What impenetrable, overwrought codswallop this one’s turned out to be.
Thunderbirds (2004)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:10
Fresh:3
Rotten:7
Average Rating:4.4/10
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
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.
Fans of the original will likely be upset, but the kids will probably love it.
This is a movie made for an audience that does not exist, at least in the land of North American multiplexes.
Thunderbirds wants to be two things at once: a live-action gee-whiz kiddie flick and a nostalgic spoof of 60's England when it swung like a pendulum.
A piece of whiz-bang children's entertainment that could appeal to the family market far and wide.
Frakes, who reinvigorated the Star Trek franchise with First Contact, fails to pump the same energy into this tube-to-screen transfer.
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