Customer Reviews

Supercar - The Complete Series

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What I consider the real `marvel of the age" is that at long last I now own all 39 episodes of my favorite 60's TV show and pop culture touchstone in beautiful clear editions. I get to dump all my horrid multi-generation standards converted VHS copies into the trash! Cool!

Better still: this is a better put-together set than the "Fireball XL5" box from a few months ago. There is one non-episode specific commentary track from Sylvia Anderson on the pilot episode, "Rescue", in which she describes the state of the company in 1959 and how they were able to get Supercar financed and on TV. There is also a great 30 minute documentary on the late special effects supervisor Derek Meddings with behind the scenes shots and reminisces from his former crew, a brief video tribute to Meddings from "Lord Of The Rings" director Peter Jackson, a 4 1/2 minute audio recording of a fan-club flexi-disc issued by a chain of petrol stations, a production stills gallery and a send-away coupon to receive a free copy of the new Supercar comic book. The episodes themselves are beautifully remastered, and look sharp and clear with little to no film defects. Thanks heavens they took good care of their negatives thru the years! It's also nice to be able to see the here-to-fore impossible to find second season episodes, with the revised opening theme and slightly modified vehicle design. (I do note, however, that my JVC brand DVD player has some difficulty navigating around the discs smoothly).

I've no idea why this show continues to bring me so much enjoyment over four decades since it first aired. But I'm grateful to be able to visit Black Rock Lab once again, and to be able to carry this icon of my youth with me into the future. So, Gerry Anderson (and A&E Video), a five year old boy salutes you with increasingly arthritic 48 year old hands.

This is the first fully developed supermarionation series from Gerry Anderson and its shortcomings are what make it so endearing to me. While his later series became very sophisticated and the marionettes act less and less like puppets, in "Supercar" you have puppets acting and looking like puppets. Sometimes the eyes are simply painted on the heads of the puppets so that they never move. The anatomical proportions are way off so that you have large, goofy looking heads on slim, small bodies. The arms tend to wave wildly about when speaking. I like all of this: The Nelson Eddy like vocal singing/shouting the opening theme song, "Supercar!!!", the very visible strings pulling supercar up out of the water, the back screen projection of clouds and water (which actually works out well here), the "not quite right" miniature furniture (later series would scale down perfectly with obsessive attention to detail), the very simple and absurdly low budget lab equipment (although the Supercar model still looks great today). This is the Anderson series to get if you really like the 1959 look of kiddie shows. It is the earliest link in the evolutionary ladder of the Gerry Anderson series. Perfectly charming and fun.

i expected to giggle over the cheesy special effects and the obvious strings that even my six year old eyes spotted. i expected to be transported back to our kitchen table where i watched each episode with bated breath and fell madly in love with mike mercury [maybe i was a bit weird--or maybe i just knew what i liked at an early age--hasn't anyone else noticed he resembled a young sam waterston?] what i didn't expect was that i'd enjoy this collection as much as i do! it's a children's show that doesn't talk down to children; it's funny and although there'e little science in that fiction, and i no longer hold my breath, there's enough action to make me smile at the end of each episode. satisfactory. most satisfactory.

I watched Supercar with devotion as a kid, and was ecstatic to learn it was becoming available on DVD. The video on these DVDs are extremely high-quality--Supercar looks as good as the day it first aired. There are some Supercar videos available on VHS, I might mention, that look terrible! My only gripe with this DVD set is that there are only a few extras. If you're a Gerry Anderson fan, you'll want to own these DVDs.

I watched this television series as a child of the fifties and was totally mesmerised by all of it's cinematic wonders, which were obviously limited at the time. I was greatly pleased to see that this was to be released to DVD last month. Sometimes you wonder if past TV shows and movies have stood the test of time, SUPERCAR has most definitely. It is as real today as it was back then when I was a gullible child of eight. And...with the onset of DVD, the quality is even better now, with every episode intact and order of presentation. Thank you for this memory of my childhood that I can now treasure forever!!!!!

The 'sixties opened with some great cartoons: The Bugs Bunny Show, The Flntstones, and this odd non-cartoon from Britain, which seemed to be puppets, or marionetttes (you could see the strings), excitingly more real than cartoons, with futuristic styling, a haunting theme, and the lure for Americans of being British. It was filmed in Supermarionation, whatever that was, and it absolutely caught on, and had the yanks clamoring for more. Plenty more was in store, including the state of the art Thunderbirds, but here's where it all began. These absolutely beautiful black and white prints recreate all the indefinable magic of what remains a compelling and creative show. This is the textbook for how it's done, and the dialogue and writing are just a marvel. How many viewers did this show lure into animation with a stop action 8 mm camera and a toy plane? How many Supercar toys and games made the colonies absolute addicts for Gerry Anderson's many endeavors to come? 39 remastered episodes on 5 discs, plus extras, of the Marvel of the Age.

Supercar was one of my first, if not the first, TV addiction for me. Not only did I have to schedule my young life to make sure I did not miss a show, I frequently played "Supercar" with other kids in the neighborhood. While it may seem lame by today's standards (with computer graphics and animation), it was groundbreaking at the time. A great way to jog the memories of baby boomers!

I just wish they would sell individual DVD's of the show or at least do a "Best of" DVD with some of the better shows, like they did for "The Best of Thunderbirds". This set may be a little pricey for casual fans who just want to show their kids or grandkids what was cool when they were growing up.

When Supercar was on TV in the 60's I would not got out and play with my friends. They all knew when Supercar was on and they would not bother me at that time.

This set is all that was promised and more. I believe it has every episode, as well as documentary of how it was made and commentary from one of the producers. Unfortunately, my kids don't really like it, so I rarely get time to view it. This is really a nostalgia piece for children of the 50's and 60's. I don't think most kids will like it.

For some reason this show always stood out in my memory. It was probably my first TV obsession. I remember being thrilled by the adventures of Mike and the rest of the crewn and intrigued by the concept of the Supercar. When the price dropped this week there was no longer any excuse not to buy it.
When I received the set, I immediately watched episode one. Amazingly, it was just like I remembered it after 45+ years. I even remember plotlines and specific scenes. This is really a great collection, and the quality is outstanding. I have been disappointed when I got DVD sets of some of my childhood favorites, but not Supercar. Simply amazing!!

This show was on when I was a little kid and I really liked it. I had just gotten out of the hospital from a brain tumor removal and I had a long recovery. One night not long ago, I wondered if I could find it so I got on the internet and I could not beleive it. There it was. No video store had it, but one store suggested AMAZON.COM. I pulled up and again ,to my amazement, there it was. I did not hesitate to order it and in two days I had it. It was just as Iremembered it. Ieven remembered some of the dialogue and scenes. Irecently ordered Fireball XL5 and am looking foreward to seeing another memory from my past Thank you so much.