Fireball XL5 on Blu-Ray

[Jay Mullins]

Network DVD is set to release their colourised Fireball XL5 episode 'A Day in the Life of a Space General' on Blu-Ray this autumn.

The episode is taken from a new HD transfer of the original film elements which were processed through Legend Films' revolutionary colourising process. The release will also include an episode of Four Feather Falls in HD and an extended edition of 'A Wonderland of Stardust', a new documentary about the making of the series.

'A Day in the Life' was recently included as a special feature on Network's standard definition box set of the series, the launch of which was marked with a theatrical screening in London in June. A review of the event can be read here. (http://www.fanderson.org.uk/news/fireball_dvd_event_review.html)

Fans should note that although Amazon and Play.com have indicated a release date this has yet to be confirmed by Network.

[Derek Eaton]

I can see a blue ray player is going to have to go on the list to Santa!

[koolking23]

I remember Fireball XL5 crashing into Space City at the end of that episode...pretty scary for the series!

[Alex]

Why don't they just release the entire series on blu ray instead of just a single episode - that's what I'd like to see

[Jay Mullins]

Patience, fellow battery boy, perhaps they are just testing the water? I doubt they will colourise all the episodes, and maybe releasing a whole b/w puppet series on Blu-Ray is seen as a bit of a gamble by them...

[roose1982]

This year has been pretty good for merchandise - Stingray CD, 3 TV21 reprint books, Fireball XL5 boxset, Thunderbirds blu-ray, Barry Gray CD... i just need to earn a few extra pennies to be able to afford it all!

[mrthunder]

Does anyone know yet if ALL the new Extras from the DVD boxset are turning up on this BluRay, i.e. the Noble/artists documentary, Melvin home movies etc. Then it'd be a great companion to the A&E set which still has some unique Extras on it....

[Picasso61]

Slightly OT but I wonder if we'll ever see the whole series in colour - now that would be just superb!:)

[TonyB]

I made sure that I bought a Blu-Ray player when I found out that I was being made redundant back in early March, fortunately I worked for a further three months which allowed me to go and purchase the Panasonic playerI wanted, which matched my Panasonic Digital DVD Recorder and my Panasonic 42 inch Plasma TV.

Ohhh yes, the Anderson shows look good on the 1080p upscaler, cant wait to see more on Blu-Ray though.

[Mark Hodgson]

Is it one episode or the whole series?

Also, will it be the original 4:3 image, or will it be widescreen 16:9 like the THUNDERBIRDS set?

And a ballpark release date?

[Crimson Rage]

I've had a PS3 since launch, and have recently bought myself a 1080p telly, so this is a no-brainer for me and should be interesting, although DAY IN THE LIFE is hardly my favourite episode of the series (why did they pick that one anyway?).

But, I sincerely hope we get a box set of NEW CAPTAIN SCARLET on the format seeing as how it was made in high definition.

[Crimson Rage]

Why don't they just release the entire series on blu ray instead of just a single episode - that's what I'd like to see

This could be a way for them to test the market before deciding on a full release.

[Richard259]

I understood that it was the entire series being released on Blu-Ray all in B/W with the exception of the "Space General" episode!

[Achilles Messenger]

The cover art and release date for the Blu-Ray Fireball have been announced on Network's website. It will be released on 2nd November and is £12.72, see link...

http://www.networkdvd.net/product_info.php?products_id=1012

The cover art looks fantastic!!

[TonyB]

That should be worth getting hold of, I have the Network DVD set, but at that sort of price its not a problem to have both.

[Silent Bob]

I already have the Network and A & E boxsets, if i buy this one as well the wife is going to string me up..... and i don't mean like a puppet!!! :(

[TonyB]

Ah, new pink dangly earings type of thing eh. :p

I sold both my Carlton my A&E DVD sets recently on eBay after buying the new Network set, I did not want three versions of the same thing, what would be the point.

Apart from the Mike Noble artwork documentary there was not point keeping the set.

[phase5]

I've been avoiding going Blu-ray despite finally having got an HD telly; but this is likely to push me over the edge ......

Pity it's not the whole series.

[TonyB]

Go on you know that you really want too, :p

The thing is that you will not be sorry that you did, take it from me, I do not regret the BD player purchase at all.

[Silent Bob]

Just invested in a small (22") HD Tv for the bedroom. But i really cannot justify to myself, never mind the wife, in buying yet another version of my favourite Anderson shows.
Back in the late 70s and early 80s i bought expensive blank tapes to record off TV. Then i bought the sell throughs as they were released. Then importing laserdiscs from Japan and USA. Then finally buying DVD boxsets of all the shows.
Just how many times are we supposed to splash out for these items in our lifetime? How many more formats are there going to be?

[Jay Mullins]

Check out this clip from the Blu-Ray release that Network have just posted - full colour HD looks lovely on a computer screen! :)

http://www.fanderson.org.uk/news/colour_fireball_xl5_clip.html

[Retroboy]

Just finished watching the documentary on this . Does anyone else have quality issues with the black and white segments ? I noticed quite a few "blocky" or pixelated sections usually near the bottom right of those scenes . There's non of this on the recent dvd release . Some , like the shot of the Zanadus set at 13 mins 16 secs has "blocky" bits all over the place . Found at least 10 points where there are problems , but always on the B&W sections only .

[TonyB]

Having watched Retroboys Fireball BluRay this morning on my Panasonic player when he called round to see me, we noted that there was non of the problems he has encountered on his player, this remains a mystery, although he is looking at downloading a firmware patch that may just sort it out.

I went and ordered a copy of the Fireball BluRay from Network this afternoon, hopefully be with me in a few days.

[phelings]

I would recommend the Bluray of Fireball to all fans.
As sacriligeous as it might sound , I find many episodes of Stingray hard to sit through now I'm nearly 47 and the B&W shows have always been a no go area for me.

I got the Supercar set cheap mainly for the extras and had no plans to buy Fireball but I was interested in the documentary.
So the Bluray was an ideal way to get that and get a sample of Fireball in my collection.

The XL5 episode looks superb and after decades of thinking Four Feather Falls was filmed on 16mm the Bluray shows that it was 35mm all the way.

The extended version of the documentary as promised by Network is 6 minutes longer than the dvd .

It's a full 6 minutes extra too as unlike the XL5 and FFF which are presented at 24p the documentary isn't.


US fans may like to know that the disc is region free (unlike Networks Blu of The Prisoner) although some US viewers may have trouble playing the documentary

[TonyB]

phelings, I agree with you, the Fireball BluRay is excellent, as has been mentioned previously the episode chosen could have perhaps been better, but it certainly hits the spot.

Highly recommended purchase.