Fireball XL5 – Special Edition: Complete Series (Network U.K./Region Two/2/PAL DVD Set)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: B-     Episodes: C

 

 

PLEASE NOTE: This DVD set can only be operated on machines capable of playing back DVDs that can handle Region Two/2/PAL format software and can be ordered from our friends at Network U.K. at the website address provided at the end of the review.

 

 

Fireball XL5 is one of the earliest of the SuperMarionation series from Gerry & Sylvia Anderson with Lew Grade and it turns out to be even more popular worldwide than expected.  This new 2009 DVD box set from the Network U.K. is the third set form a third country to see the show receive a full release on DVD.  For details on the show and my previous coverage, try these links:

 

U.S A&E Set

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/27/Fireball+XL-5+-+The+Complete+Series

 

Australian Umbrella Entertainment Set

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6343/The+Gerry+Anderson+Collection+(Umb

 

 

The show may not hold up like later SuperMarionation shows, but it still has its charms, fun, is politically incorrect to its advantage and has a new charm in the era of such shows that use digital video effects to the point of overkill, over-production and excess.  Otherwise, the previous reviews hold here.

 

The 1.33 X 1 black and white PAL image is from what looks like the same clean, new prints the previous sets used, with the Umbrella set having the slightest edge in clarity.  This is somewhat mute as a Blu-ray set in inevitable, but in the meantime, the picture on this set is not bad.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 sound is quasi-stereo and is just fine, but know that some mono elements sometimes do not translate as well as others, but is the equal of the previous DVD sets.  To repeat my point on clips from the Umbrella set on colorization, Network has included a whole colorized show (A Day In The Life Of A Space General) skipping clips and it is awful.  Glad the whole set is not like this, repeating every show this way.

 

Additional extras actually include legitimate color Fireball footage in the form of two terrific TV ads shot that way for Zoom Ice Lollies (rocket popsicles that under different names in the U.S. remain hugely popular) and are among the extras debuting here for the first time on any set!  Other differences from the previous box sets include no audio commentaries on any shows, but you do get a 60-page book, A Wonderland Of Stardust (73:34) new making of documentary with the Andersons and much more, Drawn In SuperMarionation (37:38) featurette about the tie-in comic strips and annuals issued on the show in the U.K. & related territories, silent (1:41) home movies of the making of the show by Bill Melvin, over 7 minutes of promo images of the show and an especially interesting 6+ minutes of rare memorabilia tie-ins of the show (annuals, toys, model kits, games, etc.) that are often very valuable and hard to get, especially in the U.S., making this Network DVD set the most extras-loaded set of the three easily.

 

Because it is still missing items from the other sets, serious fans will want to own all three editions.  However, this is the first time the extras exceeded the excitement of the show and is our personal choice for best set overall.

 

 

As noted above, you can order this Fireball XL5 PAL DVD import exclusively from Network U.K. at:

 

http://www.networkdvd.net/

 

or

 

www.networkdvd.co.uk

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo