Plot: What’s it about?
In the year 2063, mankind has moved beyond its native world and extended its reach into the depths of space. This is because of the efforts of the World Space Fleet, which has been the driving force behind the exploration of outer space. The exciting, but also dangerous task of moving into space and always looking into new locations hasn’t been easy, but the World Space Fleet has been dedicated and found immense success. Within the fleet’s armada, a number of ships can be found, but the unquestioned leader is Fireball XL5. The amazing vessel has always been at the point in the most important missions, thanks not only to its incredible capabilities, but the top notch crew inside that make it all work. The crew is led by the noble Colonel Steve Zodiac, who is brave and always poised to what is right, but he is just one member of this valiant team. Also on deck are the quirky robot Robert, the genius professor Matt Matic, and the beautiful, gifted doctor Venus, quite an imposing selection of crew members, to be sure. Those on Fireball XL5 patrol perhaps the most unpredictable section of space, the area known as Sector 25. Home to countless races of strange, mostly unknown aliens, Sector 25 is no walk in the park. But if anyone can uphold justice there, its Col. Zodiac and the others aboard Fireball XL5.
After the success of his first Supermarionation series, Supercar, Gerry Anderson decided to look to the stars for his next project. As we all know, Anderson would use space as the setting in numerous productions, but Fireball XL5 was his first effort to bring the magic of space to the small screen. The visuals are typical Anderson, which means detailed and striking, especially the sets and props used. The characters look good also, with solid sculpting on the heads and of course, cool sci/fi costumes. I hold Robert the Robot as my personal favorite character, but of course, Colonel Steve Zodiac is probably the best known of the lot. As you can imagine, the animation isn’t as smooth and refined as in later series like Captain Scarlet or Thunderbirds, but as far as excitement and high tech thrills, Fireball XL5 proved to be another success for Anderson. At least in terms of end result, as this series wasn’t a smash hit at the time. But whenever I talk with someone about Anderson’s work, Fireball XL5 usually gets mentioned. So even if it wasn’t a record setting show as far as ratings, it was a favorite with many youngsters, most of whom still recall watching the show in warm memories. This has been a hard show to track down, but now thanks to A&E, Fireball XL5 can once again soar into homes to delight viewers.
This deluxe collection houses the entire Fireball XL5 series, with every last episode tucked inside this release. I think that’s an excellent idea and A&E has went with this approach on some other releases too, which went over very well with fans. This allows us to nab all the episodes in one fell swoop at a reasonable price, instead of having to wait for and then track down individual volumes or two disc releases. In this case, we have all thirty-nine episodes spread across five discs, so there’s ample room for them all to stretch out here. A lot of times, studios might try to fit too much into these kind of releases, but that isn’t the case here. Then again, as A&E has been excellent with previous television based projects, I don’t think anyone had doubts about how well Fireball XL5’s DVD treatment would turn out. You can’t ask for much beyond this, as we have all of the episodes, plus some nice supplements, all rolled into one neat little box. In other words, if you’re a fan of Fireball XL5 or other Gerry Anderson productions, there’s no reason not to add this release to your collection. The show itself is as much as fun as ever and its well presented in this set, not to mention the more than reasonable price involved.
Video: How does it look?
Fireball XL5 is presented in full frame, as intended. As has been the case with their previous Anderson releases, A&E has done some terrific work here and given us superb visual treatments on these episodes. The years haven’t done much damage to the materials, so we have clean prints and minimal grain, debris, and other defects. In fact, I was quite surprised to see such minimal age related flaws, so fans should be most delighted. There is a softness to the images here, but given the age and low profile of this series, I can’t see much room for complaints. The black & white visuals come through quite well, with smooth and stark black levels at all times. The softness does hinder the contrast a little, but not enough to lessen the experience. In the end, this is another Anderson series given the fine treatment it deserves.
Audio: How does it sound?
The included stereo audio is solid and offers a pleasant experience, but don’t expect much beyond the basics here. I did detect a little bit of wear on the materials, but this is not brand new stuff, so some age related hiccups are normal. The sound effects are clean enough and sound distinct, but at times, do seem a little restrained. Then again, this is just a stereo soundtrack and the material is from the 1960s, so we should be too critical. So the speakers won’t be given much of a workout here, but the dialogue and basic elements are solid enough, giving us an acceptable treatment.
Supplements: What are the extras?
You’ll find two audio commentary tracks here, from voice artist David Graham on The Doomed Planet, and director Alan Pattillo on Space City Special. Of course, hearing Anderson’s comments would have been ideal, but these tracks are still very welcome. This set also includes a special featurette with artist Mike Noble, who talks about the show’s visual scheme, as well as some still photos and an expanded talent file on Gerry Anderson.
