Hiram K Hackenbacker
28th December 2011, 06:19 PM
Okay, Hiram's off his rocker I hear you say. But I thought I'd give this a go. It's pretty clear that most people on this forum don't hold much love for Thunderbirds 2004. For some, it's an obscene gesture aimed at the series we all love. For others, it's a mistake that's best forgotten, or at best, a disappointment. However, on a recent re-watch, I've taken the opportunity to make some notes that I'd like to share and see if we can get a discussion going.
I'll start with the negatives:
Negatives:
The Storyline - The big one, and my main gripe with the film. Whoever wrote the story obviously had no grasp of the source material. Even if the movie was aimed at kids, it fails, because kids don't want to watch other kids running around a jungle. They want to watch grown heroes rescuing other people from disaster. Due to the nature of the story, we're also robbed of any meaningful screen time for any of the other Tracy brothers.
International Rescue's rubbish security - Rather than maintaining secrecy at all costs, "The Thunderbirds" seem more than happy to wear uniforms sporting their names and allow world news crews to take unrestricted footage of their rescue operations.
FAB 1 - Pink? Yes. Six Wheels? Check. Pity everything else sort of falls apart after that. At around 23 feet long and with a turning circle that would embarrass most oil tankers, the Rolls...err...Ford monstrosity makes it potentially the least roadworthy car in the world.
New characters - I'm all for new characters when they serve a purpose, but for me, they were wasted in this adaptation. Again we come back to the quality of the story as the blame for their inclusion. Fermat wouldn't be in the film if the story didn't require another youngster to join Alan's quest. Transom and Mullion are rather silly as The Hood could basically use his powers for protection and I'm pretty sure his intellect is more impressive that Transom's. Tin Tin's mother is the most perplexing inclusion though. Has Kyrano some aversion to cooking? Or perhaps it was just to stop people asking "Why doesn't Tin Tin have a mother either?"
Positives:
Special Effects - For a film shot in 2004, most of the effects still hold up reasonably well.
Thunderbird craft - While there are some major departures in the designs of the Thunderbirds and support craft, the key components are still there, and they look quite functional. My personal favourites are TB3 and the Mole
The Music - While not holding a candle to the genius of Barry Gray, Hans Zimmer manages to admirably score many of the action scenes in the film. Any scenes featuring cues from the original theme are particular favourites of mine. Lets just avoid mentioning Busted...
Casting - Sophia Myles, Ron Cook and Sir Ben Kingsley give wonderfully entertaining performances as Lady Penelope, Parker and The Hood. Special mention must also go to Bill Paxton and Lex Shrapnel as Jeff and John Tracy respectively, Shrapnel being the best cast of the five Tracy boys in my humble opinion. The video call between Jeff and John is one of the films highlights for me.
The Oil Rig Rescue - In terms of excitement, this sequence is the only one in the film that approaches the brilliance of the original series. If the rest of the film had followed in a similar vein, I believe Thunderbirds 2004 could well be fondly remembered by many fans of the original.
Design - I have to admire the mix of retro and futuristic design in this film, especially in the Tracy Island structures. The interiors of the Thunderbird craft also add modern plausibility to the ships. My least favourite design in the film is the IR uniform, which in reality is a lazy copy of a racing jumpsuit with the simple addition of an IR badge and name tag.
Summary:
If I were to rate this film in comparison to the original series, it would score 2/10, but judging it against such a high standard seems rather unfair. I therefore elect to judge it stand alone on its own merits. In this case, Thunderbirds 2004 scores an overall 6.5/10 from me. An enjoyable film, but rather let down by the story.
I'd love to hear a few of your opinions and I hope I've sparked a few ideas for a healthy debate :)
I'll start with the negatives:
Negatives:
The Storyline - The big one, and my main gripe with the film. Whoever wrote the story obviously had no grasp of the source material. Even if the movie was aimed at kids, it fails, because kids don't want to watch other kids running around a jungle. They want to watch grown heroes rescuing other people from disaster. Due to the nature of the story, we're also robbed of any meaningful screen time for any of the other Tracy brothers.
International Rescue's rubbish security - Rather than maintaining secrecy at all costs, "The Thunderbirds" seem more than happy to wear uniforms sporting their names and allow world news crews to take unrestricted footage of their rescue operations.
FAB 1 - Pink? Yes. Six Wheels? Check. Pity everything else sort of falls apart after that. At around 23 feet long and with a turning circle that would embarrass most oil tankers, the Rolls...err...Ford monstrosity makes it potentially the least roadworthy car in the world.
New characters - I'm all for new characters when they serve a purpose, but for me, they were wasted in this adaptation. Again we come back to the quality of the story as the blame for their inclusion. Fermat wouldn't be in the film if the story didn't require another youngster to join Alan's quest. Transom and Mullion are rather silly as The Hood could basically use his powers for protection and I'm pretty sure his intellect is more impressive that Transom's. Tin Tin's mother is the most perplexing inclusion though. Has Kyrano some aversion to cooking? Or perhaps it was just to stop people asking "Why doesn't Tin Tin have a mother either?"
Positives:
Special Effects - For a film shot in 2004, most of the effects still hold up reasonably well.
Thunderbird craft - While there are some major departures in the designs of the Thunderbirds and support craft, the key components are still there, and they look quite functional. My personal favourites are TB3 and the Mole
The Music - While not holding a candle to the genius of Barry Gray, Hans Zimmer manages to admirably score many of the action scenes in the film. Any scenes featuring cues from the original theme are particular favourites of mine. Lets just avoid mentioning Busted...
Casting - Sophia Myles, Ron Cook and Sir Ben Kingsley give wonderfully entertaining performances as Lady Penelope, Parker and The Hood. Special mention must also go to Bill Paxton and Lex Shrapnel as Jeff and John Tracy respectively, Shrapnel being the best cast of the five Tracy boys in my humble opinion. The video call between Jeff and John is one of the films highlights for me.
The Oil Rig Rescue - In terms of excitement, this sequence is the only one in the film that approaches the brilliance of the original series. If the rest of the film had followed in a similar vein, I believe Thunderbirds 2004 could well be fondly remembered by many fans of the original.
Design - I have to admire the mix of retro and futuristic design in this film, especially in the Tracy Island structures. The interiors of the Thunderbird craft also add modern plausibility to the ships. My least favourite design in the film is the IR uniform, which in reality is a lazy copy of a racing jumpsuit with the simple addition of an IR badge and name tag.
Summary:
If I were to rate this film in comparison to the original series, it would score 2/10, but judging it against such a high standard seems rather unfair. I therefore elect to judge it stand alone on its own merits. In this case, Thunderbirds 2004 scores an overall 6.5/10 from me. An enjoyable film, but rather let down by the story.
I'd love to hear a few of your opinions and I hope I've sparked a few ideas for a healthy debate :)