is Actually Pretty Good...
The times are changing. CGI reboots of our favourite childhood TV shows have been popping up here, there and everywhere for years. They're usually frowned upon and said to "ruin" the series, but that depends on how you look at them.
Thomas the Tank Engine, Postman Pat, Fireman Sam and more got a revamp and they were sort of OK. It was weird seeing Thomas and his friend's mouths move. And why the hell does Postman Pat need a helicopter? But for the most part they still looked somewhat the same and although different they weren't exactly ruined.
Unfortunately, Bob the Builder and his machine team weren't so lucky... Can we fix it? I'm afraid not kids. Enjoy the nightmares!
The original Thunderbirds was a massive part of my childhood. The whole family would gather around the TV to see the Tracy brothers in their incredible machines saving lives worldwide. Gerry Anderson's legendary series was loved by both children and adults alike from the 60s right up to the modern day, and is very much a household name.
I had the Tracy Island play-set, I had some of the episodes on VHS (remember those things?) and I even bought the complete boxset on DVD a couple of years back. So when the first teaser trailer for the revamp aired I was smacked in the face with excitement and fear.
Why revamp Thunderbirds? It was already hugely successful and the old episodes never lose their charm. If anything they get better with age. As a child it was, "Oooo Thunderbirds, they look so cool!" and as 21 year old it's "Oh damn shit's going down and everyone is going to die! How the hell are they going to pull this off?!"
I remember the episode when the Thunderbirds save a manned rocket from crashing into the sun, only to have Thunderbird 3 on a direct course to a fiery death itself. Re-watching that episode, there was even more suspense as Alan, Scott and Tin-Tin rapidly approach their death only to get saved last minute by Virgil and Brains.
Naturally a reboot of Thunderbids for CITV means two things: aimed at children and CGI. There was no way they were going to capture the atmosphere of the original show and it was going to kill off the glory days of another childhood favourite.
That was the fear side of things... and I'm glad that I was wrong!
Remember the live action film from 2004? The one that had that awesome theme song from Busted and everyone thought it would be crap because it was live-action, CGI and not puppets and models on strings, but it was actually well good? Similar thing here. Of course they weren't going to capture the original atmosphere of the classic Thunderbirds but my God they gave it a good go!
CGI really opens up the limits of what can be achieved. The Thunderbirds are these giant, technological marvels and the new version emphasises that greatly. All 5 craft got some design and technology changes but they more or less look and do exactly the same, just a few little alterations here and there (however Thunderbird 5 now looks more like a modern satellite, which is actually quite nice).
The characters also look like puppets in some cases, it's very cleverly done and I think it works well. They've even added some details that weren't there before and drove me mad when I was younger, like how Scott gets in and out of Thunderbird 1 when it lands horizontally. NOW I KNOW!
Naturally it's not perfect, but it wasn't going to be was it? People love nostalgia too much. There are some things that slightly annoy me such as renaming Tin-Tin to "Kayo," a new Thunderbird called "Thunderbird Shadow," and the fact Jeff Tracy is missing and presumed dead (I think he'll come back in the series finale all dramatic-like) but I understand why they did all of this, especially Jeff.
Head writer Rob Hoegee explained at a press screening of Tunderbirds Are Go! why Jeff is missing:
"Jeff Tracy is not a character that can be side-lined or minimised in any way shape or form. He is a huge presence - in the world of Thunderbirds and on the screen... The show we're making right now couldn't be about Jeff Tracy - it has to be about the boys, and Kayo."
"Our decision to take him out of the picture was really motivated by that, and it became a situation story-wise where [the show] became less about 'what dad tells us to do' and more about 'what would dad do?'"
At the end of the day, the Thunderbirds are back with new gear, new launch sequences, and new rescues. That should be enough to get anyone who loved the originals excited. So what if it's more aimed at children this time round? I still thoroughly enjoyed the first episode and will be catching the rest as often as I can.
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