Thunderbirds (film)
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| Thunderbirds | |
|---|---|
 Movie Poster for Thunderbirds |
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| Directed by | Jonathan Frakes |
| Starring | Brady Corbet |
| Music by | Hans Zimmer Ramin Djawadi |
| Cinematography | Brendan Galvin |
| Editing by | Martin Walsh |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | July 30, 2004 |
| Running time | 95 min |
| Country | USA France UK |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $57,000,000 |
| IMDb profile | |
Thunderbirds is a Universal Pictures release based upon the Thunderbirds television series of the 1960s, directed by Jonathan Frakes. The movie, written by William Osborne and Michael McCullers, was released on July 24, 2004 in the UK, with later dates for others. The film uses live-action actors playing the Tracy brothers rather than the Supermarionation marionettes used in the television series. There is extensive use of computer-generated imagery to create the illusion that the Thunderbirds, the fantastic machines which give the name to the production, are real. The film did fairly poorly at the box-office and critical response was mainly negative however it contained a soundtrack by Busted which included the hit single Thunderbirds Are Go.
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[edit] Plot
The year is 2010. Teenager Alan Tracy (Brady Corbet), sent off to a distant boarding school, is the youngest of the sons of Jeff Tracy, a retired American astronaut (played by Apollo 13 star Bill Paxton). Tracy, a widower, has formed International Rescue, and raised his sons to act as a secret, volunteer organisation which uses highly advanced technology to save lives worldwide. Tracy and his older sons (John, Virgil, Scott, and Gordon, who like Alan were named after the Mercury Seven astronauts) are joined in this effort by Lady Penelope and her butler/chauffeur Parker (a man whose "checkered past" comes in handy). Their futuristic hardware is largely developed by a genius scientist known as Brains (Anthony Edwards), who lives at the International Rescue base on Tracy Island, somewhere in the Pacific.
Alan is eager to join his family in their work, but his older brothers still see him as just their kid brother; not ready for duty. Alan is befriended by Brains' son Fermat (Soren Fulton) and has a budding romance with Tintin (Vanessa Anne Hudgens), adolescent daughter of Tracy Island's caretaker, Kyrano (Bhasker Patel), and the cook, Onaha.
Ben Kingsley portrays the arch-villain known as The Hood, a character introduced in the first episode of the television series, brother of Kyrano. Bitter over having been abandoned and presumed dead by the Thunderbirds in an early rescue attempt, he has come to destroy them and take their machines to use in a daring raid on the Bank of England (renamed Bank of London, for the film) vaults. He launches a missile to wreck Thunderbird 5, the orbiting communications station. The Tracys – except, of course, for Alan – launch into space aboard Thunderbird 3 to rescue John Tracy, who is manning the station when it is hit, and The Hood takes over the secret island base.
Using his mental powers to overcome Brains' resistance, The Hood takes control of the Thunderbirds' home base, aided by his criminal counterpart Transom (Rose Keegan) and strongman Mullion (Deobia Oparei). He also disables the control systems, stranding the rescuers aboard the disintegrating space station.
Alan, Tintin and Fermat, having observed the invasion of the Hood and his minions, then hearing his plans, launch a hasty resistance. Fermat disables heavy-lifter Thunderbird 2 as they retreat from the base, then flee to the mountaintop radio transmitter site. They make contact with Jeff Tracy, who tells them to wait for Lady Penelope to come and take charge. However, the impulsive Alan leads the other two teenagers into ill-planned action, resulting in their capture. Lady Penelope and Parker are likewise captured, and Alan is forced to give Thunderbird 2's missing guidance processer to the Hood. The island's defenders all end up locked in the walk-in freezer while The Hood, Transom and Mullion head off to London.
Escaping the freezer, the first order of business is to rescue Thunderbird 5 and the Tracys. Reporting The Hood's scheme, Alan gets his chance to go to work. He, Fermat and Tintin launch for London in Thunderbird 1, chaperoned by Lady Penelope.
The Hood and his accomplices, having arrived in London, use International Rescue's drilling machine The Mole to begin tunnelling toward the vaults at the Bank, in the process damaging the support pylons for a public-transit monorail, which falls into the River Thames. The pursuing Alan, Tintin and Fermat land next to Thunderbird 2, then begin their rescue of the submerged monorail and its passengers. Alan turns over piloting duties to Fermat, then launches in the Thunderbird 4 rescue submarine. When Alan and Fermat are unable to connect the lifting cable, Tintin dives into the water, swims down to the stricken monorail where she secures the cable, then joins Alan aboard Thunderbird 4. Jeff and his other sons arrive just in time to see the successful rescue, then Jeff, Alan, Tintin and Fermat rush to the bank, where they are joined by Parker.
Lady Penelope has been captured, and Jeff is soon imprisoned with her. Fermat and Parker keep Mullion at bay, while Tintin evades (then traps) Transom. She arrives on the scene just in time to see The Hood – her uncle – wiping the floor with Alan. She then proves that she has mental powers similar to her uncle's, which results in the evil Hood falling into mortal danger.
The Hood is soon rescued from the deadly predicament in which he is trapped by the newly-arrived other members of International Rescue, who then overpower him. With the evil-doers turned over to police custody, the Tracys return home, where the three young heroes are inducted into International Rescue...
[edit] Cast
- Brady Corbet .... Alan Tracy
- Soren Fulton .... Fermat Hackenbacker
- Vanessa Anne Hudgens .... Tintin Belagant
- Bill Paxton .... Jeff Tracy
- Philip Winchester .... Scott Tracy
- Dominic Colenso .... Virgil Tracy
- Ben Torgersen .... Gordon Tracy
- Lex Shrapnel .... John Tracy
- Anthony Edwards .... Dr. 'Brains' Hackenbacker
- Sophia Myles .... Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward
- Ron Cook .... Parker
- Ben Kingsley .... The Hood / Trangh Belagant
- Deobia Oparei .... Mullion
- Rose Keegan .... Transom
- Genie Francis.... TV Reporter Lisa Lowe
- Bhasker Patel .... Kyrano Belagant
- Harvey Virdi .... Onaha Belagant
[edit] Viewer response
The movie is essentially a science fiction adventure aimed at the very young, but with a great number of "in jokes" and references for the older generation which grew up with the original series, including visible strings on a character's hand in one scene.
By August 2004 the film had taken a relatively low worldwide total of about $21m (£11m). It cost $42m (£22m) to produce. The low turnout was partly the result of mixed reviews by the critics and vociferous complaints by longtime fans. Those familiar with the series tended to be more negative in their views, accusing the filmmakers of abandoning the concepts of the original series in favor of the Spy Kids angle, with reviewers dubbing it "Thunderbirds Are NO!" (a riff on the catchprase from the original series, "Thunderbirds are GO!").
Fans of the original series directed heavy criticism at the film through the Internet even before its release.
One of the few aspects of the film to receive positive acclaim (other than the special effects) was Sophia Myles' performance as iconic superspy Lady Penelope, a portrayal in a style identical to that of her television counterpart. The Thunderbirds craft, as well as Tracy Island, were also seen to be very close to the style of the original designs. Purists disliked the fact that FAB-1, Lady Penelope's car, was a Ford rather than a Rolls-Royce. However, this was because the producers could not reach a suitable agreement with Rolls-Royce; the car manufacturers insisting that only an actual production model could be used. Ford stepped in with special version of their Thunderbird model, duplicating the six-wheel system on the Supermarionation Rolls. FAB-1 steers with the four front tires.
The Ford Motor Company supplied a number of vehicles to the production, including an advanced off-road vehicle which prominently sported the Ford logo as well as many Ford C-Max MPVs and Ford F-150s in various locations, leading to jeers over the too-obvious level of product placement by the car manufacturers - a sentiment actually shared by director Jonathan Frakes, as revealed in the DVD audio commentary.
[edit] Differences with the original
Probably mostly because Gerry Anderson, the original creator, wasn't involved with the making of this movie there are notable changes from the original. The most obvious difference is the updated effects and new designs of the Thunderbirds. Most of them are now sleaker and look more modern, however most of them are still based on their original designs, with Thunderbird 4 deviating the most from its original design. Also Tracy Island had a major overhaul and of course FAB-1 changing from a Rolls Royce to a Ford. The organisation is also referred to as Thunderbirds instead of the original International Rescue.
Also the plot was changed dramatically by making the younger Tin-Tin, Alan Tracy and Fermat Hackenbacker, which is depicted as being Brains' son. In the original however Alan Tracy does tend to sometimes have a larger role than the others and certainly a more emotional storyline (especially in the Thunderbirds Are Go! movie), but he's never been the main character. Alan and Tin-Tin were in fact much closer to the age of the rest of the Tracy brothers, in fact Alan is captain of Thunderbird 3 from the very first episode. Fermat Hackenbacker was only seen in this movie, because there's no mention of Brains ever having a son. Also in the original Jeff Tracy never flew any of the Thunderbirds craft and there has never been an instance where he went off to the danger zone (with the exception of the episode "Brink of Disaster" because he was caught in the accident).
The movie deviates a lot from the original canon. First of all this movie is set in 2010 whilst the original seems to be set in about 2025-2026 with 2025 being the year of their debut (as in "Trapped in the Sky"). It's also stated by the Hood that he was left for dead in one of International Rescue's earlier missions, but in "Trapped in the Sky" he was already trying to get IR's technology, which he knew the existence of via Kyrano.
[edit] Film history
This was in fact the third theatrical release based upon the series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. It was preceded by Thunderbirds Are GO! in 1966 and Thunderbird 6 in 1968, both films using the Supermarionation production techniques of the series. Gerry Anderson had no involvement in the making of this film as his ex-wife Sylvia owns the film rights to the characters.[citation needed]
Timed to coincide with the theatrical release of Thunderbirds, the two prior films were released to video. The DVD versions of all three films include a number of extra features, including historical and production information.
