Joe 90: The Complete Series

Having grown up with Fireball XL-5, Stingray, and later Space: 1999 I consider myself a lifelong Gerry Anderson fan. Each of these shows made an indelible impression then and delight me just as much now as ever. For some reason however my local viewing area skipped over everything in between Stingray and Space: 1999 which I have been rectifying over the past year by backtracking and discovering all the wonderful Gerry Anderson shows I had missed.First UFO and Captain Scarlett, both of which I have also reviewed and more or less completely flipped over. After Captain Scarlett I found myself needing another SuperMarionation fix quite badly. Despite the mixed reviews, Joe 90 sounded quite intriguing and I am happy to say I was not disappointed.First of all, I am completely blown away by the opening sequence. It's quite beautifully filmed, and the Barry Gray score simply sweeps you away. Even though the genre is secret intelligence, not science fiction, those of us who thrill in the futuristic will still find a lot to love about this show, it is set in 1990 after all!With a smaller cast comes the opportunity for us to get to know the characters better and the excellent voice characterizations of the four lead characters really bring the SuperMarionation to life. Len Jones as Joe strikes a perfect balance of sounding like the young boy he was in real life while speaking with enough intelligence and maturity to allow you to believe he can take on his fantastic missions. Rupert Davies too is quite amazing and makes the quite formidable role as a father who truly cares for his son yet would allow him to be in such dangerous situations completely credible. The characters of Sam Louver and Shane Alexander, both your more or less typical charismatic leading man types as voiced by Keith Alexander and David Healy may seem to overlap a bit in early episodes but soon develop distinct and entertaining personalities.Overall I found most of the criticisms I had read about the show unwarranted. The sexist angle in particular I found the most ridiculous. I'm sure with much credit due Sylvia Anderson, the Gerry Anderson universe is filled with strong, heroic women protecting the Earth and the Moon. More to the point, the reason there weren't more females in the McCLaine's life was clearly explained in a very early episode.I won't spend a lot of time telling you what you already know about this show, but if you are a fan of Captain Scarlett, UFO, and Space: 1999 I think its safe to say you will enjoy Joe 90 as well and enjoy adding it to your Gerry Anderson collection. You will recognize many familiar names in the credits and I think its fair to say the amazing talent assembled for this production delivered an amazing product.If I had to pick one thing about the show I wished were different it would have been that the Sylvia Anderson character of Mrs. Harris had been given more to do in the show. As filmed it was barely a cameo appearance which is a shame as Sylvia's characterization of Melody Angel was done so well and added so much to Captain Scarlett. If I could go back and reinvent the character, the McClaines would have believed Mrs. Harris to been exactly what she appeared to be on the surface, their kindly housekeeper, but secretly another WIN agent, and a quite high-ranking one at that.My only other minor beef with Joe 90 has nothing to do with the excellence of the original production but is aimed squarely at A&E. For some strange reason even though the show clearly had four lead characters most of whom appear in every episode, disks 2 and 4 feature characters who each appear only once throughout the entire run of the show. Perhaps even stranger the "additional" menu features another single-appearance character sporting a badly Photoshopped WIN badge. I will however give A&E much credit that the maddening playback glitches that plague the Captain Scarlett set are happily absent from Joe 90. More important, the sound and picture quality are quite impressive and appear about as close to Blu-Ray quality as a standard DVD could possibly be, even when played back on a super huge screen.In summary I found Joe 90 a quite worthy and enjoyable addition to my growing Gerry Anderson collection.

Although not as bleak as "Captain Scarlet" that proceeded it, "Joe 90" was yet another triumph for Anderson & Company with an outrageous but entertaining plot--a young boy can be transformed in mind and spirit into a super, secret agent via "Big Rat" a laboratory device of his brilliant scientist-father against evil rogue agents who threaten the UK and the free world.Taking what worked from "Captain Scarlet"--the more anatomically correct and proportioned puppets on incredibly detailed minature sets--and refining it even more, Anderson again delivered an enjoyable half-hour program intended for children, but seems to delight all of us Gen X'ers who were probably too young to truly appreciate Anderson's genius and who are not afraid to indulge in a little childhood nostalgia.Where as the content of "Captain Scarlet" was never lighthearted and terribly violent for children's Saturday morning fare(the Mysterons inhabiting the dead bodies of Spectrum agents and unknowing ordinary citizens), each half hour of "Joe 90" usually ended on a happy note with the bespectacled Joe thwarting yet another hostile takeover of Anderson's supermarionation universe.The puppets in this series demonstrate a further margin of refinement from "Captain Scarlet" but not by much--that artistry would reach its ultimate apogee with Anderson's "Secret Service," technically a superior series and light years from the earlier and more crude puppets seen in "Supercar" and "Stingray," but alas, the series never really found its audience and was cancelled after 13 episodes.In this set, the transfers are remarkably good, but there are little or none in the way of outstanding extras to speak of that most collectors demand with their multi-volume dvd editions.

As a kid I watched a number of Gerry Anderson's series; SUPERCAR, FIREBALL XL-5, THUNDERBIRDS, CAPTAIN SCARLET, STINGRAY. All had varying degrees of technical expertise. Watched progressively, in order of production, one can see how Anderson & Company improved the technology they used.JOE 90 is a series about a ten year old boy who is allowed to become a super spy by means of "The Big Rat," a machine that transfers the "brain patterns" of older, expert people, into Joe's mind. Certainly, no enemy faction would EVER suspect a ten year old kid of being a threat to their evil plans!!!!!!The plot is silly; the idea of using a kid in this way is handled by the device of having Joe's scientist father act reticent about the spy agency's use of his child, but nevertheless, Joe gets to go to work .... every kids' deepest fantasy in the world of 1960s James Bond and The Man From UNCLE.The puppetry, however, is superb. Anderson's technicians really shine as subtle human motions and postures are recreated here far better than in any previous series. This must be the epitome of the Anderson's work if technical expertise alone is the judge.Many earlier series were better by other standards. Thunderbirds will probably remain the quintessential Gerry Anderson series, despite the fact its puppetry is not quite equal to JOE 90's.But as a kid, I never saw JOE 90. Now, on DVD, I am seeing it for the first time.It's fun, and I can still see why it would have appealed to kids everywhere.The perfect childhood fantasy. Silly, but, hey, it's a TV SHOW!!!!!

What fun! Got this for my eleven-year-old son and he loved it - cool puppetry, cool gadgets, and very groovy music. The story of a young boy with the talents and abilities of a superspy did not fail to please my young Gerry Anderson fan - he was introduced to Thunderbirds at a young age and has gone on to most of the other SuperMarionation shows. Highly recommended!

Super

Really cool show, loved the supermationation, well worth the purchase if your a fan of 1960s children's TV shows, fun to watch and entertaining.

Je revie les plaisirs d'enfance à revoir cette série

Joe is willingly experimented on by his father to become a super spy. Fun storylines and great puppets and special effects