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The Thunderbirds [2004]

Starring: Bill Paxton, Anthony Edwards, Sophia Myles, Ben Kingsley, Brady Corbet
Director: Jonathan Frakes
Format: Closed-captioned Dolby PAL Surround Sound
Released: 15 Nov 2004
RRP: £14.99
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

Benji's best ever video - By: k m turner, 06 Sep 2005
I borrowed this video from the local library to see if my three-year-old grandson would enjoy it. He did. So I took it out again when he next visited. And then I received a telephone request from him: would I bring it with me when I visited him. He watched it over & over & over again & was so upset when I had to bring it home with me that I'm now buying a copy from Amazon. I've watched bits & pieces of the movie but had no idea what it was alll about until I read one of the on-line reviews here today. My son was a great fan of the puppets but although my grandson has the complete set he won't watch them - he prefers the live actors.
A film for young kids but Lady Penelope rocks for everybody - By: Lawrance M. Bernabo, 20 Jul 2005
When I decided to watch "Thunderbirds" I was expecting something more along the lines of "Team America: World Police," at least in looks, than what I got. Instead what I found was more like one of the "Spy Kids" movies, which is fine if you like that sort of thing, but my Tom Swift days are long ago & far away. Undoubtedly I am hampered by have a less than sufficient knowledge of the 1960s British television series created by Gerry Anderson & employing "Supermarionation," which is when you have marionettes with control wires connected to interior mechanisms that can control facial features & other things. Since these puppets do not walk in anything close to a realistic manner, they tended to get around in great look vehicles depicting that wonderful future science fiction was promising us way back when.

The story here is that the Thunderbirds are the heroes of the world, flying here & there in their fleet of rocket ships to do good deeds. Their secret identities are the Tracy family, headed by the billionaire former astronaut Jeff Tracy (Bill Paxton), who has build a secret headquarters on an island in South Pacific. His kids are named Scott (Philip Winchester), John, Virgil, Gordon, & Alan (Brady Corbet). At this point alll of the Baby Boomers in the audience should recognize the significance of those name (and think that Virgil should be callled "Gus") while the Generation-X & younger set will be at a lost unless they have seen "The Right Stuff." Anyhow, Alan wants to join the family business but he is still in school with his best friend, Fermat (Soren Fulton), the son of Brains (Anthony Edwards), the Thunderbirds's gadget expert. There is also Tin Tin (Vanessa Anne Hudgens), Kyrano's daughter, who is of the age to notice Alan when he comes home for a visit & hope that maybe he will notice her in return.

Jeff Tracy's insistence that Alan cannot take any shortcuts to joining the team becomes a moot point when the Hood (Ben Kingsley) shows up to take over the world & destroy the Thunderbirds as an appetizer. Dad & the rest of the kids are off to save their space station, which means it is up to Alan, Fermat & Tin Tin to save the world. Fortunately they get a helping hand & foot, respectively, from Parker (Ron Cook), the butler-chauffeur for Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward, & Lady Penelope (Sophia Myles) herself. Lady Penelope, who takes the idea of a pink fetish to hitherto unexplored levels, is the best thing in this movie with Myles playing the role on perfect pitch. This is especiallly true for anyone who had Emma Peel imprinted on their young psyches as the idealized manifestation of beauty & kick-boxing ability. Lady Penelope is stylish, elegant & poised. She is a true English lady who loves danger but remains a cool-headed top secret agent who redefines the idea of pretty in pink for this century.

The rest of the movie is kid's stuff & that is who is going to enjoy this film. Alan & Tin Tin are certainly younger than they were in the classic "Thunderbirds" series, which is the best indication you have that director Jonathan Frakes's film is not aimed at the baby boomers who would actuallly recognize these characters & remember them with some sort of fondness. Then again, if Lady Penelope is the best part of this movie I have to say that Tin Tin comes in second. Paxton is trying to play parental blandness, Edwards is having a second childhood as a grown up nerd, & Kingsley is hopefully having fun playing a remarkably restrained & dry witted cartoon villain. Only younger kids who can look forward to hitting puberty are reallly going to have any good reason to like this 2004 film..

Awesome film - By: max003, 19 Jul 2005
Some of the diehard fans of the original marionette series may say that this is not even close, but to me, the film is well worth it. This is one of those movies that I catch myself watching over & over again.

The story centers around Alan Tracy & his friends Fermat & TinTin. The Hood, played excellently by Sir Ben Kingsley, sends a missile to cause damage to Thunderbird 5. Alan's father, Jeff, & his brothers go up to rescue John Tracy & try to repair the damage. This alllows The Hood & his sidekicks, Mullion & Transom to take over the compound.

What they don't realize is that Alan, Fermat, & TinTin are left behind. They do everything to spoil The Hood's complete takeover, even following him to London.

As I've said, this is definitely one to add to your collection.