IMDb > Thunderbirds (2004)
Thunderbirds
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Thunderbirds (2004) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
4.0/10   4,974 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 1% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers (WGA):
Gerry Anderson (television series) &
Sylvia Anderson (television series) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for Thunderbirds on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
30 July 2004 (USA) more
Tagline:
Coming to the rescue more
Plot:
When The Hood finds and invades International Rescue's secret base and traps most of the Tracy family, only young Alan Tracy and his friends can save the day. full summary | add synopsis
User Comments:
Enjoy watching your childhood torn to pieces? Good... more (210 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
The Thunderbirds (USA) (working title)
Thunderbirds - Les sentinelles de l'air (France)
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MPAA:
Rated PG for intense action sequences and language.
Runtime:
95 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Richard Curtis worked on Lady Penelope and Parker's scenes uncredited. more
Goofs:
Factual errors: At the beginning, Alan's dad asked him if he was wearing his retainer (showing that it goes in and out). Later, when Fermat needed to solder, they had to yank his retainer out, like it was cemented in. more
Quotes:
Alan Tracy: AAAAHHHHHH!
Tintin: gee Alan... I never figured you for a crybaby
Alan Tracy: I'm gonna kill you
Fermat: What did he say?
Tintin: I think it some sort of apology...
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Movie Connections:
Featured in "Top Gear: (2004-05-16)" (2004) more
Soundtrack:
Thunderbirds Are Go more

FAQ

In what year is the movie set?
Are there any basic differences between this movie and the TV series? Warning: contains spoilers!
Why are Lady Penelope and Parker seen at sea in a pedalo at the end of the film, and not FAB1?
more
24 out of 27 people found the following comment useful.
Enjoy watching your childhood torn to pieces? Good..., 26 March 2006
3/10
Author: SpeedRacer2K from Dallas, PA

Thunderbirds (2004)

Director: Jonathan Frakes

Starring: Bill Paxton, Ben Kingsley, Brady Corbet

5…4…3…2…1! Thunderbirds are GO!

And so began Thunderbirds, a childhood favorite of mine. When I heard that they were going to make a Thunderbirds movie, I was ecstatic. I couldn't wait to see Thunderbird 2 roar in to save people, while Thunderbird 4 would dive deep into the…you get the idea. I just couldn't wait. Then came August 2004, when the movie was finally released. Critics panned it, but I still wanted to go. After all, as long as the heart was in the same place, that was all that mattered to me. So I sat down in the theater, the only teenager in a crowd of 50…everyone else was over thirty and under ten. Quite possibly the most awkward theater experience that I have ever had…

The movie (which is intended to be a prequel) focuses on Alan Tracy (Brady Corbet), the youngest of the Tracy family. He spends his days wishing that he could be rescuing people like the rest of his family, but he's too young. One day, he finally gets his chance when The Hood (Ben Kingsley) traps the rest of his family up on Thunderbird 5 (the space station). This involves him having to outsmart The Hood's henchmen and rescue his family in time before The Hood can steal all of the money from the Bank of England.

Trust me, the plot sounds like a regular episode of Thunderbirds when you read it on paper. Once it gets put on to film…what a mess we have on our hands. First off, the film was intended for children, much like the original show was. However, Gerry Anderson treated us like adults, and gave us plots that were fairly advanced for children's programming. This on the other hand, dumbs down the plot as it tries to make itself a ripoff of the Spy Kids franchise. The final product is a movie that tries to appeal to fans of the Thunderbirds series and children, while missing both entirely. Lame jokes, cartoonish sounds, and stupid antics that no one really finds amusing are all over this movie, and I'm sure that Jonathan Frakes is wishing he'd never directed this.

Over all, everyone gave a solid performance, considering the script that they were all given. Ben Kingsley was exceptional as The Hood, playing the part extremely well. My only complaint about the characters is about The Hood's henchmen, who are reduced to leftovers from old Looney Tunes cartoons, bumbling about as, amazingly enough, the kids take them on with ease.

What's odd about this movie is that while I was watching the movie, I had fun. But once the lights went up, I realized that the movie was fairly bad, I was $8 lighter, and two hours of my time were now gone. A guilty pleasure? Perhaps. Nonetheless, Thunderbirds is a forgettable mess. Instead of a big "go", I'm going to have to recommend that you stay away from this movie. If the rest of movie could have been like the first ten minutes of it, it would have been an incredible film worthy of the Thunderbirds name. However, we get a movie that only die-hard Thunderbirds fans (if you'd like to watch your childhood torn to pieces) or the extremely bored should bother with.

My rating for Thunderbirds is 1 ½ stars.

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Keep Frakes away from the Directors Chair! keithfmanaton
Should I see this? master_of_lotr
Where was Gerry Anderson? Aquagram
The tracy family portrayal. lukepic123
Just for fun..... rperry-17
The good things leehutchison
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