Thunderbirds (2004)

I'm quite possibly a huge fan of Gerry Anderson's stuff. Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlett, Stingray, even his lesser known shows (well except The Secret Service, I thought that was naff but still), you name it, I enjoy it.So how dare they even make a film about the Thunderbirds.... even though they're hardly in the chuffing film to begin with! Instead all we get are some silly and quite frankly stupid shenanigans involving a sadly annoying Alan Tracy running around Tracy Island trying to save the Tracy family from an incredibly over-acting Ben Kingsley as The Hood.Too bad then, that he gets trapped by a tidal wave of terrible dialogue, unfunny moments that would make even the Spy Kids cringe with envy and most importantly a complete lack of respect to the original source material.Even Hans Zimmer's score is nowhere near the excellence of Barry Gray.When even your creator calls it the biggest pile of crap he's ever watched you know your film is completely doomed...

At some point in Hollywood's history, somebody had the genius idea of making a live action version of the classic puppet show THUNDERBIRDS. Being Hollywood, at the same time they made it suitable for American audiences by destroying all of the old fashioned British style that people loved it for in the first place. So in this version of THUNDERBIRDS, we get dumb humour, sexual innuendo, martial arts, and extremely exaggerated acting.What's most amazing about this film is that they somehow wasted fifty-seven million dollars on making it. Pity poor Jonathan Frakes, STAR TREK actor and director, for ruining his movie directorial career with this film (he's only worked in television since). Watching it, you'll wonder where all that money was spent. THUNDERBIRDS the film is a cheap and cheesy vehicle of excess that makes SPICE WORLD look like a movie classic. The whole thing looks like it was filmed on a green screen with awful CGI effects throughout.The character work is even worse. Pity poor old Bill Paxton, who has never been so stiff as the senior Tracy. Sophia Myles, an actress I usually love in most stuff, is awfully wooden as the plummy Lady Penelope. Only Anthony Edwards and Ron Cook as Brains and Parker respectively get close to their original puppet characters. The less said about Ben Kingsley's ham acting, the better. As for the kids, they're the worst thing about this; they look like boy band rejects and it comes as little surprise that the awful boy band Busted sing an updated version of the theme song over the closing credits. As an action lover, the worst thing about this for me were the fight scenes, which are among the worst ever seen; stars like Myles throw their hands around randomly and are doubled for every little leap. It's cringe worthy. THUNDERBIRDS is the type of film that'll make any sane viewer want to tear their own eyeballs out; it really is that awful.

Poorly written, badly re-designed Thunderbird machines and mediocre acting (with notable exceptions for Kingsley, Myles and Cook) combined with a senseless plot and personality-deficit characters. Thunderbirds (2004) is basically nothing more than a feature-length Spy Kids rip-off sponsored by Ben and Jerry's and Ford. Unless you have an IQ under 50 or if you're under the age of twelve, you will find nothing of interest about this movie. A missed opportunity and a wasted one at that. Gerry Anderson could have made a gem with this movie but no, the filmmakers thought they knew better. Question: How did this movie not win any Razzies?

I am sorry but this movie SUCKS! The story is uninspiring and the characters are not very well played.However I do think Ron Cook as Parker works perfectly. And speaking as a teenage boy I enjoyed Vannessa Hudgens as Tintin though her part was again, unexceptional.When it comes to the ships I have to admit they did a good job with each one looking quite good. However the scenes within the actual ships such as the scene where Alan and Fermat are inside Thunderbird 1 it is clear to see the strings attached to them. Unrealistic.As well as this the enemies of the film are gimmicky and quite simply, unbelievable.Would I recommend, no. Instead I would recommend the watching of the original series of Thunderbirds. Avoid this particular movie.