Thunderbird Six
(1968, U.K.) color live-action/animated 89 minutes
Voices: Keith Alexander (John Tracy/Narrator), Sylvia Anderson (Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward), John Carson (Captain Foster), Peter Dyneley (Jeff Tracy), Gary Files (The Hood/Captain Foster/Lane), Christine Finn (Tin-Tin/Indian Fortune-teller), David Graham (Brains/Gordon/Parker), Geoffrey Keen (New World Aircraft President James Glenn), Shane Rimmer (Scott Tracy), Jeremy Wilkin (Virgil Tracy/Hogarth), Matt Zimmerman (Alan Tracy/Carter)
Plot Outline: International Rescue saves a dumb-looking airplane.
***
Uh oh!
Where the original "Supermarionation" sensation THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO! was loud, powerful and very "boy" (thus a classic), T6 is goofy and whimsical, focusing more on "human drama" than the science-fiction angle of those magnificent title machines.
Human drama? With puppets? Bad idea!
This bomb marks a fatal turning-point for producer Gerry Anderson, in which he appears to have disowned the raw charm of his great adolescent sci-fi TV series like SUPERCAR and FIREBALL XL5 and started to take himself seriously, a boo-boo which lead directly to sterile live-action crap like DOPPELGANGER, UFO and SPACE: 1999.
Barry Gray's usually-masterful music is here boring and ultra-wimpy.
The landscapes and set design are still pretty cool. But the
inclusion of real-life insert shots (like an aerial view of NYC) just don't cut it. The universe of Supermarionation is a magical and closed one, and close-ups of human hands and real geographic locations kill it twice over.
THUNDERBIRD SIX is ultimately a trite snooze with a stupid cliffhanger ending, possibly the worst follow-up film ever made. Watch the great TV series instead!
Video/DVD availability: VHS, DVD (MGM/UA Home Video)
Century 21 Television / United Artists
Screenplay: Gerry Anderson, Sylvia Anderson
Music: Barry Gray
Cinematography: Harry Oakes
Visual Effects: Derek Meddings
Produced by Gerry Anderson, Sylvia Anderson
Directed by David Lane
