Sooooo many people are just straight up murdered in this movie oh my god (obviously sometimes people have died in the main Thunderbirds series but it's still not that common. But in this film, so many people are murdered, definitely over 10 people, and so many dead bodies are just dumped out of aircraft)

I still can't believe that they just dumped the body of the main bad guy off Thunderbird 6 and into a random bit of English countryside. I feel bad for the farmer who will find this body in his field with no explanation.

OMG Jeff is so annoying in this film (apologies to all the Jeff fans). Firstly he's insists that Tin-Tin can't fly in the biplane with Alan because it is not suited for a young lady???? Well that was a bit rude. Tin-Tin has literally been into space in Thunderbird 3, she can handle flying in a plane.

Jeff complaint No.2: What does he even want from Brains???? He asks him to make a TB6 but then doesn't give any suggestions on what sort of craft he wants, and then rejects all of Brains' designs!

Sorry to the Jeff fans, I do generally speaking like his character but he annoys me quite a lot in this film

Brains your multiple crashouts are completely valid, your boss does not appreciate you enough (I hope Jeff gives you a raise and a full expenses paid holiday after this)

TIN-TIN 🫶🫶🫶🫶 Absolute icon, Jeff also completely undervalues you. Good for you on stowing away on the biplane, you are an amazing pilot. It's a shame that the film had no idea what to do with you after that.

Alan started out strong, cheering Tin-Tin on despite what his father said, and also buying Tin-Tin that nice expensive ring. He was actually being a great boyfriend 🥳. And then he had to make that comment about how he would probably have to stay a Bachelor and not get married because of his work with IR whilst Tin-Tin was sitting right next to him??? Tin-Tin girl, get yourself a better man

The Tracy brothers call Jeff "Dad" a lot in this film instead of "father" which is nice but also surprised me a bit

There doesn't seem to be much concern for secrecy in this film which is confusing? Lady Penelope openly talks about IR business to the crew of the ship. But they (Lady P, Parker, Tin-Tin, and Alan) are also all openly representing IR for this trip. Surely that would expose IR's secret identities? Especially since Alan is Jeff's son and Tin-Tin has been seen working with Jeff in public in the past, surely now this just links IR straight back to Jeff and exposes him as the leader? Anyway, I tried not to think too hard about it.

Where is Kyrano??? At least Grandma Tracy appears in the background.

I liked how they had a life sized biplane to record footage of Thunderbird 6 of, that was cool

I also like that they gave Brains a proper IR uniform.

Gordon actually gets a fair few lines in this film, and a moment or two to shine (mainly because he's the only Tracy brother on Tracy Island and Jeff needs someone to talk to, but oh well, we will take the win anyway)

John doesn't get that many lines, but at this point, that's to be expected

Lady P had a few cool scenes and I generally quite liked her in this film

Parker (like Tin-Tin) was quite underutilised in this film which is a shame

This is kinda long now lol so I'll leave it there

Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of meeting up with a few Anderfan friends at the Stockport Plaza to watch a screening of Thunderbird Six. This was my first time seeing this movie, and if I’m honest it’s not half bad! I thought it was a great watch, and it doesn’t really deserve much of the bad rep it gets. Sure, it’s not a masterpiece, but it’s not a complete dumpster fire either. Like the ‘04 movie, marmite.

Lil Alan and Scott tagged along for the ride and had a vibe to the live organist playing before the screening began (and before Alan lost his leg!).

Aside the point, the best part about this was seeing couples bring their kids to the movie. Hearing them name characters, crafts and laughing along brought so much joy to my heart. It’s so nice that people still care about this stupid lil puppet show enough to introduce a newer generation to it.

The other best part was seeing MY BOY VIRGIL TRACY ON THE BIG SCREEN‼️‼️‼️THE CROWD GOES WIIIIIILD‼️‼️‼️

To elaborate with a few more words; Crossover with the sister show that would soon be hitting TV Screens 👁👁

THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO [1966] has a plot about a manned mission to Mars, that initially fails as there was insufficient security, so they hire a ....Non-Profit Private Rescue Organisation?? Bwuh? To make sure the same two-bit domestic terrorist who’s main Deal is wearing disguises (and sometimes being armed) doesn’t stow away on an awkward flight to and from Mars.... well anyway, that rather daft plan to hire the people who should be busy with more important matters does work. They get to Mars and drive around a bit, but the Native Lifeforms of Mineral Fire Launching Snake Things scare them off. International Rescue’s actual rescue of the returning crew is very good though (albeit it’s an Operation Crash Dive copycat lol).

But, ooh! Mars? Alien Life? A Security Company being hired to supervise the launching and maybe be privy to the shocking revelations on the Red Planet? This would be SUCH a neat way to Backdoor Pilot some Spectrum action, set before the status quo of CSatM settles in... Spectrum were literally made to be an elite Security service before pivoting to having to focus so heavily on the Martian Threat!

Well anyway, let’s have a quick look’a the other movie, which was filmed at the same time as some’a CSatM

THUNDERBIRD 6 [1968] is a coma inducer of a movie, it is! Though I appreciate the attempt to have stronger focus on the characters, this is in practice only extended to a handful and leaves the others with nothing to do. The most notable part of this General Anaesthetic is Brains’ struggle to make the titular TB6 and that the Skyship One’s maiden voyage is being sabotaged by Not-The Hood and his motely crew of Imposter Crewmen, who murder and replace all the regular dudes in a shockingly cold blooded sequence by Thunderbirds standards, and this is before the cathartic finale of Thunderbirds 1 and 2 ....bombing the everloving shit out of Not-The Hood...... huh! That’s a darker shade of grey than they tend to dabble with, innit!

Hopefully you catch my drift; the crew being killed and replaced with imposters, and fiery doom befalling the Evil HQ is far more outta the Mysterons and Spectrum’s conflict playbook!

It really frustrates me that they had Carte Blanche to make whatever they wanted for these big exciting events, the movies of Thunderbirds. And they came up with some cool ideas, but wrapped it in hours of nothing significant, coming tantalisingly close to something truly special but choosing to focus on the wrong areas, like silly dream sequences or shooting lions in Africa like a fucking scumbag.

Now, TaG [66] predates the solidification of CSatM, and Thunderbird’s second season was cut short and the focus changed to an exciting new premise, but TB6 has no such excuse. If it was made to be a last hurrah, it goes off not with a bang, but like a damp squib. So many scenes go on without purpose, they even cotton on to the fact there is a Sus Imposter early-ish on but then take no action and even talk about being International Rescue in front of him! What on earth is going on, where’s the thrills, spills and automobiles that makes Thunderbirds such a cultural icon?!

I’m not saying shoehorning Spectrum into the movies we got would automatically make them better (but you’d hafta be trying awfully hard to make TB6 worse...), but rather if they had been baked in to the initial concept, with the story touching on both the similarities and the differences of International Rescue and Spectrum and how they deal with the situations presented, it would have been a radical idea that bridges the series and could whet the appetite for more of the sequel series. Instead the closest we get is that the Zero-X [or, another Z-X] made a separate mission to Mars, with Captain Black leading that mission...