The craze for remaking classic TV shows as live-action movies hasn’t died off entirely, and The Equalizer 3 is very recent proof that it still reaps dividends on occasion, but not many of them have been as actively awful as 2004’s Thunderbirds.
The original 1960s TV series may have only run for two seasons and 32 episodes, but that was all it needed to become a generational favorite and a certifiable sci-fi classic, and it’s comfortably the most iconic, indelible, and famous of the “Supermarionation” shows backed by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson.
Bringing the small screen favorite into the world of blockbuster cinema was only ever going to go one of two ways, and Thunderbirds ended up going down in a ball of flames. Abhorred by fans of its inspiration, pounded into dust by critics to secure a diabolical 19 percent Rotten Tomatoes score, and bombing at the box office after failing to recoup even if half of its $58 million budget, the most damning criticism of all came from Gerry Anderson himself.
When pressed for his thoughts toward on and off-screen Star Trek legend Jonathan Frakes’ feature-length catastrophe, he summarily dismissed it as “the biggest load of crap I have ever seen in my entire life.” He’s not wrong, and that’s especially true if you’re one of the many who’ve always held a soft spot for the Tracy clan and their puppetry-assisted adventures.
There must be something in the water on streaming, though, seeing as the unfathomably bad Thunderbirds is a go on Google Play, with FlixPatrol naming it as one of the platform’s top-viewed titles. Why? We’re not even sure we want that answer.