Gerry Anderson's UFO series was very popular in Italy and five dubbed compilation films were made in the 1970s to be shown in Italian cinemas. With UFO episodes now being readily available these compilations are just historical items but fascinating nonetheless. This is true even for those without a knowledge of Italian like myself who are curious to see the content and style of the films. I suppose also they could be useful for fans of UFO who are trying to learn or improve their Italian! If the viewer has seen all the UFO episodes not knowing Italian won't be a problem as they will know the storylines, characters, etc. However these "films" could certainly not be recommended for new viewers of UFO or those who haven't seen all the episodes in question.
"Allarme Rosso..." was the first to be released in 1973 and unlike some of those that followed it takes a more conventional - or less cavalier - approach in its use of material. The "film" starts with a scene from "The Responsibility Seat" of an assassin taking aim at a victim. This is certainly eye-catching and attention-grabbing but has no real connection to anything that follows. The credits follow and there is a short narration in Italian. Presumably this was to give background about SHADO and the series and this is the only section where non-Italian speakers would be at a disadvantage. Thereafter there are lengthy sections from "The Cat With Ten Lives", "The Psychobombs" and "Timelash". These were three of the later episodes produced at Pinewood Studios and are all excellent which is certainly a plus point for the "film".
While these are very good choices they clearly do not link together. Ultimately this is the problem for any UFO compilation. Unlike some other shows it didn't have any two part episodes or even a serial which could be edited into a feature-length production so any compilation would involve standalone episodes. The viewer therefore needs to accept they are basically seeing a "highlights" or even "best of" selection of the show although viewers might well choose different episodes to include. Across the different films there are indeed a wide range of choices. The actual full episodes are clearly the best way to watch the show but the films do still have their value as today's viewers can see how they were put together, what parts were included, what was excluded and so on. It's good that we've moved on from this approach but it's all part of the rich history of the show.
