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Reviews
Thunderbirds Are GO (1966)
Big screen version of a Britains most successful sci-fi series
OK - here's the deal with the Thunderbirds phenomenon: Gerry Anderson & his then wife Sylvia had been producing puppet shows since the late 1950s for the British ITC worldwide distribution company. Progressing from Supercar, thru Fireball XL5 & Stingray (the 1st British TV show filmed in colour), they hit pay-dirt with Thunderbirds. The formula was simple - a worldwide organisation, with good looking heroes (made of plastic of course!), some pretty women for glamour, and lots of hi-tech craft, gadgets and gizmo's. To appeal to the important US market, the characters were often American, although this changed with Captain Scarlet when the cast was made up of a variety of international personnel. The shows were set in near future (about 100 years hence), and were designed to excite kids. And thats just what they did. But as a by-product, they excited adults as well! Thunnderbirds Are Go! gave Anderson and his huge team based in Slough (on the same industrial estate that David Brent occupied 40 odd years later to be exact!) a chance to deliver a colour show to the UK market. Unlike the US (with their inferior NSTC TV system), European TV wasn't available in colour, so all the UK kiddies watching TV only saw B&W. So, the big attraction in the UK for this film was the fact that you could see Thunderbirds in full colour and in cinema sound.
So the biggest adventure was launched, with the awesome Zero-X craft crashing not once, but twice, on its way to Mars. A huge opening scene, new characters, a dream sequence, alien encounters, a space battle. Having said all that, the basic plot is a rewrite of 'trapped in the sky', the Thunderbirds pilot episode, with extra padding. The Cliff Richard sequence is very surreal, but I am surprised that none of the Brits have picked up on Bob Monkhouse being the night club compere! The sets were fantastic and were in fact redesigned from those used on the TV programme, so that they looked better on the big screen. Also they looked a lot more hi-tech, with lots of stainless steel and primary colours - very James Bond in fact. Not surprising when you consider that the man doing the special effects was none other than Derek Meddings himself. And it was this attention to detail, the bangs, the noise, the jets, the rockets, the explosions, the splashes, the gadgets (the video telephone and electronic conference voting systems to name but two that have now come to frutition!) Thats what we watched Gerry Anderson for, and why we still love his programmes.
In all of Gerry productions, the values have been very much on hardware, although he has employed some of the best scriptwriters. I don't think anyone could claim that his stories have pushed the frontiers of sci-fi, but I don't think he ever meant to. He just meant to entertain, and this film should certainly do that!
I Could Go on Singing (1963)
Judy's Swansong
As melodramas of the time go, this is a an entertaining piece. The scenes of London, like those of 'Alfie', are full of an exciting, rebuilt city, about to start to swing. New skyscrapers, helicopters and jet airliners to me add a great excitement to the background of the film.
And with a cast like this film had, it cannot fail to entrance you further. But when you realise that this is Judy Garland in her last film role, playing a person who is obviously very similar to her, then it becomes fascinating. I am not a big Judy Garland fan, but I found myself captivated by this film. The addition of Dirk Bogarde and others was the icing on the cake!
Airport (1970)
The daddy of all disaster movies
So much has been written here about this films tremendous influence that i won't dwell too much on it. It seems to be rolled out here in England on a quiet holiday afternoon, and I usually sit and watch it. For me, the pleasure is the glossy 60s appearance, the myriad of stars gracing thesceen, and the very innovative splitscreen presentation.
This movie has a glamour about that is undeniably sexy, with a multitude of interwoven plots all coming to a head. It doesn't get bogged down in the technology, like the other films in the franchise, and focuses on the human aspect of the plot.
Finally, i just love looking back at the relative glamour that air travel still had, and try to pretend that as I board my Easyjet flight, with the cabin crew all dressed in orange polo shirts, that the world hasn't really changed that much !
Doctor Who: School Reunion (2006)
Old friends from the 70s make a welcome return!
What a fantastic episode, perhaps the most emotional yet with the return of Sarah Jane Smith (& K9) tugging at the heart strings - or maybe I am just a touch sentimental! But I think that was what Russell T Davies and other had in mind! For those of us in the UK who tend to judge one another's age based on the Dr Whos assistants we remember and who was our favourite Blue Peter presenter (Leslie Judd of course!), Sarah Jane Smith was the best assistant ever, always trying to understand what was going on around her and never frightened to try and take on the Daleks, the Cybermen etc. These were the best days of Dr Who in my eyes, and Sarah Jane was a great part of that. Once she left things never were the same.
As a child I never realised the chemistry between her and Tom Bakers Dr, but that was immediate in last nights episode with David Tennant. Elizabeth Sladen looked absolutely amazing, stunning even! Still fresh faced, wide eyed and inquisitive. What a fantastic return! And it was great to see K9 as well. Her appearance was more than just pure nostalgia as it serves to make Rose realise the transient nature of her relationship with the Dr. The initial bitching and jealousy soon gives way to an understanding between herself and Rose The rest of the episode, fantastic as it is with Anthony Head playing an evil headmaster, kind of takes a back seat to all this. But it is still a terrific episode, with Head playing his part as a an alien human eating bat with great relish! The body count is high as teachers and pupils alike are preyed upon, and thats before the kids are fed their brain enhancing chips! I don't think Jamie Oliver would be welcome in this school kitchen! The ending is very poignant, and may not be what you want! But I guess it would have been a nostalgia trip too far to see Sarah Jane rejoin the Doctor, but hopefully she can show up occasionally in the earth bound episodes, just as Mickey and Roses Mum seem to!