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Here we come... does this upset anyone? I want to begin with "Supermarionations", because of their fascination and importance. And don't forget that here we have the visual effects history: here some technicians like Brian Johnson begun their career, going on to "2001: A space odyssey" or the "Star Wars" trilogy. And if we want to mention "Supermarionations", this is the only start possible. "Thunderbirds" was not the first show like that produced by Gerry Anderson, but it is anyway the most memorable. Keeping the right proportions, stories were well written, there was the right mix of action and humour, not to mention again the visual effects, really impressive if we consider the times and the kind of show. Then there was this particular feature: every episode lasted 60 minutes, a very unusual move for a puppet show. This was absolutely wanted by Lew Grade, the genius emperor (nothing less...) of ITC who approved and backed all the most memorable shows by Gerry Anderson and, moreover, in the whole television history ("The Saint", "The Persuaders", "The Prisoner", "The Muppet Show" are some of the titles...). Looking forward as usual, Grade was very impressed by the seed story, and was well aware of what Anderson was able to do, so he decided this quality upgrade was possible. Anderson and his crew were not so happy about that: a puppet show made of 60 minutes episodes was far more difficult to handle, for writers and directors by first. The result is well known: Anderson and his crew made their most remarkable show of ever, if we consider also live-action products like "U.F.O." and "Space: 1999". Now the episode storyline: a band of what we could call "terrorists" uses reluctant human bombs. In fact they force them to wear explosive bracelets... and the only way to get rid of that is picking up the keys on the attack location. After the destruction of a government building which contained important files, the secret service infiltrate an agent, who discovers that the next target is a nuclear store!!! Only International Rescue can prevent the disaster... Enjoy! WARNING: to read the comic you need Acrobat Reader. 30 MINUTES AFTER NOON |
