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TV show review: CONTINUUM season 4
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THE AVENGERS Season 5

Blu-ray review by David Blackwell

 

DETAILS:  1327 minutes (25 episodes on 3 discs), Digital HD Ultraviolet copy of all episodes

VIDEO:   1.33:1 1080p High Definition

AUDIO: English 5.1 Dolby Digital

Subtitles: English SDH

 

STUDIO: Lionsgate/ StudioCanal

RELEASE DATE:  11-11-2014

 

DISC 1- FROM VENUS WITH LOVE/ THE FEAR MERCHANTS/ ESCAPE IN TIME/ THE SEE-THROUGH MAN/ THE BIRD WHO KNEW TOO MUCH/ THE WINGED AVENGER/ THE LIVING DEAD/ THE HIDDDEN TIGER


DISC 2- THE CORRECT WAY TO KILL/ NEVER. NEVER SAY DIE/ EPIC/ THE SUPERLATIVE SEVEN/ A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE STATION/ SOMETHING NASTY IN THE NURSERY/ THE JOKER/ WHO’S WHO?


DISC 3- RETURN OF THE CYBERNAUTS/ DEATH’S DOOR/ THE 50,000 POUND BREAKFAST/ DEAD MAN’S TREASURE/ YOU HAVE JUST BEEN MURDERED/ THE POSITIVE NEGATIVE MAN/ MURDERSVILLE/ MISSION… HIGHLY IMPROBABLE/ THE FORGET-ME-KNOT

John Steed (Patrick Macnee) and Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) form a pair of crime fighting avengers who work for the British Department of Defense.   They are witty and stylish with Emma Peel’s fashions still holding up about almost 50 years later since the episodes originally aired back in 1967.   It is implied they are intimate with each other as they visit each other’s apartments and drink together (and go to dinner all the time) in what I can describe as a very open relationship between the two of them as they save each other as they fight against various crimes and agents from various enemy countries from the Eastern Bloc.   Most of the episodes are very well written with numerous British guest stars from the guy who played Mr. Rumbold (ESCAPE IN TIME), Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing (RETURN OF THE CYBERNAUTS, and Nicholas Courtney (MISSION… HIGHLY IMPROBABLE).   

 

THE AVENGERS is a very fun, intelligent, surreal, and subversive cult series.  The format changes a little after the middle of the season where the taglines of what Steed and Peel are doing disappears after the title of the episode.   The last three episodes are the weakest of the season because I like it when they offer something that seems impossible only to find a way to explain it.   Emma does something really stupid in Murdersville (because I think the writer wanted to get Emma in an iron chastity belt).   The chemistry between Macnee and Rigg is perfect, but Rigg moved on to pursue other things like be a Bond girl in ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE due to not being happy on the show after her fights with the producers first over her pay among other things.   I hope Lionsgate puts out the black and white episodes from season 4 on blu-ray next (finishing off the earlier Mrs. Peel and Steed episodes before releasing the other color episodes of season 6 with Steed and Tara King (who is introduced in THE FORGET-ME-KNOT)).

 

VIDEO/ AUDIO ISSUES- I’m not setting any audio issues like some viewers are reporting as the audio being a little higher pitched (it might be a player specific issue).  The voices of John Steed and Emma Peel sound like I remembered them.   The video is great for the most part except for the occasional drop in video quality from time to time.  Some of the end credits of a few episodes are in lower quality than the beginning titles.

 

EXTRAS: There is a digital Ultraviolet copy code to every episode so you can stream and download via multiple platforms (TV, tablet, smartphone, and computer).  No othwer extras exist even though it would be nice to have some audio commentaries or featurettes (maybe even one on the restoration work Studiocanal did to upgrade the episodes since they were shot on film)

 

FINAL ANALYSIS:  THE AVENGERS is a smart and stylish series and I hoper Lionsgate puts out more sets on blu-ray soon.

 

This review is ©1-4-2015 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com

 

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