Stuart Wright
05-11-2004, 7:06 AM
...Oh. Unlike Van Helsing which had a redeeming trailer on it, there is nothing to redeem the Thunderirds movie DVD.
The problem for me is that a large and enthusiastic proportion of the Thuderbirds audience is aged between 35 and 45. Blokes like me who appreciated the pyromaniacal brilliance of Dereck Meddings (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0575439/) or maybe girls of a similar age who fancied Scott, Alan or most favourite, it seems, Virgil.
Why not pitch a movie which is going to satisfy the new young audience but retain some appeal for the original audience?
Movies like Shrek, Toy Story, Ice Age and Sharks Tale all appeal to kids but also have an adult angle which mean dads like me can bear to sit through them a few dozen times. Problem is that all those movies are animated and there are very few non-animated movies which succeed in appealing to kids and adults in roughly equal measure.
The old favourite Wizard of Oz seems to do reasonably well. More recently
Cats and Dogs missed the target by only a small margin for me. While generally the Muppet movies are good, as was Cat In The Hat.
But Thunderbirds aims it's sights squarely at the 5 year olds to the exclusion of adults. The original notion that 'The Hood' could control people's minds was done fairly sinisterly, with Kirano in real pain when being taken over.
In the movie, it's done for comic effect. And what was wrong with the original design of the Thunderbirds?. Nothing in my opinion. Change for change's sake.
And why all the childish Looney Tunes sound effects dotted throughout? Like when someone is suprised, for example.
Sorry, but like Van Helsing, this is a movie aimed at kids with very little for any adult with half a brain.
You can rate it as a kids movie if you like, but I think the producers aimed at one very young age group instead of a broader range.
And I switched it off after about 40 minutes and consigned the DVD to the same box as Boo Bah and the Fimbles. It's didn't even make the Tweenies box.
The problem for me is that a large and enthusiastic proportion of the Thuderbirds audience is aged between 35 and 45. Blokes like me who appreciated the pyromaniacal brilliance of Dereck Meddings (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0575439/) or maybe girls of a similar age who fancied Scott, Alan or most favourite, it seems, Virgil.
Why not pitch a movie which is going to satisfy the new young audience but retain some appeal for the original audience?
Movies like Shrek, Toy Story, Ice Age and Sharks Tale all appeal to kids but also have an adult angle which mean dads like me can bear to sit through them a few dozen times. Problem is that all those movies are animated and there are very few non-animated movies which succeed in appealing to kids and adults in roughly equal measure.
The old favourite Wizard of Oz seems to do reasonably well. More recently
Cats and Dogs missed the target by only a small margin for me. While generally the Muppet movies are good, as was Cat In The Hat.
But Thunderbirds aims it's sights squarely at the 5 year olds to the exclusion of adults. The original notion that 'The Hood' could control people's minds was done fairly sinisterly, with Kirano in real pain when being taken over.
In the movie, it's done for comic effect. And what was wrong with the original design of the Thunderbirds?. Nothing in my opinion. Change for change's sake.
And why all the childish Looney Tunes sound effects dotted throughout? Like when someone is suprised, for example.
Sorry, but like Van Helsing, this is a movie aimed at kids with very little for any adult with half a brain.
You can rate it as a kids movie if you like, but I think the producers aimed at one very young age group instead of a broader range.
And I switched it off after about 40 minutes and consigned the DVD to the same box as Boo Bah and the Fimbles. It's didn't even make the Tweenies box.