# Thunderbirds (2004 film)
**Thunderbirds** is a 2004 live-action science fiction adventure film directed by [Jonathan Frakes](https://www.edgepedia.org/jonathan-frakes), based on the British 1960s puppet television series *Thunderbirds* created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. It was produced by [Working Title Films](https://www.edgepedia.org/working-title-films) with [Universal Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/universal-pictures) and StudioCanal, and it follows the teenage Alan Tracy as he rescues his family from the villainous Hood, who seizes their island base and its rescue technology.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/63262) • [2](https://www.workingtitlefilms.com/film/thunderbirds/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director | Jonathan Frakes[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/63262) |
| Producers | Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Mark Huffam[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/63262) |
| Writers | William Osborne and Michael McCullers (screenplay), Peter Hewitt and William Osborne (story)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/63262) |
| Principal cast | Bill Paxton (Jeff Tracy), Anthony Edwards (Brains), Ben Kingsley (The Hood), Sophia Myles (Lady Penelope), Brady Corbet (Alan Tracy)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/63262) |
| Release | UK 23 July 2004; US wide release 30 July 2004[2](https://www.workingtitlefilms.com/film/thunderbirds/) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/thunderbirds) |
| Rating and length | PG (intense action sequences and language); 94 minutes per the AFI record[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/63262) |
| Reception | 18% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 103 reviews; Metascore 36 on Metacritic; US gross of $6.8 million[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/thunderbirds) • [4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/thunderbirds/critic-reviews/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and premise
The film adapts the setup of the television series: former astronaut Jeff Tracy ([Bill Paxton](https://www.edgepedia.org/bill-paxton)) runs International Rescue, a secret rescue organization, from Tracy Island in the South Pacific, where the futuristic Thunderbird vehicles are built and housed by the engineer Ray "Brains" Hackenbacker ([Anthony Edwards](https://www.edgepedia.org/anthony-edwards-ep8zmhhffp)).[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/thunderbirds) While Jeff and his older sons are on a mission in space, their nemesis The Hood ([Ben Kingsley](https://www.edgepedia.org/ben-kingsley)) traps them aboard Thunderbird 5 and takes over Tracy Island, intending to use the rescue technology to rob the world's biggest banks, bring down the global economy, and frame Jeff Tracy as the thief.[2](https://www.workingtitlefilms.com/film/thunderbirds/) • [5](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/thunderbirds) • [16](https://www.thunderbirdsmovie.com/) The youngest son, Alan (Brady Corbet), still in school and kept out of the team, works with his friends Fermat (Soren Fulton) and Tin-Tin (Vanessa Hudgens) to rescue the rescuers.[5](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/thunderbirds)
According to publicity material, the film is set in 2020, six years before the first episode of the series; Alan, who is 21 in the series, is 15 in the film, so the earlier year corresponds to his younger age.[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167456/faq/)
## Production
The film was a British-American-French co-production shot on 35mm, with Brendan Galvin as director of photography, Martin Walsh as editor, John Beard as production designer, and a score by [Hans Zimmer](https://www.edgepedia.org/hans-zimmer).[7](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/thunderbirds) • [1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/63262) Working Title Films was the production company and [United International Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/united-international-pictures) the sales company.[7](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/thunderbirds)
**Casting The Hood.** Director Jonathan Frakes said the part went to Ben Kingsley partly because the actor had just come off two emotionally draining dramatic roles, *House of Sand and Fog* and *Sexy Beast*, and wanted a family film, and partly because Kingsley's own children were Thunderbirds fans and encouraged him to take it.[2](https://www.workingtitlefilms.com/film/thunderbirds/)
The screenplay went through earlier incarnations. Screenwriter Karey Kirkpatrick, interviewed in 2004, said his 1998-era draft was shut down before casting, and that in his version Alan was 18, whereas in the finished film he is about 14 or 15.[8](https://mjsimpson-films.blogspot.com/2014/01/interview-karey-kirkpatrick-2004.html)
## Release and reception
The film premiered at a family event hosted by Universal Pictures and Working Title at [Universal Studios Hollywood](https://www.edgepedia.org/universal-studios-hollywood) on Saturday, July 24, 2004, and opened in US theaters on Friday, July 30, 2004.[9](https://www.seeing-stars.com/Meet/MoviePremierePressReleases/Thunderbirds.shtml) The UK release date was 23 July 2004.[2](https://www.workingtitlefilms.com/film/thunderbirds/)
Pre-release trade expectations were high. Screen Daily's review from the Tribeca Film Festival screening called the film "a triumph of brand-building that should establish a franchise" and described a $100 million domestic take as "a foregone conclusion," with audience members at the premiere each receiving a Thunderbird toy.[10](https://www.screendaily.com/thunderbirds/4018593.article) The actual result was far smaller: the film grossed $6.8 million in the United States.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/thunderbirds)
Critics were largely negative. Rotten Tomatoes recorded an 18% Tomatometer from 103 reviews and a 37% audience score, with the critics consensus calling it a "live-action cartoon for kids"; Metacritic's Metascore was 36, labeled generally unfavorable.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/thunderbirds) • [4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/thunderbirds/critic-reviews/) Roger Ebert, the film critic of the *Chicago Sun-Times*, wrote that the film was made for an audience that does not exist in North American multiplexes, fans of a British puppet show that ran from 1964 to 1966, and compared its campy 1960s send-up formula to *Austin Powers* relative to [James Bond](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-bond).[11](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/thunderbirds-2004) The *Los Angeles Times* review argued that the film borrowed the series' basic setup before abandoning International Rescue in favor of a "Spy Kids" imitation.[12](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jul-30-et-thunder30-story.html) Some reviews were warmer: the *Boston Globe* gave 75, praising [Sophia Myles](https://www.edgepedia.org/sophia-myles)'s comic performance as Lady Penelope, and the *San Francisco Chronicle*, also at 75, called it a fun afternoon for preteen moviegoers.[4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/thunderbirds/critic-reviews/)
## Legacy
The film's failure ended the planned franchise and disappointed the series' creator. According to his son, the 2004 live-action adaptation used [Gerry Anderson](https://www.edgepedia.org/gerry-anderson)'s classic characters but was a major disappointment to him.[13](https://www.screendaily.com/news/thunderbirds-creator-gerry-andersons-final-film-nearing-production/5083680.article) The science fiction encyclopedia *SFE* records that scrapping Supermarionation, the series' puppet technique, in favor of live action led to both critical and commercial failure.[14](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/thunderbirds) The franchise itself continued in other forms: the computer-animated series *Thunderbirds Are Go*, combining computer animation with physical models, premiered in 2015 in the original's 50th anniversary year and ran to 78 episodes over three series.[15](https://thunderbirdmodels.co.uk/tv-series/)
## References
1. [Thunderbirds (2004), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/63262)
2. [Thunderbirds, Working Title Films](https://www.workingtitlefilms.com/film/thunderbirds/)
3. [Thunderbirds, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/thunderbirds)
4. [Thunderbirds critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/thunderbirds/critic-reviews/)
5. [Thunderbirds Parents' Guide, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/thunderbirds)
6. [Thunderbirds (2004) FAQ, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167456/faq/)
7. [Thunderbirds, British Council UK Films Database](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/thunderbirds)
8. [Interview: Karey Kirkpatrick (2004), MJSimpson Films](https://mjsimpson-films.blogspot.com/2014/01/interview-karey-kirkpatrick-2004.html)
9. [Thunderbirds premiere press release, Seeing Stars](https://www.seeing-stars.com/Meet/MoviePremierePressReleases/Thunderbirds.shtml)
10. [Thunderbirds review, Screen Daily](https://www.screendaily.com/thunderbirds/4018593.article)
11. [Thunderbirds movie review, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/thunderbirds-2004)
12. ['Thunderbirds' can't pull out of a nosedive, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jul-30-et-thunder30-story.html)
13. [Thunderbirds creator Gerry Anderson's final film nearing production, Screen Daily](https://www.screendaily.com/news/thunderbirds-creator-gerry-andersons-final-film-nearing-production/5083680.article)
14. [Thunderbirds, The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/thunderbirds)
15. [Gerry Anderson's Thunderbirds: TV series timeline, Thunderbird Models](https://thunderbirdmodels.co.uk/tv-series/)
16. [Thunderbirds Movie](https://www.thunderbirdsmovie.com/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Science fiction and fantasy films (individual works) › Science fiction and fantasy films of the 2000s › Science fiction films of the 2000s*
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