Customer Reviews

The Persuaders!, Set 1

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Back in the later 60's Tony Curtis ran afoul of the MJ laws in California, so he moved to Merry Ole England to work. Strange to think of him doing that, and even farther back, Robert Mitchum doing time because of simple infractions that today would barely get a fine in California. A lot of the work Curtis did during that period was just paying the bills, but this sort lived series (two years), did a wee bit more...or should that be Moore? In his post-Saint removal of halo, and pre-Bond days, Moore joined with Curtis to make a great mix of Who Dun Its. Sort of Charlie's Angels for the ladies!

Moore plays the typically upper crust Brit born with the silver spoon in his mouth, Lord Britt Sinclair, old money in other words...Curtis is brassy new money in Daniel Wilde, a self-made Yank Millionaire. They naturally dislike each other intensely, but come to a grudging respect when Judge Fulton (Lawrence Naismith doing his "Bosley routine") sets them to solving crimes that Scotland Yard cannot touch. They are super tales done with panache, when Moore and Curtis were at their peak. With witty dialogue, fast paced scripts directed by Roy Ward Baker, the series was fun from beginning to end. Especially funny was the episode that was a take off of the Old Alec Guinness Movie..."Kind Hearts and Coronets" (1949) where Guinness played nearly a dozen family members being systematically bumped off. Moore gets to do a nifty turn in various family roles who are being eliminated with Moore next on the list.

So don't wait till someone persuades you...a must more any Moore and Curtis fan.

I bought this series based on the two listed stars. I had never seen any of the episodes and was completely unaware that it ever existed. Now having been brought up during the Golden Age of Television Detectives (Columbo, Kojack, Streets of San Francisco, Banacek, etc.) I would have expected a rip-off of some sort. To my delight, this exceeded my expectations by miles! Roger Moore and Tony Curtis are great together. They are somewhat hammy but this series has a charm that can't be explained that make all of it fun. It is not cheap! They have on location adventures in some of the most fascinating places in Europe. It is a colorful work of art. A true 70's "Austin Powers" atmosphere and seems to be a cross between that and 'The Avengers' without the English eccentrics bent on taking over the world. There is occasional camp, but it is funny! Roger Moore wore his own line of clothes in this series and now I know where he got the idea of the Safari jacket. Tony Curtis is an American in exile (as an Actor) and filled in his time while in England with Moore in this series and he is older but still has that "Great Leslie" personality (from 'The Great Race") to carry him through awkward moments. The story writers do a good job here and the character of "the Judge" is our old friend "Argus" , the builder of the ship Argo from "Jason and the Argonauts". There is a lot of Psychedelic lunacy included and plots revolving around interesting things. This is well worth your time and attention and I look forward to the next DVD set! It was only on for one season but you have a full 26 episodes in Volumes I & II together.

This series is very entertaining but is marred by an out of sync audio transfer. Once again A&E has released a DVD title without doing any kind of quality control check before going to market. Too bad. I quite enjoyed the show, but the out of sync audio will relegate this title to the rental only queue.

Loved the series as a kid. Was very disappointed that all the audio is way out of sync on the DVDs. Don't A & E have any quality control? They must have slept through this one. very amatuerish. Boo! Rubish! You're all fired! To add insult, it's a box set that isn't even a whole series, for the money they charge for it.what a bunch of cheese bags. I'm going to complain to A & E.

There are actually TWO funny and interesting audio commentaries in this Set 1 with Roger Moore, Robert Baker and Johnny Goodman: Episodes OVERTURE and THE TIME AND THE PLACE. Photo Gallery (no behind the scenes) and some new pictures of Roger signing the restored Aston Martin DBS. Four seperate Amaray-style cases in box. Check out the french edition (AMICALEMENT VOTRE) for a lot more interesting extras. Sadly the English/American people will never know anything about the enormously popular German dub that added wit, double meanings and ironic fun. The two send up each other a lot more... In all, 24 episodes were filmed (not 26), 13 are in this set. Codefree Discs, not code 1.

I first saw this British series when it was broadcast on a local channel in the early to mid 1980's and I enjoyed it quite a bit then.

When I became aware of this DVD release, I was curious to see if it would hold up to my memories of it, and I'm very pleased to say that it did.

What I like about this series is the light, fun and witty chemistry between Roger Moore and Tony Curtis, the 70's fashions and ambiance, the outstanding theme song and music, and the refreshing international feel to the show. This show is reportedly the most expensive series ever produced by ITC Entertainment and with filming locations in Monaco, France, Italy, etc. it shows.

The series only ran for one season and I was ever so slightly irked that the one seasons has been split into two DVD sets, but that is a minor gripe. Yes, as other reviewers have noted, the voices are on some rare occasions ever so slightly out of sync with the mouth movements on screen, but that is very minor and isn't too distracting.

As far as bonus features are concerned, there are not just one, but two Roger Moore commentary tracks on two separate episodes which are both fun and insightful listening (only one is advertised on the packaging). There are also some more contemporary stills of Roger Moore with the very same Aston Martin he drove in the series, and if you're perceptive, you'll be able to find the hidden "Easter Egg" photo of Roger Moore recording his commentary track!

Overall, a very nice package and a truly great television relic from the 1970's. It may not have been groundbreaking, but it has a wonderful and unique feel to it which I enjoy revisiting.

I saw an episode of this once randomly, and didn't get into it. But then I got the DVDs for Christmas, watched the amazing pilot, and I was hooked. I've blown through the rest of the episodes here at an amazing rate, and can't wait for the next set, though I'm sad there will only be one more. I definitely recommend seeing the pilot first. I think that's why I didn't like the episode I saw years ago. The pilot sets up the chemistry between the stars, and the humor.

What surprised me the most was how high-budget this show appears to be. I'm used to watching Secret Agent and The Saint, both of which I love. In those British shows, whenever the characters are in a foreign location, there is a quick stock-footage establishing shot of the location followed by the same studio backlot. Which is fine, once you're used to it. I was expecting the same thing from The Persuaders, but was thrilled to see the actual actors, clearly on location in spectacular settings throughout Europe, mainly on the beautiful French Riviera. The pilot includes a car chase (well, race actually) between Moore's Aston Martin DBS and Curtis's Ferrari Dino along beautiful windy roads (forshadowing the similar Aston Martin/Ferrari race on the same roads in the Bond movie Goldeneye two decades later). The sequence is shot in split-screen, which is again very unusual for the British adventure shows of the period that I am used to. There was obviously money spent on this show, and you can see it everywhere on screen, from the great cars and locations to the talented film directors like Peter Hunt (On Her Majesty's Secret Service) and Val Guest to the big stars themselves. Moore and Curtis have great chemistry together, and make a teriffic team. This is definitely one of my favorite British TV shows, and can't recommend it enough, especially to fans of The Saint, The Avengers and Secret Agent.

One slight complaint about the dvd is that on my discs the dialogue is slightly out of sinc on the second two episodes (presumably after the layer change), which is not detrimental, but is distracting. I don't know if I just have defective discs, or if they're all like that.

One final note: anyone who enjoys this show or the others I mentioned should definitely check out Saints and Avengers: British Adventure Series of the 1960s by James Chapman. It's a great book that covers all those shows up through The Persuaders.

I first encountered "The Persuaders!" on a cable channel that showed episodes from the series as part of its "Mystery Friday" offerings. In a way it was a "missing link" in the transition from the great spy shows of the 1960s and the detective dramas of the 1970s, with elements from the former and foreshadowings of the latter. I was soon hooked, partly by the concept of two ridiculously wealthy men who had the freedom to stand up to the various crooks and murders they encountered, and partly by the interplay between Moore and Curtis (it's obvious that the two liked each other and had great fun doing the show).

Now A&E has released the first set of DVDs from the series' single-season run. Containing 13 episodes, they show Moore and Curtis resolving all sorts of wrongdoing as they jet set across Europe. The stories themselves are of uneven quality (everybody who enjoys the show will have their favorites; mine are "Take Seven," "Greensleeves", and "The Time and the Place"), but all of them run on the Moore-Curtis chemistry, as well as the uniformly strong performances of the other actors. As other reviewers have noted, fans of the two actors will enjoy this set, as well as those who like classic British action series from the 1960s like "The Avengers" and Moore's earlier show "The Saint," (especially since writers from both of these shows contributed scripts for this series).

I was fortunate enough to be able to watch the entire "Persuaders" series being re-run late at night on CBC television out of Canada and must exclaim that it's a off-beat little gem that'll appeal to anyone that enjoyed "The Saint" and Moore's version of James Bond. Now I must warn you, it's by no means serious or even realistic---just good, silly fun. Curtis and Moore play ultra-wealthy adventure seekers that always seem to know someone in trouble or stumble onto something that isn't quite right...early 70's Jet-setting playboy club culture mixed with a Robin Hood meets James Bond kind of feeling....that about sums it up-----the series also boasts one of the best theme songs of the early 70's penned by John Barry (yep, the guy that did all of the early James Bond soundtracks...)

As a long time Roger Moore fan, i enjoy most of his work. I had seen some of the Saint episodes many years ago, but became very happy when BBC-America began broadcasting them; in fact, I enjoyed them so much I purchased the Megaset(which contains all the color episodes from 1966-'69). I have also began purchasing the early episodes(the B&W episodes from 1962-'65) available from only selected distributors of which, sadly, Amazon is not. Anyway, I've never seen the Persuaders before, but since I like R. Moore and Tony Curtis, and since many user reviews were very positive, I decide to go for it. What a great choice!!! Excellent show. Top- notch writing, excellent direction, and gorgeous vistas make this a show not to be missed. If you like R. Moore, The Saint, and/or Tony Curtis, you'll love this. The cammraderie of Moore and Curtis is great. The back and forth stlye and bantering plays out a lot like Redford and Newman in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Absolutely wonderful. Buy it with confidence; you will NOT be disappointed.