Les sentinelles de l'air!

The Thunderbirds used be one of my favorite shows as a child. The other day my son pulled a tape out of our video collection and asked to see it. It warmed my heart to see that he liked it for the same reasons I did. The Thunderbirds is one of several shows done by Gary and Sylvia Anderson. All their shows are the stuff of science fiction legend. These include Stingray, Captain Scarlet, Super car and the Thunderbirds are all puppets shows. The live action shows include the movie "Journey to the Farside of the Sun," the TV shows "UFO" and "Space: 1999" The style of super cool models for cars, planes, ships and spacecraft are common to all the shows. All the shows had a futuristic late 1960's style. Does any one remember the women with the purple hair in mini-skirts from UFO?

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!

When I was a kid I used to get up at 5am to watch this show (pre-video recorder days) with with the volume turned down low so I wouldn't wake my family. Recently, I came across one of the videos in the library and have been slowly rewatching them since. It ain't just nostalgia for my youth motivating me - I still love the models of the planes, spaceships, satelittes, sea ships, nuclear power stations, etc, which are brillantly done. The convincing explosions are still so exciting. The colours are phenomenal - you know that 60's TV colour - pastels and grey and stuff. Plus the jet engine soundtrack and the crazy fashions (those Tracy boys wearing their button down shirts and jackets even though they live on a private island and they complain about it being a warm day). Those jaunty little (impractical) caps. So cool (well the 60s have come back in fashion several times since).

Hell, the characters took second fiddle to the machines and the accidents, but there was just enough given away so the audience could extrapolate whatever they liked (like Garbo's face). If you actually watch them all, you're never actually told, say, that John is frustrated that he doesn't go on enough missions, but it is stated as fact in all the books and the websites. Or that Scott is a light sleeper. And sure it is riddled with errors as well - like that they must protect their identities and keep the island base top secret, but Jeff Tracy gives out his name in one episode to the US navy. Well, d'oh! And there is some really stupid technical stuff (same episode where the Empire State building collapses - but it topples over rather than collapses down on itself as we now know skyscrapers do). But aren't all TV shows stupid and simplitic (think Buffy, think Star Trek, think Soapies!).

It is so quaint - hey, these days the idea of five men in the early 20s sharing an island with one young woman (Tin Tin), and constantly being involved in dangerous rescues - well, there would be fighting and drugs, nervous breakdowns, sex and rebellion.

There is a movie slated for 2004. Hopefully it will update this little pearler of a show, and avoid being the next Lost in Space debacle.

An ancient kids T.V. show featuring string puppets and models suspended on wires. Nobody's gonna watch this, right? Wrong.

From the superb intro sequence on you'll be hooked! It wins in every department: music, production, direction; even the model sequences, dated though the techniques now are, work brilliantly (and so they should - the guy who supervised them was Derek Meddings, who went on to do the effects for several of the Bond films, as well as Batman and Superman).

Find this series on tape or scan your T.V. listings. You won't regret it. There were 32 fifty-minute episodes and each was a little gem. There were also two cinematic feature films!

Thunderbirds Are Go!

5......4.......3.........2.........1......

THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO!!!!!

And what youngster who didn't recognized the start of the show's theme during the 1960's where the era of James Bond, mini-skirts, and just about every spy show there is to boot?

First off,I am a HUGE fan of this show. My parents didn't understand it. My brother didn't care about it. As for me and my cousin who would thumb through the TV section in the local newspaper to see what time it came on....DEFINITELY YES!!!! WE WOULD NEVER MISS IT!!!!

During my childhood in the late-1960's and early 1970's,this show would come on every weekday afternoon and mostly Saturday mornings and afternoons as well as me and my cousin would be hooked to the TV set to catch what the Thunderbirds would get into next cause with this show you can expect the unexpected. For some,they may say that this show consisted of models and puppets and geared toward children as it target audience.....and in my book.....THEY WERE WRONG! THIS SHOW ROCKS!!!!

For the 32 episodes that ran during its two seasons(which was showed first in Britain and then on American television on NBC-TV which after it went off the air in 1966,its repeats continue way into 1970 and from there into syndication until for the remainder of the decade until it disappear in oblivion during the 1980's and 1990's)this show was not just your typical kiddie fare material but it was so more much. Where else can you see gorgeous ladies in distress,spectacular machinary that was out of this world and was the best part of the show,amazing spy gadgets and outlandish sets of wonder and magical beyond belief,and not to even mention evil villains set out to take over the world and also spellbinding cliffhanging excitement that left you in total amazement.

All presented in brilliant color and Supermarionation!!!!

It was no wonder that when the show went off the air in 1966,the crew made their first ever feature length motion picture of the same title which was an international hit. However,the Thunderbird producers Garry and Sylvia Anderson went on to create not just other animated shows,but produced the live-action feature length film "Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun"(ITC/Universal,1969)and the series "Space:1999"(Syndication, 1975-1978)with former Mission:Impossible stars Barbara Bain and Martin Landau.

However after a lengthly absence,The Technology Channel or Tech-TV has brought back all those wonderful memories from the essence of my childhood which are showed Thursday nights. Great series. Don't miss one breathtaking episode!