Les sentinelles de l'air!

The series concerns upon a family whose objectives are guard the world of the perils and risks originated by nefarious baddies who desire dominate it and rule over and avoid natural forces that create destructive catastrophes . It's an all time work for the astronaut Jeff Tracy , a courageous dad who orders rightly to his sons , some braves and young heroes who utilize extraordinary machines called ¨Thunderbirds¨ and the world depends of them . Thus, Thunderbird 1 (pilot Scott Tracy) , Thunderbird 2 (pilot Virgil) , Thunderbird 3 (Pilot Alan) , Aquanat 4 (pilot Gordon) , space monitor control (John). Besides , they are helped by engineer Brains , a stuttering nutty wise man and an attractive London agent , lady Penelope , and of course the chauffeur of her spectacular car .

Their missions are denominated ¨international rescue¨ carried out by the Thunderbirds , for example , in the episode ¨sun probe¨ they are saving a craft crew who lead to sun or confronting nasty enemies as the chapter titled ¨the uninvited¨ . ¨ Thunderbirds¨ emerge as an exciting and stimulating marionettes/action and with extraordinary airplanes and rockets controlled by the family members , intervening anywhere being necessary . This splendid series shot in Videcolor and Supermarionaton . The puppets are magnificent although are observed the wires that create the movement . The television series obtained a lot of success and today are considered a classic cult television . The episodes will appeal to nostalgics and children.

This is perfect entertainment.

Everyone can appreciate a good puppet show, and everyone can appreciate a good model; but this show took puppet shows and models to a bold new level of detailing and production complexity. I imagine that on paper it might have looked crazy to some, but believe me, it works. It is indeed, as mentioned in another viewer's comment, like a world of toys come to vibrant life.

The making of this show necessitated a fabricated miniature universe. For the premise to work, that world had to be obsessively detailed, with every doorknob, switch, coat button and lock of hair. If the show went to the mountains, they created the mountains. When the ships were in flight, they created the sky. Whatever was needed to pull the story off was built; there was no limit. That these people created a world as believably as they did deserves real praise.

"Thunderbirds" represented a budgetary step up and a refinement of technique for Gerry Anderson, who for years had worked to perfect an all-puppet TV show that could be taken as serious drama. It was always targeted at kids, but the stories seldom featured child characters, and being a "rescue show," the characters were routinely placed in very threatening predicaments. The effects used to depict scenes of destruction (supervised by Derek Meddings) were often frighteningly realistic. When I saw it as a kid, actually, I had no interest in it, because it seemed dry and "too adult." Seeing it many years later, my reaction was "Wow! How adult!"

The show is the source of many amusing chuckles today, mainly because its seriousness is absolutely unflinching, despite the fact that the puppets obviously aren't real people. The action was played straight, with appropriate dramatic music cues, and conventional film camera angles and cutting. This all conspired to create a very convincing puppet universe--one that no one would dare attempt today.

The recent DVD releases (from A&E) have gone through a digital cleanup process, which has brightened the colors and sharpened the images considerably. The original monaural audio has also been incorporated into a new surround-stereo "remix" featuring additional sound effects tracks. The augmented explosions are deafeningly loud at times--which is perhaps as it should be!

In a word: Amazing.

Thunderbirds was a top Gerry Anderson show right up there with Captain Scarlet and Stingray.

Thunderbirds is one of those shows which is enjoyable for so many reasons-the storylines, the action, the characters, the adventures.

Thunderbirds was longer than most other Gerry Anderson shows which allowed for better stories and better character development. The show was set around the Tracy Brothers who were behind International Rescue. They had 5 vehicles. Thunderbird 1 was a reconnaissance craft. Thunderbird 2 was a huge plane which could carry all types of equipment. Thunderbird 3 was a space rocket. Thunderbird 4 was a submarine and Thunderbird 5 was a space station. The head of International Rescue was Jeff Tracey. Throughout the series the Tracy boys were aided by Brains who always came up with a solution to problems they encountered. And they also received help from Lady Penelope and Parker as well. The Hood was the evil villain who attempted to steal their secrets but always failed.

The puppetry was amazing in this series and the adventures were great. International rescue got involved in all types of situations. My favourite episodes were Cry Wolf where a young lad makes a hoax call to International Rescue and Attack of the Alligators where International Rescue have to rescue some people from giant alligators.

This is a timeless classic and if there are any youngsters out there who have not watched it then I urge you to-it really is that good!

You know what I like about this show: it takes me back in time to the days when I loved to play with toys, the days when I used to spend the whole afternoon in the bedroom of a friend of mine playing on the floor with our toys, late into the night, imitating the sound of jet engines with our mouths, crashing our plastic planes into one another, mimicking gunfights, battles, explosions. A few weeks ago I was surprised to find that Chilean TV is replaying the show on Sundays. Last time I had seen one episode must have been fifteen years ago or more, I don't know. I watched and I found myself transported through time back to those days. I can't play with toys anymore, I have lost that childhood thing for toys. But watching the show I re-live the magic of toys, I feel again the beauty and the spell of toy trains, toy cars, toy trucks, toy soldiers, toy planes, etc. And I didn't remember the show looking so gorgeously great on TV (perhaps the reason for that is that back then I watched the show in black and white). Big fun from past!

Thunderbirds is justly remembered as Gerry Anderson's best series, and its mixture of memorable characters, superb production values, strong scripts, and tense action remains enticing. The concept of a "free-lance" rescue organization using highly advanced machinery for rescues in exceptionally dangerous situations hits home immediately, and the characterization (enhanced by the show's one-hour format) adds enormously to the tension and sympathy within the show's 32 episodes.

Anderson recruited a superior voice cast in Peter Dyneley, Shane Rimmer, David Holliday (who regrettably left the show after its first season), Matt Zimmerman, veteran AP Film voices David Graham and Ray Barrett, Christine Finn, Gerry's then-wife Sylvia, and John Tate. Though some of the dialogue can be a bit cheesy, it still works, imbuing each character with sympathy and draw. It all enhances the enjoyably lavish sets, props, and special effects that create the intriuguing mixture of future with circa-1964 present. Adding a sweep and majesty to the procedings is the score of Barry Gray, using a large orchestra and displaying an often clever grasp of its strength, from the opening teaser and main march openings to each episode through the many incidental cues used, employing multiple instruments down to a solo by banjo or guitar to create the proper atmosphere.

When it all comes to conclusion, the show wins on almost every level, making for an immortal series.