Thunderbirds Are GO (1966)

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)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Cliff Richard	...	Cliff Richard Jr. (voice) (uncredited)
The Shadows	...	Themselves (uncredited)

Directed by
David Lane

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Gerry Anderson		writer
Sylvia Anderson		writer

Produced by
Sylvia Anderson	....	producer
John Read	....	associate producer
Gerry Anderson	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Barry Gray

Film Editing by
Len Walter

Production Design by
John Lageu
Keith Wilson

Costume Design by
Elizabeth Coleman

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Harry Ledger	....	assistant director
Ken Turner	....	assistant director

Art Department
Tony Dunsterville	....	property maker

Sound Department
Maurice Askew	....	sound mixer
Brian Hickin	....	sound editor (as Brian T. Hickin)
John Peverill	....	sound editor
Lionel Strutt	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Richard Conway	....	visual effects assistant
Derek Meddings	....	visual effects director
Harry Oakes	....	visual effects lighting camera
Peter Wragg	....	visual effects: second unit
Ted Cutlack	....	visual effects camera operator (uncredited)
Ted Fowler	....	visual effects lighting cameraman: second unit (uncredited)
Shaun Whittacker-Cook	....	visual effects director (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Alan Perry	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Paddy Seale	....	lighting camera (uncredited)

Animation Department
John Brown	....	character sculptor (as John F. Brown)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Zena Relph	....	assistant to costume designer (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Selwyn Petterson	....	apprentice editor (uncredited)
George Randall	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Other crew
Brian Burgess	....	production coordinator
Norman Foster	....	assistant to executive producer
Christine Glanville	....	character operator
Mary Turner	....	character operator
Wanda Webb	....	puppeteer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Associated Television (Overseas) Limited
• Century 21 Television

Distributors

• United Artists (1968) (USA) (theatrical)
• Chapel Distribution (2002) (Australia) (theatrical) (35mm print Techniscope Technicolor - re-issue)
• United Artists Corporation (1966) (UK) (theatrical)
• MGM Home Entertainment (Europe) (2001) (UK) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (laserdisc)
• MGM/UA Home Video (1988) (UK) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Studio Film Laboratories Ltd.  titles
• Wig Creations of London  wigs

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 Juno (2007)

Soundtrack:

Thunderbirds Are GO

The awful writing means that the potential is wasted and it is no more than a 25-minute story excruciatingly padded out to 90

The space race continues with the first manned mission to Mars in the shape of the Zero-X. However things are put back when the Zero-X is sabotaged during take-off and crashes. Two years later the team are ready to try again but fears over security give them pause. With the Thunderbird team on standby, the mission goes ahead but can the Tracey family help make the perilous mission a success.

With the live-action remake hitting the cinemas, I decided to avoid the kids in the cinema by watching this original feature instead. Those complaining about how the remake is not any good because of the fact that Anderson was not hands-on involved should perhaps check this out as it is proof that a feature-length version of the series was not any easier for the creator himself! I sat to this just content to see those great ships used well in a reasonable story but, I'm sad to say, that I didn't even get that. The film leaves it for about 20 minutes before the Thunderbirds even get involved and then they only really do anything of merit in the final 10 minutes. In terms of actual good content, I reckon you could have got an episode out of this easily enough but no more than that – and that's the problem. The plot is padded at the start with a very slow take off of Zero-X, in the middle with a terrible dream sequence and towards the end with a laughable mission on Mars!

The Andersons' are entirely to blame because they wrote the script themselves and produced a padding piece of nonsense that lacks any sense of excitement, pace or, god help us, fun! The dream sequence is a good example – a silly, overlong section that only pads the film and exposes us to Cliff Richard and the Shadows; however the actual mission to Mars is equally as bad with aliens being settled on for the reason a rescue is needed at the end (however the aspect of flame-throwing aliens on Mars is not even mentioned after this scene!). This is the film's great failing, it just cannot sustain the running time at all and most of the time it is very apparent padding that only frustrates – personally I think anyone else could have come up with a better plot for the film that would have seen more rescues and use of the Thunderbird ships. It is annoying because, as a child, I used to watch the show and I think the ships and the models were all cool however they were all very poorly used and most of the screen time seemed to be given over to the anonymous crew of the Zero-X and Lady Penelope.

The cast do reasonable voice work but never manage to bring emotion to their delivery – something that could really have helped the poor story get a bit of tension into it. Although the song is awful, it is at least momentarily amusing to see puppets of Cliff Richard and the Shadows but, let me stress, it's only momentarily amusing. The only other voice of note is that of the late Bob Monkhouse, but he has little to do and it's one you have to listen for to catch it.

Overall, even fans of the series will feel let down by this film. It is full of ineffective padding and essentially relegates the all-action thunderbirds into third place in their own movie! The writing is awful and will send fans rushing back to their boxsets and will leave the rest of the viewers reaching for the remote control. A very poor film in the place of what should have been a cool, breezy and fun big screen outing for fans.