History Film / ThunderBirds

* ForWantOfANail: The plot could've been ''very'' different if Brains hadn't stuttered trying to pronounce the word "missile" as what hit Thunderbird 5, which is instead assumed to be a meteor.

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* CasualDangerDialog: Lady Penelope is being attacked by the Hood's EvilGenius. All she has to say is this:

Led by former astronaut Jeff Tracy, the Tracy family operate International Rescue - a secret organization that aids those in need during disasters using technologically advanced machines called Thunderbirds. When Thunderbird 5 is damaged by an apparent meteorite strike, Jeff and his sons walk into a trap set by the Hood, who invades Tracy Island and hijacks their command centre, stranding the majority of the Tracy family in space - except for youngest son Alan, who has to stop the Hood from stealing the remaining Thunderbirds so he can ruin International Rescue’s reputation, and take back Tracy Island to save his family.

* AchievementsInIgnorance: Brains is fiddling around with a neural net control system- basically allowing telekinesis. He succeeds in lifting a cell phone off his worktable- completely unaware [[FunnyBackgroundEvent he managed to lift the Mole in the background as well]].

** Not only Lady Penelope, who is a full GirlyBruiser here, but also The Hood- here, his psychic powers are seriously amped up (see below) and, unlike the original series, actually succeeds in his goal of hijacking the Thunderbird craft for his own ends. Bonus points for IR actually being aware of him this time (in the 60s series, The Hood's [[UnknownRival existence didn't seem to be known at all to IR]] -- they were aware of "enemies", but not The Hood in particular).

** Even ''Thunderbird 2'' was given this treatment- now instead of having one pod containing one vehicle loaded in at a time, now it has multiple pods to store multiple vehicles and devices, including The Mole, Firefly, the Thunderizer and others, and the pods themselves can be reconfigured[[note]] for reference: there can three pods -- one forward, one port side aft and one starboard side aft. In this configuration, three pod vehicles can be deployed at once, one exiting from the front and two from the rear. There can be two pods – one forward and one aft (connecting both sides of the aft pods). The can be just one pod – forward and aft pods are all connected together. And there's the rescue platform V1/V2 – winch platform and bay door pod in forward position and either V1 (two separate rear pods) or V2 (one large rear joined pod). Once the desired pods and configuration have been chosen and punched into the computer, a system of automated robotic cranes lifts them onto the flat transporter in front of Thunderbird 2. The transporter then slides backwards under the craft and Thunderbird 2 settles down over the pods and transporter, ready to be wheeled out to its launch ramp.[[/note]] The landing struts were also given a makeover, as the production team felt the original's struts were too flimsy for such a vehicle.

* AllThereInTheManual: Much of the info about the Thunderbird craft- including abilities not seen or referenced in it- we noted in the "X-Ray Cross Sections" book. For instance, ''Thunderbird 5'' is armed with a multi-purpose cannon to shoot down incoming space hazards like old rocket debris and meteor fragments.

* ClosestThingWeGot: All stated in the trailer: “In a family of heroes, Alan Tracy was always left behind, until... he was the last one left.”

-->'''The Hood:''' It's not me you're angry at, Alan.
-->'''Alan:''' It's not you I'm aiming at. (''Fires again, this time hitting the button to open the trap door him and his friends were standing on.'')

Its theme song "Take Me Away" was by Caleigh Peters.

A ''very'' informative review of the movie -- complete with lots of screencaps, tidbits about the movie's development, facts about the vehicles, and even pictures of the props -- can be found [[https://securityhazard.wordpress.com/2017/05/19/thunderbirds-2004/ here]].

* AlternativeForeignThemeSong: The Japanese version uses [[http://www.kuwo.cn/mobilemv/6541920/#@ "Thunderbird - your voice -"]] by V6 for the theme song.

Its theme song ''Take Me Away'' was by Caleigh Peters.

A ''very'' informative review of the movie--complete with lots of screencaps, tidbits about the movie's development, facts about the vehicles, and even pictures of the props--can be found [[https://securityhazard.wordpress.com/2017/05/19/thunderbirds-2004/ here]].

** Not only Lady Penelope, who is a full GirlyBruiser here, but also The Hood- here, his psychic powers are seriously amped up (see below) and, unlike the original series, actually succeeds in his goal of hijacking the Thunderbird craft for his own ends. Bonus points for IR actually being aware of him this time (in the 60s series, The Hood's [[UnknownRival existence didn't seem to be known at all to IR]]- they were aware of "enemies", but not The Hood in particular).

** Even ''Thunderbird 2'' was given this treatment- now instead of having one pod containing one vehicle loaded in at a time, now it has multiple pods to store multiple vehicles and devices, including The Mole, Firefly, the Thunderizer and others, and the pods themselves can be reconfigured[[note]] for reference: there can three pods – one forward, one port side aft and one starboard side aft. In this configuration, three pod vehicles can be deployed at once, one exiting from the front and two from the rear. There can be two pods – one forward and one aft (connecting both sides of the aft pods). The can be just one pod – forward and aft pods are all connected together. And there's the rescue platform V1/V2 – winch platform and bay door pod in forward position and either V1 (two separate rear pods) or V2 (one large rear joined pod). Once the desired pods and configuration have been chosen and punched into the computer, a system of automated robotic cranes lifts them onto the flat transporter in front of Thunderbird 2. The transporter then slides backwards under the craft and Thunderbird 2 settles down over the pods and transporter, ready to be wheeled out to its launch ramp.[[/note]] The landing struts were also given a makeover, as the production team felt the original's struts were too flimsy for such a vehicle.

Its theme song ''Thunderbirds Are Go'' was a UK number one for the pop rock band Music/{{Busted}}.

* SneezeOfDoom: Fermat's allergies cause him to sneeze while in the ducts, nearly causing them to get caught.

* BrokenPedestal: Alan potentially suffers one when he [[spoiler:asks Jeff if the Hood was telling the truth that Jeff left him to die; despite having always talked about the importance of International Rescue’s mission to save lives, Jeff confirms that the Hood was telling the truth, but justifies it by explaining that he only left the Hood behind because he could see no way to save the Hood that wouldn’t have put them both at risk with no guarantee that they could get away]].

* {{Foreshadowing}}: During the AnimatedCreditsOpening, we see the Mole rescue people from underground, but it leaves two people behind. [[spoiler:This is what happened to The Hood prior to the movie- he had been running an illegal diamond mine operation when it collapsed- being one of the first missions for International Rescue. While Jeff rescued his brother, Kyrano, he left the Hood to die. While he survived, he developed an intense hatred towards the Thunderbirds and the Tracys from that point on.]]

* {{Hypocrite}}: Jeff; despite telling Alan he's too young to go on missions he allows the 16-year-old Gordon to do the same.

** The film: John is the oldest at 22, Virgil (20), Scott (18), Gordon (16) and Alan (14).

* ProductPlacement: The Ford Motor Company provided many of the vehicles used in the film, and they're going to make damn sure you know it. To a far lesser extent, Unilever ice cream products are also given their dues (Ben and Jerry's is in the Tracy Island freezer {though that may be a touch of reality: for an isolated location like Tracy Island they probably buy ice-cream in bulk}, and the ice-cream stand ''Thunderbird 2'' squashes in London is Heartbrand). The scene with Lady Penelope in the bath (see above) has her watching [[Creator/{{NBC}} CNBC]] on another screen; by the time the movie was released, the [=NBCUniversal=] merger was on the verge of being completed.

* CombatStilettos: Lady Penelope mostly uses her feet clad in pink high heels to stun her opponents. And we get a lot of close-ups of the shoes which are definitely played for [[Fanservice]].

* GirlyGirlWithATomboy: Lady Penelope is dainty and princess-like, but she is not hesitant to kick anyone's ass with her combat skills.