Thunderbirds Are GO

International Rescue make their big-screen debut in a fantastic Supermarionation adventure which puts many modern summer blockbusters to shame.

Impressive ( if now dated ) special effects and model sequences, together with a strong script and interesting characters ( and of course, Barry Gray's wonderful music ) make this a real treat.

Do you appreciate beautiful models? No, not THAT kind of beautiful models...I mean this kind!

This is the first of two feature film versions of the `Thunderbirds' TV show. If you're on the wavelength of this type of entertainment (i.e., willing to ignore the fact that the characters are puppets, and to simply accept them as real), you may find this to be very engaging viewing.

`Thunderbirds are GO!' makes use of a good number of the sets and puppets from the TV show, and throws in some new constructions. It doesn't bother explaining who any of the characters are, however, so if you're not familiar with the series, it may be difficult to tell which characters are the `stars' and which play supporting roles. Regardless, you will see amazing model work and puppetry, and the very naturalistic, serious, story-conscious approach typical of Gerry Anderson's work.

The `Supermarionation' method was designed to allow the filmmakers total control over the look of the characters--impossible with real actors--and a means to depict spectacular action at the fraction of the cost it would take were it realized with conventional full-size sets. But the sets, models and puppets are lovingly crafted, and cost a pretty penny to produce; in fact, the original shows were the most expensive British television produced at that time.

If you're lucky enough to see this feature in its original widescreen version, you will see the Supermarionation look in beautiful frame compositions! I'd love to see this in a theatre sometime. Grab this up at your local video store if they have it!

I have just been watching this movie and felt that as the only other comment on it was some excuse for a review by some person with rather questionable views above, i thought i'd lend my opinion (after all, i couldn't be any worse). "Thunderbirds Are Go", the first full-length feature film version of Gerry & Sylvia Anderson's top fantasy series of the 60's is quite a landmark indeed.

Landmark (?), i hear you ask. Well, yes. The whole Thunderbirds series was nothing but pure Hollywood at it's best; and this movie - as well as the one that came afterwards - only served to expand that tradition, whilst still maintaining the elements and formula that made it famous in the first place in 1965. The movie, has style, wit, incredible drama, and for its time, an astonishing view of the mid-21st.Century. Of course, most of it was pure fantasy and could never ever be real. The amount of times i've heard it said that the Thunderbirds machines couldn't even get off the ground is enormous. But that's ok, it's fantasy. And what good would a decent adventure be, if it didn't transport you out of reality and into a fascinating fantasy world where everything was different! As i say, the best Hollywood tradition. And of course, what made these productions so very special (at least to us Brits), was that 1. it was British, and 2. the heroes were all Puppets! Unbelievable to this day, i know. Yet as we are soon to be confronted by a million dollar live-action Thunderbirds epic, i think it is true to point out, that the main charm in the Thunderbirds adventures WAS the fact that they were acted by Puppets. So charming, so much a throwback to our own innocence (let alone a throwback to a much more innocent time when it was made); how could that be improved upon? The model work and special effects, especially the Zero-X Space-probe, are all extremely effective (as you would expect from Derek Meddings), and whether you are a Thunderbirds fan or not, it will be hard to knock this piece of Movie/TV history off it's perch. This movie being years ahead of its time, a great piece of fun and a fine addition to a classic series.

In the 1960's, British TV producer Gerry Anderson and his wife, Sylvia, went about making a series of shows based around a highly functional set of marionettes which where built around a process called Supermarionation, a speech syncronization system designed to have the puppet's mouth move in sync with the voice actor reading it's lines.

Combining it with some of the most fanciful designs of futuristic societies, they spawned a slew of shows including "Joe 90", about a boy with the ability to be programmed like a computer to do anything, from pilot a stolen jet fighter to perform brain surgery: "Fireball XL-5", a galactic adventure onboard a massive space cruiser, "Stingray", the tales of a super sub working for the World Aquatic Security Patrol ("W.A.S.P."), "Captain Scarlet", tales of an indestructible agent in a war against unseen Martian invaders called The Mysterons, et al.

Perhaps the Anderson's most famous and popular show in the hearts and minds of it's fans is "Thunderbirds". The background is simple. John Tracy, former astronaut and billionaire industrialist, decides to use his wealth to help the world by creating "International Rescue", a secret force of super vehicles designed by an in-house genius known simply as "Brain" and manned by his sons, each a superb athlete and trained expert in their fields (It is no doubt to some that his sons would have been Xtreme sports enthusiasts given the times). Brain's creations are the Thunderbirds, a set of highly specialized rescue and response vehicles each designed for specific purposes.

Thunderbird One is a hypersonic VTOL (Vertical Take Off and Landing) vehicle used as a mobile command center. Thunderbird Two is a heavy lifter, capable of transporting pods containing rescue equipment to any location, from a subterranean "Mole" to the aquatic Thunderbird Four. Thunderbird Three is a space ship, launched from under the Tracy Island estate's pool (the vehicles launch sequences are themselves something to behold, since International Rescue is a secret organization, the deployment of the vehicles must also be the same, leading to some of the most unique ways of converting the Tracy Island compound into a launch & retrieval complex). As for Thunderbird Five, it is a monitoring station orbiting in space, listening in on the world's airwaves for the call.

A pink, armoured futuristic Rolls Royce bearing the license plate FAB-1 also come into play, as the property of one Lady Penelope, British aristocrat and undercover agent for International Rescue. Driven by a former resident of Wormwood Scrubs Prison known simply as Parker, it is bullet-proof,has an exceptionally heavy bit or ordinance under it's hood and is capable of Hydrofoil work on the water.

The way that they pull this off without it turning into a low rent kiddie show was from the contributions of such people as Derek Meddings, designer or the ships as well as the space craft and miniatures for movies like "Krull", "Moonraker", "Goldeneye" and many James Bond films. Barry Gray's scoring duties bring real tension and drama to the adventure.

Anderson was no slouch himself, creating many inventive effects shots using the highly detailed miniatures. This movie, surrounding the attempted sabotage and eventual rescue of a Mars exploration mission, displays the tools of Anderson's craft quite well. Look for another movie, Thunderbird 6, as well as newly digitally remastered releases of the original episodes on the shelves (and no, they did not digitally erase the wires). It is truly one of the best guilty pleasures from the past.

It also marked the end of Supermarionation, for with the exception of one puppet show ("Terrahawks"), Anderson's productions went into live actors, but still carried on the traditions of awesome miniatures with shows like "U.F.O", "Space:1999" and "Space Precinct".

Unfortunately,the big budget adaptation of the series, released in 2005, directed by Johnathan Frakes (Commander Will Riker of "Star Trek:The Next Generation"), was a muddled, childish piece of dreck which totally ruined the hopes of many aging fans of the original show for a decent and reverent homage to Anderson's vision, which probably explains his refusal to have anything to do with the movie.

Oh, what a wonderful movie this was to me when I was a child of the sixties! Just enough British sensibility to be "foreign" and different, enough action and plot to hold my interest and, probably pretty important, the rocket ships and planes resembled my 1960s toys so it made me want to rush home and play with them, imagining very closely that I too was a member of the Thunderbird team. Seeing this again after all these years, it still retains some of that playtime magic and I can still see why it held my sttention as a youth. Recommended for the young and (forgive the hopeless cliche, but it is the only one that fits...) young at heart.