Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Brennan Camacho Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

jc-osms Different to most of the competing cops and capers shows around at the time, "The Protectors", a rare Gerry Anderson project not involving puppets or science fiction, had episodes only clocking in at 25 minutes or so and thus, as I remember it, failed to secure a real prime-time TV slot on original release in 1972. However this gave it the benefit of appealing to casual viewers who didn't have an hour to spare to watch say, "The Persuaders" or "Mission Impossible" to name but two.Yet there's something to be said for the brevity of the individual programmes as there's less padding and more directness in the story lines and there's little time to be bored. Yes, most of the shows I've seen seem to rewrite the same four or five plot-lines, and seem to invariably include some foreign intrigue, overseas locations, a kidnapping, a daring rescue, a punch-up and some cliff-hanging finish before the end credits roll and that great theme tune, bellowed out by Tony Christie.Obviously over so many shows there is some variation in the quality of the writing but the direction, probably of necessity, is uniformly brisk and to the point. The casting of the leads is very pleasing, I loved Robert Vaughn in "Man Fom U.N.C.L.E." and while he's not the lean mean (lady)-killing machine he was back in the 60's, as team leader Harry Rule, he commits well to his part and rarely looks bored. Nyree-Dawn Porter is still the beautiful English rose she was in "The Forsyte Saga", certainly not faded and is surprisingly adept in her role as the stylish and resourceful Contessa Di Contini, while Tony Anholt does well enough as third wheel Paul Buchet, suave Frenchman, although his accent occasionally crosses back over the Channel.I'm working my way through an old DVD box-set I bought ages ago and am quite enjoying the task. My teenage heart at the time was in thrall to the more escapist shows of the era like "The Champions", "Department S" or "Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)", but I'm happy to commit 25 minutes of my time to Harry and the Contessa, any day of the week.

perwilvil I have seen various ITC shows in reruns on television, but not this one until recently. I wasn't expecting much after seeing another short-lived ITC show, The Baron (awful), but this one really shines. The production values on this show really show, with some fantastic cars (Citroen SM, Rolls Royce Slver Shadow, and Jensen Interceptor), stylish clothes, and actual location shooting. Granted some of this is 1970's kitsch, but it looks pretty glamorous compared to the excellent Saint series, which in my opinion was compromised somewhat by its lack of location work. Even big budget American shows like Mission:Impossible shied away from location work. It was always filmed at the studio, and the sets always looked familiar . . . but not The Protectors. The half-hour format format really lends itself to tight stories without excessive dialog. And Gerry Anderson really pulled together some great talent on this one, particularly the writers. One of the let downs is Robert Vaughn, who is okay, but doesn't seem very interested in what he is doing. Nevertheless, he is head and shoulders above Steve Forrest in the Saint ripoff, the Baron, though significantly short of the stylish Roger Moore. Its a shame this show didn't last longer as ITC had a good formula on its hands.

jack-smales I hope I never grow up enough to think this show is awful.I can see why people think it is dated,but I like it.The first episode is one of the best,it was very exciting. The theme tune is great as well as catchy.I often find myself humming it. Gerry Anderson fans might like it,but I think other people will think it is terrible.It is one of my favourite Gerry Anderson shows.

Observer-2 Don't ask why some things stick in one's head 30 years later, but the opening theme of "The Protectors" went like this:In the avenues and alley-ways Where the soul of man is easy to buy, Everybody's wheelin', everybody's dealin' All the lower living are high.Every city's got 'em, Can we ever stop 'em? Some of us are gonna try...Dum-dumm-DE-Dum-dum..For the cosmic two cents that it's worth.