The Thunderbirds Reboot

[Zaune]

First proper trailer:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... y2hFqgtjLk[/youtube]





Source

So...

The good: Tin-Tin (now apparently renamed "Kayo") is getting to do something useful this time around, and is probably not inexplicably infatuated with Alan Tracy anymore.

The bad: Why the buttered fuck does Lady Penelope own a pug?

[Iroscato]

Fixed embed below. So far I quite like what I see, looks action packed and pretty well made. Animation looks about on par with the Clone Wars. Be interesting to see the new stuff they can do with the series since it's been left alone for several decades, 2004 abortion movie notwithstanding.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Do not speak of that movie. It never happened.

AS for why Penelope owns a pug now? Obviously because she's an English aristocrat

Anyway, looks pretty cool.

[biostem]

I find this mildly interesting, but wish they would have updated the aesthetics a bit more. The concept of a private rescue force is one that could be developed further - perhaps bring up issues of them basically being deemed criminals, as they routinely violate air space in order to save lives. How about the fact that they have a space station and transorbital capability that they use so matter-of-factly? Introduce a friendly government force, (a la Commissioner Gordon to Batman), who shows up later to "warn" them about their wrongdoing, while some other governmental faction actually tries to take them down, regardless of their actual positive contributions...

[SpottedKitty]

Interesting.

Did I just see a vehicle with what looked like the front bit of an Eagle Transporter from Space: 1999?

[Sharp-kun]

How about the fact that they have a space station and transorbital capability that they use so matter-of-factly?

The original had pirate radio stations in space Space is easy it seems.

[Zaune]

Do not speak of that movie. It never happened.

I'm prepared to admit it exists because it had one redeeming feature, namely giving Tin-Tin something useful to do.

Which isn't to say it wasn't an incredibly awful movie, of course.

[Eternal_Freedom]

"Space is easy, it's empty." Damnit I can't believe I quoted The Core.

Anyway. There was an entry on the Wild Mass Guessing page for Thunderbirds on TVTropes positing that the series takes place after some massive depopulation event, thus explaining the apparent absence of the billions of people you'd expect, why so much is automated (to an insane degree - a multi-reactor nuclear plant being run by two people is probably the most egregious), and why International Rescue is willing to go to such lengths to save lives, even if it causes major collateral damage to property.

Thoughts?

[Iroscato]

That was pretty good. They paid a lot of homages to the original but felt like its own beast at the same time. Spoiler

The Hood seems intriguing, and I like how they've reworked a lot of elements to fit better in the 21st century. Brains' accent was...an interesting change, but it helps to make it a little more racially diverse I suppose. The addition of Thunderbird S is tantamount to blasphemy, but it could be cool to see how they use a 'stealth' vehicle.

[Captain Seafort]

That was pretty good. They paid a lot of homages to the original but felt like its own beast at the same time.

I really don't like some of the new designs - 2 and 3 in particular feel very small and flimsy compared with the originals, and the less said about the acrobatics needed to board 2 the better.

On the plus side, having the uniforms clipped on on the way down the boarding chutes is a good idea, as is the degree of automation for the main craft, and we didn't have to put up with Spoiler

any bingo while they were dealing with the solar reflector.

I'm withholding judgement about the series as a whole until I've seen a normal episode - the opening story worked, but it needed the full hour to do it - the same as a standard episode of the original. Trying to cram a story into half an hour might cause things either to feel a bit rushed, or sacrifice the characterisation of extras of the week that was a big part of the original.

Spoiler

The addition of Thunderbird S is tantamount to blasphemy, but it could be cool to see how they use a 'stealth' vehicle.

Spoiler

Calling it a Thunderbird might be a bit close to the line, but the design is clearly based on Jeff's private jet from the original, and at least it isn't a biplane.

[Eternal_Freedom]

I have't seen the episode yet, but I saw a behind the scenes program the other day and I'm pretty psyched for it. Unfortunately I learned that the voice actor for Brains (whilst being very talented) also portrayed one of the dumber characters in Four Lions, so I just won't be able to take him seriously anymore.

[Zaune]

Gordon Tracy has the same taste in shirts as I did when I was seventeen... And the girl I was dating at that time was -maybe still is- a huge Thunderbirds fan whose favourite was Gordon; I used to tease her about having a crush on him.

Either she got into CGI animation at some point and this is some kind of weird tribute, unlikely given we didn't part on very good terms, or the universe is screwing with me.

[SpottedKitty]

I really don't like some of the new designs - 2 and 3 in particular feel very small and flimsy compared with the originals, and the less said about the acrobatics needed to board 2 the better.

<snrk> Agreed. One of the advantages of using CGI, though, they can do things actual puppets could never do.

On the plus side, having the uniforms clipped on on the way down the boarding chutes is a good idea,

Heh, I saw this as an homage to matching scenes in the Wallace & Gromit animations — which were themselves a spoof of the boarding sequences in the original Thunderbirds.

[Dartzap]

...was the soundtrack done by the same composer as the one from Evil Genius? Very reminiscent!

[Dartzap]

So, having watched it fully:

Really enjoyed it. Shame Jeff wasn't around in person, but I can only presume he's locked up somewhere. Are they being a bit more explicit in this world having gone through some sort of semi-apocalyptic event? Can't see why else there would be a World Council/defence force. Unless there's some really nasty Clangers hiding somewhere.

[biostem]

I watched the first episode and rather enjoyed it. One thing that I feel will grow old real fast is the repeated launch/suiting up sequences - they're cool the first few times I watch them, but become "oh look here's some filler" very quickly.

It seemed weird to me that Thunderbird 2 just can't lift that much. Perhaps they're going for a more realistic take and/or making it too powerful would mean that many of the circumstances they encounter are too easily solved. I also thought it odd that Thunderbird 4 took up so little of the module it is housed in, and that its rescue tactic is to place survivors in enclosed coffins and launch them, unattended, to the surface. I suppose this is more to allow T4 to continue its rescue operations on-site, without having to also keep those it rescued in harm's way.

I did like how the various Tracey brothers had gear that allowed them to sort of carry out tasks in line with their vehicle's mission - like one brother having a scuba suit, another having a jetpack, the jaws of life exoskeleton, and so forth.

I would like to see a bit more "world building" as the series goes on - explaining why no other rescue forces are available would be nice...

[Captain Seafort]

First normal episode was alright, albeit very fast-paced indeed, and its success was dependant to a great degree on concentrating solely on the issue at hand, with no time for any build-up or cool down time. I think it worked here, but I don't think it would work as a standard format.
Spoiler

Earth orbit looked very, very crowded, and some of those ships were huge, comparing them to TB3. Although that might be because I'm used to thinking of TB3 as a much bigger vehicle than the new one appears to be. That mine also looked very similar indeed to the pirate radio station from the original series.

[Zaune]

My impressions of the third episode, in approximate order: Spoiler

I've been spoiled by Kerbal Space Program, because the space physics are laughably bad.

Alan seems to have taken Gordon's place as the guy who never gets any respect for some inexplicable reason. Why are International Rescue even doing space-junk duty anyway?

Huh. "Global Conflict of 2040"... Evidence for the fan-theory that Thunderbirds takes place in a post-apocalyptic world?

That inbred mutant vaguely doglike object of Lady Penelope's apparently has a name, "Sherbert", as well as a vile temper. *sigh* Why did it have to be a pug, not an afghan hound or a standard poodle or something with a bit of actual class? At least Parker seems to hate the wretched thing as much as I do.

Speaking of Parker, is he actually getting to be something other than comic relief for once? Good grief, he is! Well... ish. ("The Grey Ninja", really? Do you have no sense of personal dignity at all, man?) And please let's not have any Parker/Parkour puns...

This whole side-plot could have been avoided if John had had a little patience and stayed on the call long enough to identify himself.

Hot damn, Captain Seafort wasn't kidding about Earth's orbit being crowded.

Scott, did you really just take time out of rescuing people from a burning building to call your little brother and not-very-subtly cast doubt on his ability to do his job? I really hope the writers address the questions this raises about whether he's really cut out to be in charge in a later episode. On the plus side, Alan is a lot less wet in this incarnation of the show, and has a burgeoning talent for snark. I'm no longer actively opposed to him being the one to score with the new and improved Tin-Tin.

[jwl]

I haven't actually seen any of this yet, but did they really have to do this in cgi? The puppets were part of what made thunderbirds what it was. At least use stop-motion.

[Zaune]

Well, they're still apparently using physical models for some of the sets if that helps. Unless that was exclusive to the pilot? I couldn't really tell this time around.

Besides, going all-CGI went well enough for the Captain Scarlet reboot.

[bilateralrope]

Spoiler

No attempt was made to contact those other ships.

Why are International Rescue even doing space-junk duty anyway?

It seems that nobody else wants to. Maybe that junk wasn't in danger of hurting anyone. Maybe the other groups that could have cleaned it up didn't care* enough to risk the mines.

*Nobody else showed up to even attempt to deal with the solar collector that was threatening to burn down a small town. I get the feeling that a lot of people don't care about human lives.

This whole side-plot could have been avoided if John had had a little patience and stayed on the call long enough to identify himself.

International Rescue makes some effort to keep their identities secret and we are dealing with a receptionist who views her job as more important than any life or death situation. I can easily see her not believing John or not caring even if she did. Especially when all the records are digitised and publicly available.

[Zaune]

Spoiler

International Rescue makes some effort to keep their identities secret and we are dealing with a receptionist who views her job as more important than any life or death situation. I can easily see her not believing John or not caring even if she did. Especially when all the records are digitised and publicly available.

Point taken. Hot damn does this setting get dark if you think about it too hard...

[bilateralrope]

Spoiler

International Rescue makes some effort to keep their identities secret and we are dealing with a receptionist who views her job as more important than any life or death situation. I can easily see her not believing John or not caring even if she did. Especially when all the records are digitised and publicly available.

Point taken. Hot damn does this setting get dark if you think about it too hard...

I wouldn't necessarily call that part dark. Spoiler

With all the records digitised, all that takes is for the receptionist to think that all the digital records are good quality scans. Meaning that anyone claiming that they need access urgently is lying, because they can get any information quicker through the digital archives. She might not even believe that any information old enough to be in their archives would ever need to be accessed in a hurry.

Since she thinks they are lying she wants to get rid of them quickly and get back to her other duties.

Other parts are a bit dark if you think about them.

[biostem]

I rather liked this most recent episode. Sure, it had some ridiculousness to it - really, International Rescue doesn't have enough clout to basically say "shut the eff up and give us the records we need" and actually make it happen? I suppose the reason they are such a staunchly independent organization could be chalked up to the rest of the world either not caring enough to mobilize or not having the resources for it. As others have pointed out, with how reliant everyone is on automation, perhaps they've become lax in their dealing with anything requiring "hands on" contact...

I'm curious - is it that Lady Penelope is a celebrity in her own right, and she doesn't let on who she works for? I suppose she wouldn't be left alone if people knew she worked for IR.

I wonder if the information on the mine was stored in England because that's the country that manufactured them, or if they just happened to be where all the post-war/conflict paperwork was collected.

I must say that I was glad to see that they didn't just go with a correct guess saving the day, and had he gone ahead with his guess, it would have ended very badly.

[Bedlam]

I'm curious - is it that Lady Penelope is a celebrity in her own right, and she doesn't let on who she works for? I suppose she wouldn't be left alone if people knew she worked for IR.

That's certainly the idea I got, what she's famous for or if it's just for being famous (Maybe she was on X-factor 2065) the puppet series seemed to suggest that IR had a worldwide network of operatives (I think Penelope was mentioned to be their London agent) it was just that all the stories we saw required a contact in the UK.

I don't know if it was mentioned in the pilot but I assume Parker still has his history of having been a thief who was later employed by Penelope given the skills he showed here?