Customer Reviews

Avengers '66: Vol. 2

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The best episodes of this compilation are the satirical Small Game for Big Hunters (Levene,) Silent Dust(Roger Marshall), and the hilarious Girl from AUNTIE. Small Game satirizes colonialism, white man's burden and pokes fun at jungle pictures. The opening sequence is attention grabbing. A man hacks his way through the jungle, using a knife. Drums pound, the air is rife with animal cries. He scales a barbed wire fence? and is shot in the back with an arrow. He falls unconscious beneath a sign- London 123 miles. Steed and Emma investigate clues to an African nation. Steed meets a demented retired colonel, convinced he is still in Africa. "By jove the natives are restless tonight!" he observes at one point. "Give em some colored beads!" the writers wickedly spoof condescending colonial attitudes and prejudices. Diana Rigg as Emma is eyecatching in her sarong. A funny episode by Levene.

The Girl from Auntie spoofs the American show The Man from Uncle. Mrs. Emma Peel is drugged, kidnapped and held for nefarious purposes. A returning Steed finds a naive blonde actress impersonating Mrs. Peel. The lethal knitting needle assassin is a caution. A naive Georgie fends off the assassin frantically consulting one of Emma's books. Reading aloud about kneeing an assailant in the groin Georgie observes "She must have some terribly aggressive boyfriends!"

Silent Dust has amusing sequences. "I'll see what I can pick up here," Steed says (of his sluthing efforts) "I'm sure you will- pick up something." Emma's putdown is priceless. Steed's attempt to chat up and charm a young horsewoman is viewed with amusement by Emma who openly laughs at him from across the bar. Despite concerns about Touch of Brimstone this episode has a very unpleasant whipping sequence. Emma is pursued by three villains. As she takes of on foot the loutish farmhand bets "whichever of us gets there first, gets the-" And the censors didn't fuss about this one? The 13th Hole is more mundane. Quick Quick Slow Death, like Girl from Auntie, has a lighthearted charm. Emma and Steed's sluthing leads them to a dance school. Emma is less than thrilled by an amourous Italian shoe designer- very funny Rigg sequence "Madame," he proclaims dramatically as he takes a plaster cast of Emma's foot "I am at your feet!" Emma becomes a dance instructress who has to ward off the unwelcome attentions of the male co-owner of the business. Steed poses as a lonely bachelor. "There was someone but she is no more. She was eaten by a crocodile!" The tag a neat touch. Emma and Steed having despatched the villains, waltz around the dance floor, then they are dancing in the clouds.

This is my favorite Avengers team, Mrs. Peel and Mr. Steed. Together, Diana Rigg and Patrick Macnee make the series. This series is very superb. Diana Rigg, an attractive woman, and Patrick Macnee, a good actor make this series. These 6 episodes are some of the best of the Avengers.

The six episodes in this set happen to be the most average of the black-and-white Diana Rigg series. Not bad - in fact, not bad at all - but not extraordinary, either. There's a bit of camp (and Rigg in a nice suit of undress) in "The Girl From A.U.N.T.I.E.," and splendid wit and humor (with some of the best Steed-Emma interplay in the series) in the somewhat satirical "Quick-Quick Slow Death."

The rest are straightforward and rather prosaic entries. "Silent Dust" is the best of these, with Steed and Emma preventing economic blackmail by use of a top-secret stolen chemical agent. "Room Without A View" and "Small Game For Big Hunters" are fairly dull, really, except for the usual wonderful interplay between Steed and Emma (and there's less of that than usual), and "The 13th Hole" is a reasonably clever spy story revolving around a private golf club.

Just because these aren't the best the series had to offer doesn't mean they're not worth watching. The Avengers, at its most mundane, was much better than virtually every other show at its best.

James Bond, move over! This is a set of six, 52-minute entries from the great and brilliant team of Patrick Macnee (as the aristocratic John Steed) and Diana Rigg (as the tantalizing Emma Peel). The Rigg years were definitely the best ones and there is one other set from 1966 (also with Rigg) so don't confuse them! All these episodes were shot in black-and-white and the aspect is full-screen. Here's a rundown of the episodes:

"The 13th Hole" -- A Mad Scientist/International Intrigue vehicle where a golf course country club is being used as a cover location. Steed and Mrs. Peel tee-off on the bad guys. This is a really great episode! Written by Terry Williamson.

"Quick-Quick-Slow Death" -- A dancing school is the focus, where some mighty underhanded stuff is going on -- but who is the ring-leader of the skullduggery? Written by Robert Banks Stewart.

"Small Game for Big Hunters" -- A Jungle-full of tropical shenanigans, including savage natives with blowguns, and a plot of biological sabotage just a few miles from London? It's so and viewers will love this one -- Lots of cool sets. Written by Philip Levene.

"The Girl from Auntie" -- A fake Mrs. Peel! The real one is being auctioned off to a pack of mean international bidders! Pretty good. Written by Roger Marshall.

"Silent Dust" -- This is one of my big favorites. A group of very bad people plan to hold all England for ransom -- if they don't get paid, they'll release the "Silent Dust" which exterminates all life. It all culminates during a big fox-hunt! Great casting in this entry. Written by Roger Marshall.

"Room Without A View" -- Important scientists go missing and end up in a very nasty Asian prison camp... sort of. It's really all happening inside an exclusive hotel. Steed, who poses as a gourmet hotel critic, and Mrs. Peel have to solve the deadly mystery and get back these top scientists. Written by Roger Marshall.

I don't know if you get the same deal if you purchase the DVD set -- with the VHS set, you'll get 3 tapes, with two episodes per tape (with the other '66 set, there's a "bonus episode," which makes three episodes on one of the tapes), for a total of 6 episodes. The tapes are not copy-protected.

There were Avengers episodes prior to 1965 but they weren't quite as good -- they were more soap opera-ish. Macnee had two or three different lady-partners during those earlier years and those gals simply weren't as dynamic as Rigg. Also, the music, action, and story-writing much improved in '65, which is when "The Avengers" got launched on to American television -- I watched every one of these episodes at the time. These black-and-white Macnee-Rigg entries continued through 1966, (it went color after that and Rigg eventually left the series). In the end, '65 and '66 were the two best years of all.

This is an erratic group of episodes, charming but sloppy.
As other reviewers note, ``Small Game for Big Hunters'' is one of the best, satirizing colonialism as much as could expected in a mainstream British show.
Bill Frazer is a bit too cute as the befuddled Col. Rawlings, a problem that recurs with supporting players in other epidoes. Still, the opening is one of the best in the series, and the offbeat plot is cleverly done. Flouting Brian Clemens' unfortunate ``rules,'' Philip Levene writes a sympathetic non-white character in Razafi. And Diana Rigg shows off her willowy figure in a sarong.
``Room without a View'' is another episode that plays with displacement, this time from a London hotel to a Chinese prison. It's not quite as sharp as Small Game, but has atmosphere.
``The Quick, Quick Slow Death'' is a silly as its title, but plays out with such good humor that one can forgive its illogic.
Speaking of plot holes and technical flubs, ``The Girl from Auntie'' may be the champion in a series that was often done on a shoestring. But the script and cast revel in silliness _ ``Don't forget your handbag, Lady Bracknell.''
Liz Frazer is a delight as the fake Mrs. Peel. Perhaps she was originally cast as a foil for Elizabeth Shepherd, whom Rigg replaced. But one of the most amusing things is the contrast between buxom blonde partygirl Frazer and the ``real'' Emma Peel cool, completely non-buxom Rigg. While she doesn't have much to do, Rigg does it while little more than panties, a few feathers and some padding for her bust.
If that's memorable, ``The 13th Hole'' is a mundane plot. Even the jokey lair, a ``bunker'' bunker, seems made of cardboard.
``Silent Dust'' is more imaginative, with a still timely ecological disaster plot. As always, Patrick Macnee is a suave, reliable Steed. The horseback scenes are fun _ although note how tense new rider Rigg is _ but the villains fairly unimpressive.

I am 12 years old. My Mom, an Avengers fan, persuaded me to watch some episodes. I have now been drawn into the cult classic. It's a wonderful series, combining fantasy with gripping reality! The Avengers' occupation is crimefighting with style.

As a kid I remember "The Avengers" being a lot better. First of all, you look at the DVD cover and it's in color so surely the shows are. Nope, they are in black and white.

You go online and you can find out why so I won't waste time here about that. Just Wiki "The Avengers" and read how bizarre TV was back in the Uk at the time. But, hey, how about putting the original B&W on here as is and adding colorization versions? Given there are zero extras on this set, how about spending some money when you release old TV shows on DVD.

The episodes are slow. Something I certainly don't recall as my memory seemed to be episodes that had plenty of spy-like action. Again, no.

Now the witty repartee between Mrs. Peel (Diana Rigg) and John Steed (Patrick MacNee) still is pretty good but it's laughable now in many ways in its '60s sexual innuendos.

Maybe I got the three slowest and most plodding episodes but I also found the protagonist very one dimensional. The first episode has a randy Welsh horse trainer cum murdering minion who is cringe inducing in his performance. The other episodes are not much better.

Get this Volume 1 gets you all of three episodes. That's all. Come on! Put the entire 1966 series on one DVD boxed set. This is marketing nonsense releasing it as three separate DVDs. I can see that if it's a series that's modern in the 2010s but for a series that in approaching 50 years' old, don't be so chintzy. After all, who is buying these series--not 20-year-olds. Cut the hardcore fans who will now be in their 50s or 60s a break.

Anyway, I hope the other volumes are better as I found in these Diana Rigg was very underutilized and the action scenes very flat. The plots were also very dated. Sad all around really.

This vendor is batting 1000 so far. All of the dvds I've purchased have been in stellar condition. And unlike my first purchase, which took more than two weeks to deliver from the U.K., this latest purchase was earlier. The price is great too.

The Emma Peal years are the highlight of a great series, and a pinnacle of television history.

The transfers are gorgeous and bring new meaning to the term 'glorious black and white'. The stories are fun, clever, witty. The dialogue is classic, and the delivery from the co-stars elevates it even further. They, in turn, bring new meaning to the term 'cool'.

I loved every minute of it.

And, speaking of cool, have a look at Danger Man with Patrick McGoohan. You gotta love those Brits!

What a great series! Diana Rigg is wonderful and Patrick Macnee coplements her perfectly. Super!