Customer Reviews

Thunderbirds Are Go - the Movie [DVD] [1966]

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Anybody who grew up watching Thunderbirds, as I did, will welcome the chance to see this movie version, which runs to 89 mins. The start is as we all remember, the marvellous music by Barry Gray, with slightly amended opening credits. The picture quality is pretty good and of course this being a Cinema release its in full widescreen 2.35:1 ratio (although originally even wider apparently), which is much better than the 4:3 of the TV series.

The story is typical Thunderbirds material stretched out to make it into a movie length film. This its one failing. The elaborate launch of the zero-x occurs twice in the film, the first time is interesting as the models and ingenuity are fabulous, but the second time through I just felt this was filler and could have been cut considerably. However this is a minor quibble.

I did not notice the music distortion mentioned by the Amazon reviewer, but the commentary is very good, making this an essential purchase for anybody interested Thunderbirds or Gerry Anderson in general.

I am of the age where I have to watch this in secret and make sure nobody can find out.Its brilliant.Made an old man very happy.Its probably ok for kids as well.

Now this is much much more than just an extended episode of the great Thunderbirds TV series...yes there are rescues and intrigues galore but there are two touches of genius present...

1) the superb Zero-X with its lifing bodies, Martian Exploration Vehicle and even the sleek nose cone showed the model making skiils of the team at their best ( the coming together of the sections before launch and the Martian surface sequences are just brilliant )

2) Putting Cliff Richard (Junior!) and The Shadows into this film was the icing on the cake with the haunting "Lady Penelope" track by The Shadows being one of my all-time favourite tracks.

Yes I did watch this as a child in the cinema but it still works for me now.

Thunderbirds FAB was one of the first films I saw as a child at the cinema.

You can imagine my excitement back then - a chance to see a big screen version of my favourite television show in glorious colour (tvs back then were only black and white!)

Now, you can watch the movie on the small screen. All the elements of the show are there - the Thunderbird launch sequences, the gadgets and gizmos and a few added surprises to including Cliff Richard and the shadows.

The bigger screen you have, the better, because the film was shot in superwide screen format, but it has been cropped for DVD unfortunately and ruins the directors setups from time to time.

A bit more effort could have been put into the restoration: The picture is a bit dodgy from time to time and the sound a bit wobbly.

Overall, its an enjoyable romp and worth adding to your Sylvia and Gerry Anderson collection. Watch the film with the directors and producers commentary on to learn just how much effort went into making these puppet spectaculars.

One episode of Thunderbirds lasts 50 minutes, but the movie is longer so if you love the show you'll love the movie too! Watching all 32 episodes of Thunderbirds is fun and you can finish it of by watching Thunderbirds Are Go & Thunderbird 6. This great mega movie is good to watch after watching the show, so sit down on the armchair and watch this movie. Buy it as soon as you can for all the family and if you don't get it you'll fell pritty bad if you missed it (I know)!!

Absolutely fab bought as a present for our grandson, and he wanted to see what they old thunderbirds were like, he thinks its fantastic.

I bought this DVD for my seven year old grandson. He has just discovered my sons Tracey Island from the loft and wanted to know what it was all about.
As brilliant as ever.

Good Buy

This was for my Grandson, he loved it, although it's unlike many modern DVD's made in this day & age

Bought for husband to replace DVD version he was given years ago.
He is delighted and I'm happy that I made a good choice.
I would recommend it.

Having loved Thunderbirds myself as a youngster I got this for our little boy.
He adores it and sits watching it for hours!