The Thunderbirds BluRay set is available in the UK and even though it is marked as REGION B (PAL I think), I had been told by multiple sources that the set is region free. I took a chance and ordered the now much cheaper set. I paid £58.88 from Amazon UK. I use a normal Sony Playstation 3 with no hacks. The Thunderbirds BluRay set plays just fine on my USA Playstation 3. The shows look amazing on my *ahem* 58" plasma screen and I have to say the show looks incredible presented in this way.

I know the top and bottom have been cut off, but to be honest, 98% of the time, you won't even notice. They did grab some extra side area that was never shown before, so generally its a major win in terms of picture quality. Colour is excellent and it looks like a major restoration was done for the most part. The sound is available in 5.1 surround (???) and stereo. Stereo is the default and for good reason. Still some additional "effects" but thats OK in moderation. (read on)

 

The only problem I have with the discs is that none of the extras seem to play. I can select them and click OK, but it just takes a second and then the menu resumes. Not a big deal as I have the material on other discs.

Standing a few feet from my screen, I can't help but have renewed respect for the level of effort and astonishing detail and love that went into making Thunderbirds. You can also see things that were never before apparent. Incongruous blobs are now clearly recognisible as batteries or kitchen bowls or other items. Its not bad, it actually makes it more fun. The 16:9 ratio also seems to make Thunderbirds more like what it was meant to be: a great action movie!

If you don't live in the UK and have been considering this purchase, I highly recommend you get this set soon. There has been a lot of negative criticism on the cropping and recent TV shows, e.g. The Prisoner (original version) have been released on BluRay with no cropping and with black bars on the sides. So, its likely that Thunderbirds will see a later release on BluRay in the same condition. Then you will wish you could get the mega-rare 16:9 edition... Won't you...?