Thunderbirds @ 60: Trapped in the Sky & Terror in New York City

Many viewers didn’t realize it, but Team America: World Police was a loving spoof of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s “Supermarionation.” Probably the apex of the marionette stop-motion animation came in their cult classic series Thunderbirds. It should have been more profitable at the time, but the producers botched the American TV sales. Nevertheless, it spawned feature-film follow-ups, an anime re-imagining, and alive-action remake (that clearly missed the point). To celebrate the 60^th anniversary, two classic episodes, “Trapped in the Sky” and “Terror in New York City” screen in UK theaters, freshly restored in 4K, as part of a double-bill this Saturday.

International Rescue, the secret global emergency response agency led by former American astronaut Jeff Tracy will announce itself to the world in the pilot episode, “Trapped in the Sky,” directed by Alan Pattillo. Fortunately for the world, the various rockets, aircraft, and submersibles piloted by Tracy’s five grown sons can handle emergencies beyond the resources of conventional first responders.

The attempted bombing of the Fireflash is perfect example. Recurring supervillain The Hood placed an explosive device in the landing gear of the supersonic transcontinental luxury airliner that will explode on landing.  Consequently, the plane (which predates the Concorde by four years) must keep flying, sort of like Speed, which would release almost twenty-nine years later.

Even though all the action consists of marionettes and scale models, the aviation scenes are nicely rendered. Of course, you can see the characters’ strings—that is all part of the series’ charm. It also sets up a logical division of labor, with the American Tracy clan handling the rockets and the right stuff, while their British ally, Lady Penelope handles the Bond-ish spycraft (including driving a Q-worthy Rolls).

Sadly, by the year 2065, Mamdani’s economic program has so thoroughly decimated Murray Hill, the American government decides to physically move the Empire State Building to a less stagnant neighborhood in “Terror in New York City,” directed by David Elliott and David Lane. Dude, those puppets were prescient. Unfortunately, erosion underneath Manhattan leads to disaster.

In an ironic twist, “journalist” Ned Cook and his cameraman fell through the fissures, into a subterranean cavern, where the rising water-level will surely kill them if the aquatic Thunderbird-4 cannot reach them in time. This is the same uncooperative Cook who tried to record the Thunderbirds in action during the prologue, despite the risk of exposing the existence of their tech to the world. Still, it seems unlikely they can maintain their blackout indefinitely, as they engage in more public rescue operations.

The vibrant colors look great in the new 4K restoration. Arguably, the Andersons were produced some of the best scale-model work outside of Toho kaiju movies. In a way, Thunderbirds also probably served as a gateway drug for a lot of anime mecha. Plus, the gung-ho dialogue is appealingly nostalgic. As a result, this is a “small screen” series that transfers up to the big-screen quite smoothly. Recommended as good, clean, heroically virtuous fun, the Thunderbirds 60^th anniversary program screens Saturday (9/20) in the UK and the series streams on Prime and Roku Channel in the U.S.