Customer Reviews

Thunderbirds (Full Screen Edition)

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(34)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

At last, the live action THUNDERBRIDS hit the big screen in the UK this weekend,and myself and my wife Sarah were among the first to see it. We were surprised that it was way better than we thought, and indeed, captured the corniness(if that's the right word) and tongue-in-cheek spirit of the TV series which we remember fondly from childhood. Though this film version owes more to SPY KIDS and CODY BANKS with the main Tracey family sons as teens, and there's nothing wrong with that. The story involves evil genius The Hood(BEN KINGSLEY!) taking over Tracey Island - International Rescue and the Thunderbirds' secret island base - in order to hijack the Thunderbird aircraft to rob the world's banks. Unfortunately, astronaut father Jeff Tracey and his elder sons are trapped on Thunderbird 5, the space station that receives distress calls for IR to answer when The Hood fires a missile from his sub(!!). So it is up to younger son Alan Tracey, Tintin and others, including London agent Lady Penelope(Sophia Myles, watch out more for her in the future!) and trusty chauffeur PArker to save the day. The real stars here though are the action and SFX scenes, particularly when The Hood causes a bit of havoc in London by the Thames. Lots of fun for adults and great for the children to enjoy as well; and what a change it makes to see a family movie in which a family pulls together and solves their troubles as a team to get out of sticky situations instead of arguing dysfunctionally as is the case with most so-called family movies. Hey, just forget the negative reviews from certain websites and certain critics and enjoy the movie. A must see.

Growing up in the UK I used to watch the show THUNDERBIRDS religiously, it was one of my must-watch TV shows for me in my pre-teen years.
So it was with a certain sense of equal trepidation mixed in with insatiable curiosity that I approached the big budget live action version of the Gerry Anderson original.
Director Jonathon Frakes (Riker on Star Trek) brings the same colorful look to THUNDERBIRDS as he brought to CLOCKSTOPPERS, he also brings some of the same qualities - chiefly a light and loosely structured narrative. Perhaps this is a right choice however given the light comic book-style subject matter
You may take from the above that I did not like THUNDERBIRDS. Not so. Apart from what I mention above the movie does have some bright moments of originality and conviction. Ben Kingsley is wonderfully over-the-top as the main villain The Hood and the film does sport some truly great special effects. Ron Cook also does a simply amazing impression of the original marionette Parker - I was very impressed.
For those unfamiliar with the television show, let me fill in some background. The Tracy family (all male) - with the help of Brains and secret agent Lady Penelope (who seems to be very much inspired by Emma Peel) - head an organization named International Rescue from a secret Island base in the Pacific. With several amazing aircraft, submarines, rockets and even a space station (called Thunderbirds) at their disposal they travel the globe rescuing people from harrowing situations.
As this movie opens International Rescue (IR) is at it again, rescuing the crew of a stricken oil rig as the youngest of the Tracy siblings Alan Tracy (played by Brady Corbet) watches on television from his schoolroom.
However all is not as it seems, one of the rescued oil workers manages to tag one of the ships with a tracking substance that (undetected by the International Rescue team) allows The Hood, a character capable of mind control, to discover the secret location of the IR base.
Before long The Hood is in control of Tracy Island, the older siblings and father Jeff Tracy are trapped on a severely damaged space station and Lady Penelope, Parker and Brains are prisoners of The Hood. Its up to the younger members of the Tracy household (Alan, Fermat and Tintin) to rescue their parents and stop The Hood's plan to rob the world's banks using IR equipment.
Herein lies my chief gripe with the movie, but luckily its not something the sinks the whole movie.
Sure the series was made with children in mind, but that's no reason to make our chief protagonists children in the big-screen version. It's not needed, the cast of characters was already good enough without hindering the production with this often used (and now clichéd) plot device. How many times have we now seen this Harry-Potter inspired formula of young kids taking on adult roles? We have already had SPY KIDS and CODY BANKS, with the adventures of teen spy Alex Rider to arrive at movie theaters soon, basically its been overdone and it always has the same effect of weakening the production. Just ask George Lucas about his misgivings over THE PHANTOM MENACE.
The action in the movie is primarily well handled and the acting suitably wooden (this was after all based on a marionette based television show). I enjoyed myself with this movie, but it certainly wasn't what I had expected growing up with the classic Gerry Anderson television show.

Okay, yeah, the THUNDERBIRDS movie wasn't perfect. They could have developed the characters of the established T-Bird brothers better, and the "Spy Kids" feel was a little annoying. Nevertheless, this old warrior found the movie to be a surprisingly emotional experience. You see, I grew up poor in a huge housing project in Los Angeles. There were many challenges in our neighborhood, including drugs, rowdy teens, violence, etc. Television and comic books were my only escape. In LA back in the late '60s the Thunderbirds TV show was shown on Sunday afternoons. My brothers and I thrilled to the exploits of the Tracy family. Who cared that they were puppets? The stories drew us in and the dedication of the Tracys inspired us and lifted us out of our challenging environment.

Bottom line: I surprised myself by crying several times during the movie. The scene where the youngest Tracy and his buddy (the Brain's son) were watching a T-Bird rescue on TV at their boarding school had me bawling. So did the scene where the brothers landed in London after a harrowing time in space, to watch their youngest brother successfully rescue the people in the sunken gondola.

Why was I so emotional with the T-Bird movie, in spite of its flaws? Because it brought me back to how the original show lifted me out of a difficult childhood. Yes, the movie wasn't perfect, but the inspiring vision of selfless service remained intact. I am very grateful to the producers for this chance to revisit my childhood idealism.

Before I saw this film, I had only seen the original series a few times, and even though I enjoyed them, I had no expectations of the movie.
If you ARE a die hard TB fan, and are not willing to be open minded, and look at your precious Thunderbirds from a different perspective, then I suggest that you go and buy yourself the original series instead.
I thoroughly enjoyed this film; even though the plot was far from complex, and some of the acting was a bit weak, it was still good to watch.
The film is about the youngest Tracy, Alan, and the tantrums he throws when his dad says he's too young to be in the Thunderbirds. Basically, The TB's get tricked into leaving Tracy Island, and the resident bad guy, "The Hood", and his cronies take over the island. What the Hood doesn't know, is that Alan Tracy and his friend Vermat (The Brain's son) are home for the school holidays, and have been left behind on the island along with Tin-tin (the gardener's daughter). The tree kids must save Tracy Island and their families from the Hood's evil scheme, with the help of Lady Penelope and her driver, Parker.
Lady P and Parker steal the show I'm afraid, although at one stage she did go all Charlie's Angels on us, and I was a little bit worried.
So yeh, relatively good movie, just don't be expecting award-winning acting or a close resembalance to the television series.

I just went and saw this with my ten year old boy. I wasn't a fan of the TV serial since I don't go in for marionettes but this film was very good.

The basic story is about the youngest son who wants to join in on the family business of rescuing people. He and his two closest friends get their chance when the Father and 4 older brothers are attacked by a super villain known as 'The Hood' (Ben Kingsley) and need rescuing themselves.

I liked this movie. It had a few lessons to teach about earning your way (no shortcuts) and being loyal. The only parts that disappointed me were a couple of "man-bashing" references during the film that seemed petty and inappropriate. Is anybody else fed up with that kind of stuff?

Overall though, I give this a big thumbs up as a family film that had excitement, adventure and even some good laughs. Take your kids, I think you'll all like it.

Recommended.

My wife and I have been fans of the Thunderbirds TV series forever. We own a lot of episodes in VHS and a few in DVD. We've been showing them to our 6 year old for the last 2 years or so, and he's become somewhat of a fan himself.

Yesterday I took him to see the movie, without really knowing what to expect. I was very pleasantly surprised, especially after reading some of the critics out there. What I liked the most about the movie is how faithful to the original TV series they stayed. Not only do you get to see ALL the super cool Thunderbird machines (#1, #2, #3, #5 but also submarine #4 and even the "Mole") "for real" (as real as it gets with the wonders of modern digital special effects), but every detail I can think of was included: From The Hood and his hypnotic and telekynetic powers to Tin-tin, from Lady Penelope's dream car and Chauffeur (and former burglar) Parker to Tracy's island swimming pools,control rooms and tropical jungle, the Thunderbirds' world is drawn with an attention to detail that will delight long term fans. My only regret is that Brains is depicted as a stuttering ugly looking geek, which did not match my original mental picture (except the geek part of course).

Anyway, the acting may not be academy award winning class, but Bill Paxton still turns out a pretty convincing Jeff Tracy, and Sophia Myles a charming Penelope. And frankly, the original TV series was already pretty awesome despite the "acting" ability of puppets, thanks to the originality of the story and of the premise behind it. So this movie did not need much in terms of acting as long as special effects would be convincing (and they are!) and the original premise of the Thunderbirds world would be preserved.

So definitely go see the movie or get the DVD if:
- You are a fan of Thunderbirds
- You enjoy Bond or similar movies for the mix of lively action and high tech cool gadgets.

Just over 40 years ago, Gerry and Sylvia Anderson produced a brilliant television series in England entitled "Thunderbirds". A total of 32 60-minute episodes were created between 1964 and 1966. Following which, two big-screen motion pictures were also produced: "Thunderbirds Are Go" in 1966 and "Thunderbird 6" in 1968. What made watching the Thunderbirds unique was that the Andersons did not employ live actors to perform in front of the camera; instead, the characters were puppets in a technique that the Andersons dubbed "supermarionation". It was quite effective and, for the most part, the stories were highly creative and engaging. The basic plotline for the Thunderbirds was that a family living on a secretive island created a set of rocket-propelled ships which they used to rescue people from various disastrous situations. The family, known as the Tracy's, included several non-family members as part of their rescuing efforts: Brains (the genius who designed their rocket ships), Lady Penelope (a wealthy aristocrat) and her chauffeur Parker. The Thunderbirds were not only popular with children; they also earned a cult following of adults.

Hence, 36 years since any new material had been produced for the Thunderbirds franchise, a live-action version was filmed and released in theaters in 2004. Under the direction of Jonathan Frakes (who is best known for his role as Commander William Riker on the long-running sci-fi TV series "Star Trek: The Next Generation"), the 2004 film "Thunderbirds" was a very visually impressive reproduction of the original work that had been done with supermarionation. Unfortunately, the film's story, which was clearly directed towards the youngest possible audience members (probably for children not older than 8), fell far short of pleasing adults and older children, especially those who were all-too-familiar with the original Thunderbirds, both from TV syndication and DVD's. Having watched the original Thunderbirds long before the live-action film was produced, I, too, was quite disappointed with live-action reproduction.

"Thunderbirds" begins with a seemingly dangerous rescue effort being carried out by Jeff Tracy (Bill Paxton) and his sons Virgil Tracy (Dominic Colenso), Scott Tracy (Philip Winchester) and Gordon Tracy (Ben Torgersen) in Thunderbirds 1 and 2, while son John Tracy (Lex Shrapnel) is onboard the Earth-orbitting space-station Thunderbird 5. Jeff's youngest son, Alan Tracy (Brady Corbet) is instead at a boarding school with his stuttering friend Fermat (Soren Fulton), who is the young son of the stuttering Brains (Anthony Edwards). and is filled with teenaged angst and impatience as he feels that he, like his father and brothers, should be part of the rescue efforts instead of attending school. (Except for Fermat, none of his classmates or teachers knows that Alan is related to the real Thunderbirds.) Here, then, are several of the film's most serious deviations from the original Thunderbirds concept: in the original Thunderbirds, father Jeff Tracy never participated in the actual rescues (he managed them from home), Brains did not stutter and Brains never had a son. The two characters in the 2004 film who came closest to Gerry & Sylvia Andersons' original concepts were Lady Penelope (Sophia Myles) and Parker (Ron Cook). They arrive in Lady Penelope's trademark, high-tech pink limousine at Alan's school to pick up him and Fermat for their school holiday, which will be spent back at the secretive Tracy Island. However, unbeknownst to the Tracy's, their rescue efforts at the beginning of the film were planned by their arch-enemy, The Hood (Ben Kingsley), so that a tracer could be planted on Thunderbird 1 making it possible to locate Tracy Island. Arriving at Tracy Island in a submarine, The Hood and his companions attack the orbitting Thunderbird 5 so that the Tracy's will rush off to rescue John who is onboard. Thinking that they can now easily take the island, their efforts are then thwarted (pretty much the bulk of the film) by Alan, Ferman and the young Tintin (Vanessa Anne Hudgens).

What made the 2004 "Thunderbirds" so disappointing was twofold: the deviations from Gerry & Sylvia Anderson's original concepts and the fact that the film focused upon the three kids (Alan, Fermat & Tintin) and the Hood instead of the Tracy's and their rescuing efforts. It could be effectively argued that the Tracy family and entire Thunderbird concept was just a backdrop for the story revolving around teenaged angst. Hence, it is not at all surprising that after the film opened in theaters in August, 2004, it only earned approximately $15-million in both the U.S. and England; whereas the film's production budget was approximately $57-million. Visually, the 2004 "Thunderbirds" was a magnificent live-action reproduction, but the story left much to be desired. Consequently, I can only rate the 2004 "Thunderbirds" with 2 out of 5 stars. Had Gerry & Sylvia Anderson been more directly involved with the production of this film, it probably would have been much better.

As soon as I heard that they were making Thunderbirds into a live action movie I was totally excited. It has only opened yesterday in New Zealand, and I dragged my partner along to see it. Im not going to go into the plot etc. because so many other reviewers have.
I think as a stand alone movie it was great, relating it back to the original Thunderbirds, well it was still good. I have always been a fan of the Gerry & Sylvia Anderson TV series, and also like what Jonathan Frakes has done.

I liked the little tribbutes to the original thunderbirds, there is one scene when Alan is in Thunderbird one with fermet(sp) and they are about to launch and go to london, and you can see strings on one of the hands, quite cool.

It is unfortunate that the likes of spykids etc have come out since this project was started as I think it would have lead the way as opposed to now falling into the same catagorie.

Lady P was awesome and Bill Paxton did a good job.

Lastly im 38 and I still really enjoyed the movie and look forward to the DVD comming available.

Go see it if you can.

When my mom took me to see this, I was impressed! Jonathen Frakes did a wonderful job with this movie! It was worth the money I paid! Jeff Tracy (Paxton) Will not let his youngest son Allen join the Thunderbirds. But once the Hood trapps the Thunderbirds on one of there stations, it's up to Allen and his two friends to save them. Filled with a little comedy, Adventure, and edge of your seat action. This is a must see for people of all ages. as the saying goes. "Thunderbirds are go!"

I saw the movie yesterday with my 9 year old daughter. We both enjoyed the movie; although she got P.O.'d with me when I summed it up as a typical movie where the kids must take on the responsibility to rescue the adults. If you can stand this, then you'll probably like the flick...

Except for The Hood's (Kingsley) two henchmen. They seemed to be something mixed from the old Batman TV series and "Home Alone". I found they grated on me and really didn't add anything to the film.

All in all, I definitely didn't feel like I was out the price of admission and I will probably be talked into buying the DVD when it comes out.

myke