Thunderball (1965)

James Bond's fourth adventure takes him to the Bahamas, where a NATO warplane with a nuclear payload has disappeared into the sea. Bond (Sean Connery) travels from a tony health spa (where he tangles with a mechanized masseuse run amuck) to the casinos of Nassau and soon picks up the trail of SPECTRE's number-two man, Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi), and his beautiful mistress, Domino (Claudine Auger), whom Bond soon seduces to his side. Equipped with more gadgets than ever, courtesy of the resourceful "Q" (Desmond Llewelyn), agent 007 escapes an ambush with a personal-size jet pack and takes to the water as he searches for the undersea plane, battles Largo's pet sharks, and finally leads the battle against Largo's scuba-equipped henchmen in a spectacular underwater climax. This thrilling Bond entry became Connery's most successful outing in the series and was remade in 1983 as Never Say Never Again, with Connery returning to the role after a 12-year hiatus. Tom Jones belts out the bold theme song to another classic Maurice Binder title sequence. --Sean Axmaker Amazon.com

thunderball

first:this movie holds up well for a movie that dates back to 1965!
i still say sean connery was the best bond.
this blu-ray verson blows the dvd away!
dr no has a higher bit rate and is the best of the bunch so far,but thunderball is right behind it pq wise.
the audio[dtshdma]is ok not much in the surrounds but again this movie was mono in 1965.
if you collect bond,go for it! January 9, 2009

And the Winner is-Thunderball!

Unquestionably the best film in the series. A plot that centers upon nuclear hijacking is more compelling, and even more contemporary in 2008 than it was when the film was originally released. Sean Connery is at his best. The film has just the right amount of gadgetry-miniaturized homing devices, etc, without bordering on the ridiculous. The locales are exotic. Italian actor Adolfo Celli is suberb as the cruel villian Largo. And what more can be said about redhead Lucianna Palluzzi! This is the James Bond film we watch at home all the time without ever tiring of it. December 24, 2008

dvd queen

I bought this as a gift for my dad. we love the james bond movie collection. December 22, 2008

Thunderball - with Sean Connery as James Bond

This now completes my James Bond trilogy of the Bond films with Sean Connery in Blu-Ray. Which includes Dr No, From Russia With Love, and Thunderball. These were what I consider 'the' Bond films, as Connery was, and will always be, James Bond. In Blu-Ray they are better than when I saw them at the theater when they were first released. Freaking awesome. December 22, 2008

Still strong after 43 years

After the success of Goldfinger, considerable resources were used to produce the next James Bond film, Thunderball. I was in the 8th grade when the film was released in 1965 and there was tremendous cultural excitment arouind the film with magazines like GQ and Esquire promoting the film with flashy articles.

Now seeing the film 43 years later I remember just what a good film Thunderball really is. Sean Connery will always be the perfect James Bond. In comparison to the thin fellows that played Bond in later films, Connery is a thick, muscular, masculine, hunk of muscle. This makes the fight scenes more realistic and less choreographed. He is paired with the villian Emilio Largo, played by Adolfo Celi, one of the few villians that is as smart, muscular, athletic, and talented as Bond. This makes for a more balanced struggle which engages the viewer a bit more than Bond's struggles with the obese Goldfinger or the anemic Dr. No.

We also have the pleasure of James Bond meeting his match in the character of a female assassin, played perfectly by Luciana Paluzzi. She is extremely strong and athletic, beautiful and cunning. There is a wonderful scene where after making love she confronts Bond with her contempt, informing him that she is one girl who won't be transformed from evil to good through the love making of James Bond. The scene in which they dance in the Kiss Kiss club while assassins surround the dance floor and John Barry's score is at its best in reflecting island beat, is a total winner.

The plot is a bit more complex in Thunderball with the villian Largo having multiple back up plans which Bond must uncover and then foil.
Claudine Auger is incredibly beautiful as Domino, Largo's mistress who turns on her evil master through the influence of Bond.

Thunderball is the finest of the Bond films where Sean Connery plays James Bond. It has held up to scrutiny after 43 years. December 7, 2008

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