With a new series of Thunderbirds in the offing and after looking at the Japanese cartoon series, Thunderbirds 2086, it’s time to consider the film ‘Thunderbirds’, released in 2004.
We’re all aware that it’s about as popular as a fart in a spacesuit with Anderson fans, indeed Gerry himself refused some easy cash by turning down an invite to the premier and endorsing it. Has it got any better with age? As a Saturday morning kids matinee is might have held it’s own, but call it a Thunderbirds remake and suddenly you’re in a danger zone!
The simple philosophy behind Thunderbirds is the fact that International Rescue will use anything at it’s disposal no matter what the cost to save lives - that might be a hundred or just a single one - it’s fairly straight forward - the hard bit is getting that philosophy across in an entertaining way.
Did the film do that? Well it did to some extent, however seeing how the crux of the story is having four of the Tracy brothers along with Dad Tracy being rescued by younger brother Alan, Kyrano’s young daughter Tin Tin and Brains' son, Fermat is taking that Tracy family nepotism a bit far .
I can see why the writers went down this road - get rid of the boring adults and the kids can play . I imagine it was also handy to have Lady P and Parker helping out. Lady Penelope is the decorative ‘older sister’ type and Parker can provide the laughs!
Actually I quite liked the characters of Lady Penelope and Parker - maybe it’s because they actually had some character.
The CGI special effects were a definite no-no for me. With the odd exception I’m not that keen on computer generated imagery at the best of times and considering the original series was a ground breaker for special effects you’d think the makers would have built on this.
One little effect that did raise a nostalgic smile was the point in the film when Alan and Fermat are about to launch Thunderbird 1 in pursuit of the Hood. Both their arms reach for the launch levers. For a split second we see a puppet hand complete with strings operating the controls.
The Hood is suitably insidious, with a back story providing a motive for his nastiness.
There’s even a chance for pod vehicles to shine - a redesigned Firefly and Mole!
I’m sure a lot of youngsters found this film a hoot and rushed out to buy up all the merchandise associated with it. It might have even guided them in the direction of the original series providing another generation of fans. I do hope so.
Let's hope we're all still smiling after we've all seen the remake!
iIsaw a pre screening and and wrote a review - the camp opening credits while ok were wrong from the start. Most of the vehicles looked ok - the london scenes looked like models and kinda fake. Parker probably best thing - Penelope doing wire martial arts seemed tacky. The worst moment is when we get a dripping barely a tween is displayed and discuses as a sex object. A few of us felt repulsed and really off with this. Thats my highlights. There is more to Brit FpiFi and SF than being
ReplyDeleteQuirky.
Well i loved the vehicles, apart from the airborne fab 1 and the hoods sub. What really got up my nose was that bearded clown from Star Trek trying to direct the film! His acting was more wooden than a timber yard, so what made him think he could reinvent Thunderbirds? ....actually, puppets and a next gen star trek actor, think i just answered my own question!
ReplyDeleteThe odd thing about Frakes' directing, is that he got many of the cult things right, which for an American is impressive, yet he chose the wrong story to tell, which, for a director with experience is bizarre.
ReplyDeleteAnd dont get me started on alan tracys lipstick!
ReplyDeletelooks like I'm GONNA have to watch this again to see what everyone is talkin' about! I saw it once at the theater and at the time didn't have any real memories of the original series to cloud my judgement or influence my opinion. I thought at the time it was a godd flick for the kids. The acting? Not any more stiff than a typical Saturday morning cartoon. The plot? Again, Saturday morning cartoon fare drawn out to two hours. The gadgets? Cool. The special effects? Fine. I'm okay with CGI for the most part - with exceptions. I guess the bottom line is, this is a kiddie film, plain and simple. Let the kiddie's decide if they like it and if so, then it was successful. We adults tend to read far more into things than necessary.
ReplyDeleteI think I bought the DVD some time ago (cheap) but never even watched it! Guess I'll have to find it and check it out.
Wonder if Gerry A ever saw the adult parody of puppet shows? i think it was called World Police or something. One of the puppets looked like Kurt Russell.
ReplyDeleteI might be wrong, Woodsy but I'm sure I read somewhere he quite liked the way they were done.
DeleteWell the acting in World Police was certainly less wooden! But it offended every concievable sensibility, plus a few more!
ReplyDeleteYou're right there, Bill. The effects weren't as good as the original Thunderbirds, and I was blushing at the love scene!
DeleteI was only six when this movie came out, and as you said it directed me to the original series where I became a huge fan. As a child I absolutely adored this movie (and still do), although I admit the plot did have some holes. The CGI I think was amazing, with its quality being on par with modern day blockbusters(14 years later).
ReplyDeleteI'm glad the movie inspired you to watch the original, Reid. I can understand you liking the movie too as I'd imagine you would have been in the target age range for it, and you were watching it with an unbiased outlook.These days, I suspect you watch the film feeling quite nostalgic.
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