ShadeGrenade 'Thunderbirds' is one of those rare television programmes that, rather like 'Star Trek' and 'Dr.Who', seems so ingrained in the public consciousness that it is possible to have never watched a single episode, and yet, have a clear idea what it is about, identify its characters, and recite its catchphrases ( in this case, 'F.A.B.!' and, of course, 'Thunderbirds are GO!". The adventures of 'Jeff Tracy' and his family ( and Lady Penelope and Parker ) enthralled young and old audiences alike for two years on I.T.V. in 1965-66. So popular was it that a feature film was made despite the show not having reached America ( Lew Grade foolishly kept jacking up the asking price to the point where the U.S. networks finally gave up ). The head of United Artists was confidant that it would be a hit, and possibly bigger than the same company's 'James Bond' franchise! The story was certainly grand enough - a manned expedition to Mars gets underway, but crashes as the result of sabotage ( its our old friend 'The Hood' up to its tricks again ). Once the saboteurs are dealt with, the expedition is re-staged twenty-four months later, and the crew of Zero X encounter hideous monsters - rock 'snakes' that spit balls of fire! The journey back to Earth goes wrong, and International Rescue are called upon to save the day...It is an entertaining picture on the whole, though not as good as it could be - there's no 'Thunderbird 4', for example, 'Brains' is hardly featured, and 'Kyrano' and 'Grandma' nowhere to be seen. The Tracys take an awfully long time to enter the plot ( for the first fifteen minutes it looks as if we're watching 'Zero X - The Movie'. International Rescue doesn't have much to do. Perhaps it would have been better to have opened the picture with an unrelated prologue featuring I.R. in action before moving onto the main story.But the good points outweigh the bad - the special effects are marvellous ( several of the crew went on to work on the 'Superman' and 007 movies ), and there's a delightful sequence where Alan Tracy dreams he is having a night out at the 'Swinging Star' club with Lady Penelope, and the cabaret turns out to be none other than - wait for it - Cliff Richard Junior! ( The Shadows also appear in puppet form ). Gerry Anderson later recounted that, at the premiere, a girl in the audience shrieked with excitement when the Cliff puppet appeared on screen! Lady Penelope's Rolls - 'F.A.B.-1' - preempts James Bond's Lotus Esprit in 'The Spy Who Loved Me' by a decade by converting into an amphibious vehicle, the M.E.V.'s journey across the Martian landscape is genuinely eerie, and the rock snakes are indeed nightmarish. Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's script ingeniously combines elements of spy thrillers, science fiction, and disaster movies. Among the voice artists is a familiar name - Bob Monkhouse! Barry Gray's music is awesome - the theme that accompanies the assembling of the Zero X at the start of the movie is worthy of Elmer Bernstein.So, with all these things going for it, why wasn't it a hit on its initial release? Anderson thinks it was because not enough was done to promote the fact that it was an original story, and not a compilation of television episodes ( like the 'Man From U.N.C.L.E.' pictures ). Perhaps the Thunderbirds phenomenon had peaked, and interest was on the wane when it opened. Whatever the reason, it is a shame as it deserved greater success ( the crew of the 'Zero X' went on to feature regularly in the pages of 'T.V. Century 21' comic ). Nevertheless, a sequel - 'Thunderbird 6' - appeared two years later, to be met with a equally lukewarm response. More recently, in 2004, there was the ill-fated live-action movie starring Bill Paxton and directed by Jonathan Frakes ( of 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' fame ). It was not all bad ( Sophia Myles was a terrific 'Lady Penelope' ) but Anderson's lack of involvement doomed the project from the start.Things To Look Out For - it is 2066, and yet Jeff can be seen reading 'The News Of The World', a tabloid rag that folded last year ( not before time either! ). Perhaps Rupert Murdoch Junior is in charge of News Intergalactic?And where else would you see a pink Rolls Royce orbiting Mars? F.A.B.!

Boba_Fett1138 The "Thunderbirds" TV-series always had been a very entertaining one to watch, which is also the reason why reruns of it still air, decades after the series had ended. I myself also always had been quite fond of it, which made it all the more a personal disappointing that this movie just doesn't live up the TV-series.Really the biggest problem with this movie is that it just never feels like you are watching a big, 90 minutes long, Thunderbirds adventure. Instead this really feels like a TV-series episode, that however got incredibly stretched out, which for the movie means that it has such a slow build up and some of the scenes seem to go on for however, while they add nothing at all. It really makes this a boring watch.But even the story itself is really below par. If this story got used for one of the random TV-series episodes it would had been one of the lesser ones at well. It's simply lacking in some fundamental ingredients, such as a villain or even a clear main plot line. Seriously, when the movie is about at its half way point, you will still have no idea what the main story is supposed to be about. It's just all over the place!Also the dialog is real poor but this is something that seems to suit the Thunderbirds type of charm and atmosphere.Main reason why I always liked watching the "Thunderbirds" was because they had an old James Bond type of charm and atmosphere to it. I am of course talking about the very first Bond movies, starring Sean Connery. The clothing, the sets, the villains, the silly gadgets, spy plots and of course the fact that both were made during the '60's make James Bond and "Thunderbirds" much alike. All of this is also still present in this movie but it just all works out far less entertaining and interesting this time around.Another reason why the series was so popular was the combination of its science-fiction and action elements. The only science-fiction this time comes from the space mission that is set to Mars but the Thunderbirds themselves are not even involved with this. None of the Thunderbirds' crafts even gets to do anything in this movie and they are also hardly in this at all. There is also hardly any action, though by the end you will still get treated with some trademark big Thunderbirds explosions.I can't imaging that someone will get into "Thunerbirds" after watching this movie and also will understand why it was such a popular show. It is possible to watch this movie without knowing any of the background of the characters or stories from the TV-series but still the movie does a very bad job at setting up the characters and story for any new, fresh viewers. Some of the familiar characters make even a totally redundant impression. Was there any reason for all of the Tracy brothers to be in this? And couldn't Lady Penelope and Brains just have been let out as well, since they add absolutely nothing to the story, once you start thinking about it. When looking purely at this movie, all of the characters are such extreme boring and one dimensional ones, as wooden as its facial expressions.They also didn't do any new tricks, so still expect all of the same and familiar puppetry tricks and effects, like got used in the television series. This is all still something good and impressing of course. "Thunderbirds" made puppetry something awesome and all of the miniature sets and set pieces are still a joy to look at, as is all of the marionette work that is in it.I really expected to- and also tried desperately to like this movie. I tried to let them get away with some stuff, courtesy of its style and charm but they basically however did everything wrong. It's just a boring and very uninteresting, unimaginative, redundant Thunderbirds 'adventure', I am sad to say.4/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

preppy-3 Filmed in Supermariomation (seriously). Feature film version of a kids TV show that used marionettes. I'm too young to remember the show and the movie assumes you already know the characters so I was little confused about what was going on. It opens with a long sequence of hilariously obvious miniatures helping launch a rocket--the first manned mission to Mars. However it's sabotaged and crashes. They try it again--and the Thunderbirds help them. It seems the Thunderbirds are a group of sons and their dad who help fight evil by jumping into their rocket ships and...doing stuff. They're helped by Lady Penelope--a beautiful rich English woman who (I guess) is a worker of theirs. This involves a trip to Mars, rock creatures (don't ask) and tons of footage of the rocket ships flying...and flying...and flying...What drivel! If you were a fan of the TV show when you were a kid you'll probably love this--but to those of us who never saw the show it's incomprehensible and just plain dull! Also there's a lllooonnnggg pointless dream sequence when Alan dreams of dating Lady Penelope and it even works in a sing sequence with Cliff Richards and the Shadows (and wait till you see the obvious banana filling in for the moon!). The dream sequence adds zero to the plot and has got to be the most obvious example of padding I've ever seen in a motion picture. The plot (what there is of one) is slow and juvenile and the special effects are incredibly silly by todays standards. The herky jerky motions of the marionettes quickly becomes tiresome too. I will admit there are some impressive visuals but they can't overcome the stupid plot and clichéd characters. A sleep-inducing bore. I give it a 4.

tfrizzell Tedious and demented mess that has puppets (not a misprint) involved in outer space exploration, sabotage, rescue missions and even risqué behavior. Laughably stupid picture that has a small following even today and has recently inspired a live-action remake with Ben Kingsley (!?) and a demented parody by the makers of "South Park". Meant to be innovative and unique in 1966, "Thunderbirds Are Go" is little more than a weak Saturday morning matinée idea with few financial resources and even fewer brain cells. Sleep-inducer that should be ignored by all. Even the youngsters will get sick of the creepy creatures that admittedly have about as much talent as many Grade-D performers in Hollywood today. Turkey (0 stars out of 5).