Rating:  Summary: In the Middle Somewhere... Review: This is a super set! The Avengers, Patrick Macnee as John Steed and Diana Rigg as Emma Peel, are at their best. Some of the best 67 episodes are on this one. The Fear Merchants is a very enjoyable one. It is about this organization who finds out people's fears and makes them mad. You'll have to watch the episode to find out why they are doing it. From Venus With Love is a classic and well remembered episode. The worst (in my opinion) is probably The See-Through Man. Escape in Time is one of the best episodes ever made. English agents are being killed off by (what you watch when you first see it) people from the past. The Bird Who Knew Too Much is probably the second worst on the tape, but it is still very good. The Winged Avenger is also a classic about this comic book character (someone dressed up in a costume) killing people. This set over all is one of the best '67 sets.
Rating:  Summary: The best of the 67 sets Review: Sweet and bizarre, this Avengers box set captures the best of the 1967 episodes and their recipe for camp cool. Patrick MacNee is even more suave in color, Diana Rigg even more arch and attractive. And, of course, the villainy is more lurid. Look for titled chimney sweeps, a man who bleeds birdseed, and a hysterical scene where Steed and Emma follow a set of stuffed animals through London. This is as good as it gets, as sparkling as Steed's champagne, as sassy as Emma's "Emmapeelers."
Rating:  Summary: quirky sixties humor with a British twist Review: If you liked the Avengers, or just enjoy dry humor and wit, then this is for you. These are the best of the Avengers series, and in color, Emma Peel never looked finer. Very reasonably priced for the number of episodes included, though there almost no "extras" which would have been a welcomed addition. Money well spent.
Rating:  Summary: Wow! There's nothing like it. Review: I had heard a lot about the original Avengers so when they appeared on DVD I decided to just buy all four sets and after watching a couple of episodes I knew I had made the right decision. The fights mostly look fake and most of the props look really silly, but the stories are really clever and unusual, the interraction between Diana Rigg and Patrick MacNee is wonderful and always funny and the costumes are incredible. It's quirky, it's bizarre and it will not be to everyone's taste, but I love this series. In many ways it doesn't feel like it was made more than 30 years ago, especially in the way women are portrayed - particularly Emma Peel, who is at least John Steed's equal and superior to virtually every man she meets. I hope to see more of this series on DVD in the near future.
Rating:  Summary: New color era for Steed and Mrs. Peel Review: Following the huge success of the first filmed series of The Avengers, starring Patrick MacNee as debonair British agent John Steed and his cool, sophisticated partner Mrs. Emma Peel, the producers opted to make the next batch of 26 episodes in color, to be broadcast in 1967. In order to accomplish this, foreign backing was necessary, and the American networks were approached. The US had broadcast the black and white season four as a mid-season replacement, and were interested in moving forward with a color season in prime time, however they only provided enough backing for 16 episodes initially. Another challenge was that Diana Rigg was not particularly keen to film another season of the show, and demanded a huge salary increase in order to secure her participation. She got the money, but it was made clear it would be her second and last season with the show.Apart from the use of color film, there were other subtle changes to the show for this fifth season. Both Steed and Emma were given new apartments and Mrs. Peel a much more stylized wardrobe. The device of ending each story with the two leads driving off in a variety of vehicles was abandoned and instead a tag scene was used to introduce each story, where Steed informed his partner that they were needed in a variety of humorous ways. Each story title was also given a two-line subtitle. After completion of the first batch of 16, the American backers did provide finance for a further 16 but asked for both the subtitles and tag scenes to be dropped, and also requested that Mrs. Peel's wardrobe became more recognizably en vogue. After only 8 episodes were completed, producers Brian Clemens and Albert Fennell left the show after a disagreement and the new producers opted not to continue with Mrs. Peel and began their own interpretation of the show. It wasn't long before Clemens and Fennell were back in charge, but the 67 series ended with "Mission highly improbable," although Rigg was brought back in 1968 for the one-off "The forget me knot," to introduce her replacement Tara King. This episode is included in this release as a bonus episode. In terms of storylines, acting and the wonderful interplay between the two leads, there is little difference between this color season and the preceding black and white stories and the show had really reached its zenith by this point. Certainly in terms of popularity and ratings, it was never as successful again. Interestingly, several of these stories are in fact remakes of earlier episodes from the Mrs. Gale era. "The joker," "The correct way to kill," and "The $50,000 breakfast," are all remakes, whereas "The return of the Cybernauts," is a sequel to an earlier Steed/Mrs. Peel adventure. Fans of The Avengers will of course be delighted to have these discs, and I'd highly recommend them to any other fans of the sci-fi/fantasy genre, and indeed fans of the 60's spy format. If you've ever seen the dreadful movie featuring Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman, don't let that put you off. These stories are the real McCoy!
Rating:  Summary: Great TV Show and Transfers Review: If you fondly remember that great British import that we watched on TV way back in the 60s then you no doubt know about the content of what you are getting. You are more likely concerned about the quality of the product. Like John might say to Emma, "You scratch my back and I'll scratch your back. Just watch the hat please." John and Emma are back and are here to stay via DVD technology. Being on DVD, the aesthetics about the actual episodes are not in question here. More appropriately one may ask how they look. They look good, very good, excellent in fact.
Rating:  Summary: The best set of 67 Review: Although all the avengers tv episodes are good, this set contains some of the best episodes of '67, and is a great buy. The episodes are witty, humorous, and have very interesting plot lines. My favorite episode on this set is probably the "See-Through Man", although it's kind of hard to decide. I find Ambassador Brodney absolutely hillarious. Another great one on this set is "The Winged Avenger". If you're an avengers fan and you haven't seen this episode, then you can't call yourself a true fan. "Escape in Time" is another great episode that had a very interesting plot. The chemistry between Steed and Mrs. Peel is just amazing. It's too bad she had to leave the series. As an avengers fan I know that you will enjoy this avengers set.
Rating:  Summary: Superb Editing and Screenwriting Review: Every director and film editor should learn from this series. How such elaborate stories are tautly scripted into 50-minutes TV installments with amazing results is one of the major reasons of the Avengers' success. One-liners are so skillfully cued to the next scenes that they deliver the desired effect, be it humorous, suspenseful, or any other. Combining mystery, suspense, humor, irony, sci-fi elements, spoofs on spies and villains, playful seduction, the series delivers the perfect, unique mix that not only entertains but stimulates and nourishes the mind. Mrs. Peel, Steed and the other known and unknown guest stars, all deliver their lines and performances with detailed perfection. Seeing Mrs. Peel and Steed interact with each other is a delicious experience. They both remind us that delicate and demured sexuality are eternally most satisfying and stimulating. I estimate that after buying one set of the Avengers you will end up buying them all. On this re-mastered DVD's format, the Avengers seems so fresh as if filmed today.
Rating:  Summary: NEVER BETTER Review: I grow up in the 60's and my favorites were the The Man from U.N.C.L.E, Wild Wild West, I Spy, but when The Avengers first came from England it was like Wow. This was totally different: sexy, strange, great on screen chemistry between Emma and Steed. Well, I just bought this new DVD and it's just super. Super picture transfer and sound, and most strange the stories don't seem dated at all (after 30 years they have held better then I expected).
Rating:  Summary: High quality transfers but little extras. Review: I have enjoyed The Avengers since the 1970s. The quality of the transfers have surpassed my best expectations for both video and audio quality. The color episodes positively jump off the screen, and the audio is the best I've ever heard. I think only a High Definition transfer could surpass these disks. Unfortunately, there is little additional material for which the DVD format is becoming known. It would be great to have production notes, scripts, UK (on ITV) and USA (on ABC-TV) airing dates, and maybe some history of how the show came about and how the British ABC (as in Associated British Corporation) Productions folded. I was also pleased to see that the original production company logos had been maintained. In the TV syndicated shows, the ABC logos were chopped off, much to the detriment to the authenticity of the show. In this day when Screen Gems, Desilu/Paramount, and Columbia logos are lost to history, it was good to see the shows maintained as they were originally produced.
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