Thunderbirds [HD]

Brilliant movie version of a great kids TV show!
At last, the live action THUNDERBRIDS hit the big screen in the UK this weekend,and myself and my wife Sarah were among the first to see it. We were surprised that it was way better than we thought, and indeed, captured the corniness(if that's the right word) and tongue-in-cheek spirit of the TV series which we remember fondly from childhood. Though this film version owes more to SPY KIDS and CODY BANKS with the main Tracey family sons as teens, and there's nothing wrong with that. The story involves evil genius The Hood(BEN KINGSLEY!) taking over Tracey Island - International Rescue and the Thunderbirds' secret island base - in order to hijack the Thunderbird aircraft to rob the world's banks. Unfortunately, astronaut father Jeff Tracey and his elder sons are trapped on Thunderbird 5, the space station that receives distress calls for IR to answer when The Hood fires a missile from his sub(!!). So it is up to younger son Alan Tracey, Tintin and others, including London agent Lady...

Nostalgia Trip
Okay, yeah, the THUNDERBIRDS movie wasn't perfect. They could have developed the characters of the established T-Bird brothers better, and the "Spy Kids" feel was a little annoying. Nevertheless, this old warrior found the movie to be a surprisingly emotional experience. You see, I grew up poor in a huge housing project in Los Angeles. There were many challenges in our neighborhood, including drugs, rowdy teens, violence, etc. Television and comic books were my only escape. In LA back in the late '60s the Thunderbirds TV show was shown on Sunday afternoons. My brothers and I thrilled to the exploits of the Tracy family. Who cared that they were puppets? The stories drew us in and the dedication of the Tracys inspired us and lifted us out of our challenging environment.

Bottom line: I surprised myself by crying several times during the movie. The scene where the youngest Tracy and his buddy (the Brain's son) were watching a T-Bird rescue on TV at their boarding...

Fun kids adaptation of a classic TV series
Growing up in the UK I used to watch the show THUNDERBIRDS religiously, it was one of my must-watch TV shows for me in my pre-teen years.
So it was with a certain sense of equal trepidation mixed in with insatiable curiosity that I approached the big budget live action version of the Gerry Anderson original.
Director Jonathon Frakes (Riker on Star Trek) brings the same colorful look to THUNDERBIRDS as he brought to CLOCKSTOPPERS, he also brings some of the same qualities - chiefly a light and loosely structured narrative. Perhaps this is a right choice however given the light comic book-style subject matter
You may take from the above that I did not like THUNDERBIRDS. Not so. Apart from what I mention above the movie does have some bright moments of originality and conviction. Ben Kingsley is wonderfully over-the-top as the main villain The Hood and the film does sport some truly great special effects. Ron Cook also does a simply amazing impression of the original...

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