Thunderbirds Are Go

rdf:langString Thunderbirds Are Go

rdf:langString Thunderbirds Are Go

rdf:langString Thunderbirds Are Go

rdf:langString left

rdf:langString A bold title in the centre of the image reads "Thunderbirds Are Go". A top caption spanning the width of this colourful film poster reads "Their First Big-Screen Adventure In Colour!" Between the title and the caption, three rocket-shaped vehicles – one blue, one green and one red – appear to blast outwards from the poster itself. Other images lining the sides of the poster include an exotic pink car, a snake-like rock creature apparently shooting fire from its mouth and, at the base, portraits of some of the principal cast members, who are marionette puppets.

rdf:langString UK film poster

rdf:langString United Kingdom

rdf:langString Len Walter

rdf:langString English

rdf:langString Sylvia Anderson

rdf:langString Everything about Thunderbirds Are Go is visibly a technological progression from the TV programmes; the whole production looks more polished. The visual effects became more impressive ... The puppetry also developed. It became markedly more restrained ... now movement was more subtle and realistic, less puppet-like ... The set design had also matured ... all sets were now comparable with the slickest designs in live-action.

rdf:langString I had to insist on just tangerine and black, continually assuring [the art department] that it would look effective. As a producer, I was entitled to do it my way and, although I do not think Bob [Bell] ever really approved, I stuck to my concept. The result was quite a stunning sequence that stood out for its simplicity and economy of colour.

rdf:langString Alan's subplot lends the film psychedelic colour and a welcome dose of human drama, but mostly, Thunderbirds Are Go is about the hardware ... [[[Gerry Anderson|Gerry]]] Anderson and SFX designer Derek Meddings make the most of this cinema version's extra scope, filling the screen with bigger, shinier craft, while director [[[David Lane |David]]] Lane has more time to linger on the intricate detailing of the phallic models before they're blown to smithereens in the film's explosive action sequences. For the techno-fetishist, it's positively hardcore.

rdf:langString The advantages were great. All members of the unit could now study the set-up and watch rehearsals without having to move the camera operator, saving a lot of his time because he could then concentrate on his job without continual interruption from the director, continuity girl, art director and other technicians wanting to look through the camera.

rdf:langString It was a wonderful premiere and it was absolutely packed. Everybody cheered and I remember leaving the cinema and the manager said, "You get a picture like this and they start queuing up at four o'clock in the morning." We went back to the Hilton for a fabulous party, where they had made all the vehicles in ice. The head of United Artists said to me, "I don't know whether it's going to make more money than Bond or not, I can't decide" ... The next day, the Dominion at Tottenham Court Road had about ten people in it.

rdf:langString I tried to keep the stories believable, if only for that particular moment. Of all the planets, the only one that might possibly sustain life was Mars, so, with everybody in science fiction wanting to talk about aliens or another race, Mars was the only planet that made any sense. Right up until the Americans landed the probe on Mars, there was speculation that there might be life there.

rdf:langString [Audiences] were watching a film that exuded the same inventive spark, witty flair and oddball scenarios as the series itself. Multiple plotting, a sprinkling of monsters and a pop fantasy sequence including Cliff Richard and The Shadows ... were bolted on to the basic story of Zero-X, which would propel man to Mars for the very first time.

rdf:langString right

rdf:langString Gerry and Sylvia Anderson

rdf:langString — Gerry Anderson on the benefits of Add-a-Vision

rdf:langString — Film4 review

rdf:langString — Gerry Anderson on the premise

rdf:langString — John Marriott

rdf:langString — Stephen La Rivière

rdf:langString — Gerry Anderson remembering the premiere and initial public response

rdf:langString — Sylvia Anderson on the conference room design

rdf:langString Thunderbirds Are Go is a 1966 British science-fiction puppet film based on Thunderbirds, a Supermarionation television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and produced by their company Century 21 Productions. Written by the Andersons and directed by David Lane, Thunderbirds Are Go concerns spacecraft Zero-X and its human mission to Mars. When Zero-X suffers a malfunction during re-entry, it is up to life-saving organisation International Rescue, supported by its technologically-advanced Thunderbird machines, to activate the trapped crew's escape pod before the spacecraft hits the ground. Filmed between March and June 1966 at Century 21's studios on the Slough Trading Estate and on location in Portugal, Thunderbirds Are Go features guest appearances by puppet versions of Cliff Richard and The Shadows, who also contributed to the film's score. It was the first film to be shot using an early form of video assist called "Add-a-Vision". The film's special effects sequences, directed by Derek Meddings, took six months to complete. Although early reviews praised the film as a successful cinematic transfer of the TV series, Thunderbirds Are Go drew a lukewarm public response and proved to be a box office failure. Later reviews would criticise the film for its minimal characterisation, lengthy effects shots, and inclusion of a fantasy dream sequence centring on Richard and The Shadows. Surprised by the film's underperformance and confident that Thunderbirds still had big-screen potential, distributors United Artists ordered a sequel, Thunderbird 6. However, this too received a mediocre critical and commercial response and caused the franchise to be abandoned until the early 2000s. Zero-X later appeared in the first episode of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, the Andersons' follow-up to Thunderbirds, while tie-in publication TV Century 21 ran a Zero-X comic strip until 1969.