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Thunderbirds (film)
Encyclopedia
Thunderbirds is a 2004 science-fiction adventure film
loosely based upon the television series of the same name
of the 1960s, directed by Jonathan Frakes
.
The film, written by William Osborne and Michael McCullers
, was released on July 24, 2004 in the United Kingdom and July 30, 2004 in the United States, 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.
The film had mainly negative reviews, and was a financial failure at the box office. The film's soundtrack features the song "Thunderbirds
" by boyband Busted which reached number one in the UK charts
and later won the 2004 Record of the Year
award.
(Brady Corbet
), sent off to a distant boarding school
, is the youngest of the sons of Jeff Tracy
, a retired American astronaut
(Bill Paxton
). Jeff, 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. Jeff 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 genius scientist Ray "Brains
" Hackenbacker (Anthony Edwards
), who lives at the International Rescue base on Tracy Island, somewhere in the Pacific, along with his son, Alan's best friend, Fermat (Soren Fulton
). There's also caretaker
Kyrano (Bhasker Patel), cook, Onaha, and their adolescent daughter, Tintin (Vanessa Hudgens), who does not seem to get on with Alan, although Lady Penelope observes that the two actually have a budding romance. Alan is eager to join his family in their work, but his older brothers still see him as just their little kid brother; not ready for duty.
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 confederates Transom (Rose Keegan
) and strongman
Mullion (Deobia Oparei). He also disables the control systems, stranding the rescuers aboard the disintegrating Thunderbird 5, briefly transmitting a message to reveal his connections to the organisation's history. 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 arrive on the Island to help Alan, but they find The Hood has taken the Tracy Mansion, and a fight begins with Lady Penelope and Parker against Mullion and Transom whom they managed to defeat but are likewise captured when they are overpowered by The Hood's mental powers, and Alan is forced to give Thunderbird 2s missing guidance processor 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 as he manages to convince Jeff to let him, Fermat and Tintin go after the Hood as his father and brothers would never make it in time. John, Brains and Lady Penelope back Alan up and Jeff reluctantly accepts. The three launch for London in Thunderbird 1, chaperoned by Lady Penelope and piloted by Alan and Fermat while Parker heads for the Bank of London to meet up with them in FAB 1.
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
. Alan, Tintin and Fermat land next to Thunderbird 2, then they 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 and Jeff get captured and Fermat and Parker defeat Mullion by working together. As Alan and Jeff try to find the Hood, Alan asks his father if the Hood was telling the truth about Jeff abandoning him, Jeff admitting that he left the Hood behind during the rescue but also admitting that he only did it because he couldn't see any way to save the Hood that wouldn't have resulted in the deaths of both. Alan and Hood fight while Tintin traps Transom. With Hood using his mental abilities, Alan starts to lose but Tintin arrives on the scene just in time. She then proves that she has mental powers similar to her uncle's and actually overpowers him in the resulting duel (presumably due to The Hood being weakened from fighting Alan as he grew weaker the longer he used his powers), which results in the evil Hood falling into mortal danger. Alan, who has to choose between saving the Hood and letting him die, saves him, saying, "I don't want to save your life, but it's what we do."
The Hood, Mullion and Transom are arrested by the police with the Hood promising to "see you soon, Jeff." With the evil-doers turned over to police custody, the Tracys return home, where the three young heroes are inducted into International Rescue. Moments later, a call from the President has the Thunderbirds (minus Jeff who stays behind, but including Alan and presumably Fermat and Tintin) off on another mission.
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 and the Hood's mind powers causing Brains to walk like his original puppet counterpart.
By August 2004, the film had taken a relatively low worldwide total of about $28,000,000. It cost roughly $57,000,000 to produce. The film received mixed to negative reviews, but had a mixed fanbase. 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 favour of the Spy Kids
angle, with reviewers dubbing it "Thunderbirds Are No-Go!" (a riff on the catchphrase from the original series, "Thunderbirds are GO!"). Empire
gave the film two out of five stars. Rotten Tomatoes
gave the film a 20% "rotten" rating and a consensus calling the film a "Live-action cartoon for kids." Yahoo! Movies
and Entertainment Weekly
gave the film a C+ rating. Metacritic
gave the film 36 of 100.
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 BMW
, who own the Rolls-Royce marque; the car manufacturer insisted 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
, a Ford Windstar
, a Ford Ka
and Ford Thunderbird
which are owned by Lady Penelope, as well as many Ford C-MAX 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.
During development, creator Gerry Anderson
was invited to act as creative consultant
, but was left out when the studio felt there were enough employees on the payroll acting as part of the creative team. The studio offered him $750,000 (£432,000) to attend the premiere but Anderson could not accept money from people he had not worked for. He eventually saw the film on DVD and was disappointed, declaring "It was disgraceful that such a huge amount of money was spent with people who had no idea what Thunderbirds was about and what made it tick." He also said that it was "the biggest load of crap I have ever seen in my entire life."
Co-creator Sylvia Anderson
, and the one responsible for character development, was given a private screening of the film and attended the London premiere. She had a far different opinion. "I felt that I’d been on a wonderful Thunderbirds adventure. You, the fans, will I’m sure, appreciate the sensitive adaptation and I’m personally thrilled that the production team have paid us the great compliment of bringing to life our original concept for the big screen. If we had made it ourselves (and we have had over 30 years to do it!) we could not have improved on this new version. It is a great tribute to the original creative team who inspired the movie all those years ago. It was a personal thrill for me to see my characters come to life on the big screen."
, a boutique island resort in the Seychelles
, although originally said to be somewhere in the South Pacific, presumably Fiji
, Samoa
. Tonga
, or French Polynesia
.
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.
Thunderbirds was dedicated to the memory of Stephen Lowen. Stephen Lowen is credited as a Rigger on the film.
Timed to coincide with the theatrical release of Thunderbirds, the two prior films were released on DVD. The DVD versions of all three films include a number of extra features, including historical and production information.
Adventure film
Adventure films are a genre of film.Unlike pure, low-budget action films they often use their action scenes preferably to display and explore exotic locations in an energetic way....
loosely based upon the television series of the same name
Thunderbirds (TV series)
Thunderbirds is a British mid-1960s science fiction television show devised by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and made by AP Films using a form of marionette puppetry dubbed "Supermarionation"...
of the 1960s, directed by Jonathan Frakes
Jonathan Frakes
Jonathan Scott Frakes is an American actor, author and director best known for his role as Commander William T. Riker in the Star Trek franchise, as well as for his tenure as host of Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction ....
.
The film, written by William Osborne and Michael McCullers
Michael McCullers
Michael McCullers is an American comedy film screenwriter.-Biography:A native of Indian Springs Village, Alabama, McCullers is a former writer on Saturday Night Live and is best known for co-writing the script for two Austin Powers movies, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and Austin Powers...
, was released on July 24, 2004 in the United Kingdom and July 30, 2004 in the United States, with later dates for others. The film uses live-action actors playing the Tracy brothers rather than the Supermarionation
Supermarionation
Supermarionation is a puppetry technique devised in the 1960s by British production company AP Films. It was used extensively in the company's numerous Gerry and Sylvia Anderson-produced action-adventure series, the most famous of which was Thunderbirds...
marionettes used in the television series.
The film had mainly negative reviews, and was a financial failure at the box office. The film's soundtrack features the song "Thunderbirds
Thunderbirds/3am
"3AM / Thunderbirds Are Go!" is a double A-side single by UK pop band, Busted, as the fourth single from their second album A Present for Everyone Released in July 2004, "Thunderbirds Are Go!" was not originally included on A Present for Everyone, and written for the 2004 film Thunderbirds,...
" by boyband Busted which reached number one in the UK charts
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
and later won the 2004 Record of the Year
The Record of the Year
The Record of the Year is an award voted by the UK public. For many years it was given in conjunction with television programmes of the same name...
award.
Plot
The film is set in spring 2020. Fourteen-year-old Alan TracyAlan Tracy
Alan Tracy is a fictional character from Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation television show Thunderbirds and the subsequent films Thunderbirds Are GO and Thunderbird 6. The character also appeared in the 2004 live action movie Thunderbirds....
(Brady Corbet
Brady Corbet
Brady James Monson Corbet is an American actor. Corbet is known for playing Mason Freeland in the film Thirteen, Brian Lackey in the film Mysterious Skin, Alan Tracy in the 2004 film Thunderbirds, and Peter in the 2008 film Funny Games...
), sent off to a distant boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
, is the youngest of the sons of Jeff Tracy
Jeff Tracy
Jeff Tracy is a fictional character from Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's Supermarionation television show Thunderbirds and the subsequent films Thunderbirds Are GO and Thunderbird 6. The voice for the character in these shows was supplied by Peter Dyneley. The character also appeared in the live...
, a retired American astronaut
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
(Bill Paxton
Bill Paxton
William "Bill" Paxton is an American actor and film director. He gained popularity after starring roles in the films Apollo 13, Twister, Aliens, True Lies, and Titanic...
). Jeff, a widower, has formed International Rescue, and raised his sons to act as a secret, volunteer organisation which uses highly advanced technology
Thunderbirds machines
The Gerry Anderson Supermarionation television series Thunderbirds and the subsequent feature films Thunderbirds Are Go and Thunderbird 6 featured a large variety of futuristic air, land and sea vehicles and machines, the majority of which were designed by special effects director Derek...
to save lives worldwide. Jeff and his older sons (John
John Tracy (Thunderbirds)
John Tracy is a fictional character from Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation television show Thunderbirds and the subsequent films Thunderbirds Are GO and Thunderbird 6...
, Virgil
Virgil Tracy
Virgil Tracy is a fictional character from Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation television show Thunderbirds and the subsequent films Thunderbirds Are GO and Thunderbird 6. The character also appeared in the live action movie Thunderbirds....
, Scott
Scott Tracy
Scott Tracy is a fictional character from Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation television show Thunderbirds and the subsequent films Thunderbirds Are GO and Thunderbird 6. The character also appeared in the live action movie Thunderbirds....
, and Gordon
Gordon Tracy
Gordon Tracy is a fictional character from Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation television show Thunderbirds and the subsequent films Thunderbirds Are GO and Thunderbird 6. The character also appeared in the live action movie Thunderbirds....
, who like Alan were named after the Mercury Seven
Mercury Seven
Mercury Seven was the group of seven Mercury astronauts selected by NASA on April 9, 1959. They are also referred to as the Original Seven and Astronaut Group 1...
astronauts) are joined in this effort by Lady Penelope and her butler
Butler
A butler is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some also have charge of the entire parlour floor, and housekeepers caring for the entire house and its...
/chauffeur
Chauffeur
A chauffeur is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or limousine.Originally such drivers were always personal servants of the vehicle owner, but now in many cases specialist chauffeur service companies, or individual drivers provide...
Parker
Aloysius "Nosey" Parker
Aloysius "Nosey" Parker is a fictional character in the television series Thunderbirds, the feature films Thunderbirds Are GO and Thunderbird 6 and the 2004 live action film Thunderbirds....
(a man whose "checkered past" comes in handy). Their futuristic hardware is largely developed by genius scientist Ray "Brains
Brains (Thunderbirds)
Brains is a fictional character in the 1960s British Supermarionation television series Thunderbirds, its sequel films Thunderbirds Are Go and Thunderbird 6 , and the 2004 live-action remake film Thunderbirds. Brains was born 14 November 2040 and was orphaned when a hurricane struck his family's...
" Hackenbacker (Anthony Edwards
Anthony Edwards
Anthony Charles Edwards is an American actor and director. He has appeared in various movies and television shows, including Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Top Gun, Zodiac, Revenge of the Nerds, Northern Exposure and ER.-Early life:Edwards was born in Santa Barbara, California, the son of Erika...
), who lives at the International Rescue base on Tracy Island, somewhere in the Pacific, along with his son, Alan's best friend, Fermat (Soren Fulton
Soren Fulton
Soren Fulton is an American teen actor, best known for playing Rob Austin in A Ring of Endless Light, Caleb Cottrell in Saving Sarah Cain, and Fermat in Thunderbirds. He also voiced the character Mordred in Justice League. He starred in the television pilot of The Oaks, playing Young Dan...
). There's also caretaker
Property caretaker
A Property caretaker is a person, group or organization that cares for real estate for trade or financial compensation, and sometimes as a barter for rent-free living accommodations...
Kyrano (Bhasker Patel), cook, Onaha, and their adolescent daughter, Tintin (Vanessa Hudgens), who does not seem to get on with Alan, although Lady Penelope observes that the two actually have a budding romance. Alan is eager to join his family in their work, but his older brothers still see him as just their little kid brother; not ready for duty.
Ben Kingsley
Ben Kingsley
Sir Ben Kingsley, CBE is a British actor. He has won an Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards in his career. He is known for starring as Mohandas Gandhi in the film Gandhi in 1982, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor...
portrays the arch-villain known as The Hood
The Hood (Thunderbirds)
The Hood is the main villain and adversary of International Rescue in the Thunderbirds TV series.-TV series:The Hood's precise origins are unknown but it is thought to have been based loosely on Wayne Pembridge...
, 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
Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...
(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
Space
Space is the boundless, three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction. Physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless four-dimensional continuum...
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
Mind
The concept of mind is understood in many different ways by many different traditions, ranging from panpsychism and animism to traditional and organized religious views, as well as secular and materialist philosophies. Most agree that minds are constituted by conscious experience and intelligent...
powers
Psionics
Psionics refers to the practice, study, or psychic ability of using the mind to induce paranormal phenomena. Examples of this include telepathy, telekinesis, and other workings of the outside world through the psyche.-History and terminology:...
to overcome Brains' resistance, The Hood takes control of the Thunderbirds home base, aided by his confederates Transom (Rose Keegan
Rose Keegan
Rose Keegan is an English actress of stage, film and television. She trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama. She is the daughter of the military historian Sir John Keegan, and grew up at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst....
) and strongman
Strongman (strength athlete)
In the 19th century, the term strongman referred to an exhibitor of strength or circus performers of similar ilk who displayed feats of strength such as the bent press , supporting large amounts of...
Mullion (Deobia Oparei). He also disables the control systems, stranding the rescuers aboard the disintegrating Thunderbird 5, briefly transmitting a message to reveal his connections to the organisation's history. 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 arrive on the Island to help Alan, but they find The Hood has taken the Tracy Mansion, and a fight begins with Lady Penelope and Parker against Mullion and Transom whom they managed to defeat but are likewise captured when they are overpowered by The Hood's mental powers, and Alan is forced to give Thunderbird 2s missing guidance processor 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
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
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 as he manages to convince Jeff to let him, Fermat and Tintin go after the Hood as his father and brothers would never make it in time. John, Brains and Lady Penelope back Alan up and Jeff reluctantly accepts. The three launch for London in Thunderbird 1, chaperoned by Lady Penelope and piloted by Alan and Fermat while Parker heads for the Bank of London to meet up with them in FAB 1.
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
Monorail
A monorail is a rail-based transportation system based on a single rail, which acts as its sole support and its guideway. The term is also used variously to describe the beam of the system, or the vehicles traveling on such a beam or track...
, which falls into the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
. Alan, Tintin and Fermat land next to Thunderbird 2, then they 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
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
. 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 and Jeff get captured and Fermat and Parker defeat Mullion by working together. As Alan and Jeff try to find the Hood, Alan asks his father if the Hood was telling the truth about Jeff abandoning him, Jeff admitting that he left the Hood behind during the rescue but also admitting that he only did it because he couldn't see any way to save the Hood that wouldn't have resulted in the deaths of both. Alan and Hood fight while Tintin traps Transom. With Hood using his mental abilities, Alan starts to lose but Tintin arrives on the scene just in time. She then proves that she has mental powers similar to her uncle's and actually overpowers him in the resulting duel (presumably due to The Hood being weakened from fighting Alan as he grew weaker the longer he used his powers), which results in the evil Hood falling into mortal danger. Alan, who has to choose between saving the Hood and letting him die, saves him, saying, "I don't want to save your life, but it's what we do."
The Hood, Mullion and Transom are arrested by the police with the Hood promising to "see you soon, Jeff." With the evil-doers turned over to police custody, the Tracys return home, where the three young heroes are inducted into International Rescue. Moments later, a call from the President has the Thunderbirds (minus Jeff who stays behind, but including Alan and presumably Fermat and Tintin) off on another mission.
Cast
- Brady CorbetBrady CorbetBrady James Monson Corbet is an American actor. Corbet is known for playing Mason Freeland in the film Thirteen, Brian Lackey in the film Mysterious Skin, Alan Tracy in the 2004 film Thunderbirds, and Peter in the 2008 film Funny Games...
as Alan Tracy - Bill PaxtonBill PaxtonWilliam "Bill" Paxton is an American actor and film director. He gained popularity after starring roles in the films Apollo 13, Twister, Aliens, True Lies, and Titanic...
as Jeff Tracy - Vanessa Hudgens as Tintin
- Anthony EdwardsAnthony EdwardsAnthony Charles Edwards is an American actor and director. He has appeared in various movies and television shows, including Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Top Gun, Zodiac, Revenge of the Nerds, Northern Exposure and ER.-Early life:Edwards was born in Santa Barbara, California, the son of Erika...
as Ray "Brains" Hackenbacker - Ben KingsleyBen KingsleySir Ben Kingsley, CBE is a British actor. He has won an Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards in his career. He is known for starring as Mohandas Gandhi in the film Gandhi in 1982, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor...
as The Hood - Sophia MylesSophia Myles-Early life:Myles was born in London. She is the daughter of Jane, who works in educational publishing, and Peter Myles, a retired Anglican vicar in Isleworth, west London. Her maternal grandmother was Russian, and she refers to herself as "half-Welsh, half-Russian". She grew up in Notting Hill,...
as Lady Penelope - Philip WinchesterPhilip WinchesterPhilip C. Winchester is an American actor. He is known for his roles in The Patriot, The Hi-Line, LD 50 Lethal Dose, Thunderbirds, CSI: Miami, King Lear, Flyboys, In My Sleep, The Heart of the Earth, and Shaking Dream Land.- Early life and career :Philip C...
as Scott Tracy - Lex ShrapnelLex Shrapnel-Early life:Shrapnel was born in London, the son of Francesca Ann and actor John Shrapnel. He is the brother of actor/producer Tom Shrapnel and writer Joe Shrapnel and the grandson of Academy Award-nominated Scottish actress Deborah Kerr...
as John Tracy - Dominic ColensoDominic Colenso-Early life:At the age of seven, Dominic moved to Benson, a small village in rural Oxfordshire. Here, he appeared in his primary school’s musicals, sang in the choir and acted in youth productions with the local amateur drama society. Dominic completed his secondary school education at the local...
as Virgil Tracy - Ben TorgersenBen Torgersen-Work:Ben Torgersen is best known for appearing as Gordon Tracy in the 2004 film Thunderbirds.He also appeared briefly in Ministry of Mayhem as himself on 17 July 2004.-External links:...
as Gordon Tracy - Soren FultonSoren FultonSoren Fulton is an American teen actor, best known for playing Rob Austin in A Ring of Endless Light, Caleb Cottrell in Saving Sarah Cain, and Fermat in Thunderbirds. He also voiced the character Mordred in Justice League. He starred in the television pilot of The Oaks, playing Young Dan...
as Fermat Hackenbacker - Rose KeeganRose KeeganRose Keegan is an English actress of stage, film and television. She trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama. She is the daughter of the military historian Sir John Keegan, and grew up at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst....
as Transom - Ron CookRon CookRon Cook is an English actor who has been active in the theatre, film and television since the 1970s. He is from South Shields, Co Durham, England and is a graduate of Rose Bruford College.- Stage appearances :...
as Parker - Bhasker Patel as Kyrano
Reception
The film is essentially a science fictionScience fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
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 and the Hood's mind powers causing Brains to walk like his original puppet counterpart.
By August 2004, the film had taken a relatively low worldwide total of about $28,000,000. It cost roughly $57,000,000 to produce. The film received mixed to negative reviews, but had a mixed fanbase. 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 favour of the Spy Kids
Spy Kids
The Spy Kids series is a series of family action adventure films written, produced and directed by Robert Rodriguez. The main plot follows the adventures of two Cortez children who become involved in their parents' espionage. The rest of their family are spies as well, including their estranged...
angle, with reviewers dubbing it "Thunderbirds Are No-Go!" (a riff on the catchphrase from the original series, "Thunderbirds are GO!"). Empire
Empire (magazine)
Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
gave the film two out of five stars. Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
gave the film a 20% "rotten" rating and a consensus calling the film a "Live-action cartoon for kids." Yahoo! Movies
Yahoo! Movies
Yahoo! Movies , provided by the Yahoo! network, is home to a large collection of information on movies, past and new releases, trailers and clips, box office information, and showtimes and movie theater information. Yahoo! Movies also includes red carpet photos, actor galleries, and production...
and Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave the film a C+ rating. Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
gave the film 36 of 100.
Fans of the original series directed heavy criticism at the film through the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
even before its release.
One of the few aspects of the film to receive positive acclaim (other than the special effects) was Sophia Myles
Sophia Myles
-Early life:Myles was born in London. She is the daughter of Jane, who works in educational publishing, and Peter Myles, a retired Anglican vicar in Isleworth, west London. Her maternal grandmother was Russian, and she refers to herself as "half-Welsh, half-Russian". She grew up in Notting Hill,...
' 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
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
rather than a Rolls-Royce. However, this was because the producers could not reach a suitable agreement with BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
, who own the Rolls-Royce marque; the car manufacturer insisted 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
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
supplied a number of vehicles to the production, including an advanced off-road vehicle
Ford EX
The Ford EX is a concept car created by the Ford Motor Company. It was first introduced at the 2001 North American International Auto Show...
which prominently sported the Ford logo
Logo
A logo is a graphic mark or emblem commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even individuals to aid and promote instant public recognition...
, a Ford Windstar
Ford Windstar
The Ford Windstar is a minivan that was produced and sold by the Ford Motor Company from the 1995 to 2003 model years. This front-wheel drive minivan was the second minivan designed by the company, serving as a replacement for the rear-wheel drive Aerostar minivan. The two were sold concurrently...
, a Ford Ka
Ford Ka
The Ford Ka is a city car from the Ford Motor Company marketed in Europe and elsewhere.The current European version is produced by Fiat Auto in Tychy, Poland, while the model sold in Latin America is built in Brazil and Argentina....
and Ford Thunderbird
Ford Thunderbird (eleventh generation)
2002 saw a new Thunderbird launched, based on the Ford DEW platform. It was a personal luxury car in the same vein as the nameplate's earlier iterations...
which are owned by Lady Penelope, as well as many Ford C-MAX and Ford F-150s in various locations, leading to jeers over the too-obvious level of product placement
Product placement
Product placement, or embedded marketing, is a form of advertisement, where branded goods or services are placed in a context usually devoid of ads, such as movies, music videos, the story line of television shows, or news programs. The product placement is often not disclosed at the time that the...
by the car manufacturers - a sentiment actually shared by director Jonathan Frakes, as revealed in the DVD audio commentary.
During development, creator Gerry Anderson
Gerry Anderson
Gerry Anderson MBE is a British publisher, producer, director and writer, famous for his futuristic television programmes, particularly those involving specially modified marionettes, a process called "Supermarionation"....
was invited to act as creative consultant
Creative consultant
Creative consultant is a credit that has - particularly in the past - been given to screenwriters who have “doctored” a movie screenplay. It is often given by producers in lieu of official credit. Those given this credit in the television field work closely with an Executive Producer, Head...
, but was left out when the studio felt there were enough employees on the payroll acting as part of the creative team. The studio offered him $750,000 (£432,000) to attend the premiere but Anderson could not accept money from people he had not worked for. He eventually saw the film on DVD and was disappointed, declaring "It was disgraceful that such a huge amount of money was spent with people who had no idea what Thunderbirds was about and what made it tick." He also said that it was "the biggest load of crap I have ever seen in my entire life."
Co-creator Sylvia Anderson
Sylvia Anderson
Sylvia Anderson , born 25 March 1937, is a British voice artist and film producer, most notable for collaborations with Gerry Anderson, to whom she was married from 1962 to 1975....
, and the one responsible for character development, was given a private screening of the film and attended the London premiere. She had a far different opinion. "I felt that I’d been on a wonderful Thunderbirds adventure. You, the fans, will I’m sure, appreciate the sensitive adaptation and I’m personally thrilled that the production team have paid us the great compliment of bringing to life our original concept for the big screen. If we had made it ourselves (and we have had over 30 years to do it!) we could not have improved on this new version. It is a great tribute to the original creative team who inspired the movie all those years ago. It was a personal thrill for me to see my characters come to life on the big screen."
Filming location
The location for Tracy Island was filmed on North IslandNorth Island, Seychelles
North Island is a small granitic island in the Seychelles, 5 km north of Silhouette Island. Recently it has been developed as a private resort with 11 villas for guests, aimed at the eco-tourism market...
, a boutique island resort in the Seychelles
Seychelles
Seychelles , officially the Republic of Seychelles , is an island country spanning an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar....
, although originally said to be somewhere in the South Pacific, presumably Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
. Tonga
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...
, or French Polynesia
French Polynesia
French Polynesia is an overseas country of the French Republic . It is made up of several groups of Polynesian islands, the most famous island being Tahiti in the Society Islands group, which is also the most populous island and the seat of the capital of the territory...
.
Film history
This was in fact the third theatrical release based upon the series created by GerryGerry Anderson
Gerry Anderson MBE is a British publisher, producer, director and writer, famous for his futuristic television programmes, particularly those involving specially modified marionettes, a process called "Supermarionation"....
and Sylvia Anderson
Sylvia Anderson
Sylvia Anderson , born 25 March 1937, is a British voice artist and film producer, most notable for collaborations with Gerry Anderson, to whom she was married from 1962 to 1975....
. It was preceded by Thunderbirds Are Go
Thunderbirds Are GO
Thunderbirds Are Go is a 1966 British science-fiction film based on Thunderbirds, a 1960s television series starring marionette puppets and featuring scale model effects in a filming process dubbed "Supermarionation"...
in 1966 and Thunderbird 6
Thunderbird 6
Thunderbird 6 is a 1968 British science-fiction and adventure film written by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, directed by David Lane and produced by Century 21 Cinema...
in 1968, both films using the Supermarionation production techniques of the series.
Thunderbirds was dedicated to the memory of Stephen Lowen. Stephen Lowen is credited as a Rigger on the film.
Timed to coincide with the theatrical release of Thunderbirds, the two prior films were released on DVD. The DVD versions of all three films include a number of extra features, including historical and production information.