Captain Scarlet - The Complete Series
Picture: B- Sound: B- Extras:
C+ Episodes Overall: B
Captain Scarlet is the darker, more elaborate follow-up to The Thunderbirds, the
most commercially successful of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s SuperMarionation
series. This time, the show advances in
model detail, while the puppets inhabiting this new world are more human-like
than the kid-ish puppets that go back to Supercar and Fireball XL-5.
This is just about the best these shows
could conceivably appear in the DVD format, as the Rank Labs Color looks so
vibrant. Fine prints of the show were
pulled from the vaults (maybe restruck from the original negatives?) and offer
exceptional fidelity for a full-screen production.
Each DVD contains three shows, except
the fourth, which has four shows with a very slight but noticeable drop in
quality. This was not a problem on The
Avengers or The Saint when A&E did this, so it is puzzling as to
how and why this is a problem with this collection. There is also no 5.1 mix for the “Attack On Cloudbase” episode,
in part to make room for the commentary track.
The sound otherwise is fun, with nicely thought out 5.1 remixes that
really add impact to the shows, and their complex model work. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono soundtracks are
not as good as the mono A&E usually offers on their boxed sets, because
there was likely no room for the higher 384 kilobits-per-second (kbps) they are
used to offering. The mono is passable,
but only for die-hard purist fans of the show.
It should also be noted that older DVD
machines might have a navigation problem with the menus, since they are denser
than usual, but this can be overcome with chapter buttons or even switching
from commentary to the actual episode soundtrack. Problems will vary, so you will have to experiment in the rare
case you run into this problem.
From the well-recorded commentary with
producer Gerry Anderson on the first episode, Identified, you can tell how much
of the original material for sound remains as the show plays in the background
minus the dialogue on his track. That
indicates the original 3-track monophonic magnetic masters are still
around. No wonder they decided to do
the show in stereo remixes. They
actually did 5.1 remixes for the even older Thunderbirds shows, so it is
nice to see what happens when film and television preservation is done right.
After a mistaken invasion on Mars in
2068 of an alien world, the Spectrum team attacks that world ignorantly, the
race known as The Mysterons vow to destroy the earth’s human civilization any
way they can. This involves duplicating humans and their vehicles, or even
buildings. They make a major mistake
when they take over the body of Captain Scarlet, make him indestructible, then
loose control of him without realizing it.
Now he will be able to help Spectrum conquer the killing invaders. All
32 shows are as follows:
DVD One - The Mysterons, Winged
Assassin, Big Ben Strikes, Renegade Rocket, Point 783, Manhunt, Operation Time,
and White As Snow
DVD Two - Seek And Destroy, Spectrum
Strikes Back, Avalanche, Shadow Of Fear, The Heart Of New York, Fire At Rig 15,
The Launching, and Lunarville 7
DVD Three - The Trap, Model Spy,
Dangerous Rendezvous, Special Assignment, Place Of Angels, Crater 101, Expo
2068, and Traitor
DVD Four - Flight 104, Noose Of Ice,
Codename Europa, Flight To Atlantica, Treble Cross, Attack On Cloudbase, The
Inquisition, and Inferno
Before commenting on the shows, there
are these credits of note:
The show features the voices of Sylvia
Anderson, Edward Bishop, Cy Grant, Donald Gray, Janna Hill, Francis Matthews,
Paul Maxwell, Liz Morgan, Charles Tingwell, and Jeremy Wilkin; Directors
include Desmond Saunders, Dave Lane, Brian Burgess, Robert Lynn, Alan Perry,
Ken Turner, and Leo Eaton; Teleplays by Gerry Anderson, Sylvia Anderson, Tony
Barwick (the series’ script editor), Ralph Hart, Peter Curran & David
Williams, Richard Conway & Stephen J. Mattick, Shane Rimmer, Bryan Cooper,
Alan Patillo, Bill Hedley, and Leo Eaton.
In other credits; Executive Producer:
Gerry Anderson; Created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson with Reg Hill; Edited by
Harry Macdonald; Supervising Director of the Series: Des Saunders; Producer:
Reg Hill; Music: Barry Gray; Directors of Photography: Paddy Seale, Julien
Lugrin, Ted Catford, Derek Black, Bert Mason on Visual Effects plus Harry Oakes
and Les Paul; Visual Effects Supervisor: Derek Meddings; Color by Rank Film
Laboratories
The best shows to get an idea of the
series with include the pilot “Mysterons” show, the mystery-wrapped “Big Ben
Strikes Again,” the mixed-but-snowbound “White As Snow,” “Avalanche,” “The Heart Of New York,” the
hilarious “Model Spy,” “Codename Europa,” and the imaginative “Attack On
Cloudbase.” Most of the shows are
really good, though some have the limits of recurring characters that are only
going to be in so much jeopardy. After
all, they knew these shows would not be shown in a strict order, so some
suspense is limited. The last episodes
are the darkest as the Mysterons get even more vicious, but that works very
well.
The extras include stills on all four
DVDs, the aforementioned Gerry Anderson commentaries on “The Mysterons” on DVD
#1 & “Attack On Cloudbase” on DVD #3, a text introduction of the series on
DVD #1, simple character biographies on DVD #2 & 3, Spectrum ID cards on
DVD #3, and a vehicle guide in two sections on DVD #4. You can see comic book diagrams of all the
major vehicles on a section of the DVD, while the DVD-ROM adds additional
sketch information. When you get the
screen, you can click on to one of six cars, which will give you additional
information. The exceptions are the
vehicles on the right hand side. The
upper right hand vehicle will leads you to six more, while the lower right hand
vehicle will give you more sketches than usual. From the description, I expected all new graphics, but this is
still not bad. It is especially
interesting, since most of the vehicles have the characters seated backwards,
viewing a video screen while operating their vehicle!
To many, this may be the peak of the
SuperMarionation shows, but even those who may disagree have to admit it is one
of the best. Whether the conclusion of
the series is really satisfying is another story, but you’ll have to see for
yourself. Captain Scarlet is a
classic of TV, puppeteering, science fiction, and adventure TV everyone has to
see to believe.
- Nicholas Sheffo
