Gerry Anderson announces new series of "THUNDERBIRDS"

"FR-R-R-R-A-A-A-A-K-E-ES!!!"

 

They talk of modernizing the show. While I agree, as a show of the 1960s Thunderbirds would need to be modernized for the modern audience. However, I got to say, the Thunderbirds themselves are solid designs. Thunderbird 2 and Thunderbird 4 especially still hold up today. I always thought Tunderbird 2's "mission modules" were cool. Thunderbird 5 still works too. The only real clunkers are Thunderbirds 1 and 3, they're both very 60s looking rockets. I suppose Thunderbird 3 can stay a rocket, or possibly a space shuttle. Thunderbird 1 should probably more airplane like.

Still, despite the potential problems the article cites regarding the rights, I'm still optimistic. Anderson made my day referring to the 2004 movie as "the biggest load of crap I have ever seen in my life."

 

I believe the overall shapes of the TB craft could easily stay the same, but they could use some modern "tweaks" in the details, such as ceramic heat shield tiling (or the like) covering TB3 and scramjets powering TB1 and 2.

I will say though, even though the 2004 movie was a colossal pile of shit, the design they had for TB4 I liked a lot. The supporting cage and fans are very much rooted in modern submersible craft.

 

I hope the designs stay the same. Sure the show could do with some modern updates here and there but I hope the lessons of the 2004 movie keep them a bit more grounded to what was.

 

Thought for today: when the movie came out, there was a big poster of it up in my local shopping centre. Who was stopping to look at it? Guys in their 30s and 40s. Not kids. So there's your audience, make choices appropriately.

 

I gather Derek Meddings was very proud of the design of Thunderbird 2 because no matter which angle you filmed it from, it looked very good.

Also remember reading that they had one problem with filming Thunderbird 2. Occasionally it needed to be repainted (wear and tear during filming) and they were never able to duplicate the original colour (or couldn't get it).

When first saw the poster for Thunderbirds at the Cinema it took me a while to realise it was actually Thunderbird 2.

Oh and the 2004 was the first live action Thunderbirds it wasn't the first theatrical release - there were 2 made in the 60s - Thunderbirds are Go and Thunderbird 6. Neither was particularly well recieved story wise and I believe they suffered from the being on the big screen at the same time as the little screen.

I saw Thunderbird 6 at the Cinema about 4 years ago (was put on the for the school holidays). Think the audience (small as it was) probably consisted of two types of people - those who grew up watching the original series and the kids being introduced to it by their parents.

Oh and does anyone remember the animated Thunderbirds series from circa 1983? It was japanese cartoon which kept the core concept (International Rescue) though was set 20 years later, no mention of the Traceys and had a lot more people.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbirds_2086

 

^i remember it. i thought it was AWESOME!

 

"Scott! The whole place is going to blow in 10 seconds!!" "I only need 9."

I'm in.

 

If that's really your audience, the appropriate choice is to put your money into a different project.

 

Yeah that's a really kick-ass quote. Also the 'no strings' line made me laugh

 

Yeah, I agree. I'm not so sure about the designs, but just look at rocket designs in real life. They haven't really changed all that much, especially russian rockets. Reliable designs that don't need change because there's no reason for them to change. Zefram Cochrane's Phoenix was built using Titan II's, which were used as rockets in the 60's, but today NASA is going back to using them. So, I think they could even use that angle in Thunderbirds to explain something that looks like it came from the 60's.

 

I really hope they keep the old theme tune. It's so awesome.




Did mention it's awesome?

 

^^Ever since this news broke, I've had the old theme tune stuck in my head.

 

If this version is like the new Captain Scarlet, that would be cool.

 

Anyone see a problem with Thunderbirds being aimed at a more (SF literate) family audience rather than kids?

 

If Doctor Who can do it, why would any one have a problem with Thunderbirds doing?

And lets face it - the original wouldn't make it ito a kids time slo if was made today - people's lives in peril, terrorism (in one ep The Hood wants to set of a nuclear explosion, we had the hijack in Alias Mr Hackenbacker), people being shot, arson etc etc.

 

I didn't quite get angry, but I was very disappointed. The only people in the entire film who actually "got it" was Sophia Myles and Ron Cook, who played Lady Penelope and Parker, because they actually knew the series. Every indication was that no one else involved had a clue. Director Jonathan Frakes was even quoted, I believe, as saying he'd never seen it. It was yet another example of the #1 way to ruin a remake: be unfamiliar with the original (the #2 way, demonstrated in the 2007 remake of Bionic Woman, is to have contempt or a demonstrated dismissive attitude toward the original).

Perhaps had Gerry Anderson been involved in the film, it might have worked, but I understand he wasn't other than some name-checking. So if he's involved with this new version, I have better confidence than if someone else with no connection up and decided to do a new version (which is the case with the planned remake of UFO I've heard rumors of).

Live action could work, but I think Anderson would be better off sticking to CG. I was disappointed that the CG version of Captain Scarlet didn't get the exposure it should have (and where's the DVD release?) because I've obtained a few episodes and I was quite impressed, with my only disappointment being the music had nothing on Barry Gray's original score.

Hear, hear. And the original Thunderbirds had a huge adult audience. It wasn't just a "kids show" and as Marc says, it had quite a bit of violence and mayhem. So did Captain Scarlet and Joe 90 which had a 9 year old acting as a secret agent and in some episodes killing people. That's not a kids-only show, even by 1960s standards.

I wouldn't get my hopes up. Anderson used new music for the CG Captain Scarlet, so iconic though it may be I wouldn't count on the Thunderbirds theme being used (even though it was heard in the movie). Anderson's association with composer Barry Gray collapsed during Space: 1999 (which I believe is why Gray's theme was replaced by someone else's in season 2), and I don't know how pally he is with Gray's estate.

Alex

 

23skidoo, I've had new captain scarlet on DVD for a few years now.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000GLKN...de=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=B000GLKNRS

 

It was kind of hard to when it was chopped in two and deprived of its opening title or end credit sequence (one of them, can't remember which). That was a shame, because it was really good. It should have provided formative Saturday morning adventure for many a kid, but sadly it was not to be.

 

Don't suppose we could hope for a Region 1 NTSC release?