Customer Reviews
Thunderbirds are only slightly go 
2007-03-19
The puppet series of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson - "Four Feather Falls", "Supercar", "Stingray", "Fireball XL5" and "Thunderbirds" are the ones that come to mind - were part of my childhood in Ireland. They set new standards in puppetry, especially for visual effects, and people came from all over the world to see how the Andersons did it. So I was curious to see how this filmed.
I was devastated - Lady Penelope's marvellous pink limousine has lost its stately Rolls-Royce grille and now has some amorphous generic chip-cutter design. Why aren't questions being asked in the House of Lords? Why didn't Tony get on the blower to Angie and lodge the strongest possible diplomatic protest (in case that BMW, now RR's owner, didn't give permission)? Mind you, the teddibly teddibly upper-crust Lady Penelope herself is marvellous, as is Parker the chauffeur (who looks just like the puppet original). Likewise Ben Kingsley seems to have great fun as the dastardly villain. The rest are very 2-D, and the plot proceeds in the normal precocious-but-undervalued-kids-save-the-day-against-all-odds manner. And that's what this is, a kids' film for real kids, who will find it truly F-A-B. For we young at heart, it means, sadly, that we've grown up at last. I'm devastated about that too.
Surprisingly Fun, Except for the Errors & Shallow Plot 
2007-03-12
Remakes are popular in Hollywood. I assume they are popular because people like me seem to try to recapture the feelings of their youth. The biggest problem with remakes is that they rarely live up to the original. Such is the case with the 2004 remake of "Thunderbirds." The original series was cute and clever, using puppets and models in all the scenes. The remake is sort of cute, but not very clever given that it is very derivative of the original, and not very original.
The Hood (Ben Kingsley, who won an Oscar for his role in "Gandhi" and who seems to take any kind of role these days) menaces the Thunderbird team. The Hood finds the secret island of The Thunderbirds, steals one of the Thunderbird ships to use to break into the Bank of England and thus discredit the Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds have to stop him. The End. I am serious. There is little more to this movie than that. Sure, there is some fighting and silliness, but most of that is to get the movie to be longer than an hour and a half.
This movie is basically a Saturday morning kids show stretched out to movie length. In many ways this movie is for children, even though few children even know who The Thunderbirds are. I suppose that the focus of the movie is even narrower than that, because I suspect that boys will find this movie more fascinating than most girls. The target audience seems to be boys between the ages of about 4 and 11. I suppose that men older than 50 may want to give this movie a watch as well if they were fans of the original series.
In spite of the fact that the movie is filled with factual and continuity errors (many of which may be viewed at the IMDB web site), this movie is actually kind of fun to watch. I could not pull myself away, even though the plot was shallow and things failed to make sense (As one example, Thunderbird 3 supposedly has a booster failure and yet the booster seems to be working in all the scenes after the failure, most notably the landing in London). I guess I fall into the category of guys over 50 who was a fan of the original series (and still am).
As I said before, this movie probably has very narrow appeal. I doubt most people will like it. Even some fans of the original series may not like it. But if you just have to have some kind of "Thunderbirds," here it is. Maybe next time they will go back to puppets; they were better actors.
Good Luck!
Great movie! 
2007-01-19
I bought this DVD for my son, and he has throughly enjoyed it. Action packed adventure for him and his level.
Must see for a Thunderbirds fan 
2007-01-13
I grew up watching the original Thunderbirds show and truly enjoyed seeing this movie. I liked hearing the original theme song reworked for this live action movie and seeing all of this brought to life. Casting was great and the special effects were done well. Some people might think it is corny but for me, it was great to see this made into a live action movie. I know they will never to a sequle due to original bad reviews but it was nice to enjoy this one.
Great summer movie for the kids 2006-08-18
Inspired by the 1960's BBC series of the same name, this film stars several well known actors: Bill Paxton (Apollo 13) as Jeff Tracy, Sir Ben Kingsley (Gandhi, Schindler's List) as "The Hood", and Anthony Edwards (TV's ER, Top Gun) as the Thunderbirds' stuttering gadget guru, Brains. Relative unknown Sophia Myles puts on a charming performance as the only female Thunderbird, Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward. The film is directed by Jonathan Frakes (Star Trek: The Next Generation) whose other directing credits include the Star Trek movies First Contact and Insurrection.
This film covers ground already well tread in the realm of summer movies for kids: three adolescents take on adult roles to save International Rescue, and thwart the evil plans of The Hood; but it does so in a delightfully campy comic book way.
Anyone over the age of ten may find this film a bit of a yawner, but for a younger audience, this movie is nothing short of good summer fun.
Love the movie 2008-05-23
This is a pretty decent movie. I'm surprised it didn't do that well in the theatres.
THUNDERIFIC? 2008-03-15
I've watched kids who rent videos and who go to theaters to watch movies. Most are entertained with the simplest of stories, finding more enchantment in the special effects that are offered as opposed to the deep storylines or high level of acting involved. It is the rare occasion when something of the quality of HARRY POTTER or THE POLAR EXPRESS comes along that pulls in kids with its story and not solely on the visuals.
A few years ago the films SPY KIDS came out and created an almost new genre of films for children. It carried somewhat adult themes at its root but surrounded that with images that dazzled the eye and gadgets that amazed. It was followed by not only two sequels but other films like AGENT CODY BANKS that continued the genre. And now this film is added to their ranks.
Based on the Gerry Anderson hit series from the sixties, the original story involved a risk taking group of adventurers who flew around the world in their specialized vehicles to save the day when needed. Done in what was called Supermarionation, it involved mechanized puppets who acted out the entire show. The originals are available for sale now as was the movies made from them. And Trey Parker and Matt Stone of SOUTH PARK fame used the style when they came up with TEAM AMERICA (rumor has it they did so in response to hearing that this film would involve none of it). All of that is abandoned for this movie.
This time around our adventurers are a family led by ex-astronaut Jeff Tracy (underused Bill Paxton) and his sons along with a few friends of the family, most notably Anthony Edwards as Brains, the inventor of gadgets for the Tracy family. Each son has his own vehicle to man and they do indeed travel the world in the worst of situations to save the day.
But the film chooses not to focus on them but on the youngest son, Alan Tracy (Brady Corbet). He dreams of the day when he can join his family in their adventures. He dreams of it so much that his studies are lacking and the chance to do so seem further off than ever. But chance never checks out the grades you have when it comes knocking.
The Tracy family hideaway, a remote and electronically hidden location, is taken over by and evil man known only as The Hood (Ben Kingsley). The Hood has trapped the Tracy family in their orbiting space station with little air left to survive. Why? Because he hates them. That's what bad guys do to good guys, isn't it?
The only members left behind to put a stop to these dastardly deeds are of course Alan and his young friends as well as Brains. They do their best along with a helpful hand from Lady Penelope (Sophia Myles) and her butler Parker (Ron Cook), both of whom make this film more enjoyable with every scene they have. Alan and his friends not only have to outwit The Hood, but break themselves of the evil mind control that he can inflict upon them. Only they can save not just the world but the Tracy family as well.
The movie offers up a slim plot but who cares? It's not rocket science here...er...well its not trying to educate you in rocket science even if the movie does have the family careening around the globe in rocket ships. The fact is that it's a made for family film that is more interested in entertaining than in teaching, although a few morals make there way in. The movie is more glitz than substance but that's okay as kid size spectacle is seen instead of thought provoking drama.
The movie is a welcome addition to this new genre that exists. It is well made, well shot and offers a few good laughs for us old folks in the audience as well. With talks of a sequel, perhaps we will have the opportunity to see more of the other members of the Tracy family in the next film. But for now, we can settle for the youngest as its main offering. This one is fun the whole family can enjoy, something that is unfortunately rare these days.
A movie for the kids to enjoy 2007-10-15
Thunderbirds got badly panned by critics as a campy children's movie and a bad 'spy kids' rip off, but to be fair the original serries was a children's show and this is an upgraded version of that.
The idea is in the near future Jeff Tracy and his sons are "International Rescue" a secret emergency response team who's technolowgy is far ahead of anything the rest of the world has so they keep their identity a secret.
In the movie, well directed by Jonathan Frakes who really can direct a good action movie, 3rd son Alan in the original serries is now the youngest and desperately wants to be free of school and join his brothers on the team. The film also makes younger Alan's love interest, Tintin, played by a pre-HSTM Vanessa Hudgens, and added a son for resident geek 'Brains." When the rest of the family is lured off and trapped by the evil Ben Kingsley, it falls to these three younger members to save the day.
For all that as a kids' show, it works. Modern kids' stories do not involve kids watching the adults act as they did when this came out in 1964. They want to be in the action now. The opening scenes tells you that is just what Alan wants as he doodles spaceships on his school note books. People who panned Thunderbirds are, I suspect, people like me who loved the original as a child and hoped it had grown up as we had. these panners forgot it was a children's TV show and Frakes brings that same era to life in a way they will apeal to kids in the 21st century.
3-star movie that has some 5-star moments 2007-09-18
I enjoyed this film enough to watch it three times, but it just doesn't come close to the original TV series. Now one could hardly portray the original, with its miniature models and marionette actors, as an example of great filmmaking; but somehow it managed to exceed this live-action adaptation. I especially did not care for Jeff Tracy and the other four brothers being relegated to sidekick status; and the enlarging of Jeff's role was, unfortunately, at the expense of the roles of Scott, Gordon, and Virgil.
Yet, there is something very endearing about this movie. I loved the three adolescent leads. I especially loved Lex Shrapnel as John. I'm a bit more ambivalent with Bill Paxton, who comes across as wooden in the role of patriarch Jeff as the puppet in the TV series--and his character in the movie just doesn't quite measure up to the strict-but-fair father of the original. I was especially annoyed that Gordon and Virgil's parts were so reduced that I never could figure out which actor was which even after three viewings, especially as these characters are among my favorites in the TV series. Sophia Myles as Lady P. was great; but I don't like pink and a little of her character went a very long way.
The most surprising thing for me was how much I loved the character of Brains in the movie, as well as his newly-acquired son, Fermat. The character of Brains is older than in the original, but somehow, in my opinion, this change suited him. He has some of my favorite lines in the movie and some of the most intense scenes for me are the scenes with his son. I'm always a sucker for a good father/son story; and it says a lot about the lead actors that I found the relationship developed between Brains and his son to be much more compelling that the relationship between Jeff and Alan.
As this film tanked at the box office, I doubt there will ever be a sequel; yet, I would have loved to have seen one just to see more of Brains and Fermat.
Really fun family movie 2007-07-15
We've introduced our boys to the original Thunderbirds and they were SOOOO excited while watching this movie!
I was wary, given the less-than-stellar reviews it received, but I thought this film was really nicely done. Tribute is paid to all the original elements (the way the craft launch, Parker and Penelope) and there are a couple of moments of subtle naughty humour for the adults (but really subtle, not like most animated movies we've seen recently...ack!).
I've read complaints that say the plot is thin. Well, it has to be straightforward, so that they can fit in all the fun stuff and not make it seem clunky. It's not Stanley Kubrick, people!
Delightful, family-friendly, great-looking movie. (And no kissing, so good good for those with boys!) Well done Frakes and team.
