Thunderbirds (Sets 3 & 4) (2001)
Review by Doc Ezra
Film:
DVD:

Written by Alan Fennell
Directed by Brian Burgess, David Elliott, David Lane
Produced by Gerry Anderson
Visual Effects\Character Design by Sylvia Anderson

Features:

• Production still gallery
  
• 2-disc sets, 3 eps. per disc
  

Anamorphic: Nope. Presented in original 1.33:1 AR

My Advice: Borrow it.

Once upon a time, in the dim recesses of childhood memory, Saturday morning belonged exclusively to kids. Cartoons reigned supreme, and there were a dizzying array to choose from. Now, if you're lucky, you might catch a few on Fox, or some of the lame titles airing on the Big 3. Early on in this golden era of Saturday Morning TV, there came a revolutionary little show called Thunderbirds. The show differed from most Saturday morning fare by dint of not being animated. Thunderbirds was presented in what was (perhaps hyperbolically) referred to as "SuperMarionation," meaning that the show was, essentially, a puppet show with high production values. The attempts at realistic appearance are obvious in the character design, though it does make the various members of the Tracy family creepy as all hell to look at after a while.

The premise of Thunderbirds is quite simple: an extremely wealthy bunch of do-gooders (the Tracy family) put their fortune to use building incredibly high-tech rescue vehicles, and then operate as a shadowy group of troubleshooters known as the International Rescue Organization. Shunning all media attention and striving to remain ultra-top-secret, they act without reward to save people from natural disasters, building collapses, vehicle troubles, crocodile attacks, what have you. Every episode involved some number of the Thunderbird team (and their super-spiffy "atomic-powered" vehicles) staging a last-second rescue of hapless civilians, only to rocket away before the press arrives.

The writing on the show is not bad, all things considered. While definitely aimed at a young audience, it doesn't stoop to the blithering baby-speak and condescension of most contemporary "children's shows." Despite appearances, kids aren't stupid, and I distinctly recall being VERY annoyed by cartoons and shows that assumed I was when I was younger. So Thunderbirds dodges that bullet. Some of the show concepts are actually quite interesting, though as is true of most ongoing series, some episodes are hits, and others are misses (the James Bond homage/parody episode, "The Man from MI5" is one example of a miss, a too-obvious attempt by the writers to cash in on mid-60's Bondmania). Additionally, the target audience necessitated a certain Polyanna view of the world and the characters, so the members of the Tracy family tend to be pretty one-dimensionally good, and most of the various brothers are fairly interchangeable in terms of personality.

The video and sound for these discs is as good as can be expected when working with a transfer from original film stock 40 years old. Some minor pops and crackles in the video, fewer in the sound, and nothing that isn't to be expected from original footage of its age. Across the board, the quality of these discs is likely every bit as good as when the episodes were originally aired. The presentation of the discs leaves a bit to be desired, as there is precious little to speak of in the way of extras. I find this surprising, given the vast amounts of information regarding the ground-breaking production of the series, trivia about the characters and creators, and supplemental information about Thunderbirds that can be turned up with only minimal effort on an average search engine.

These episodes are quite watchable, but only likely of lasting value to a die-hard fan of the series (which retains a cult following to this day) or a nostalgic collector attempting to recapture childhood. But given that the shows originally aired in the mid-60's, there's only so many of you reading this review that are likely to have ever seen it on TV (even in syndication, where it opened my Saturdays at 7 AM). If you remember the 60's, and liked the show, check out these sets, but be warned that you get pretty much nothing besides the episodes themselves.