It’s hard to imagine in these modern times where a cartoon sponge can make the leap from television to film and be a box office success, that back in 1966, Thunderbirds, easily the best thing on television for children at the time, did the same thing and failed monstrously at the box office.
Thunderbirds Are Go was the result, swiftly followed by a sequel – Thunderbird 6 – two years later. Now both are available to own in shiny HD editions on Blu-ray.
On initial watch, both films look spectacular. The Century 21 effects team throw everything into achieving some truly amazing action sequences, from the Zero X crash in the first film right through to the Skyship 1 rescue in film two.
Unfortunately, both films are flawed at best. Thunderbirds Are Go drags along at a snail’s pace, peppered with occasional moments of action, but mostly it’s an amalgamation of thrilling trademark Thunderbirds action spliced with some truly weird, out-there moments, including a bizarre dream sequence with Cliff Richard and a scene with alien rock snakes attacking the Zero X astronauts on Mars.
Thunderbird 6 is more focused and fun, but nothing can really disguise that it would work best in the 50-minute format as opposed to being a feature film. The plotting is paper thin for the most part, though the climactic sequences are as fun as anything involving International Rescue can be.
Both films certainly look great on a widescreen telly, and the HD transfer is solid enough, although there is some minor wear-and-tear to the film print, whilst some sequences are grainier then others.
If you haven’t seen either film yet, then these Blu-ray releases are certainly worth picking up, though fans who’ve already purchased them on DVD may want to not bother, as aside from a short 15 minute interview with Gerry Anderson (which features on both films) and a 21 minute featurette which covers similar ground (with only short discussion relating to the actual films), there’s not much else new on offer in terms of extra features, aside from some test footage of Cliff Richard and an isolated score for each film (which means a lot of long silences in between the odd music sting).
The commentaries, featurettes, galleries and Easter eggs from the DVD releases are also included for completists.
Released on Blu-ray on Monday 9 June 2015 by Fabulous Films Ltd / Fremantle Media Enterprises.
> Buy the complete Thunderbirds collection on Blu-ray on Amazon.
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