Thunderbird 6

With all due repect to the user who somehow remembers the ancient Republic serials doing a better live action/effects mix that this high-tech Sixties extravaganza, you really won't see the join in Medding's seamless recreation of a British motorway (built in one third scale and mixed with real motorway shots for the climactic Tigermoth escape sequence). Indeed, so realistic is this shot that on the DVD commentary Sylvia Anderson (who spends most of her time pointing out the live action shots vs the model shots, like we really need to know) exclaimes "now that's definitely not a model shot!". Sorry Sylv, love, it is and it's quite likely the best you'll ever see (or be hoodwinked by). If you love Thunderbirds, the Andersons or just damn fine effect work, come worship at the alter of Derek Meddings: see Thunderbird Six.

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Thunderbird 6; here's the breakdown of my ratings:

Story: 1.25 Direction: 1.50 Pace: 1.25 Acting: 1.25 Enjoyment: 1.25

TOTAL: 6.50 out of 10.00

As a kid, I always found the Thunderbirds to be a rather uninteresting viewing. I know, wash my mouth out. But I was too young to appreciate the story or the marionette action. At that age, I needed more bang and flash and much less plot. Luckily, I've aged to a point where I can appreciate those things - and more.

Gerry and Sylvia Anderson take the writers' seats for this big-picture Thunderbird outing. On the whole, they do a decent enough job. However, there appear to be a few alterations to International Rescue's secrecy policy. At the movie's opening, Brains is in a meeting with a top aeronautical company to get his new invention off the ground - a technologically advanced airship. This conference takes place in complete secrecy, and the board members never meet Brains. Once the airship's construction is complete, the International Rescue team receive an invite on its maiden voyage. And as we progress through the story, it becomes evident that the hijackers also know their passengers are International Rescue. So much for keeping a secret, huh? Sadly, the Andersons had to drop the concealment issues due to poor story structuring. This neglect allows the hijackers to bug and record Lady Penelope, enabling them to splice together a recorded message - A message that'll drop the Thunderbirds into The Black Phantom's trap. So the bad guys not only know their passengers' secret identities, but also the content and style of the message they're required to send? Brains should check their security and stop messing about trying to come up with a Thunderbird 6. But apart from that glaring inconsistency, the story is pretty solid. The characterisations are spot on, which is how they should be since their creators are writing their story. And in this journey, the Andersons have taken the marionettes a step closer to a more adult world. There are more killings in this film than in all the TV shows. But what got me was the body dumping of the original aircrew in the ocean. I thought it was great, but I have a dark sense of humour. Luckily for the audience, they've not introduced sex into the International Rescue universe - otherwise, we'd have to have a character called Richard Woodcock.

David Lane does a marvellous job with the direction. The one thing that he could've altered to make for a more enjoyable movie was the tempo. He gives T6 a quick stroll of a pace. This speed doesn't always work with the more thrilling aspects of the narrative, like the shoot-outs. In truth, it has the opposite effect and makes them a tad dull. Had he edited quicker, the speedier transitions would have built up the tension and excitement. Where he excels is with the model-to-real-life shifts. The best example of this is the Tiger Moth Bi-Plane. There are at least two versions. One is a remote control model, and the other is a real piloted aeroplane. Having a real aircraft allows Lane to capture more realistic flight scenes with actual scenery and vistas. It works particularly well in the end rescue sequence - you hardly notice the segues.

As for the performances, the puppeteers are excellent, and the vocal talents are okay. It would've been nice had the actors and actresses put more energy into their portrayals. When your body is actually sculptured from wood, I believe you need to steer clear of wooden acting. By and large, the performers do this. However, there are moments when a few slide towards the lumber pile - namely, Sylvia Anderson as Lady Penelope.

Thunderbird 6 isn't brilliant, but it's enjoyable enough to waste an hour-and-a-half on a lazy Sunday afternoon. It's one of those films you can stick on for the Grandkids, tell them how much you enjoyed it, and then drift off into snooze-land as they baulk and moan at how boring and stupid it is. Ah, those precious family moments.

Okay, I've cleared a runway, so land that Thunderbird and nip over here to scrutinize my IMDb lists - The Final Frontier, The Game Is Afoot, Let's Get Animated, and Holding Out For A Hero to see where I ranked Thunderbird 6.

Take Care & Stay Well.

Having just completed on working as an expert contractor on the production of "Airship One" – a revolutionary new airship – with a private airline company, Brains is tasked with performing his day job. Despite the thunderbirds generally able to cope with the problems facing them, and no other siblings to drive the bloody thing, Jeff Tracy decides he needs a new ship – Thunderbird 6. While Brains tries to design something without Tracy giving him even a hint of a spec to work from, Lady Penelope, Alan, Tin Tin and Parker are guests of honour on the maiden voyage of Airship One.

I could criticise it on the basis of plot but that would be akin to clubbing a baby seal because, despite howlers in logic and such the story pretty much does what it is required to do in setting up various adventures for the Thunderbirds to get into. It has elements of bigger themes but seems happy just to stick to the basics and doesn't do anything that interesting and lacks any real excitement or tension. Of course this has something to do with the delivery which is, obviously, quite wooden. To fans though this is all part of the appeal and those that enjoy the series will find more of the same here and will enjoy it as such. Casual viewers will be distracted by it for its novelty value but (like me) may struggle to care enough to stick with it.

The puppets are just what you expect and the models are good for their period – we're not talking Star Wars here but it has an unique feel that is unmistakably Gerry Anderson. Again it is not really fair to criticise it simply for being what I knew it would be so it did look good for what it was. The voice cast are solid enough but Finn (Tin-Tin) is the weakest of the lot, making her young woman sounds like some old woman in the post office.

Overall though, you know what you are getting when you start this. It is a solid and dated affair which won't win over too many children nowadays but fans will enjoy it because it does just what the series did – if you liked that then you should like this.

By the time this belated TV spin-off appeared, Captain Scarlet had come and gone and Thunderbirds was yesterday's news. Such was the shallow fickle values of us kids back in the 60's. I was very surprised to see this announced for production in TV TORNADO. I recall the vast amount of hype the original film received and assumed for years it had been a box-office success. However, the whole Anderson supermarionation empire was in its decline as fashions changed by the late 60's. Joe 90 was to appear to a less-than-rapturous reception and The Secret Service was virtually stillborn. At least Joe got his own comic and a Big Rat toy. All I recall of The Secret Service was a clip on Magpie and a Sweet cigarette picture card of the Rev Unwin. This might not have mattered so much if the Anderson's had learnt the lesson of the previous film. How many producers get the opportunity to make a sequel to a film that flopped? While the plot against the Tracey's by Black Phantom (is it really a suddenly vain toupeed Hood?) is a more satisfyingly personal drama as opposed to the Zero X launch, the whole plot is, again, a bog-standard TV episode dragged out with whimsical foreign interludes that exercised the model makers ingenuity but fatally kill any sense of pace. The finale of the Skyship delicately balanced on the aerial wrenches up the tension but is too little too late - and it drops onto a missile base for added pyrotechnic value. I recall some publicity being raised on national TV news by the live-action shots of the bi-plane roaring over an unfinished motorway. I suspect Anderson was more interested in these as a calling card to show he could handle live-action as opposed to puppetry so - like The Secret Service - this serves as a transitional film to the human-based melodramatics of the 70's with UFO and Space 1999. While Anderson could handle full-sized action, endowing his non-marionette figures with any breath of humanity often proved beyond him.

Having just seen the Thunderbirds (2004) remake, I've decided that Thunderbird 6 is great although I've bagged Thunderbirds are GO in the past (the other movie that spelt the end of the TV franchise). But it brings up the question yet again, like the show, why if International Rescue is to remain secret do the members of it keep going around telling everyone who they are! And why would IR go on this around-the-world trip when it isn't a rescue situation?

Still, I think the sets and special effects are great and parts are suspenseful, but I could've done with less of Alan and Jeff Tracy (two really annoying characters even if they are puppets) and more of the other characters. And Brians' little tiff at Jeff's 'bullying' of him to build another Thunderbird quick smart, reminds me of a workmate who was having a hard time with the boss and who...oh, never mind.

Slow but good stuff.