Thunderbirds (2004)

20% of critics liked it
(100 reviews)
44% of users liked it
(21,118 ratings)

Directed by Jonathan Frakes and based on the '60s British television series of the same name, Thunderbirds chronicles the intergalactic exploits of the Tracy family. Set in 2010, the world looks toward the mysterious Tracy Island when mere international security is not enough; the remote South… More Directed by Jonathan Frakes and based on the '60s British television series of the same name, Thunderbirds chronicles the intergalactic exploits of the Tracy family. Set in 2010, the world looks toward the mysterious Tracy Island when mere international security is not enough; the remote South Pacific island not only houses former astronaut and lifelong entrepreneur Jeff Tracy (Bill Paxton) and his five sons, but also serves as headquarters for the top-secret International Rescue organization. The unthinkable happens, however, when an insidious criminal mastermind known only as "The Hood" (Ben Kingsley) manages to get past the island's innumerable security measures and attempts to take over International Rescue. His goal: stealing the organization's five most advanced rescue vehicles, each of which was designed to accomplish a specific task, and using them for his own agenda. With Jeff and his four eldest sons deployed on a mission, there's only one person with any hope of stopping the takeover -- Jeff's youngest son, Alan (Brady Corbet), who vows to save his family and keep the Thunderbirds alive. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: PG, 1 hr. 35 min.
Directed By: Jonathan Frakes
Written By: William Osborne, Michael McCullers
Genres: Action & Adventure, Kids & Family, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Comedy

In Theaters: Jul 24, 2004 Wide
On DVD: Jan 21, 2003
Studio: Universal Pictures

Critic Reviews

Joshua Katzman, Chicago Reader
There's enough special effects razzle-dazzle to distract the average ten-year-old, but the script by William Osborne and Michael McCullers is stilted and humorless -- a little camp might have helped.
Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle
A new and rather breathtakingly misconceived attempt to revisit a vintage TV show that did not under any circumstances need to be revisited.
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper
This is like a C-movie version of Spy Kids. And I didn't even like Spy Kids.
Claudia Puig, USA Today
Fun at times and tedious at others, it's an action-adventure fantasy aimed particularly at gadget-loving boys.
Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star
Not intended for people old enough to pine for the puppets. It's for people who don't remember the first cast of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers.
Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle
A fun afternoon for preteen moviegoers that has just enough charm, humor and game- for-anything actors to keep parents halfway interested as well.
Nell Minow, Common Sense Media
Fans of the Spy Kids series will enjoy it.
Peter T. Chattaway, Christianity Today
The plot abounds with holes, and the dialogue is often delivered in a bland, perfunctory manner.
Betsy Bozdech, Hollywood.com
Ultra-campy marionettes come to blah life in director Jonathan Frakes' souped-up but poorly written adaptation of the cult English sci-fi kids' show.
Derek Adams, Time Out
What impenetrable, overwrought codswallop this one's turned out to be.
Pete Vonder Haar, Film Threat
Kids of all sizes and genders are going to be disappointed.
Uri Lessing, www.kcactive.com
The acting is (pardon the pun) wooden.
Tony Whitt, Now Playing Magazine
It really shouldn't be that much of a disappointment. But it is.
Todd R. Ramlow, PopMatters
Here the problem is compounded by the fact that few members of the target audience (kids) are even aware of the original series.
Anthony Del Valle, Las Vegas Mercury
The script exploits what's probably the ultimate male child fantasy: proving to Daddy that son is worthy of hero-size respect.
Steve Crum, Kansas City Kansan
A glossy, live action adventure yarn based on the 1960's British puppet TV series.

Read all 16 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Directors C

Thunderbirds could have been a good movie, all it needed was say something to do with the series or a good script without simplistic dialgoue.
Anthony L

Yikes! I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone attempted a live version of The Thunderbirds, interesting that that someone would be Jonathan Frakes. Gerry Anderson has said many times that he originally wanted his series to be live action but with the many special… More
Yikes! I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone attempted a live version of The Thunderbirds, interesting that that someone would be Jonathan Frakes. Gerry Anderson has said many times that he originally wanted his series to be live action but with the many special effects it involved the budget would have been huge so he decided to use puppets instead. I enjoyed all of Anderson's puppet shows when I was younger, he's got a huge cult following but what Frakes failed to realise, is that it's the puppet element that people enjoyed the most. I'm not surprised that fans were more than a little upset about this film. Firstly, the Thunderbirds aren't really in it which is a fairly unforgivable flaw (and they are all about 12 years old, what is that about?), and secondly, it's solely aimed at young kids who would be unfamiliar with the original TV series. If that wasn't enough, the main story basically involves three obnoxious kids running around shouting and 'high fiving' each other every ten minutes and a young lipstick wearing boy who has father issues. It's as awful as it sounds. That said, Bill Paxton was perfect casting considering he was portraying a wooden puppet, although the puppet in the original series was a slightly better actor.
Jeff "

When I was a kid, I used to watch the Thunderbirds, I thought the show was excellent, fun and Thrilling. I was a little skeptical about watching this film, as it looked like a kids film, and it also looked like the film makers didn't know what they were doing. Boy was I right.… More
When I was a kid, I used to watch the Thunderbirds, I thought the show was excellent, fun and Thrilling. I was a little skeptical about watching this film, as it looked like a kids film, and it also looked like the film makers didn't know what they were doing. Boy was I right. Ths film is Aan insult to the original series, and it's fans. They could've at least made a film that the whole family could love, but instead they made a crap film. With it's child oriented humour, the film is a faillure even by child oriented film standards. This film was amusing, but it wore off, and the fact that they 'reinvented' the look and style of the original series was just wrong. They could have at least try to make a film that the entire family could love, instead they simply made this film for kids, this was honestly a bad move. One of the reasons why is becase the original fans of the series were born in the 60's and grew up watching Thunderbirds, my dad grew up on it, and he made me watch it when I was a kid. Anyhow, the film is terrible because every actor here seems miscast for the part, the story is lame, and the actors are plainly silly. Ben Kingsly was a joke in this film, not even his talent could redeem such a horrid picture. I really was hoping for something terrific on screen. Instead we were given a total joke of a movie. The nostalgic feel of this film is absent. The only good thing that came out of this film is that it will reiinforce the status of the original series more. Watch the series instead instead of this filth. This is a film that should not have been made.
KJ P

Really? This is like comparing Spy Kids to Battlefield earth!
Cindy I

Not a terrible film (not good either)...what was the point of this? The reason the Thunderbirds TV show was so cool was the puppets. This film? No puppets. The prosecution rests.
Jason S

This is a good kids movie. It was well directed as well. I know some out there thought it was crap but the flick was made for kids. Get over it.
Stephen M

Bearing in mind I couldn't stand the original puppet series, this needed to be bloody brilliant for me to even like it a little. It wasn't; I didn't. In fairness, Sophia Myles is good as Lady Penelope, and Ron Cook and Ben Kingsley aren't bad as Parker and The… More
Bearing in mind I couldn't stand the original puppet series, this needed to be bloody brilliant for me to even like it a little. It wasn't; I didn't. In fairness, Sophia Myles is good as Lady Penelope, and Ron Cook and Ben Kingsley aren't bad as Parker and The Hood, respectively. As for the Tracys, they're so nauseatingly sweet and goody-goody they're like the superhero equivalent of The Osmonds. Dreadful.
Sarah G

Well I'm not sure what to say about this film, due to the lack of any quality at all. I enjoyed it, mainly because I laughed through it! One performance ,which was near enough to the character, was Anothony Edwards' performance of Brains! It was very good, Almost making me… More
Well I'm not sure what to say about this film, due to the lack of any quality at all. I enjoyed it, mainly because I laughed through it! One performance ,which was near enough to the character, was Anothony Edwards' performance of Brains! It was very good, Almost making me believe he was Brains. If you want to see it, don't go by yourself. take your children or younger brothers and sisters-they'll enjoy it more!I have to declare that the original Gerry Anderson puppet version is better and shouldn't have been made in such a poor way! Not bad,could have been much much better
Luke B

The film fails miserably. Mainly because for some reason the makers decided to aim it squarely at kids, and really young kids at that. It doesn't even focus around the main chracters of the show. It is like Spy Kids with lots of rockets. I was never a fan of the TV show but it… More
The film fails miserably. Mainly because for some reason the makers decided to aim it squarely at kids, and really young kids at that. It doesn't even focus around the main chracters of the show. It is like Spy Kids with lots of rockets. I was never a fan of the TV show but it was much better than this and deserved a good adaptaion. There is some good to be found mainly in the performances of Anthony Edwards as Brains and Ron Cook as Parker.
Steven V

This movie is not very good. The good stuff is the redesign of the ships, costumes and locations. I thought it would be alot better as the TV series.
Chad R

OK for a kids flick - would have liked it when I was 12
Isaac H

Surprisingly decent family film. Action packed, not great, but worth seeing. I enjoyed watching it.
FanGirl B

The ships are fun to look at and Lady P is cool. But the lead boy's character drove me nuts.

Read all 13 featured audience ratings

Cast

            Bill Paxton as Jeff Tracy

            Anthony Edwards as Brains

            Sophia Myles as Lady Penelope

            Ben Kingsley as The Hood

            Brady Corbet as Alan Tracy

            Soren Fulton as Fermat

            Vanessa Hudgens as Tin-Tin

            Ron Cook as Parker

            Philip Winchester as Scott Tracy

            Lex Shrapnel as John Tracy

            Dominic Colenso as Virgil Tracy

            Ben Torgeson as Gordon Tracy

            Bhasker Patel as Kyrano

            Deobia Oparei as Mullion

            Genie Francis as Lisa Lowe

            Lou Hirsch as Headmaster

            Debora Weston as Teacher

            Demitri Goritsas as News Anchor

            Harvey Virdi as Onaha

            Nicola Walker as Panhead's Mother

            Mark Nelmes as Ice Cream Man

            Stewart Howson as Engineer

            Rose Keegan as Transom

            Andy Smart as Henchman & Oil Rig Worker

            Alex Barringer as Excited Kid

            Kyle Herbert as Know It All Kid

            Johannes Zadrozny as Panhead

            Julian Spencer as Henchman
See full cast