The Avengers: The Complete 50th Anniversary Collection [DVD]

"The Avengers" has earned it's place in pop culture. One of the most successful television shows of it's time, the series is now widely regarded as a classic and rightly so. The weekly adventures of gentlemen British agent John Steed and his succession of sexy, smart and ass kicking female sidekicks entertained millions of viewers worldwide. Now thanks to Optimum Releasing, all of the surviving episodes are included in this impressive DVD boxset collection.Beginning in 1961 and finishing in 1969 "The Avengers" much like the decade it was made in, changed with the times. Starting out as a straight-forward crime drama series, the show featured two men roaming the dark streets of London in trenchcoats fighting villians. The original star of the series was Ian Hendry as the young and idealistic Dr David Keel and Patrick Macnee (who was the co-star) as shadowy agent John Steed. Determined to "avenge" the death of his fiancee (hence the series title) who is gunned down by a gang of drug dealers, Keel joins forces with Steed and a crime fighting duo is born. "The Avengers" was an immediate hit with viewers, however Ian Hendry decided to more onto greener pastures after one season (ie: a film career) and left the show leaving Macnee at the helm.What happened next would not only take the series in a very different direction, but ultimately onto bigger and better things. The show broke ground by introducing strong, intelligent, independent women who were capable of looking after themselves without playing second fiddle to a man. Whilst this type of character is quite commonplace on television today, back in the 60's it certainly wasn't. From the cool charms of Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman) to the elegant wit of Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) and through to the playful manner of Tara King (Linda Thorson), the show continued to change and evolve from a gritty crime show to a surreal spy series with tongue in cheek elements.From a product perspective, the episodes have been digitally upgraded and this is particularly noticeable in the Diana Rigg & Linda Thorson episodes. The images are crisp and the sound quality is very clear. Sadly the upgrades to the Honor Blackman episodes are not as obvious. This is due to the fact that the original master prints are not in the best of conditions so any improvements would be negligible at best.However what this DVD Boxset has is a whole wealth of extras that are worth seeing and hearing. From audio commentaries (surprisingly none of the cast we're involved. Instead we have writers and directors offering their insight) to trailers, screen tests, interviews, documentaries, promotional footage and material and even unusual offerings that aren't directly connected with the series but featuring it's cast members. Well worth checking out. All of it is presented in a large stylish black book with an array of photos and a detailed guide. Top marks for presentation and actual material.In short, the folks at Optimum have done themselves (and fans) a real service by releasing a boxset that not only celebrates a landmark in television making, but covering as much ground as possible (and that ground is pretty extentsive) by giving people everything but the kitchen sink. For fans of this classic show, it's a must have if you don't have any of "The Avengers" on DVD. For those wanting a slice of vintage television that truly broke new ground and still holds up well today, treat yourselves to this release.

This is a very well thought out product. The packaging, the layout, the presentation are all first rate. It really is a lovely thing to own and it contains every surviving Avengers episode + some other associated odds and ends. I first started collecting Avengers compilations about 4 years ago and at that time this collection didn't exist, oh that it had - it would have made my life much easier, but better late than never, as soon as I saw it I bought it and now my (Avengers) life is complete. In previous reviews some people have said that the DVD's are too tight in the case and almost impossible to get out without damaging the DVD; well I find mine to be ideal, tight enough to not drop out, but when firmly gripped between thump and index finger they pop out fairly easily. Either the packaging has been slightly improved since earlier reviews, or perhaps there is a manufacturing tolerance issue, where slight dimensional variation can cause undue tightness, or is it just a question of applying the correct technique? - I am not sure, but it is really the only negative thing I have heard said about this product. As to the quality of the DVD's themselves, they are as good as they can be, given the state of recording technology back in the early 60's and they are certainly perfectly watchable in terms of visual and audio quality. I imagine most people even thinking of purchasing this product will already know whether or not they 'like' the Avengers, but just in case you are not familiar, then all I will say is they hark back to a more innocent age of television and that the plots are variable in quality but typically revolve around such subjects as megalomaniac's out to conquer the planet, science and science fiction themes and with a good dose of 'cold war' espionage as well. The essential charm lies in the interplay between the two main characters and in many ways the plot itself is secondary to this. Honor Blackman and Diana Rigg play their character's very differently but each to wonderful effect and of course Patrick Macnee is always a delight to watch. If you even suspect that you might like the Avengers then don't hesitate, buy this and enjoy evening after evening of entertainment from a bygone age, even when, night after night, there is nothing worth watching on any of the several hundred different TV channels!

The first time I was exposed to anything Avengers was the Uma Thurman and Ralph Fiennes movie, which was horrible. Years after that, after some persuasion from a friend due to the horrible movie, I was introduced to the Emma Peel episodes of the show and loved them. As a result, after hearing so much about the Honor Blackman and Linda Thorson years, I decided to get this set. I am from Canada but Canada and the U.S. has only ever released the Emma Peel episodes on DVD and now series 5 will soon be on Blu-Ray in November. But I wanted the whole set, so I had to get the whole set from the UK. This set is in Region 2, which cannot play on a North American Region 1 player, but I have a region free player so that's not a problem.I haven't had a chance to watch the Linda Thorson episodes yet, but I have to say so far I am glad that there are only three surviving episodes from the Ian Hendry years, as I didn't like them at all. The show, for me, didn't start getting interesting until the middle of series 2 (the first series co-starring Honor Blackman.) But enough about the show, on with the packaging of this set. The package is made up like a book with each page looking like it was made of foam core with slits at the tops of them to put the discs in. It's extremely hard to get the discs out and had to use a Kleenex to get them out so I didn't get any finger prints on the bottom of the discs. Pretty much all the discs scratched a little when getting them out so I transferred all the discs to regular DVD keep cases. I'm not sure who comes up with the awkward packaging for some DVD/Blu-Ray sets, but the awkward packaging here reminds me of the awkward packaging for the complete saga set of Star Wars on Blu-Ray. They's got to stop putting these cheap sleeves into the packaging for DVD/Blu-Ray sets.

Attention - produit en langue anglaise uniquement, sans sous-titres du tout, meme pas en anglais. A reserver aux specateurs ayant un niveau tres eleve en anglais, a cause des nombreux jeux de mots et clins d'oeil a la culture britannique.la description du produit est donc inexacte.Sinon parfait.

I love having the entire history of the show. I love to see the changes over time as well as the fashion and the actors who pop in different episodes over the life of the series. I am a fan of the show and ALL the actors. The women broke ground as being intelligent and independent. And they all handled themselves in a fight, which I loved being a budding feminist at the time. I was 12 when I first started watching. The Cathy Gale series is new to me.I truly love John Steed as he exemplifies so many great qualities of a man. Plus, the show is so witty and smart.I have 2 CDs which can't be viewed and the site I bought them from can only ask me for the cost of postage of sending the whole set back. I don't want to do that. I thought I could get replacements which I see was not an option so I ordered the odd set. The quality wasn't as good. The quality of the set was great.One thing I didn't like was the commentary on one episode. I felt it was catty and small minded.

Viene en un pack cuidado al detalle. Al abrir el plástico protector es como abrir un tesoro, tienes todas las temporadas de algo que viste embelesada con 12 añitos - más o menos - .Era para un regalo y acerté al 100%. La persona a la que se lo regalé es una forofa de esta serie mítica de la televisión. Lo único malo es que no tiene subtítulos, así que como regalo complementario le daré un curso de inglés intensivo o esperar que alguna distribuidora saque una versión - lo veo difícil - con subtítulos en castellano para los fans de la serie o para los que simplemente queremos recordar viejos tiempos, cuando en la televisión se podían ver cosas interesantes, entretenidas e inteligentes.Y encima llegó un día antes de lo esperado...

I am dissappointed with this box. It comes close to a ripp-off.No subtitles, horrible sound quality, make it nearly impossible to watch the first 10 discs.package is nice, content is very disappointing

Adding to the fact that I got it cheaper with Amazon Spain; I wanted to watch these series remembering times when i was assidious waiting for them on a weekly one episode display. Now I am fulfilled.with the scarce first épisodes.that I had never seen before.