Product Details

• Actors: Len Jones, Rupert Davies, Keith Alexander, David Healy, Sylvia Anderson
• Writers: Sylvia Anderson, Gerry Anderson
• Producers: Reg Hill
• Format: Animated, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English (Unknown)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: A&E Home Video
• DVD Release Date: July 29, 2003
• Run Time: 750 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00009RXJ0
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #24,534 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Joe 90 was Gerry Anderson's penultimate puppet show of the 1960s, following Captain Scarlet (1967) and preceding the little-known The Secret Service (1969). In 2112, professor Ian McClaine has invented the BIG RAT (Brain Impulse Galvanoscope, Record and Transfer), a machine for copying knowledge and experiences from person to person. WIN (World Intelligence Organization) uses this to prime their top undercover agent before sending him into the field on missions that range from foiling international terrorists to recovering a nuclear weapon from beneath the polar ice. So far so good, but in perhaps the most mind-boggling concept ever to reach children's TV, that agent is McClaine's 9-year-old adopted son, Joe.

Somehow even as it stays true to the Gerry Anderson techno-fantasy formula of secret organizations, gadgetry, and action-packed adventure full of spectacular explosions and violent death, Joe 90 remains blithely unconscious of its own implications. The missions are as globe-trotting as anything in Anderson's classic Thunderbirds series, and sometimes Joe does save lives, performing a risky brain operation or rescuing trapped astronauts. Yet even then his criminally irresponsible father brainwashes the lad each episode before placing him in a highly dangerous adult situation. Though the production values remain way ahead of anything else being done on British TV at the time, the question remains: how did this ever seem like a good idea?

Joe 90 comes complete in a four-disc boxed set of the entire 30-episode series. The 25-minute episodes are presented in superb picture quality and full, detailed mono sound. Extras include commentaries on two episodes, character biographies, a photo gallery, and varied extras such as location stills. --Gary S. Dalkin

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Forgotten Anderson gem, July 19, 2004

By	Christopher Krisocki (Belleville, NJ, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Joe 90 is, to American viewers, one of Gerry Anderson's best-kept secrets, as, apart from two made-for-cable episode compilations that aired in the early 80s, it has never been broadcast in the USA. This is a shame as this series contains some of the best model work of the entire Supermarionation canon. The series is pure fantasy -- just think what the DYFS would do if it found out that a nine-year-old adopted child were acting as a "most special agent," carrying a gun, driving tanks full of explosives, etc.The series is a great deal of fun, and the attention to detail is quite frankly amazing. If one were to watch the series from a distance, one could easily be forgiven in thinking that it has real actors in actual normal-sized sets. Although contemporary publicity material claims the series is set about 50 years in the future, ie in 2038, the fashions, vehicles, etc. are firmly from the 1960s, and easily stands up to the best that British television from this era had to offer. Just ignore the fact that the main protagonist is about 2 feet tall and you'll find the series highly enjoyable.Oh, and it's got a super theme tune, and the remastering is, as George Orwell might say, double-plus-excellent. Carlton in the UK has removed practically every flaw in the original prints. They are pristine, and look superb on my 32" TV.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Under-rated series, March 2, 2005

By	Mac Tipton "juggles7" (Moody, Alabama) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Despite the outlandish plot, this is a fine series. Fans of the Captain Scarlet series (my own favorite) will find some similarities in Joe 90. The Joe 90 series was done after Captain Scarlet, and some of the puppets, sets, and even some of the background sounds were recycled for Joe 90. The series was produced in '68, and the groovy opening number shows it; the music and the psychedelic visuals remind me of Jefferson Airplane. Most of the Joe 90 episodes are similar, even formulaic, but a few of the episodes are more ambitious, or artitistic. One such unusual epsidode is "The Unorthodox Shepherd", one of the highlights from this under-rated series. After Captain Scarlet and Thunderbirds, I think Joe 90 is the 3rd-best Gerry Anderson series. It's just a matter of personal taste; I also like Stingray! Terrahawks is pretty good, too! Gerry Anderson has given us a huge body of work and it's a dream-come-true to be able to own these complete sets on DVD. I'm proud to have Joe 90 on a shelf and I think it will stand up to repeated viewings over the years.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Joe 90 Has Gone Way Beyond The 90's, July 19, 2003

By	SIMON EDWARDS "sibwilson" (Liverpool, England) - See all my reviews

In the UK, Joe 90 was the following to Captain Scarlet on DVD. In the US, Joe 90 was the following to Fireball XL5 on DVD. It is the show that nobody can remember as being that all interesting and that is because this is a very different show to what Stingray, Thunderbirds or even Scarlet was. But because of that, it remains true to being a great show that was made by one of the best.

I can remember back in 1993 when Joe 90 came onto UK's screens that I really could not stand it. It made me think that Gerry Anderson had finally given up and just gave out any old thing. When this was released on DVD in the UK, I decided to give it a whirl and I really was not dissapointed. As a child, it really bored me. As a teenager-turned-adult, it really made me think about the morals of our society and the fact that there really are evil people in the world. Joe 90 says more then this and there are many laughs and edge-of-your-seat adventure along the way.

The DVD itself is absolutely spectacular. The episodes seems such fine print that the viewer does not mind the fact that the sound is mono. Everything has been done perfectly well and makes it stand among the rest in being a Gerry Anderson classic. As soon as you put this in your player, you will not be dissapointed. Everything you could want from a Gerry Anderson show is here: adventure, laughs, one-liners, great effects and brilliant story-telling. You are going to be amazed by what you see.