LAST EDITED ON May-06-15 AT 07:50 PM (EDT)
 
So there's a new Thunderbirds TV series, just started airing last month. It appears to be a remake of the original, rather than a continuation or sequel - along similar lines to Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet, though two episodes in, I think it's better than NCS was. Don't get me wrong, NCS was decent, but unfortunately, "decent" doesn't really go very far when you're dealing with a remake of an original as great as the original Captain Scarlet (my favorite of the original Supermarionation shows).

Thunderbirds is also a great show, and after two episodes, I tend to think that Thunderbirds Are Go! is too. I can see where people might not get what the people who made it were trying for... but I do, and I think it's kind of brilliant. Because the thing is, it's a CGI remake of a '60s puppet show... but it's not using that technology to try and be something new-n-fresh. In fact, they've gone to great lengths to make it "feel" like the original show. The models still read to the eye like models; the Thunderbirds aircraft themselves, for instance, maneuver in the same distinctively impossible ways as the originals did. The characters still look like they're made of rubber, with glassy plastic eyes and clothing made of fabric that has odd-looking, out-of-scale weave details. The cityscapes still have that Toho miniature-block-party thing going on, and rural landscapes are hilariously artificial-looking, like model railroad countrysides.

In short, it's still a puppet show - it's just that the puppets, models, and miniature sets[EDIT: I'm told that the models and sets are in fact actual miniatures, which makes the level of detail the model makers achieved even more impressive, to say nothing of the visual seamlessness with which the virtual puppets inhabit them. --G.] are all computer-generated, so they can be much more detailed than the original program's scale and budget allowed for. The character models still have limited ranges of motion and facial expression, but they're much wider than the constraints of Supermarionation allowed for, which makes the action sequences work much better (and means they no longer have to have those incongruous live-action second-unit shots with human hands operating switches and stuff).

The bottom line is, they've fiddled with a few things - Kyrano's daughter is a proper member of International Rescue this time, for instance, because it's the 21st damn century, and Brains appears to have become Indian - but I would still not classify this remake with that now-hoary 'noughties buzzword "reimagining". The Thunderbirds themselves are virtually unchanged, and the brightly-colored, clearly-labeled world around them is still 2060 as seen from 1964. The production design itself (titles, etc.) has been moderned up without that painful "look how chrome this all is" effect that we used to get in revamps (Transformers Generation Two, anyone?). It's... well, it's Thunderbirds, is what it is, only with tighter pacing and better production values.

Here's the opening sequence from the first episode (the bit after the roll call changes with specific footage from each ep), and the original launch trailer. You can get a pretty good feel for what they're doing here. (Notice in the former that the composer is evidently a graduate of the Murray Gold School of Updating Theme Songs: take the original theme, make the orchestration lusher, and add some urgent strings. :)

It's airing now on ITV in the UK; I've had to put on my shoulder parrot to get hold of it in the States this early, but when and if the people who made it can be convinced to take my money in exchange for it, they've already made a sale.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

Been a fan of the Thunderbirds since I was a kid (hence the large role TB-2 plays in OTAKU RISING). This looks... promising.

Dad has been a fan of all things Supermarionation since he was a kid, and this is one of many likes he has passed on to me. Naturally, we have been watching this series so far, and the only thing we don't like is ITV's bizarre decision to start broadcasting new episodes at 8am after broadcasting the premiere at 5pm (thank goodness for Series Link stopping that being an issue for us).

>In short, it's still a puppet show - it's just that the
>puppets, models, and miniature sets are all computer-generated, so
>they can be much more detailed than the original program's scale and
>budget allowed for.

Actually, the sets are all real (which explains why the rural landscapes look like they come from a model railway) - they were built at Weta Workshop (the guys who did the special effects for the The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films). There are even references to the original sets in them. For example, if you watch the original Thunderbird 1 launch sequence, you may notice a round thing on the back wall (first visible at 53s in the linked video). This is actually a lemon squeezer spray-painted silver, and if you watch the new launch sequence, you'll see there's one in that, too (first visible at 50s, better view at 1:00)! The CG is mostly used for the characters and vehicles.

>It's... well, it's Thunderbirds, is what it is, only with
>tighter pacing and better production values.

The episode that just aired in the UK is an excellent demonstration of this, since it's based on "Terror in the Sky", the first episode of the original series.

>Actually, the sets are all real (which explains why the rural
>landscapes look like they come from a model railway) - they were built
>at Weta Workshop

Ha, I didn't realize that - I saw the "miniatures by" credit for Weta, but assumed it meant they had made the 3D meshes, or possibly built practical models and then scanned them for virtual ones (as I believe they did for some of the things in LotR).

Also in the interesting credits department: the mechanical designer for Thunderbird Shadow (the stealth vehicle operated by the modernized equivalent of Tin Tin) is Shoji Kawamori, of Macross fame. I'm of two minds about this. On the one hand, it's a beautiful design, which, being from Kawamori, is not that much of a surprise. On the other, it doesn't look very much like anything else in the Thunderbirds world; it's a bit like it mysteriously arrived from some other show. Which doesn't bother me that much, because most of my own fictional existence is bound up in such incongruities, but it is... odd.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

>Also in the interesting credits department: the mechanical designer
>for Thunderbird Shadow (the stealth vehicle operated by the
>modernized equivalent of Tin Tin)

I just googled a few pictures. Is this what you get when Gerry Anderson goes to work for Kelly Johnson, or vice versa? Certainly looks like it has a bit of Blackbird in its ancestry somewhere.

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Unable to save the day: File is read-only.

>I just googled a few pictures. Is this what you get when Gerry
>Anderson goes to work for Kelly Johnson, or vice versa? Certainly
>looks like it has a bit of Blackbird in its ancestry somewhere.

Looks to me like the offspring of SR-71 and a SHADO Interceptor.

Also, if you've seen the trailer or the first episode, note that the "head" of the spider platform is the top half of the cockpit section of an Eagle.

>I've had to put on my shoulder parrot to get hold of it in the States this early

As well as getting me interested, a lot, may I say that this was a lovely-crafted sentence.

...!
Gott's Leetle Feesh in Trousers!

>>I've had to put on my shoulder parrot to get hold of it in the States this early
>
>As well as getting me interested, a lot, may I say that this was a
>lovely-crafted sentence.

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm reasonably sure it's not my coinage, though I don't recall now where I first heard it.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

>>>I've had to put on my shoulder parrot to get hold of it in the States this early
>>
>>As well as getting me interested, a lot, may I say that this was a
>>lovely-crafted sentence.
>
>In the interest of full disclosure, I'm reasonably sure it's not my
>coinage, though I don't recall now where I first heard it.
>

We refer to it as downloading the files in .YARR format. :)

Ebony the Black Dragon

"Life is like an anole. Sometimes it's green. Sometimes it's brown. But it's always a small Caribbean lizard."

>We refer to it as downloading the files in .YARR format. :)

The download speed is, of course, measured in pieces-of-eight per second.

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Unable to save the day: File is read-only.

>In the interest of full disclosure, I'm reasonably sure it's not my
>coinage, though I don't recall now where I first heard it.
>

I just realized an important matter...is Nosey Parker and the FAB 1 in the show?
...!
Gott's Leetle Feesh in Trousers!

>I just realized an important matter...is Nosey Parker and the FAB 1 in
>the show?

Of course! You can see the car in the opening titles, and Lady Penelope isn't going to drive herself. That would be gauche.

Parker's present and accounted for. He even still 'as that same hokey haccent. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

>>I just realized an important matter...is Nosey Parker and the FAB 1 in
>>the show?
>
>Of course! You can see the car in the opening titles, and Lady
>Penelope isn't going to drive herself. That would be gauche.
>
>Parker's present and accounted for. He even still 'as that same hokey
>haccent. :)
>

That would because he has the same voice actor. :)

>Parker's present and accounted for. He even still 'as that same hokey
>haccent. :)

Umm...Cockney, you mean? :) Though he does attempt RP, I suppose, but I don't know that I'd call that any more 'hokey'. Unless it's the attempt part.

...!
Gott's Leetle Feesh in Trousers!

>Umm...Cockney, you mean? :) Though he does attempt RP, I suppose, but
>I don't know that I'd call that any more 'hokey'. Unless it's the
>attempt part.
>
I'd blame the script writers for that more than the VA, myself.

In addition, I've caught more than a moment or two of fridge logic in there as well, starting with the fact that apparently they subscribe to the 'constant thrust' school of physics...

>>Parker's present and accounted for. He even still 'as that same hokey
>>haccent. :)
>
>
>Umm...Cockney, you mean?

Specifically, "Cockney exaggerated to an extent similar to the character's nose." Seriously, at one point in one episode he's talking about the National Harchives. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

Heh, that's more like an old fashioned "what everyone else thought Cockneys sounded like when they wanted to sound posh" turned up to eleven. All those dropped "aiches" have to go somewhere, after all. Just not necessarily the right somewhere... ;)

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Unable to save the day: File is read-only.

LAST EDITED ON May-12-15 AT 09:53 AM (EDT)
 
>Specifically, "Cockney exaggerated to an extent similar to the
>character's nose." Seriously, at one point in one episode he's
>talking about the National Harchives. :)
>

I have, on consideration, come to the conclusion that what I said sounded more than a bit like I was being an arse. For which, apologies.
But I have more than one friend or acquaintance that does sound just like Parker, speechwise, without making it up, as it were.
...!
Gott's Leetle Feesh in Trousers!

is it just me or is anyone else cringing at the way the writers have COMPLETELY ignored physics in favor of drama?

(especially given some of the dialog in Ep 11)

>is it just me or is anyone else cringing at the way the writers have
>COMPLETELY ignored physics in favor of drama?

It's a puppet show. That was always kind of implied...

(Heck, watch the original pilot and ask yourself what the engineers of that universe are thinking. Even in the Fallout universe, the Fireflash's reactor design wouldn't have gotten approved. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

>>is it just me or is anyone else cringing at the way the writers have
>>COMPLETELY ignored physics in favor of drama?
>
>It's a puppet show. That was always kind of implied...
>
>(Heck, watch the original pilot and ask yourself what the engineers of
>that universe are thinking. Even in the Fallout universe, the
>Fireflash's reactor design wouldn't have gotten approved. :)
>

true, however it was so bad in this weeks show that it destroyed my willing suspension of disbelief.