Star Fleet - The Complete Series [DVD]

Very good value for money and a good buy and very happy with that

A message saying that childhood memories sometimes can be as good as you recall. Star fleet is a science fiction serial made in japan using puppets. It achieved huge popularity in britain when it was broadcast on ITV on saturday mornings early in the 1980's, where it captured the imagination of a generation. some of whom waited a great many years to see it again.actually although the show was originally produced in japan the english version had pretty much a whole new script and was redubbed into english and given an all new score. the story of x bomber, a spaceship crewed by three brave pilots and led by wise scientist dr benn robinson. when the earth is attacked by the evil imperial alliance who are on the trail of orphan girl lamia because she has a hidden destiny, x bomber leads the fight back and then heads off into space to unravel the mystery of why lamia is so important. lots of action ensues.the series succeeds because it has a sense of wonder, a decent storyline, and it really captures the imagination. and there are also some pretty exciting battle sequences. all of this should be enough to reawaken the inner teenager in you who first saw the show in the 1980's. and even if you've never seen it before anyone who likes an entertaining bit of good science fiction should be swiftly captivated by this.There are twenty four episodes which run for twenty three minutes each. episodes nine and thirteen are clip shows, that just fill up the time by using clips from earlier parts. you could probably skip over thirteen without missing anything but nine does contain one important plot development near the end. but these two are the only episodes that aren't excellent.The show is spread over four discs, six epiaodes to each. they don't have direct scene access, but allow you to start the episode at either the beginning, right after the opening credits, or right at the start of the closing credits. and each episode has a synposis also available on the episode selection menu.There's an awful lot of extras, spread over the four discs. a lot of them are text features.some that aren't:a 34 minute long documentary about the making of the show, featuring both it's original japanese creator, and the dubbing director and one of the british voice actors. don't watch this till you've seen the show, because you'll see a few spoilers. it's a very good documentary and it does contain interesting mentions of the proposed second season that alas never came to pass.there's also brian may's music video. when the theme tune was released as a single he sung the words, and this is the video that goes with it.there's a gallery of stills from the series.and from the making of it.and one of all the merchandise that was produced.the ones that are text features:a long essay about the creation of the show.character biographies.series synposis.text features about the machinery and spaceships in the show.and even the box comes with extra features:a collectors booklet [containing text that duplicates the character and episode synopsis on the discs]a flyer advertising the impending release of the superb score from the showsix postcards each with a different still from the showa small double sided poster, one side showing the main characters and the other one of the machines they useand a fifty two page booklet reprinting two all new comic stories based on the show that were originally published in the 1980's.the only language these discs are in is english.and I'm afraid there are no subtitles.that's an unfortunate admission from an otherwise fantastic package that really does justice to a great show. and will make you think it's saturday morning in the 1980's all over again

Growing up in 80s England meant maybe BBC2 in the early evenings to watch Monkey or the Water Margin, Saturday mornings for the three hour slot and the rare Sunday morning puppet show. With such a small choice everything was savoured and probably stays in our hearts longer than it should. Watching it reappear on DVD these long years later has been a shock; Dungeons & Dragons and the A-Team have aged incredibly well but Centurions is almost unwatchable and I managed maybe five minutes of Huckleberry Finn before going back to Hannibal and the `jazz'.Any doubt I held about shelling out for the mythical and half-remembered Star Fleet vanished the moment the first heavy piano chord is struck and the title sequence gets under way. And it's good, it's really really good. There's no disguising the age of the film or the stock but that seems to add to its charm and I found myself singing along to the title song as the first episode finished. Not even remotely ashamed I settled down to watch and was rewarded by a show that knows how to draw the viewer in within minutes.What puts the show beyond its contemporaries is the way it treats its audience with respect; rather than patronizing children and young adults with a mixture of carton violence and cheerful endings it presents an exciting but dangerous world where people can and will die. One particular example is the story concerning Shiro's former teacher which ends on a sad note and deals with friendship, betrayal and death in sequences unafraid to use flashbacks or long narratives.In this, Star Fleet deserves recognition for the deft way it handles long passages of quiet time in between its space battles, knowing just when to ramp up gear for a good mecha fight. The set-design and attention to detail is lavish, topped off by a surprisingly good voice cast that take the dialogue seriously and prevent it from falling into the knowing self-parody that could easily undo any sci-fi epic. Dr. Benn is especially good here voiced by Peter Marinker who sounds the way a mentor figure should and lends just the right touch of authority to his role without resorting to Elizabethan overacting (something Patrick Stewart would need two seasons of the Next Generation to get right).Overall this is a fine piece of work and a set worth buying. Thankfully there are no wasteful CGI menus to waste time with and each disc has around six episodes so you're immersed in a good chunk of story for a few hours at a stretch. Each episode is a single chapter and you get through a disc very quickly. If I had one gripe it would be the folding layout which spills the extras out every single chance it gets and makes me wish they'd charged a little more for an Amaray case instead of brittle plastic inserts glued onto board. It's a minor concern as I've more than justified the cost over a solid weekend's viewing and the fact that my memory of childhood is still as good as it ever was.