The Thunderbirds Reboot

[Zaune]

Also, does that aircraft not have any way to force the landing gear without climbing down into the cargo bay? Come on, I know the target audience doesn't demand a huge amount of accuracy, but the least the writers could do is spend a few afternoons watching Discovery Wings or something.

[tezunegari]

Why does the Fireflash have a One-Man-Escape-Pod in the cargo hold?

[biostem]

Why does the Fireflash have a One-Man-Escape-Pod in the cargo hold?

Yeah, I thought that was odd. Also, am I to understand that The Hood hitting that console with his tazer doohickey caused the jet to dump all its fuel into its own cargo hold? That just seems, well, dumb - why would you even have a valve or port to allow such a thing to happen?

I did like the callback to the original Thunderbirds, what with the 2 lift cars rescue attempt...

[bilateralrope]

Why does the Fireflash have a One-Man-Escape-Pod in the cargo hold?

Clearly the airline doesn't care about the livers of the passengers. The escape pod is to save the lives of the important crew members in an emergency.

My other WTF is: What happened to the landing gear ?
The Hood sounded like he knew it was faulty when he escaped. But a faulty landing gear would have ruined his plan to steal the plane and he didn't have time to do anything to it between finding out who the concious passenger was and escaping.

[Zaune]

My other WTF is: What happened to the landing gear ?
The Hood sounded like he knew it was faulty when he escaped. But a faulty landing gear would have ruined his plan to steal the plane and he didn't have time to do anything to it between finding out who the concious passenger was and escaping.

The faulty landing gear wasn't a big issue until the fuel leak happened. (The writers got that much right, credit where credit's due.) He was specifically after the engines rather than the whole plane, so a wheels-up landing wouldn't have been a huge issue.

As for why he bothered sabotaging them in the first place? That was probably a contingency plan in case he was compromised; it's hard to recover fingerprints or a DNA sample from a heap of twisted burning wreckage full of charred corpses.

[Lone Browncoat]

I suppose the next episode is going to have a humongous logging machine and a crew who ate a meal of bad beans.

[bilateralrope]

The stupid continues:
- In 2060, the navigation capability of their wrist panels is somehow meant to be impressive. Despite my phone being able to do all of that today.
- A crane that starts falling apart as soon as the power fails. A crane that seems rather short compared to modern cranes.
- An electronic lock that, if it loses power, unlocks the vault it controls once the backup batteries drain.
- Said vault contains an object that lets someone take control of power grids worldwide.
- Naturally such an important object is unguarded.

It's also clear that International Rescue don't really care about keeping their identities secret. Because, if they did, they wouldn't be using a Thunderbird for a simple trip to London.

So I wonder who the target audience of this reboot is. My best guess is children who haven't heard of smartphones.

[Lone Browncoat]

As Scotty said"......put together by monkeys" re; the writers.
Maybe they don't have any geeks on staff to act as tech advisers.
It is like when Hollywood tries to do military without having consultants.
Then you get stupid things like saluting bare-headed [check the manuals, both Commonwealth and USA armed services]
only one regiment in the UK was granted a Royal warrant to salute bare-headed about ages ago.
Can't off the top of my head which one, but the info is out there. Or Eco-sights mounted backwards.

[tezunegari]

The Big Bad is getting away with a superweapon... but lets endanger everyone dependent on technology TO SAVE ONE PERSON from a three to four story drop when said person survived a far worse drop uninjured.

- An electronic lock that, if it loses power, unlocks the vault it controls once the backup batteries drain.
- Said vault contains an object that lets someone take control of power grids worldwide.
- Naturally such an important object is unguarded.

Putting the damn thing into a lockbox at the most convenient bank would have been more secure...
And the Prime Minister of the UK has Push-a-button access to it... yeah.

There is advocating against overdependence on technology and then there is shit like this.

I wonder how many people in Londons hospitals died because of this...
Could the Luddites be charged with murder / manslaughter for it?

[Lone Browncoat]

I wonder how many people in Londons hospitals died because of this...
Could the Luddites be charged with murder / manslaughter for it?

In RL, yes they would.

In the start the 'real' Jeff Tracy wouldn't approve of TB2 being used as an airliner,
especially as in the original show they owned a small private jet for that purpose.

[NecronLord]

The stupid continues:
- In 2060, the navigation capability of their wrist panels is somehow meant to be impressive. Despite my phone being able to do all of that today.

What do you want, the thing to reach out and beam it into their brains? It is presumably a fast and accurate personal computing device.

- A crane that starts falling apart as soon as the power fails. A crane that seems rather short compared to modern cranes.

I thought that TB2 had clipped it coming down

- An electronic lock that, if it loses power, unlocks the vault it controls once the backup batteries drain.
- Said vault contains an object that lets someone take control of power grids worldwide.

Lets look at US DOD vault standards shall we? Source 1 (HTML) Source 2 (Zip download, .mil website)

Check #4. On the primary ingress/egress door to secure rooms (which contains the combination lock) the strike may be set to fail open to facilitate access to the room in emergencies only if the door is under continuous visual observation when the combination lock is not secure. In this instance the combination lock will be immediately secured and subsequently opened as required to allow access to the room.

Yes, real vaults are designed that way. Can't think why you'd want access to the master control for the power grid in an emergency involving the power grid.

- Naturally such an important object is unguarded.

I assumed any guards had been suppressed/killed. Which is no excuse really, but reality sometimes has people fuck up too.

It's also clear that International Rescue don't really care about keeping their identities secret. Because, if they did, they wouldn't be using a Thunderbird for a simple trip to London.

They don't really need to, as the Global Defence Force is apparently on their side and working with them. What with Lady Penelope calling up the Prime Minister of Great Britain and getting him to cooperate with them when there are soldiers right there I think if the authorities wanted International Rescue arrested in this version, they'd do it.

Likewise, using a Thunderbird as an airliner is much more tolerable if you want to have a nice high profile flyby over a major city. For which I assume they filed a flight plan. So... yeah.

There is advocating against overdependence on technology and then there is shit like this.

I... do not think you can reasonably call it, unless you're massively oversensitive, advocating against overdependence on technology when the bad guys espouse your cause and are also dumb as bricks and easily manipulated by the real bad guy. None of the protagonists shows the slightest sympathy for them, and the happily ever after is about them being defeated and arrested?

Grandma Tracy says they need to be able to manage without while she helps get the technology back.

You don't do propaganda by having what you want to say espoused by bad guys, who are also weak (Parker beats three of them at once) and stupid (easily manipulated by the Hood). No sensible person expects that episode to spread luddism.

That's like advocating for religion by making religious people into easily defeated terrorists who are actually puppets of an atheist, and showing how no reasonable person likes their things, and how they celebrate their defeat. That's bloody dumb.

I wonder how many people in Londons hospitals died because of this...
Could the Luddites be charged with murder / manslaughter for it?

They're going to prison... so... yes? That seems likely.

[NecronLord]

Ooh, missed this one.

And the Prime Minister of the UK has Push-a-button access to it... yeah.

Where do you think the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom goes in the event of a major emergency? If you think it's into the cabinet office briefing rooms, to facilitate rapid communication with strategic and operational leaders, then you may have a cookie biscuit. If you also note that in an event where there was a major loss of power, that would generally mean he'd have a direct line established to national grid HQ, you may have two.

[Captain Seafort]

- A crane that starts falling apart as soon as the power fails. A crane that seems rather short compared to modern cranes.

I thought that TB2 had clipped it coming down

Nope - the only damage she did was to knock Nelson's hat off. Which was annoying, given that she's got the aerodynamic qualities of a brick and should have just fallen out of the sky rather than being able to glide when power was lost.

There is advocating against overdependence on technology and then there is shit like this.

I... do not think you can reasonably call it, unless you're massively oversensitive, advocating against overdependence on technology when the bad guys espouse your cause and are also dumb as bricks and easily manipulated by the real bad guy. None of the protagonists shows the slightest sympathy for them, and the happily ever after is about them being defeated and arrested?

Grandma Tracy says they need to be able to manage without while she helps get the technology back.

You don't do propaganda by having what you want to say espoused by bad guys, who are also weak (Parker beats three of them at once) and stupid (easily manipulated by the Hood). No sensible person expects that episode to spread luddism.

That's like advocating for religion by making religious people into easily defeated terrorists who are actually puppets of an atheist, and showing how no reasonable person likes their things, and how they celebrate their defeat. That's bloody dumb.

My problem (which may or may not be tezunegari's intention as well) isn't the attitude of the bad guys so much as the fact that Virgil's brain seems to be as badly affected by the field as Thunderbird 2. Being overdependent on technology is one thing, but his attitude that trying to do anything without said technology was a waste of time (at least until he got a well deserved earbending) is quite another.

[tezunegari]

There is advocating against overdependence on technology and then there is shit like this.

I... do not think you can reasonably call it, unless you're massively oversensitive, advocating against overdependence on technology when the bad guys espouse your cause and are also dumb as bricks and easily manipulated by the real bad guy. None of the protagonists shows the slightest sympathy for them, and the happily ever after is about them being defeated and arrested?

Grandma Tracy says they need to be able to manage without while she helps get the technology back.

You don't do propaganda by having what you want to say espoused by bad guys, who are also weak (Parker beats three of them at once) and stupid (easily manipulated by the Hood). No sensible person expects that episode to spread luddism.

That's like advocating for religion by making religious people into easily defeated terrorists who are actually puppets of an atheist, and showing how no reasonable person likes their things, and how they celebrate their defeat. That's bloody dumb.

My problem (which may or may not be tezunegari's intention as well) isn't the attitude of the bad guys so much as the fact that Virgil's brain seems to be as badly affected by the field as Thunderbird 2. Being overdependent on technology is one thing, but his attitude that trying to do anything without said technology was a waste of time (at least until he got a well deserved earbending) is quite another.

Yeah, that was a big part of the problem with this episode for me.

One was the stupid designs the writers employed.
The crane lock for example was an atrocious attempt at creating tension.
All electic locks I have so far encountered in real life only lock in one direction. You can always open them from the inside to get out. That is a safety measure to ensure no one gets trapped.

Another was the use of Luddites as the episodes villians.
Why?
The Luddites reject technology, so to me they add the extreme opposite of the problem to the narrative.
An Ocean'S 11 style bank heist crew would have created the same situation without adding the Luddite extremism.

[NecronLord]

I assume they just wanted to take a bit of a swipe at neo-primitivists to be honest.

[TOSDOC]

Is this coming to the US, or watchable online? I've been doing searches but can't find any info. My kids caught the trailer and it blew their little minds.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Is this coming to the US, or watchable online? I've been doing searches but can't find any info. My kids caught the trailer and it blew their little minds.

Linky.

You'll need to install a small script to make it work but the website is highly reliable. Stream or download.

[TOSDOC]

Is this coming to the US, or watchable online? I've been doing searches but can't find any info. My kids caught the trailer and it blew their little minds.

Linky.

You'll need to install a small script to make it work but the website is highly reliable. Stream or download.

Awesome, thank you!

[biostem]

I watched this Saturday's episode, and I gotta say that the world Thunderbirds takes place in must have absolutely no sense of testing something before going to full prototype. To construct a new high speed train, by putting it on an active track, is just ludicrous. Not only that, but apparently the designers went to the Starfleet school of "fail-safe failure".

I'm also curious of how Brains got into TB1 in the episode.

I am still finding the series entertaining, but I hope that this was just a filler episode.

[Eternal_Freedom]

I'm finding it entertaining...but I don't think I'll be watching it again for fun like I do with the original.

Also, They trust Alan to fly an SSTO spacecraft but they still treat him like an errant schoolboy? That's really annoying.

[tezunegari]

What material was that cable made out of? And the handrail?
Both together held TB1 at max thrust for several seconds until the handrail broke.

Do they use physical models in this show? Some of the scenes look like actual model kit landscapes to me.

Also, that running gag with Granny and ther bad cooking gets annoying already. Just force her to eat her own cooking, boys.
If she likes it, you know somethings wrong with her.
If she reacts like you she might realize her Death-By-Cookie attacks on her family.

[Eternal_Freedom]

The characters and vehicles are CGI, but the sets are actual models.

[bilateralrope]

Also, that running gag with Granny and ther bad cooking gets annoying already. Just force her to eat her own cooking, boys.
If she likes it, you know somethings wrong with her.
If she reacts like you she might realize her Death-By-Cookie attacks on her family.

Being able to burn something that badly and still have a taste other than burnt food is impressive.

[tezunegari]

Granny Tracy and the bad cooking save the day!

But what happened to the engineers of this world?

Even TB5 is a deathtrap. And apparently the only communications link to IR unless they switch manually to a backup.

The gravity ring? It can go multiple Gs high enough to force a physically fit human into lying flat on the ground.
The walk-on glass? If the gravity ring goes multiple Gs a human body can become heavy enough to crack it.
The airlocks? NO MANUAL OVERRIDE ON THE OUTSIDE! And the airlock switch can be electrified by the central computer.

And somehow the AI from last episode is now Johns "friend".
Nearly caused a horrific train crash in the last episode because it wanted to play.
It tried to kill John at least thrice. Tried to destroy TB3 with Alan aboard.
Acted like a spoiled five year old.

Makes me wonder WHY it was hunted like a virus on earth... if it pulls shit like this.

[Bedlam]

Makes me wonder why TB5 is a one man show, if it's more or less unknown for a morning to go by without a rescue being needed, how does he ever find time to sleep?

Something that occurred to me, which maybe someone with more space knowledge could explain, when you have space stations with rotating sections how is it that the rotating section rotates and the rest of the station does not? Is it down to the relative masses of the two sections?