Feature Philip Tibbetts 10 Oct 2013 - 03:26
The 2004 Thunderbirds movie may have been a critically maligned misfire, but was it really all that bad? Philip takes a look back...
To say that the 2004 Thunderbirds movie is disliked is an understatement, and even now, it's regarded as a missed opportunity. So, what went wrong? Did the film do anything right? Most importantly, can Thunderbirds be rescued?
The film is based on the iconic 1965 puppet series of the same name, created by the then-husband-and-wife team Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. Thunderbirds was Gerry Anderson’s seventh puppet series, and came between his two other most iconic shows, Stingray and Captain Scarlet. Although Thunderbirds only ran for just over a year, it left a lasting legacy. Those nostalgic embers were fanned back to full flame by the repeat season on the BBC from 1991.
The series tapped into the nostalgia of adults and captivated a whole new audience of children,...
The 2004 Thunderbirds movie may have been a critically maligned misfire, but was it really all that bad? Philip takes a look back...
To say that the 2004 Thunderbirds movie is disliked is an understatement, and even now, it's regarded as a missed opportunity. So, what went wrong? Did the film do anything right? Most importantly, can Thunderbirds be rescued?
The film is based on the iconic 1965 puppet series of the same name, created by the then-husband-and-wife team Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. Thunderbirds was Gerry Anderson’s seventh puppet series, and came between his two other most iconic shows, Stingray and Captain Scarlet. Although Thunderbirds only ran for just over a year, it left a lasting legacy. Those nostalgic embers were fanned back to full flame by the repeat season on the BBC from 1991.
The series tapped into the nostalgia of adults and captivated a whole new audience of children,...
- 10/8/2013
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
Gina Torres and Kip Pardue are headlining South of Pico, which begins shooting this week in Los Angeles with Ernst Gossner, making his theatrical directorial debut. The tale of four ordinary people who witness an accidental death, the film also stars Paul Hipp, Henry Simmons, Jimmy Bennett and Soren Fulton. A Snails Pace production in association with Vent Productions, the project has been financed through private equity and the Tyrolean Film Fund; written by Gossner and Richard Marcus; and produced by Eric Presley, Gossner and Marcus, with Ralf Mosig as exec producer and David Lee as co-exec producer.
- 11/21/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
LONDON -- It looked like a dubious enterprise trying to turn a clunky 1960s television puppet show about a family of daredevils and their fantastic vehicles and equipment into a live-action movie.
Thunderbirds was a cult hit in the United Kingdom, but its stilted action and quaintly old-fashioned derring-do didn't help it travel far. Full marks, then, to director Jonathan Frakes and his crew for coming up with a piece of whiz-bang children's entertainment that could appeal to the family market far and wide.
Smartly written by William Osborne and Michael McCullers, Thunderbirds expertly targets kids. Yet parents won't be entirely bored if they have any nostalgia for Saturday matinee serials and early TV adventure shows.
Thunderbirds may be the prettiest movie all year, rendered in high style and brilliant colors. The combined efforts of production designer John Beard, costumer Marit Allen and cinematographer Brendan Galvin give the film instant impact with gorgeous sets and locations.
International Rescue is run by billionaire Jeff Tracy (Bill Paxton) and his sons, who man a space station in order to monitor events on Earth. That way, they're ready to ride their jet-propelled vehicles and always-applicable machinery to save people and property threatened by anything from earthquake to flood to typhoon.
When the space station goes mysteriously haywire with only one of the sons, John (Lex Shrapnel), on board, the rest of the family naturally rockets to the rescue. Of course, it's a ploy to get the Tracys away from their paradise island headquarters.
A villain known only as the Hood (Ben Kingsley) and his cohorts smoothly take over at HQ so they can use the splendid array of supertoys to rob the world's banks and ruin the Tracys' reputation.
Little does the Hood know, however, that one Tracy has eluded him. That is young Alan Brady Corbett), who with his nerdy pal Fermat (Soren Fulton) and their island buddy Tintin Vanessa Anne Hudgens) know just what to do to save the day. This is the kind of kids' adventure in which the young heroes may be daydreaming dunces in school but have an innate ability to handle ultra-complex vehicles and machine tools when it comes to saving the world.
While the Hood goes about doing his best to keep the Tracy family in outer space as he steals their vehicles to break into the Bank of London, the three kids take on his cohorts in adventures that make full use of the island's vistas.
Also on hand to help the good guys is the glamorous and fearless Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward, who even in puppet form set male adolescent pulses racing in the '60s. Here she is mischievously brought to life by the beautiful Sophia Myles. Pretty in pink, Lady Penelope is a fluffy juvenile version of Mrs. Peel from The Avengers, and with her estimable manservant Parker (Ron Cook) makes a formidable ally for the International Rescue team.
The kids are all appealing, and Paxton clearly knows what is required, delivering a flawlessly deadpan performance as papa Tracy. Kingsley, too, spurns the temptation to chew the scenery and uses the lightest of touches for his villainy. Former "ER" star Anthony Edwards makes an appearance, having fun in a goofy kind of way as Brains, the Tracys' boffin.
THUNDERBIRDS
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures and StudioCanal present a Working Title production
Credits:
Director: Jonathan Frakes
Screenwriters: William Osborne, Michael McCullers
Story: Peter Hewitt, William Osborne
Producers: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Mark Huffam
Executive producers: Debra Hayward, Liza Chasin
Director of photography: Brendan Galvin
Production designer: John Beard
Editor: Martin Walsh
Costume designer: Marit Allen
Composer: Hans Zimmer. Cast: Jeff Tracy: Bill Paxton
Brains: Anthony Edwards
Lady Penelope: Sophia Myles
Parker: Ron Cook
The Hood: Ben Kingsley
Alan Tracy: Brady Corbet
Fermat: Soren Fulton
Tintin: Vanessa Anne Hudgens
John Tracy: Lex Shrapnel
MPAA rating PG
Running time -- 87 minutes...
Thunderbirds was a cult hit in the United Kingdom, but its stilted action and quaintly old-fashioned derring-do didn't help it travel far. Full marks, then, to director Jonathan Frakes and his crew for coming up with a piece of whiz-bang children's entertainment that could appeal to the family market far and wide.
Smartly written by William Osborne and Michael McCullers, Thunderbirds expertly targets kids. Yet parents won't be entirely bored if they have any nostalgia for Saturday matinee serials and early TV adventure shows.
Thunderbirds may be the prettiest movie all year, rendered in high style and brilliant colors. The combined efforts of production designer John Beard, costumer Marit Allen and cinematographer Brendan Galvin give the film instant impact with gorgeous sets and locations.
International Rescue is run by billionaire Jeff Tracy (Bill Paxton) and his sons, who man a space station in order to monitor events on Earth. That way, they're ready to ride their jet-propelled vehicles and always-applicable machinery to save people and property threatened by anything from earthquake to flood to typhoon.
When the space station goes mysteriously haywire with only one of the sons, John (Lex Shrapnel), on board, the rest of the family naturally rockets to the rescue. Of course, it's a ploy to get the Tracys away from their paradise island headquarters.
A villain known only as the Hood (Ben Kingsley) and his cohorts smoothly take over at HQ so they can use the splendid array of supertoys to rob the world's banks and ruin the Tracys' reputation.
Little does the Hood know, however, that one Tracy has eluded him. That is young Alan Brady Corbett), who with his nerdy pal Fermat (Soren Fulton) and their island buddy Tintin Vanessa Anne Hudgens) know just what to do to save the day. This is the kind of kids' adventure in which the young heroes may be daydreaming dunces in school but have an innate ability to handle ultra-complex vehicles and machine tools when it comes to saving the world.
While the Hood goes about doing his best to keep the Tracy family in outer space as he steals their vehicles to break into the Bank of London, the three kids take on his cohorts in adventures that make full use of the island's vistas.
Also on hand to help the good guys is the glamorous and fearless Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward, who even in puppet form set male adolescent pulses racing in the '60s. Here she is mischievously brought to life by the beautiful Sophia Myles. Pretty in pink, Lady Penelope is a fluffy juvenile version of Mrs. Peel from The Avengers, and with her estimable manservant Parker (Ron Cook) makes a formidable ally for the International Rescue team.
The kids are all appealing, and Paxton clearly knows what is required, delivering a flawlessly deadpan performance as papa Tracy. Kingsley, too, spurns the temptation to chew the scenery and uses the lightest of touches for his villainy. Former "ER" star Anthony Edwards makes an appearance, having fun in a goofy kind of way as Brains, the Tracys' boffin.
THUNDERBIRDS
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures and StudioCanal present a Working Title production
Credits:
Director: Jonathan Frakes
Screenwriters: William Osborne, Michael McCullers
Story: Peter Hewitt, William Osborne
Producers: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Mark Huffam
Executive producers: Debra Hayward, Liza Chasin
Director of photography: Brendan Galvin
Production designer: John Beard
Editor: Martin Walsh
Costume designer: Marit Allen
Composer: Hans Zimmer. Cast: Jeff Tracy: Bill Paxton
Brains: Anthony Edwards
Lady Penelope: Sophia Myles
Parker: Ron Cook
The Hood: Ben Kingsley
Alan Tracy: Brady Corbet
Fermat: Soren Fulton
Tintin: Vanessa Anne Hudgens
John Tracy: Lex Shrapnel
MPAA rating PG
Running time -- 87 minutes...
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