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Thunderbirds
Universal Pictures


9.2

based on 29 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 30 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

MPAA RATING: PG for intense action sequences and language

Starring Brady Corbet, Bill Paxton, Anthony Edwards, Sophia Myles, Ben Kingsley, Soren Fulton, Vanessa Anne Hudgens, and Ron Cook

A live action film based on the British television series of the 1960's.

GENRE(S):	Action \| Adventure \| Comedy \| Family/Kids \| Fantasy \| Sci-fi
WRITTEN BY:	William Osborne (also story) Michael McCullers Peter Hewitt (story) Gerry Anderson & Sylvia Anderson (television series)
DIRECTED BY:	Jonathan Frakes
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: December 21, 2004 Video: December 21, 2004 Theatrical: July 30, 2004
RUNNING TIME:	91 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA / UK

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Boston Globe Ty Burr

When all is said and done, the movie's a steaming plate of corn -- and, indeed, that's part of the pleasure. Myles, though, delivers a fine comic performance with no strings attached.

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub

A fun afternoon for preteen moviegoers that has just enough charm, humor and game- for-anything actors to keep parents halfway interested as well.

The Hollywood Reporter Ray Bennett

Smartly written by William Osborne and Michael McCullers, Thunderbirds expertly targets kids. Yet parents won't be entirely bored.

Dallas Observer Bill Gallo

This special-effects-crammed action blockbuster is not rocket science. It's more like rocket fun.

Chicago Tribune Allison Benedikt

It's a pretty entertaining, extremely good-looking cinematic blip--not important, not outstanding, but better than a lot of PG stuff that attempts to reach both parents and their 8-year-old kids.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

A standard, gadget-crazed exercise in whiz-bang adventure with its tongue lodged deep inside its cheek.

Entertainment Weekly Gregory Kirschling

Without fail its upbeat cheesy wholesomeness is always good for a smile.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

Director Jonathan Frakes keeps the tone just this side of tongue-in-cheek.

USA Today Claudia Puig

Fun at times and tedious at others, it's an action-adventure fantasy aimed particularly at gadget-loving boys.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

The production design is phenomenal, reproducing the series' swinging '60s decor and techno-geek flourishes, from the launch pad under the swimming pool to Lady Penelope's pink roadster, which turns into a mini-plane.

Miami Herald Peter Debruge

Kids are most likely to be entertained by this live-action offering, although baby-boomer fans of the series will appreciate how closely it hews to the show's foundation.

Philadelphia Inquirer David Hiltbrand

It's clean and cheerful entertainment, blithely piggybacking on a beloved classic. No wonder Anderson washed his hands of this project - the filmmakers tampered with and trampled on his magic formula.

Variety David Rooney

The story rarely gets fired up to "maximum thrust," to use the rocket-speed parlance of its heroes.

Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan

The trouble is, the kids seem to be in one earnest "After School Special"-type of movie, while the adults occupy a retro-futuristic world more like the original TV show.

Baltimore Sun Staff (Not credited)

Making a live-action version of Thunderbirds is like rounding out the edges on a Picasso painting to render it more realistic.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Crust

Aside from a couple of rescue set pieces that bookend it, the film is strictly low-wattage in terms of action.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

Thunderbirds is devoted to the principle that character and story are but rude interruptions to the real order of business, an endless display of profound vehicle fetish.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Watching a misfire like Thunderbirds illustrates how impressive the "Spy Kids" movies are.

New York Post Megan Lehmann

Beautiful Brit actress Sophia Myles ("From Hell") is so arch, canny and amusing as the posh, pink-obsessed spy Lady Penelope, it's as if she is acting in the movie this should have been.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

A movie like this is harmless, I suppose, except for the celluloid that was killed in the process of its manufacture, but as an entertainment, it will send the kids tiptoeing through the multiplex to sneak into "Spider-Man 2."

Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar

Kids of all sizes and genders are going to be disappointed.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

Dreary, joyless.

Chicago Reader Staff (Not credited)

This live-action feature actually has less of a pulse than the puppet version.

Village Voice Ben Kenigsberg

As the dapper Lady Penelope, Sophia Myles tries to infuse the enterprise with some "Charlie's Angels" verve, but she's only one life vest, and the movie is a downed plane.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The action is snappy and quick, but why does this youth-targeted adventure pit white male heroes against a trio of villains comprising a black man, an Asian man, and an ugly woman?

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Not only achingly dull, it has no respect for its origins.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Abomination of a movie.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

With its eye-popping color palette and surreal sense of ever-heightening melodrama, Thunderbirds comes across as "Spy Kids'" poorer British cousin.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Alan Niester

Simply put, this is a bad, bad film, this summer's answer to last summer's "The League of Extraordinary Gentleman." A dog for the dog days of summer.

The average user rating for this movie is 9.2 (out of 10) based on 30 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Maddie gave it a10:
I thought this was a fantastic film. It was so cool. The theme tune by Busted (I have to admit, I'm a fan) was "F.A.B." and I've been trying to find it on C.D. for ages!

Decepticon_Pom gave it a0:
Ed Wood may relax - he is no longer the worst director of all time. Jonathan Frakes truly deserves the mantle. Even high-camp "don't take any of it seriously" films raise a laugh or a smile. This was as pleasureable as an enema from your grandmother's corpse. Done badly. Yes, it was even worse than that last Star Trek movie he directed.

Zulum E. gave it a 10:
The best film this year.

Rob M. gave it a 10:
A wonderful movie for everyone of all ages. And Allen got to do a lot more in the movie than he did in the series.

Lou gave it a 9:
I emensly enjoyed this movie. The cast fitted the bill entirly. I went to see it with my friends and we now all swoon over Brady Corbet. The theme tune which was performed by BUSTED was FAB. A great family film. Everyone should see it. xx

Jeff L. gave it a 4:
I'm really looking forward to the next James Bond movie. Not only because I'm a lifelong 007 fan, but because it will be nice to see an actual adult saving the world from megalomaniacal baddies for a change. The last three years or so have given us three Spy Kids movies, two Cody Banks flicks, Disney's Catch That Kid, and now this adaptation of the beloved British TV series from the 60's that starred animated marionettes. And while an atypically dull Bill Paxton is nominally the star, the focus here is primarily on Brady Corbet (Thirteen) as the youngest of his five sons, who is frustrated at always being left out of all the excitement when his father and siblings board their colorful rocket ships to stage daring rescues. Predictably, he gets his chance to save the world from evil Ben Kingsley as a psuedo-Bondian baddie in a red kimono. The film is ultra-juvenile and silly and doesn't even feature that much of the Thunderbird rockets in action. It also wastes Anthony Edwards (ER) as Paxton's stuttering sidekick, who also has a stuttering son. I'm not sure which is more embarassing - when they play their stuttering for cheap laughs, or when they play it for even cheaper pathos. Having said that, I have to admit that my three year old son was completely entertained, and that I had a great time during any scenes involving Sophia Myles as the luscious Lady Penelope, a karate-chopping, butt-kicking hottie with a pink outfit to match her pink flying car. Myles is a comic delight as well as a nice eyeful for any dad who gets dragged into this one.

Paul N. gave it a 7:
My impressions were kind of mixed. I liked that they kept to the original series look and feel (even to some of the campiness). I did think that the focus was too much on the kids. Yes, it moved the story along, but... Lady Penelope was a absolute hoot. Any time she was on screen, she stole the show. And was that a marionette hand I saw grabbing the controls? I could have sworn I saw wires... (A good reason to buy the DVD!)

Thunderbirds Universal Pictures

Thunderbirds
Universal Pictures