Thunderbirds Are Go

This article is about the film. For the TV series, see Thunderbirds Are Go (TV series). For the musical piece, see Thunderbirds (TV series) § Music. For the Busted song, see Thunderbirds / 3AM.

Thunderbirds Are Go
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.
UK film poster
Directed byDavid Lane
Screenplay byGerry & Sylvia Anderson
Based onThunderbirds
by Gerry & Sylvia Anderson
Produced bySylvia Anderson
Starring
Cinematography
Edited byLen Walter
Music byBarry Gray
Production
companies
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release date
  • 12 December 1966 (1966-12-12)
[1][2][3]
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£250,000[4][5][6]

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 criticised 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 cinematic 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.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Bentley 2005, 38 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference La Rivière, 142 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Archer and Hearn, 144 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Bentley 2005, 31 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ La Rivière, p. 131.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Archer and Hearn, 137 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).