Thunderbirds

Review by Clint Morris

Let's admit it. The appeal of the 60's television series "Thunderbirds" was that it was as no-frills as unmarked spam (spiced ham).

It definitely wasn't the episode subterfuge or characters that kept us glued every week - it must've been the cheapish effects, which consisted mainly of a guy jolting the string of a series of puppet s.

When Paramount announced that they were doing a live-action version of the series, fans were all at sea.

How could they reproduce that droll puppetry?

Ok, so Anthony Edwards (playing Brains) is a borderline string-puppet anyway, but why would someone even consider excising the only original element of the groundbreaking series and bring in human actors? It's like stealing someone's name and then tarnishing their reputation.

The film centres on the Thunderbirds, a laudable family based out of a secret island, that use their skills and predominantly, super-vehicles (planes, ships etc) to take down the forces of evil - in this case, a no-gooder by the name of The Hand (Ben Kingsley).

While adults could easily sit back and enjoy the cheesiness of the original series, no one over the age of 8 or 9 is going to be able to even tolerate the film version.

The actors look rather laissez-faire (Edwards is Brains, Bill Paxton is Jeff Tracy), the effects are middle-of-the-road and the film's model is essentially Spy Kids with all the engaging bits chopped out. You'd think having starred in a popular sci-fi series himself (Star Trek: The Next Generation) director Jonathan Frakes would remain loyal to the original stencil, wanting fans to walk away happy - he's done just the opposite though.

Fans of the original 60's series may need to book themselves into anger management classes after checking out this abomination.

1 out of 5

Thunderbirds
Australian release: Thursday September 16th
Cast: Brady Corbet, Soren Fulton, Bill Paxton, Ben Kingsley, Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Anthony Edwards, Sophia Myles, Ron Cook.
Director: Jonathan Frakes.
Website: Click here.

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