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| starring = Voices of: Sylvia Anderson Ray Barrett Alexander Davion Peter Dyneley Christine Finn David Graham Paul Maxwell Neil McCallum Bob Monkhouse Shane Rimmer Charles Tingwell Jeremy Wilkin Matt Zimmerman | music = Barry Gray | cinematography = Paddy Seale | editing = Len Walter | studio = Century 21 Cinema Associated Television | distributor = United Artists | released = 12 December 1966〔〔〔 | runtime = 93 minutes | country = United Kingdom | language = English | budget = £250,000〔〔〔 }} ''Thunderbirds Are Go'' is a 1966 British science-fiction film based on ''Thunderbirds'', a 1960s television series starring marionette puppets and featuring scale model effects in a filming process dubbed "Supermarionation". Written by ''Thunderbirds'' creators Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, directed by David Lane and produced by AP Films, ''Thunderbirds Are Go'' develops the franchise with a plot focusing on the futuristic spacecraft ''Zero-X'' and its manned mission to Mars. When ''Zero-X'' suffers a mechanical failure during re-entry, it is up to International Rescue, with the aid of the ''Thunderbird'' machines, to save the astronauts on board before the spacecraft is obliterated in a crash landing. Filmed from March〔 to June 1966〔 and premiering in December,〔 ''Thunderbirds Are Go'' includes, in a first for an AP Films production, cameo appearances from puppets of real-life celebrities Cliff Richard and The Shadows, who also contributed to the musical score. It is also the first motion picture to have been filmed with an early form of video assist technology known as "Add-a-Vision",〔 and incorporated landscape footage that was shot on location in Portugal.〔 Special effects pieces, produced under the supervision of Derek Meddings and including rocket launch sequences, space shots and a miniature representation of the Martian surface, required six months to complete.〔 Despite positive initial reviews, which praised the film as a well-made cinematic transfer of the ''Thunderbirds'' television series,〔〔 ''Thunderbirds Are Go'' soon proved to be a box office failure for the Andersons.〔 The disappointment of this outcome was intensified by the knowledge that Series Two of ''Thunderbirds'' would be cut down to six episodes〔 and that AP Films' upcoming television project would be a brand-new series, which would later be titled ''Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons'' and screened from 1967.〔 To add to the lukewarm public response, negative critical reception of ''Thunderbirds Are Go'' has targeted, besides other aspects, the characterisation of the puppet cast,〔 the running time dedicated to model and effects shots,〔〔 and the fantasy dream sequence starring Cliff Richard and The Shadows, which has been described as a poor scriptwriting idea on the part of the Andersons.〔 Surprised by the underperformance of ''Thunderbirds Are Go'', the United Artists distributors authorised the production of a sequel.〔 However, ''Thunderbird 6'' received a similarly unenthusiastic response on its release in 1968,〔 and the ''Thunderbirds'' franchise was abandoned until the appearance of a reboot, starring live actors, in 2004. Meanwhile, the ''Zero-X'' astronauts were featured in their own strip in the Anderson-related ''TV Century 21'' comic until 1969.〔 ==Plot== In 2065,〔Dates as confirmed in ''The Complete Book of Thunderbirds'' (Bentley, p. 96). The final Series Two episode of ''Thunderbirds'', "Give or Take a Million", appears to be set in December 2026 (Bentley 2005, p. 95); however, this should be viewed as December 2067 (Bentley 2005, p. 95), placing the events of this Series Two episode after the finale of ''Thunderbirds Are Go''.〕 the ''Zero-X'' spacecraft launches from Glenn Field as the first attempt at a manned mission to Mars. Unknown to Captain Paul Travers and his crew of two astronauts and two scientists, criminal mastermind the Hood has infiltrated the ship to photograph ''Zero-X'' In 2067,〔 at the conclusion of an investigation into the loss of ''Zero-X'', the Inquiry Board of the Space Exploration Center reaches a verdict of sabotage. In the meantime, a second Mars mission has been planned. Days before the launch of the new ''Zero-X'', International Rescue agrees to a request to organise security in view of the possibility of another sabotage threat. Jeff Tracy dispatches Scott to Glenn Field in ''Thunderbird 1'', while Virgil in ''Thunderbird 2'' and Alan in ''Thunderbird 3'' are assigned to escort ''Zero-X'' as it leaves the atmosphere. Posing as a reporter at the pre-launch press conference, Lady Penelope ensures that Travers and the other four crewmembers are delivered St. Christopher brooches. Ostensibly for luck, these are in fact homing devices (a plot device previously used in the episode "The Duchess Assignment"). The next day, a search for Dr Grant's brooch checks negative. Scott unmasks the man waiting for lift-off on board ''Zero-X'' as the Hood in another of his disguises. The saboteur flees Glenn Field in a car, which Penelope and Parker pursue in FAB1. Transferring to a speedboat, and then a helicopter piloted by an accomplice, the Hood is seemingly killed when Parker shoots the aircraft down with the Rolls-Royce's built-in machine gun.〔Surviving the explosion, the Hood returns in the sequel film, ''Thunderbird 6'', under the alias of "Black Phantom" (Bentley 2005, p. 98). However, in the DVD audio commentary for ''Thunderbird 6'', Sylvia Anderson states that this is a different character.〕 Meanwhile, the real Grant is returned to ''Zero-X'' and the spacecraft launches without further incident. Mission accomplished, Penelope invites Scott and Virgil to join her at "The Swinging Star", a fashionable nightclub. Landing back on Tracy Island after escorting ''Zero-X'', Alan feels unappreciated when Jeff insists that he remain on standby at base while his brothers spend the night partying. In bed, Alan experiences a surreal dream in which Parker "flies" him and Penelope in FAB1 to a version of The Swinging Star located in space. Present at the interstellar nightclub are Cliff Richard Jr and The Shadows, who perform a song titled "Shooting Star" and an instrumental, "Lady Penelope". The dream sequence ends abruptly when Alan plummets from The Swinging Star back to Earth and awakes to discover he has fallen out of bed. After a six-week flight, the ''Zero-X'' Martian Exploration Vehicle lands on Mars on 22 July.〔 While investigating the barren surface, the crew are puzzled to encounter strange rock formations arranged into coils. Space Captain Greg Martin blasts one of the structures with the MEV gun and Dr Pierce prepares to leave the vehicle to collect samples. However, the other formations stir into motion and reveal themselves to be one-eyed "Rock Snakes". Under attack from the extraterrestrials, which are able to shoot fireballs from their "mouths", the ''Zero-X'' explorers are forced to effect a premature departure from the Martian surface. Docking with the orbiting command module piloted by Space Navigator Brad Newman, the astronauts start the flight back to Earth. As ''Zero-X'' re-enters Earth's atmosphere on 2 September,〔 a lifting body launched to assist the controlled descent fails to interface, damaging the escape unit circuit (EUC). With ''Zero-X'' locked in descent and set to impact Craigsville, Florida,〔Craigsville is located in Florida (Archer and Nicholls, p. 116; Archer and Hearn, p. 140) and landscape scenes shot in Portugal for the climax of ''Thunderbirds Are Go'' are intended to represent that area.〕 Jeff sends out Scott and Brains in ''Thunderbird 1'' and Virgil, Alan and Gordon in ''Thunderbird 2''. Winched into ''Zero-X'' 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Thunderbirds Are Go」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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