Thunderbirds Are GO (1966)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

David Lane

Writers:

Gerry Anderson (writer)
Sylvia Anderson (writer)

Release Date:

July 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Excitement is GO! Adventure is GO! Danger is GO!

Plot:

Zero-X, a manned exploration mission crashes during lift-off on its maiden flight. Two years later an...

Plot Keywords:

Puppet | Supermarionation

Cast

Peter Dyneley	...	Jeff Tracy (voice)
Sylvia Anderson	...	Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward (voice)
Shane Rimmer	...	Scott Tracy (voice)
Jeremy Wilkin	...	Virgil Tracy / Space Exploration Center President (voice)
Matt Zimmerman	...	Alan Tracy / Messenger (voice)
David Graham	...	Gordon Tracy / Brains / Aloysius Parker (voice)
Ray Barrett	...	John Tracy / The Hood (voice)
Christine Finn	...	Tin-Tin Kyrano (voice)
Paul Maxwell	...	Captain Paul Travers (voice)
Alexander Davion	...	Space Captain Greg Martin (voice)
Neil McCallum	...	Dr. Ray Pierce (voice)
Bob Monkhouse	...	Space Navigator Brad Newman / Swinging Star Compere (voice)
Charles 'Bud' Tingwell	...	Dr. Tony Grant / Angry Young Man / Public Relations Officer (voice) (as Charles Tingwell)

Also Known As:

Thunderbirds Are Go (UK) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

USA:93 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:11 | UK:U

Company:

Associated Television (Overseas) Limited

Trivia:

Jeff calculates that as it is 11am on Tracy Island, it is 4pm in England and, indeed, Lady Penelope is just sitting down to tea. Unless the world's time zones have changed by 2067, this puts Tracy Island somewhere just off the coast of Chile or Peru.

Goofs:

Continuity: At Assembly Control, the name of the Zero-X launch site on the map is given as "Glenn Field". However, when Lady Penelope drives into the car park, there is a sign on the gate of the press enclosure that reads "Glenfield".

Quotes:

[first lines]
Glenn Field Controller: This is Assembly Control calling all Zero X units. Assembly Phase One - go!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in All About 'Thunderbirds' (2008) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Lady Penelope

Not at all Bad

I remember back in the 1960s the family were out for a walk and we were passing a cinema. We had nothing else to do, so we went in to see this. I had never been particularly impressed with the TV version in black and white (at that time in Britain). But I was very impressed with the film. In full glorious colour, and the special effects looked highly realistic on the big screen - they really did.

It's kids' entertainment for children aged from 7 to 700. The fact it lasted longer than a TV episode doesn't matter.

You get a great exciting story, lots of journeys into space in a blistering adventure that'll steam up Brains's glasses and set his bow tie spinning.

Saw the film again recently, this time with the eyes of an adult. Saw the dream sequence set in the night club. I was amazed at the attention to detail with The Shadows. Not only was each puppet almost a perfect model of Hank, Bruce, John and Brian, but the little Burns guitars were perfect in every detail, right down to the trade mark scroll head. Beautifully done. The singer was Cliff Richard Junior. Oh, well, you can't get everything right!