OK, I’ve seen a couple of movies over the last few weeks. Here’s my take on them. My rating system will be from 1 (absolutely rotten!) to 10 (absolutely fantastic!). The absolute gold standard on this scale are all three Lord of The Rings movies. On the other end is Mike al-Moor’s Fahrenheit 9/11!

THUNDERBIRDS: Two weeks prior to last night I saw the adaptation of Gerry Anderson’s classic British TV series from the 1960s which used “Supermarionation”...only this time the actors were REAL and Jonathan Frakes (yes, Number One) did a good job of bringing that milieu to life on the big screen, especially the CGI-rendered Thunderbird ships. But it was not an exact adaptation and I didn’t expect it to be. They sure chose the right guy to play Jeff Tracy, Bill Paxton. It’s too bad Gerry Anderson himself did not want to be associated with this picture. He’s gonna lose out so bad!
This movie is also a HUGE promotional platform for Ford: every vehicle which did not belong to International Rescue was a Ford, and Ford was the worldwide sponsor of the IWN (CNN knockoff) newscasts. There was a bright red (looked like a) ‘57 T-bird in the Tracy’s garage on their island. Also spotted were the 2005 Focus, a modern Thunderbird, the cop cars in London were the Mondeos (think Contours here), and even the cute little Ka. Even Lady Penelope’s flying car was a heavily modified Thunderbird. And it was PINK! So were the Ka and the modern Thunderbird which sat on her estate grounds when she was taking off!
And now for the movie villains. Get this: Ben Kingsley is the lead bad guy. I am shaking my head. Did he do this for the money or for the fun of it, since his character is a comic-book variety and was just plain CORNY! Maybe he wanted to make a movie his grandchildren could see. And his female electronics expert has a hot bod and a smart mind, but a TERRIBLE mouthful of teeth…undoubtedly the same problem Austin Powers had!
THUNDERBIRDS is rated PG. What little raciness existed on-screen was done in good taste and with English Chivalry. I can’t wait until this comes out on DVD (within 6 months) ‘cause I will BUY this one! A ton of fun, and that’s why we go to movies! My rating: 8

ALIEN VS. PREDATOR: It took what, 17 years to bring this volatile crossover combination to the screen? The movie lasted only 87 minutes and is a perfect fit for a TV format. So give it a year and it’ll be on Fox. Inside 6 months on DVD. And it read like the Dark Horse comic series, although from what I understand it deviated somewhat from that.
Don’t kid yourself, this is a PREQUEL, there’s a 300-year span (or thereabouts) from this movie to ALIEN. Lance Henriksen’s character was a nice touch that adds continuity which sorely needed it. Now we know where the Bishop androids come from.
AVP is rated PG-13; its violence is less significant than the previous Alien and Predator movies, and there were uses of the F word and no one has time to bleed (salute to Jesse Ventura!). One thing which was definitely missing from all this mayhem: AH-NOLD. My rating: 6