Thunderbird 6

1968 "THUNDERING INTO YOUR SIGHTS, STAGGERING THE IMAGINATION, 'BRAINS' GREATEST INSPIRATION"
6.3| 1h29m| G| en| More Info
Released: 20 November 1968 Released
Producted By: Century 21 Television
Country: United Kingdom
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

The International Rescue team is faced with one of its toughest challenges yet, as the revolutionary lighter-than-air craft Skyship One is hijacked while on her maiden voyage around the world. Against backdrops including the Statue of Liberty and the Sphinx, Lady Penelope, Parker, Alan and Tin-Tin fight the hijackers from on-board, while the rest of the team tries to stop the airship crashing.

... View More
Stream Online

Stream with Prime Video

Director

Producted By

Century 21 Television

AD
AD

Watch Free for 30 Days

Stream on any device, 30-day free trial Watch Now

Trailers & Images

Reviews

Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.
Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.
Staci Frederick Blistering performances.
Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
studioAT The first Thunderbirds film was a flop so why they made another seems strange. Although the technology is better in this one the creaky plot and visible strings spoil this film.There are lots of nice film parodies throughout and some nice performances from the voice cast but the "Thunderbird 6" element is a lot of hype for nothing. A gimmick to get bums on seats.Overall Anderson should have learnt that while people were happy to watch puppets move around for half an hour to make them do it for an hour and a half was pushing it. The main appeal of the series was the machines and although the character stuff is nice it is the machines that we want to see. No more films were made after this and it is not hard to see why. Times were changing and the sight of puppets on the big screen was growing thin.
bob the moo Having just completed on working as an expert contractor on the production of "Airship One" – a revolutionary new airship – with a private airline company, Brains is tasked with performing his day job. Despite the thunderbirds generally able to cope with the problems facing them, and no other siblings to drive the bloody thing, Jeff Tracy decides he needs a new ship – Thunderbird 6. While Brains tries to design something without Tracy giving him even a hint of a spec to work from, Lady Penelope, Alan, Tin Tin and Parker are guests of honour on the maiden voyage of Airship One.I could criticise it on the basis of plot but that would be akin to clubbing a baby seal because, despite howlers in logic and such the story pretty much does what it is required to do in setting up various adventures for the Thunderbirds to get into. It has elements of bigger themes but seems happy just to stick to the basics and doesn't do anything that interesting and lacks any real excitement or tension. Of course this has something to do with the delivery which is, obviously, quite wooden. To fans though this is all part of the appeal and those that enjoy the series will find more of the same here and will enjoy it as such. Casual viewers will be distracted by it for its novelty value but (like me) may struggle to care enough to stick with it.The puppets are just what you expect and the models are good for their period – we're not talking Star Wars here but it has an unique feel that is unmistakably Gerry Anderson. Again it is not really fair to criticise it simply for being what I knew it would be so it did look good for what it was. The voice cast are solid enough but Finn (Tin-Tin) is the weakest of the lot, making her young woman sounds like some old woman in the post office.Overall though, you know what you are getting when you start this. It is a solid and dated affair which won't win over too many children nowadays but fans will enjoy it because it does just what the series did – if you liked that then you should like this.
moysant Having just seen the Thunderbirds (2004) remake, I've decided that Thunderbird 6 is great although I've bagged Thunderbirds are GO in the past (the other movie that spelt the end of the TV franchise). But it brings up the question yet again, like the show, why if International Rescue is to remain secret do the members of it keep going around telling everyone who they are! And why would IR go on this around-the-world trip when it isn't a rescue situation?Still, I think the sets and special effects are great and parts are suspenseful, but I could've done with less of Alan and Jeff Tracy (two really annoying characters even if they are puppets) and more of the other characters. And Brians' little tiff at Jeff's 'bullying' of him to build another Thunderbird quick smart, reminds me of a workmate who was having a hard time with the boss and who...oh, never mind.Slow but good stuff.
Michael Daly Thunderbirds had made a major impact in British TV, leading to the 1966 theatrical release Thunderbirds Are Go, but disappointing box office returns and lack of interest from major US networks (the show was syndicated in the US instead of picked up by one of the three big broadcasters) caused cancellation of the series. Despite this, one more theatrical film was prepared, and the resulting film has proven to be a highlight of the Thunderbirds epic despite once again suffering from disappointing box office returns.Thunderbird Six is a vast improvement over Thunderbirds Are Go thanks to a more coherent plot and more plausible action scenes; also adding to the film's quality was the decision to tone down the action scenes in favor of more character interplay.Most of the cast returned for this final go at the Thunderbirds epic; notably missing aside from David Holliday (replaced by Jeremy Wilken after the first season of the show wrapped up) was Ray Barrett; added to the voice cast was Geoffrey Keen, later to win fame as HM's Defence Minister Sir Frederick Grey in the James Bond series."Brains" Hackenbacker (David Graham) has been brought to New World Aircraft, his identity hidden, to make a proposal for a new machine of flight to the company's board of directors. Brains' proposal is to go back to the future - to the era of the passenger dirigible. Brains' idea is laughed out of the company, but they turn around and build it anyway - Sky Ship One. NWA has invited members of International Rescue for an exclusive round-the-world maiden voyage before the ship enters full commerical service, but Brains is put in charge of creating a Thunderbird Six for Jeff Tracy - an assignment that begins to stress his relationship with the Tracy family.Much of the film makes use of a reallife Tiger biplane in flight, the Tiger being a special retro project created by Alan and TinTin. With very heavy security, the four IR members invited to the flight of Sky Ship One - Lady Penelope, Parker, Alan, and TinTin - are escorted to NWA's flight base and board the ship.But unknown to the members of IR as well as to NWA, the crew of the fully-automated jet-powered dirigible have been assassinated and replaced by a band of killers led by a man named Foster, working for a kingpin known as Black Phantom - in reality The Hood wearing a bad hairpiece. The film then follows the voyage of Sky Ship One as the killers work to position a perfect trap for their passengers as well as International Rescue itself. Along the way Penny, Parker, Alan, and TinTin overfly and visit numerous locations visited by IR in previous rescues - the Atlantic Ocean, New York City, the Grand Canyon, Africa, the pyramids of Egypt, and the Swiss Alps. Here we for once get to see the members of IR able to relax and enjoy each other's company, unaware of any danger to their safety - or are they?The visits to varied international locales add nicely to the film's atmosphere and allow the buildup not only of suspence but also allow appreciation of the interplay between the characters; this makes the inevitable action scenes and rescue mission all the more gripping and suspenseful as disaster strikes and Scott and Virgil Tracy launch into action.Without question this is a zenith in the International rescue epic and ends its initial run on a high note.