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Category: BluRay
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Last Updated: Saturday, 24 May 2014 02:09
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Written by Simon Wickes
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As you know by now, the Thunderbirds Blu-Ray set has been released in the UK by ITV. The main issue for many is that the set is cropped to 16:9 ratio essentially cutting off the top and bottom of the picture, which for many is unacceptable. I don't know how many 4:3 classic movies are on Blu-Ray yet, but I can tell you that if they crop the disc of Citizen Kane to 16:9 ratio there will be an outcry. Sadly, as the fanbase of Thunderbirds is probably less than that of Citizen Kane, even if we all stand on top of our roofs screaming at the top of our lungs they won't hear. Time will tell if they hear and if they care. Anything shot in 4:3 should be kept that way and use black bars on the side to retain all the image. Its OK to crop 2.35:1 widescreen movies top and bottom with black, so there really is no excuse. Oh and don't you love the way they put Kyrano in the background? I bet they thought it was The Hood. I know I'm being anal here, but c'mon, its the cover.
Anyway...
I would like to thank the Richard (PR) for providing me with additional details on the release, which I can share with you. The show has been digitally restored and is in 1080p high definition (with 16:9 crop). In addition to the shows themselves, the following extras are included:
Disc 1: Thunderbirds Companion
Disc 2: 4 original TV ads + All About Thunderbirds documentary (originally aired on BBC)
Disc 3: featurette: The machines
Disc 4: featurette: The Characters
Disc 5: featurette: Lady Penelope and Parker
Disc 6: featurette: Making of Thunderbirds (originally aired on BBC)
I could be wrong, but I think all the extras have been on prior DVD sets with the exception of the items which were recently aired by the BBC this new year. Early word is that the picture quality is outstanding, but sound has been modified/improved to a noticeable degree. Level of detail on these discs is very high. Amazing considering when these shows were made, the UK viewers were watching it on small black and white sets. What a difference 40+ years makes!
Update: Checked the price at Amazon and it has gone down to about £80, a drop of £10. Also note the average review for this set is 1 star (4 reviews). As you cannot rate an item with 0 stars, I'd say the BluRay vendors are going to have to seriously reconsider putting black bars left and right if they wish to actually sell older TV shows or movies. Hopefully this is a triumph for sanity over greed. It really doesn't matter if they give it HD treatment, if the original source is noticeably missing content, people will not stand for it. FAB.
2003 Archive 
Thunderbirds was released in a 6 disc Blu-Ray set on March 17th 2009. Looks to be the same as the UK release, eg cropped to lose top and bottom of the picture. Price is $99.99 so I'm guessing that this set will be hard to find in the shops and not sell too many copies.
Silva Screen in the UK will be releasing "
As the year draws slowly and steadily to a close and the holiday season beckons, we find ourselves asking the age old question: "Is there a Thunderbirds calendar this year?". Luckily for us, the answer is: yes! The new 
is now showing up on the Amazon UK site. 