Thunderbirds Movie Review:


After a daring rescue on an oilrig, Jeff Tracy (Paxton) and the International Rescue team return to their base on Tracy Island. Little do they know that The Hood (Kingsley) has placed a tracking device on Thunderbird 1 and followed them back to their island paradise. From there he launches a missile at Thunderbird 5, disabling it in orbit. Responding to John Tracy’s distress call, Jeff, Virgil, Scott and Gordon blast into space onboard Thunderbird 3, allowing The Hood and his henchman to take over International Rescue’s base of operations. What he doesn’t realise is that he hasn’t got rid of all the Tracy’s from the island, so it is up to the youngest of the family, Alan, to save the day.

A live action version of Thunderbirds has been talked about for so many years but when it finally appears even International Rescue can’t save it.

The 60s Supermarionation classic has everything you need to produce a blockbuster of gigantic proportions. From vehicles every child would love ride to characters everyone would want to be, coupled together with endless possibilities for disasters and rescue situations, Thunderbirds has the lot but the filmmakers didn’t realise this. In their infinite wisdom they decided to make a movie about kids saving the day and forget about the key element of the series altogether, that International Rescue rescues people.

Whether it was budgetary reasons or scriptwriters that just didn’t get the emphasis of the original show, most of the action takes place on Tracy Island as Alan, Tintin and Fermat (Brain’s son) try and foil The Hood’s plan to steal the Thunderbirds to help him rob every major bank in the world. This relegates the main characters from the series Scott, Virgil, Gordon and John to very minor roles to the determent of the entire film. This is not what Thunderbirds is about. The fans that have grown up with the show expect to see an impending disaster averted by the courageous heroes of International Rescue not some overly intelligent (aren’t they always) kids running around Tracy Island evading some pantomime henchman.

Brady Corbet, Soren Fulton and Vanessa Anne Hudgens (Alan, Fermat and Tintin) are decent enough actors but their characters just become more and more annoying as the film progresses. Ben Kingsley tries his best with a very underwritten part but his class does shine through as The Hood is never too over the top. Bill Paxton just isn’t old enough or dignified enough to be Jeff Tracy and the actors who play Scott, Virgil, Gordon and John are on screen for so little time they never get the chance to make any time of impact. Anthony Edwards tries his best with Brains but doesn’t quite pull it off.

The movie does have some saving graces however. Sophia Myles and Ron Cook are exceptional as Lady Penelope and Parker. They capture the essence of the characters superbly and provide the best moments of the film. While FAB1 might not be a Rolls Royce anymore (it’s a Ford but this wasn’t the production’s fault) it is still an iconic car, even if it is pink. The look of the movie is also where the film excels. The design of the Thunderbirds is first rate. The might have changed slightly but not too much to annoy fans of the show. The production designers have also created that futuristic 60s feel in the look of Tracy Island, which really ties the show to its roots.

Thunderbirds is a wasted opportunity. By forgoing the true essence of the original show, the disasters and the resulting rescue, the filmmakers has created their own catastrophe that no one can rescue them from. Fans of the series will feel extremely let down by the whole experience and even the sight of their beloved Thunderbird vehicles on the big screen won’t be enough to alleviate the sheer frustration you feel about the script’s lack of imagination and complete absence of the original show’s doctrine.

Everyone wanted this to be FAB but in the end it is just BAD.

Star Rating = * *

Jamie Kelwick

The enduring 1960s TV series finally gets the live-action treatment in this energetic and amusing romp. That the film feels constructed for very young children is more than a little annoying, but there's enough sharp humour to keep us laughing.

After holding a grudge against the International Rescue team for years, The Hood (Kingsley) has a plan: He lures Jeff Tracy (Paxton) and his world-saving sons to the orbiting Thunderbird 5 then strands them there! Then he steals Thunderbird 2 to rob the Bank of London, blaming it on the IR team. But he forgets about three teens: youngest brother Alan Tracy (Corbet), chomping at the bit to be an action hero; his pal Fermat (Futon), a nerd just like his dad, the Tracy's tech-genius Brain (Edwards); and Tin-Tin (Hudgens), daughter of the housekeepers, who knows Tracy Island inside out.

Filmed in a zany, colourful style reminiscent of the Spy Kids movies, this is enjoyable fun until earnest lines of dialog bring everything to a shrieking stop. As he did with Clockstopppers, Frakes directs the film in a condescending style that underestimates the audience badly--it's just too childish and simplistic. But the performances are quite good, the effects are garish enough that the filmmakers get away with it, and there are terrific jokes and visual gags generously scattered through the witty script. Most of these come courtesy of Myles and Cook as the super-pink British spy Lady Penelope and her bulldog-like driver Parker; they're fantastic good fun! And Corbet plays Alan's coming-of-age nicely as well--bursting with teen angst and pent-up energy.

You just wish the filmmakers had a bit more faith in their audience; trying to overlay a forced moral lesson onto a film like this is both pointless and tiresome. There's also far too much glaring product placement, one of which reaches such satirical proportions that they might has well have called the film Thunderbirds: Sponsored by Ford! And everything is aimed at the very young, from cheesy exposition to toothless violence to a contrived plot that really has to keep working to make sure the kids are the heroes. And yet we cheer for them anyway!

Rich Cline

Back in the 1960s, puppeteer and sci-fi pioneer Gerry Anderson created a beloved children’s series that developed a cult following and can still be seen on TV today.

His little series that could was the high-action rescue series, “Thunderbirds” which followed the adventures of a family of marionettes in the distant future. They were the Tracys.

What made Anderson’s series stand out from the rest of the shows on TV was his use of a technique he called “Supermarionation”. This use of puppets in a major television show predates Jim Henson but paved the way for puppets in other forms of television shows. Kids also adored Gerry’s world of puppet characters and adventures.

Anderson also used his “Supermarionation” to spawn other puppet-fueled shows like “Fireball XL-5”, “Stingray”, “Supercar” and of course “Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons”.

Now in 2004, Gerry Anderson’s legacy is expanding with a new “Captain Scarlet” series in the making for 2005 and a new feature film made from his classic series, “Thunderbirds”.

In the new feature film of Thunderbirds, Bill Paxton plays astronaut-billionaire patriarch, Jeff Tracy who heads an elite rescue unit staffed by his 5 sons. The unit is stationed in a remote island in the South Pacific but when the world needs to be rescued the Tracys jump into their magnificent machines and become, Thunderbirds.

In this new live-action tale conceived by screenwriters William Osborne and Michael McCullers, the Tracys must save son John Tracy (Lex Shrapnel) when Thunderbird 5, the Tracy’s orbiting satellite is disabled in a sneak attack.

As they rescue John, their base of operations is taken over by a sinister villain known as The Hood (Ben Kingsley) and the only people that seem to be able to help the Tracys and their base are three junior Thunderbirds.

The juniors consist of the youngest Tracy, Alan (Brady Corbet), Tintin (Vanessa Anne Hudgens), daughter of the island caretaker Kyrano and Fermat (Soren Fulton), son of the team’s science whiz, Brains (Anthony Edwards).

There have always been a lot of problems with bringing a classic cartoon series to the big screen. There is the casting, the look of the film and of course the jokes. Can the same cartoon styled humor work in a live-action setting?

In the case of “Thunderbirds”, we have a faithful translation and realization of what and who these characters are. It is in that faithful transition that we can find so much enjoyment.

For example the portrayals of Lady Penelope (Sophia Myles) and her driver Parker (Ron Cook) are so like their marionette counter-parts that I could actually visualize the puppets saying their lines. They were such amazing performances.

Then there are the vehicles, aided heavily by CGI, are direct duplicates of the ones from the series. It is amazing how they made these zany vehicles feel so real. I especially loved the look and feel of Thunderbird 2.

The junior Thunderbirds are a clever idea so that such a classic concept can be exposed to a new generation of fans. This concept has gone horribly wrong in previous attempts but this time it just feels right.

Some of the problems I had did have come from bringing cartoon characters to the big screen and that the film is geared towards a younger audience. But that is exactly where the series aimed and succeeded.

“Thunderbirds” is a fast, delightful and stylized family film that not only embraces the audiences of the past but also enlightens audiences of the future.

I wonder what Gerry Anderson thinks?

(4 out of 5)

So Says the Soothsayer

Dean Kish

Site Contents Copyright© The Z Review, unless used with permission.This site has no intention to infringe on the rights of the film owners of Thunderbirds and intellectual copyright holders of the movies mentioned herein & hold copyright over the movie, characters, merchandise & storyline.