X-sections
Dutch
The Editor
e-mail Reggy!
|
|
Movie: Thunderbirds
Director: Jonathan Frakes
Actors: Brady Corbet, Bill Paxton, Anthony Edwards, Ben Kingsley
|
|
The Thunderbirds marionette series would initially be played by real actors but the production cost were too high so they decided to use scaled down sets, special effects and replace the actors with... puppets! The TV Show gained more fans over the last couple of decades thanks to the endless re-runs all over the world. I've discovered the show back in the 80's and never knew the series were that old at the time.
Finally a live-action version will hit theatres without the puppets-on-a-string but real actors such as Bill Paxton, Ben Kingsley and Anthony Edwards. Puppetmaster Jonathan Frakes (Star Trek: The Next Generation) directed the live-action Thunderbirds film, oh my…
The story in a nutshell:
The Thunderbirds space station has been damaged by a meteor strike. The crew travels to the station to rescue the other members. The meteor strike has been set up by criminal mastermind The Hood who's going to take over the abandoned home base. But he didn't count on the crew's kids who are still at the home base and they aren't planning to give up that easily.
As the above storyline already reveals, it all revolves around the kids, the other great actors has been cast as supporting roles. No decapitations, hardcore action or graphic sex scenes but a lovely fun for the whole family feature film. The plot follows a predictable formula loaded with educational lessons. Does this make it a bad flick? Well, not exactly.
Thunderbirds cleverly captures the tone of the original series, without being campy. The movie has got a great retro-look and the vehicles are just like the miniatures of the series. Thunderbirds fans will have a blast with the great special effects and impressive sets including the hydraulic palmtrees which fall down to make room for the launch of the Thunderbird 2 vehicle.
The kid actors perform well, I love Ben Kingsley as a great but very serious role of The Hood. ER's Anthony Edwards is wonderful as the stuttering Brains.
I have to admit that I had serious doubts about this movie. I'm not impressed by the previous work of director Jonathan Frakes and expected that this film would really… suck. I already gave up hope when I heard during the production that the intention was to make it a kids movie. I wanted to see a hardcore, R-rated action movie. But Thunderbirds wasn't that bad after all. Just keep in mind that this movie has been made as an entertaining family flick, something for everyone and trust me, you'll when hum the Thunderbirds tune while leaving the theatre.
Written by Reggy 28/07/04
|
|
