained an obscure cult item until now! The English version of the series has finally been released in one DVD boxset. This programme was Britain's first taste of Japanese giant transforming robots. Unusually, it series isn't an anime, the characters are played by Terrahawks-style puppets, with extensive modelwork for the duelling spaceships. Star Fleet has its followers, but I found the puppets less likeable than Thunderbirds and the modelwork far less careful - no slow-motion is used to disguise the tiny scale of the models, and fire, dust and smoke all completely give away the size. But as a TV show, this was more rewarding than the many Star Wars derived movies of the time.

THE LITTLE GIRL WHO LIVES DOWN THE LANE

(1976, Canada)

Gently weird thriller starring a 14-year old Jodie Foster. She plays a young teenager trying to live on her own, despite the law. Her problems multiply as she attracts the attentions of a predatory psychotic, played by Martin Sheen, when he was still being typecast as villains. This had a good run on double-bills in UK cinemas, following on from Foster's hits with Bugsy Malone, Freaky Friday and Taxi Driver.

THE RULING CLASS

(1970, UK)

Savage satire on Britain's upper classes, depicting the lord of the manor as completely insane. Peter O' Toole plays the aristocrat who thinks he's Christ and enjoys being crucifed every dinnertime. Dark, eccentric, funny and very long, it warranted inclusion in The Criterion Collection in the US. Peter Medak later directed wheelchair horror movie The Changeling (1980). A host of British character actors co-star, notably Arthur Lowe (if....), Carolyn Seymour (Survivors, 1975) and a barnstorming cameo from Nigel Green (The Ipcress File) in one of his final roles.

WHO KILLED TEDDY BEAR?

(1965, USA)

A rare underground classic has made its DVD debut in the UK. This explicitly sexual psycho thriller, shot in black and white, features a realistically seedy nightclub full of suspicious low-lifes and plagued by murder. Among the cast are Broadway favourite Elaine Stritch, Daniel J. Travanti (Captain Furillo from Hill Street Blues) and Bruce Glover (Diamonds Are Forever). Sultry leading man Sal Mineo previously appeared alongside James Dean in Rebel Without A Cause, but rarely got roles as good. This is one of his most interesting, daring even, certainly compared to the standard heroics of Krakatoa - East of Java or completely hidden in monkey make-up in Escape from the Planet of the Apes.

THUNDERBIRDS on Blu-Ray - looking fine in 16:9

4:3, or not 4:3, that is the question

One of my earliest TV memories, or earliest memories actually, was watching Thunderbirds on black and white TV in the 1960s. Another hazy childhood memory was a visit to the cinema and being frightened by a Martian rock snake during the first movie, Thunderbirds Are Go. One of the few survivors from my childhod toybox is a battered die-cast Thunderbird 2. Every week I'd get TV21, a tabloid-sized comic, full of Thunderbirds cartoons strips and impressive colour photos. All in all, Thunderbirds was a large part of my childhood and has survived as an oft-repeated pleasure on TV, VHS and DVD.

I'm still enthralled by the series, after forty years of watching it, and have been collecting books and memorabilia about it and similar shows (like Fireball XL5, Stingray and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons).

It's no surprise that for Christmas, I was given the new HD boxset of Thunderbirds on Blu-Ray, from ITV DVD (sic). So far, Blu-Ray releases have concentrated on movies and recent TV that were all originally produced in widescreen, perfect for the HD aspect ratio of 16:9. The problem is, that until recent years, all TV shows were made with an aspect of 4:3 (otherwise known as 1.33), presenting a dilemma for Blu-Ray - how should a widescreen format present old 'fullframe' images? Widescreen TVs can of course display the entire original 4:3 image, but only with black strips down both sides. This preserves all of the original image but leaves part of the screen unused. But in a few cases, there's another option...

Original 4:3 fullscreen aspect (from DVD)


New 16:9 widescreen aspect (from Blu-Ray)

These screengrabs (from an overly heated debate in the DVD Forums) illustrate how ITV DVD have released Thunderbirds on Blu-Ray. By going back to the original film negatives, the image has been re-framed, cropping off the top and bottom edges, but showing more at the sides. This way, the widescreen frame is filled, and the image is undistorted.

OK, part of the image has been cropped off and the visual composition is altered, (usually looking more cramped over each character's 'headroom'), but the advantage here is a slight gain in image (usually down the left hand side) and, importantly, a startling increase in the clarity of the image and the richness of the colours.

Thunderbirds looks like it has had the same treatment as the upcoming Space 1999 HD release. Both series were originally shot on 35mm film, the same format as most feature films. In both transfers, there only seems to be a slight increase in image width.

While FAB (the official Gerry Anderson fan magazine) gave a thorough and largely negative review of the Thunderbirds Blu-Ray boxset, to me it looks far better than I'd been lead to believe. I've not watched the whole set, but the new widescreen framing has been very carefully chosen so as not to miss any action - the lost image at the top of frame even advantageously disguises most of the puppet characters' supporting wires. The high definition transfer is the best we're going to see unless actual film restoration is done. The zooming in and cropping means that owners of widescreen TVs can get closer into the action, the tighter framing feels more like a movie.

The current need to fill up new HD TV channel schedules is probably the reason this series was remastered in HD in the first place, and the requirement would be for a 16:9 transfer, and not a 4:3 one. If fans still want a 4:3 Thunderbirds in High Definition, ITV DVD will have had to pay for a whole new transfer, meaning an even more pricey boxset. Given the choce of high definition Thunderbirds in 16:9 or not at all, I'd definitely vote for 16:9.

This approach for 16:9 remastering, won't work for the hundreds of other TV programmes that were shot on video, or on film formats such as 16mm (a budget-conscious move for 1970s TV meant that pictures suddenly got extremely grainy). Only series filmed (and edited) on 35mm film can benefit from Blu-Ray and HDTV transmissions. Batman, Land of the Giants and The Avengers are all series that spring to mind as being potentially spectacular in HD.

Before I saw Thunderbirds on Blu-Ray, I was a sceptic and a purist. My goal as a collector has always been to collect my favourites in their original aspect ratios, in the best possible quality. With this new home video format offering so much extra storage capacity, I'd ideally like to have the option when such important decisions are made about how a classic series should look and sound. When VHS ruled home video, there was a decade of waiting for movies to be released widescreen. Now the tables are turned, I'm wishing for TV to be released 1.33 full-frame! The only way to keep everyone happy is to offer a choice of aspect ratios - either as a menu option or by two separate releases, but both options are far more expensive to manufacture. High definition transfers, restoration of old materials, and Blu-Ray mastering are all very expensive - and a TV series such as Thunderbirds is 16 times longer than the average movie.

To enjoy something for thirty years and then, at the point where it could be enjoyed at the best quality ever, to have it drastically changed, is frustrating. But like the classic 1950s Ray Harryhausen films currently being presented on Blu-Ray, I've become more open-minded. If it works, it works. Thunderbirds has been carefully converted to work for widescreen presentation and I'm excited to watch it in this new incarnation, especially with the huge leap in picture quality.

Looking around the fan forums, Gerry Anderson's live-action UFO series has also been cropped for HDTV, but the screen grabs here make it look like the most obtrusive reformatting so far - the original compositions only seem to work in 4:3.

The same decisions will be made about many other classic TV shows, as well as vintage cinema (from the 1950s and earlier, roughly speaking). HD or otherwise, new TV sets are all widescreen. Recent movies look good on widescreen sets, but old TV can only fill the frame by being cropped. In most cases it's going to look worse, in terms of quality and composition. Thunderbirds, I think, is a rare exception.

I'll give the series itself a proper review when I've seen some more episodes, again...

DVD UPDATES - the best region 1 news

Over the next few months, there are going to be a few DVD releases that I can only describe as 'ABOUT BLOODY TIME'! The wishlist they were originally written on is so old, it was made of paper! Out of everything new on DVD - here's what I'm excited about... two classic slasher movies, a vintage Dario Argento thriller, and an unusual epic from the silent era...

FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET (1971)

Finally, finally, finally, on February 24th is the home video debut of Dario Argento's early psycho-thriller. The third of his stylish giallo murder mysteries, with outrageously choreographed death scenes, has been missing from all our Dario collections. Until now. Whatever legal wrangles have been keeping this movie out of circulation must now be over. It's being released by Mya Communications. Watch out for that lorry...
Good news courtesy of DreadCentral.com.

MY BLOODY VALENTINE (1981)

To coincide with the cinema release of the new remake, the best news is that the original haunted mine, pickaxe slasher is finally being released uncut. The 2002 DVD release was disappointing for being digitally remastered from the familiar censored cut. Ever since gorehounds were first teased with photos of bloody make-up effects in the (then) new magazine Fangoria, we've been waiting decades to see several climactic moments to this lesser-known atmospheric slasher. I'm pre-ordering it - I've waited too long to see this!

Exciting news courtesy of DreadCentral. Cover art previewed on Fangoria.com.

FRIDAY THE 13th (1980)

Another remake has prompted an uncut overhaul of the original for DVD - but again no cover art yet for this February 2009 release from Paramount Home Video. This will be the US DVD debut of the uncensored version. Admittedly the cuts should only amount to a few seconds, but for a cornerstone of the slasher genre, it's a very welcome release. It will also be available on Blu-Ray, and there'll be a deluxe array of extras.
More details from ClassicHorror.com. Cover art and specs from DVD Active.

J’ACCUSE (1919)

Completely new to DVD is this epic anti-war movie from legendary French pioneer Abel Gance. I've only just caught his 1939 remake and can't wait to see the silent movie original, meant as a plea for 'no more war' just after the so called 'Great War'. The movie is of genre interest because of it's astonishing resurrected war-dead finale. Screengrabs and a review of this 2-disc special edition from silent movie specialists Flicker Alley, can be found on DVDtalk.

GAMERA THE BRAVE (2006)

New to the US is the latest Gamera movie - I reviewed the film here. It's angled more at children, but serves as a good temporary fix for all those giant monster fans who are missing Godzilla at the moment. Arriving to flatten a city near you at the end of December, from Tokyo Shock.

THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN (2008)

Lastly, I don't normally herald new Hollywood films, but this is coming to DVD and Blu-Ray on Feb 17th. Based on Clive Barker's short story from the very first of 'The Books of Blood', this is cult Japanese director Ryuhei Kitamura's American debut. Despite mixed reviews and a faltering cinema release, I still want to see anything by the director of Azumi, Versus and Godzilla Final Wars.
(Release news courtesy of DreadCentral).

DVD UPDATES - region 2 releases

I was annoyed that Dario Argento's DVD debut of Profondo Rosso (Deep Red, 1975) from Anchor Bay, was a latter day 'Director's Cut' with English and Italian scenes mixed together - like one restoration of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. For years I'd enjoying each version separately, albeit squeezed onto VHS and differently censored. Now a Scandinavian release has both versions in the same set on two discs. Should be ideal, so I'll be getting a copy soon. Scandinavia is PAL and region 2.


I really enjoyed the 2004 Japanese girl-power comedy Kamikaze Girls (reviewed here) and am looking forward to Memories of Matsuko from the same director. Both films should be coming to the UK early in 2009, released by Third Window Films. Thanks to 24 frames per second for the news - and why not check out his newly revamped site?


Not for the faint-hearted, Wes Craven's 1972 Last House on the Left (reviewed here) has an Ultimate Edition 3-DVD set out in the UK, from Metrodome, including previously unseen scenes and a new cut. The third disc includes the excellent 2006 genre overview Going to Pieces - The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film feature-length documentary (reviewed here).

Lastly, belatedly, I really like the artwork for the UK release of the 1970 Brit psycho-thriller And Soon The Darkness (reviewed here), released by Optimum Home Entertainment.