What impenetrable, overwrought codswallop this one’s turned out to be.
Thunderbirds (2004)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:99
Fresh:19
Rotten:80
Average Rating:4.1/10
Consensus: Live-action cartoon for kids.
Rated: PG [See Full Rating] for intense action sequences and language
Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Theatrical Release:23-07-2004
Synopsis: Based on the cult British television show from the 1960s, THUNDERBIRDS explodes into the 21st Century with this thrilling live-action version of the franchise. Drawing on similar themes and... Based on the cult British television show from the 1960s, THUNDERBIRDS explodes into the 21st Century with this thrilling live-action version of the franchise. Drawing on similar themes and familiar characters, director Jonathan Frakes (STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT) sticks closely to the spirit of the original show while making use of the new technology available to him 40 years after the program first aired to give the film a modern look. The International Rescue organization--a team of highly organized law enforcers--is the focal point for the movie. International Rescue is based on a remote desert island location, and is called into action whenever the world's sinister masterminds threaten to disturb the balance of society. Jeff Tracy (Bill Paxton) heads up the team, and employs his sons to help him out. Teenager Alan Tracy (Brady Corbet) is a little too young to join, and is constantly frustrated by his lack of opportunity to join the brothers on their missions. But when the evil villain known as The Hood (Ben Kingsley) traps the International Rescue team in outer space, it seems Alan's time has come. The Hood steals one of the many spacecrafts designed by International Rescue, and executes an outlandish scheme to rob the Bank of England. Alan and his pal Fermat (Soren Fulton) attempt the double-whammy of rescuing the trapped family and stopping The Hood, by drawing on help from the sultry detective Lady Penelope (Sophia Myles), her butler Parker (Ron Cook), and a few gadgets and vehicles courtesy of International Rescue. With comic references to the original show scattered liberally throughout the movie, and a sense of fun and adventure, this is a film that should appeal to both old and new fans of these popular crime-fighting characters. [More]
Starring: Ben Kingsley, Bill Paxton, Anthony Edwards, Sophia Myles
Starring: Ben Kingsley, Bill Paxton, Anthony Edwards, Sophia Myles, Brady Corbet, Soren Fulton
Director: Jonathan Frakes
Director: Jonathan Frakes
Screenwriter: William Osborne, Michael McCullers
Producer: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Mark Huffman
Composer: Hans Zimmer
Studio: Universal Pictures
Reviews for Thunderbirds
Filmed in a zany, colourful style reminiscent of the Spy Kids movies, this is enjoyable fun until earnest lines of dialog bring everything to a shrieking stop.
Fans of the original will likely be upset, but the kids will probably love it.
Despite some incidental pleasures, thin writing, shabby direction and heavy-handed performances make this neither one for the purists nor thrill-seeking kids.
The Thunderbirds vehicles are impressively realised (even the tarted up, purist-bothering motor of Lady P looks grand), but this live action adaptation of Gerry Anderson's iconic creations lacks any soul.
It’s badly acted, poorly written and completely lacking in wit, tension, or excitement.
Director Jonathan Frakes throws lots of bright colors and weird gadgets at the audience, but none of this hides the lack of imagination at the movie's center.
The people who made Thunderbirds took a unique property and made it utterly commonplace.
What's the point of this live-action version of a puppet show? As in 'Pinocchio,' the magic disappears when the marionettes become flesh and blood.
A piece of whiz-bang children's entertainment that could appeal to the family market far and wide.
This is another example of the idiocy that often results when Hollywood attempts to convert an animated TV show into a non-animated movie.
This foolishly conceived movie version of the 1960s sci-fi TV show is not only achingly dull, it has no respect for its origins.
A new and rather breathtakingly misconceived attempt to revisit a vintage TV show that did not under any circumstances need to be revisited.
Aside from possibly launching a Ben Kingsley line of cosmetics, Thunderbirds seems destined to leave no lasting mark.
Ultra-campy marionettes come to blah life in director Jonathan Frakes' souped-up but poorly written adaptation of the cult English sci-fi kids' show.
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