The Avengers '63, Set 1
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Honor Blackman, Patrick MacNeeDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Black & White, Box set, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 312 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-10-03
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: A&E Home Video
Movie Reviews of The Avengers '63, Set 1
Movie Review: 65-67 is the best
Summary: 2 Stars
I realize I'm in the minority here by not offering an optimistic review, but after having watched most of the episodes shot in 1965-1967 with Diana Rigg, I just simply couldn't get enthused about these older episodes. No, it isn't just because they are different and I don't like change...it is because they are inferior in every respect:
1. Technically, they are grainy, have poor lighting, and were clearly shot with lower production values and budgets. They are so bad that they have a feel almost like old B&W movies done in the 1930s. If you've ever watched an old Laurel & Hardy film, you get about the same level of technical sophistication here. It stuck me as at least 30 years behind state-of-the-art for the early 60s. The 1965-67 versions shown on US TV (ABC network) were done on film at ABC's insistence and the quality definitely shows. Watching this 1963 version I felt like I was watching something that was not 2 years older than 1965, but 30 years older. Yes, they were that poor technically.
2. Acting was just bad all the way around - worthy of daytime soaps with the amount of overacting I saw.
3. Steed's character in particular has a number of nuances that made him quite different...he gets flustered, appears to be an almost bungling sort of side-kick to the strong character of Cathy Gale (played by Honor Blackman), and seems to be a little too eager to romance her. It's a totally different, and far less appealing dynamic than what we later come to love in the Mrs. Peel years with Peel playing coy but not superior to the character of Steed. Here we find a well-dressed Steed as usual, but not quite as suave, debonair, and never-ruffled as we have come to expect from the Mrs. Peel years. In short, I don't like the old Steed very well, and I really don't care for Cathy Gale. I also didn't care for the fact that Gale smoked in the series. Her voice even sounds smokey. Yes, I know that Rigg is a voracious smoker, but her voice didn't belie that in the series and her character of Mrs. Peel didn't smoke. She was just somehow more wholesome and appealing than the Cathy Gale persona given by Blackman. My two cents worth.
4. The mystique isn't there. I can't quite describe what it was about the 65-67 series in terms of set design and overall mood that gave such a wonderful quirkiness and mystere, but it is almost totally absent here. These just felt like old, not-particularly-good soap operas with bad stunts, bad acting, and inferior production values.
5. The audio quality is poor, tying in with the overall poor production values noted in item #1 above. The audio fades of music, sound effects, dialog, and the overall mix is just poor - often abrupt and unnatural. Again, it feels like something made in the '30s - not the 1960s.
I got this DVD primarily to satisfy my curiosity as to what "The Avengers" was like before Diana Rigg's Mrs. Peel made the series so special and gave it that wonderful chemistry with Steed. In my opinion, I missed nothing by skipping these pre-1965 episodes. I'm glad I only rented this rather than purchased it. I couldn't even bring myself to watch the other 2 episodes on the DVD. I just sent it back to Blockbuster after watching a single episode.
If, like me, you are curious about what the series was like in "the early days" I suggest you rent rather than buy. If you like it - fine. You can find the series here on Amazon, eBay, and elsewhere. But if you are like me, simply nothing can compare to the 1965-1967 series which - in my mind - is the REAL Avengers that I've known and loved since my teenage years in the 1970s. As for me, I plan to purchase Avengers DVDs, but will limit my spending to the 1965-1967 megaset offered by A&E.
Again, I realize that hard-core Avengers fans will probably be compelled to check out every episode. However, consider my review here as an alternative viewpoint and instead of offering a glowing review I'm giving a caution that you rent before you buy. You may just thank me for allowing you to save your money for the truly great 65-67 years instead.
Summary of The Avengers '63, Set 1
Americans tuning into The Avengers in 1966 had never seen a woman on television quite like Emma Peel. But British viewers had. Her name was Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman, the future Pussy Galore in Goldfinger), "charming companion" and, at this point in this classic British series, unofficial partner to gentleman spy John Steed (Patrick Macnee). This boxed set contains six vintage, rarely seen episodes from the series' third season. Two of them are considered by one Avengers Web site to be among the 10 best of the Cathy Gale era. In "The Nutshell," Steed himself is charged with treason when an intruder manages to break into a seemingly impregnable underground security facility and copy secret documents. "The Gilded Cage" is solid gold, as Steed and Mrs. Gale bait a criminal mastermind by plotting the heist of $3 million in bullion. Also a keeper is "The Man with Two Shadows," in which Mrs. Gale must determine if Steed is Steed and not his replacement double. "The Undertakers," "Death of a Batman," and "November Five" are more uneven, but die-hard fans of this unconventional espionage series will relish the characteristically quirky, convoluted plots and eccentric characters. And Diana Rigg/Mrs. Peel-bias aside, Mrs. Gale cuts quite a formidable figure. At one point in "The Man with Two Shadows," Steed asks her what's for breakfast. She smartly replies, "Cook it and see." --Donald LiebensonAction & Adventure DVD Video
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