GurlyIamBeach Instant Favorite.

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

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.

berryhair776 Those that remember the show....Does anyone have an idea who the mystery silhouette is at the end of the opening sequence of the show? The Tony Christie theme song rocks. Can't keep it out of my head even 30+ yrs later. Does anyone know the words to it? Is there a DVD set even thought it was one season. 70s British TV....AHHHHHH, what memories. Bring back Secret Agent, The Prisoner, The Thunderbirds, the Persuaders(Great theme song I might add) and my all time favorite......Benny Hill....Thank god for the BBC America Channel. Back to The Protecters...Robert Vaughn is doing a show thief show now(God bless him)..What are the others doing?

Victor Field Gerry Anderson wasn't involved in "The Protectors" from the beginning, which is why it's the most atypical of his shows - it's set in the present (i.e. the early 1970s), it's very firmly rooted in the real world (plots notwithstanding), and while it involves a peace-keeping organisation, the Protectors don't have any uniforms or outlandish vehicles. The trouble is, while all this means it sticks out like a sore thumb amongst his work, it's all very average action stuff.It's a lot easier to fault the writers (including Gerry's soon-to-be-ex-wife Sylvia Anderson with "...With A Little Help From My Friends") than Robert Vaughn and the late Nyree Dawn Porter; if not for them and for a terrific theme song ("Avenues and Alleyways") it wouldn't really be worth watching. Then again, compared to Anderson's subsequent live-action shows - "Space Precinct." Why? - it's a classic.

Thomas E. Reed I remember seeing this series in Saint Louis, running as the last thing Sunday night. As an old fan of "The Man from UNCLE," I was curious to see Robert Vaughn playing an older, cynical, grouchier version of Napoleon Solo. Vaughn's personal liberal sentiments occasionally showed through, in one episode involving a military intelligence case. His Harry Rule character showed nothing but contempt for the way the military operated and its goals.On the other hand, there was a small amount of goofiness. One episode I recall had Rule and his Italian costar stopping a neo-Nazi plot. Instead of contributing the gold they seized that was intended to revive the Third Reich to a charity cause, they stuck it in a Swiss bank. Not precisely heroic behavior.One other note: Faberge, the perfume company, made the series (it was "A Brut Production") and the show contained a lot of "barter" spots for the Brut line of men's care products.