6.7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
The International Rescue team is faced with one of its toughest challenges yet, as the revolutionary lighter-than-air craft Skyship One is hijacked while on her maiden voyage around the world. Against backdrops including the Statue of Liberty and the Sphinx, Lady Penelope, Parker, Alan and Tin-Tin fight the hijackers from on-board, while the rest of the team tries to stop the airship crashing into a missile silo.
Starring: Peter Dyneley, Sylvia Anderson, Shane Rimmer, Matt ZimmermanSci-Fi | 100% |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
Music: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Note: This film is available only as part of Thunderbirds Are Go / Thunderbird 6.
Have you seen those fun but silly quizzes that seek to determine what region of the United States you grew up in by
how you answer multiple choice questions about what things are called or how words are pronounced? There might be
another data point to consider, at least for Baby Boomers, in helping to narrow down what region you hail from—did you
watch Thunderbirds growing up? Thunderbirds aired in probably the early seventies on some Seattle
station when I was a kid, and I remember watching the show with a combination of fascination (those sets are
awesome) and astonishment (those marionettes are really kind of creepy). The brainchild of Gerry and
Sylvia Anderson, Thunderbirds was supposed to be the world beating follow up to several of the Andersons’
previous “Supermarionation” shows like Fireball XL5 and Stingray, but perhaps unexpectedly the
Andersons’ mentor and production whiz Lew Grade (he wasn’t quite a “Sir” yet) wasn’t able to secure a network berth
for the series on this side of the pond, and it expired after a disappointing 32 episodes (in its original hour length format
—some stations recut the shows to a half hour to have 64 episodes). The series followed the exciting adventures of the
International Rescue organization, led by the indomitable Tracy clan (an elderly father and his several sons, evidently
modeled on the Cartwrights of Bonanza fame). While Thunderbirds never really
matriculated fully to the United States, it did show up in various markets in syndication (which is how I saw it in Seattle).
Grade had actually greenlit the first of two feature films based on the series before the series ever aired, and despite
Thunderbirds are Go’s less than stellar trek at the box office, two years later Thunderbird 6 came out, to
a similarly lukewarm response. The two films offer a great chance to enjoy the Andersons’ frankly slightly cheesy but
technically formidable miniature special effects work (something that none other than Stanley Kubrick was evidently
interested in pilfering for 2001: A
Space Odyssey). While there are unavoidably humorous moments in both films as director David Lane
struggles to deal with the fact that his cast is—well, puppets, the two films are just as undeniably charming in
their own way and will certainly provide a potent dose of nostalgia for those who were in one of those aforementioned
markets where the original Thunderbirds series aired.
Aside from a very minor difference in aspect ratio (2.34:1 for Thunderbirds Are Go and 2.35:1 for Thunderbird 6), the AVC encoded 1080p transfers on these two films are similar in appearance and quality. Both feature elements in very good condition, with only a very few signs of age. Colors are really richly saturated, with everything from that garish pink of Lady Penelope's custom Rolls Royce to the crisp blues of the Tracy uniforms popping quite nicely. The image is stable and has a natural looking grain field (at times quite heavily so, in fact). There does appear to have been some very minor sharpening done here, as tiny halos occasionally crop up. Otherwise, though, contrast is great, black levels are nicely deep, and the bizarre textureless heads of all the marionettes have never looked better.
Both of the films offer their original mono mixes courtesy of DTS-HD Master Audio Mono tracks, but each also has rather well done surround tracks in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. While much of the soundstage still plays out in the front channels, the 5.1 mixes nicely open up a lot of the effects work, whether that be explosions or (more typically) the roar of the Thunderbirds blasting into action. Dialogue is presented very cleanly, and Barry Gray's boisterous music (also nicely splayed through the surrounds) sounds great.
This is probably the lesser of the two Thunderbirds films, but it's still a lot of fun, at least for those who grew up with the show, or at least those with either a post-Modernist sense of irony or an openness for the decidedly bizarre sight of marionettes sitting around insanely detailed miniature sets, with occasional rockets thrown into the mix just for good measure. This particular film has just slightly fewer supplements to sweeten the pot, but it features the same excellent technical merits of Thunderbirds Are Go and comes Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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