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Reuters: Full marks, then, to director Jonathan Frakes and his crew for coming up with a piece of whiz-bang children's entertainment that could appeal to the family market far and wide. Smartly written by William Osborne and Michael McCullers, "Thunderbirds" expertly targets kids. Yet parents won't be entirely bored if they have any nostalgia for Saturday matinee serials and early TV adventure shows.

Channel 4: It's peculiar that something as recognisable and much-loved as Jerry and Sylvia Anderson's series should be reworked in this way. Nay, it's a kick in the teeth for the generations who grew up with it. It's not so much the transition from endearing puppetry and model work (replete with out-of-scale flames and water) that's troubling. It's how the Thunderbirds themselves - both the giant machines and their pilots - are shifted from centre stage and replaced with identikit teen heroes.

Daily Post: Fans of the original show will probably despair at the shameless Americanisation of a British institution.However, youngsters are guaranteed a FAB time - even if their parents cringe.

When dangerous situations exceed the limitations of ordinary military and international security forces, the world calls upon the high-tech assistance of International Rescue—a mysterious band of fearless adventurers and their fleet of awesome, imaginatively engineered vehicles known as: Thunderbirds! Hidden from the world, Tracy Island, a lush patch of land situated in the remote waters of the South Pacific, is home to brilliant entrepreneur and former astronaut Jeff Tracy and his five sons. It is also the headquarters of Tracy’s top-secret organization, International Rescue – and it is under siege. Master criminal The Hood has breached island security, intent on commandeering International Rescue’s fleet of five highly advanced rescue vehicles, each designed to accomplish a specific task. Deploying Jeff and his four eldest sons on a mission, The Hood finds his plans obstructed by Jeff’s youngest son Alan, who will do anything to save the Tracy family and the Thunderbirds.

Brady Corbet .... Alan Tracy
Bill Paxton .... Jeff Tracy
Soren Fulton .... Fermat
Ben Kingsley .... The Hood
Anthony Edwards .... Brains
Sophia Myles .... Lady Penelope
Ron Cook .... Parker

Character Profiles:
Meet The Thunderbirds

In the area of suitable rescue machines and equipment to cope with the new scale of disasters now possible, the world of 2065 is sorely lacking. This imbalance has been redressed by the formation of one independent privately funded organization: CALLING INTERNATIONAL RESCUE!