b r a v e c r e a t u r e s

Everyone remembers Thunderbirds - well provided you grew up in the English speaking world serviced by the BBC - not the American speaking world which is of course, a dark cultural wasteland.

Thunderbirds standouts as a cultural reference point for everyone who grew up around the time I did. Strange and slightly creepy as the "SuperMarionation" is, Gerry Anderson's vision of the near future was creative, insightful and brightly coloured on many levels. It did not succumb to the American tendency to cast everything into start black and white. Thunderbirds actors might have been wooden, but his characters and stories certainly are not.

Important lessons in film making, and something that the makers of the drearily average movie "Thunderbirds " should have kept in mind - story, story, story people. In this at least I agree with Gerry Anderson, Jonathan Frakes and Bill Paxon need to be actively restrained - if not just killed outright. 

Captain Scarlet was another of Anderson's creations and the story is actually quite dark and conflicted. The alien "Mysterons" only attack Earth because they were provoked - quiet violently.

Dateline: the day after tomorrow. Spectrum agents Captain Scarlet and Captain Black are assigned to investigate the source of unexplained extraterrestrial signals which have been detected emanating from Mars. They discover a strange and fantastic alien city but when their Bison Alien Terrain Vehicle is approached by a glowing green sphere, Black assumes that they are under attack and launches missiles which destroy the city. Miraculously, the city reforms and its alien occupants, the Mysterons, are disgusted by the violence of the Earthmen, pledging to crush their world. Black is apparently killed but Scarlet is returned to Earth as the Mysterons' instrument of destruction… 

Creepy - huh. But very much in Gerry Anderson's style.

One thing that stands out in all his shows is that he clearly has a MAJOR boner for tricksy vehicles, particularly cars with more than four wheels. Nothing of course will ever beat Lady Penelope's Pink Roller - but the Angel Fighter came close. My Dad made me a model of this when I was about 5 and I played with it until it was shrapnel - all with my fathers constant loving repairs to it. I suspect my interest in the model gave my father some kind of hope of some incipient butchness - but little did he know, I loved it because it was FABULOUS - not cause it blew stuff up.

Interestingly Gerry Anderson managed to talk ITV in the UK into popping for a remake of 'Scarlet' or as they like to call it - Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet. I am working on getting my hands on a copy for review but it looks pretty good from the trailer. I will admit that the CGI is attempting to be a little too realistic, and like most things that do it looks a little creepy because its not perfect enough. 'The Incredibles" worked because they built flaws in, so it avoided creepiness. Final Fantasy DID NOT work because it tried to be perfect and since it wasn't  - creepy.

So once again I am going to get to fly with Destiny Angel in one of the best looking aircraft I have ever seen - although I am not sure i will be rushing around the backyard making whoosing and blam-blam-blam noises. Ok, maybe I will, but only if I can get another model Angel Fighter.