Stars: Thunderbirds

Director: David Lane

Summary: Featuring the episodes: 'Vault Of Death' which finds a bank clerk trapped in a safe, 'The Mighty Atom' which finds the Thunderbirds at risk from a robotic photographer, 'City Of Fire' which finds a shopping mall the site of a raging fire and 'The Imposters' which finds Lady Penelope on the trail of a gang of phoney Thunderbirds.

Gerry Anderson's cult sci-fi series made "super-marionation" popular because of its amazing and idiosyncratic puppet cast. The story follows Jeff Tracy and his sons--the eponymous Thunderbirds--as they fly around in their multimillion-dollar spaceship, answering calls of distress throughout the galaxy in the name of International Rescue. This collection contains the episodes "Vault of Death," "The Mighty Atom," "City of Fire," and "The Impostors."

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"Filmed in VIDECOLOR--[explosions, drum roll, music builds to a climax]--and SUPERMARIONATION"! The opening sequence of Thunderbirds is itself a masterclass in Gerry Anderson's marionette hyperbole: who else would dare to make a virtue out of the fact that (a)the show is in colour and (b) it's got puppets in it? But everything about this series really is epic: Thunderbirds is action on the grandest scale, pre-dating such high-concept Hollywood vehicles as Armaggedon by 30 years and more (the acting is better, too), and fetishising gadgets in a way that even the most excessive Bond movies could never hope to rival.

Unsurprisingly, it transpires that the visual effects are by Derek Meddings, whose later contributions to Bond movies like The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker echo his pioneering model work here.

As to the characters, the clean-cut Tracey boys take second place in the audience's affections to their cool machines--the real stars of the show--while comic relief is to be found in the charming company of Lady Penelope and her pink Rolls (number plate FAB1), driven by lugubrious chauffeur Parker, whose "Yes, milady" catchphrase resonated around school playgrounds for decades. (Spare a thought for poor old John Tracey, stuck up in space on Thunderbird 5 with only the radio for company.) The puppet stunt-work is breathtakingly audacious, and every week's death-defying escapade is nail-bitingly choreographed in the very best tradition of disaster movies. First shown in 1964 and now digitally remastered, Thunderbirds is children's TV that still looks and sounds like big-budget Hollywood.

On this DVD: The four episodes are: "Vault of Death", "The Mighty Atom", "City of Fire" and "The Imposters". Amazon.com

Aspect Ratio:	4:3 Full Frame
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Gerry Anderson FAB Fact File, Thunderbirds Lady Penelope And Parker Featurette, Printable CDROM FAB 1 And FAB 2, Fully Animated Menus
Subtitles:	None
Year:	1965
Release Date:	July 19, 2004
Runtime:	194 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	37115 06283
Label:	I T C
Keywords:	Anderson, Death, General, Thunderbirds, Puppet, Vault, Tv, Childrens, Episodes
Genre:	Childrens