Thunderball (1965)

cover art shock! (Blu-ray Disc)

Is this a joke? The Highest End 1080p Blu-ray version for eternity of a long row of versions of this beautiful Bond classic with a bad looking and, worse, mirror-image picture of Sean Connery on the cover?? Who decides this?? This is world cinema of global player companies, and they can't afford a graphic designer!! The only reason can be, they want the film to look "different" for the supermarket-mass-audience buyer, might work. When I remember the care that went into the THUNDERBALL Laserdisc Box in 1997 using unused but beautiful cover art. Similar treatment with the cover on the FOR YOUR EYES ONLY Blu-ray with a Roger image not from that film (too young). July 28, 2008

One of the greatest Bond movies of them all!!

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It's difficult to believe that this movie is almost 45 years old (counting from the year of this review)!!!

(Sir) Sean Connery made six EON production (or "official") movies with him starring as James Bond. They were: Dr. No (1962); From Russia with Love (1963); Goldfinger (1964); Thunderball (1965); You Only Live Twice (1967); and Diamonds are Forever (1971).

As can be seen from the above list, "Thunderball" is the fourth spy film of the British Bond series. As well it is the fourth to star Connery as the fictional MI6 agent Commander James Bond (code number: 007).

This movie is based on the 1961 novel of the same name as the movie by Ian Fleming (1908 to 1964).

Briefly, 007's mission (code name: Thunderball) is to find two NATO nuclear bombs stolen by SPECTRE (SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion) who holds the world in ransom for not destroying with these bombs a major city in either England or the U.S. The search leads Bond to the Bahamas, where he encounters Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi), the card-playing, eye-patch wearing SPECTRE #2 and a beautiful but deadly SPECTRE operative named Fiona Volpe (Luciana Paluzzi). Backed by the CIA and Largo's mistress Domino (Claudine Auger), Bond's search culminates into an underwater battle with Largo's henchmen.

The title song is belted out by singer (Sir) Tom Jones.

This movie has all the Bond ingredients: gadgets, witty dialogue with "Bondisms" (Bond's one-liners), incredible background music, beautiful Bond girls, a memorable villain, and plenty of action. Also in the cast is Miss Moneypenny, M, Q, and Felix. Gorgeous background scenery accompanies most scenes. (This movie was made on location in Paris, the Bahamas, and London, England.)

Sean Connery brings his characteristic savoir faire to the movie and he holds it together. A. Celi as Largo is an unforgettable foil to Connery's Bond. Kudos must go to Luciana Paluzzi for playing a memorable villainess. (In fact, so memorable that she had trouble getting acting jobs after the movie's release.)

The underwater scenes are spectacular. Some say they are too long but this is untrue. They just feel long because they're underwater where the action seems to be in slow motion.

It seems to me that the entire movie was carefully constructed. For instance, the voices of A. Celi as Largo and C. Auger as Domino are actually dubbed but it's difficult to tell this.

Here's an example of witty dialogue with a Bondism:

While visiting Largo's lair, he and Bond go to so some skeet shooting (using a rifle). Largo hits a moving skeet while carefully aiming.

Bond: "Perhaps you can call [a skeet] for me."
Largo: "Of course. Pull!"
Bond: "It seems terribly difficult."
(He hits a moving skeet seemingly not aiming and with his rifle at hip level.)
Bond: "No it isn't, is it?"

When first released, this movie earned about one hundred and forty-one million dollars worldwide. That's about nine-hundred and sixty-five million in today's dollars making it the highest grossing Bond film so far. It won a Academy Award for Best Effects (visual).

The DVD (the one released in Feb., 2007) is flawless in picture and sound quality. This movie has been digitally restored and I'm sure the picture is just as good (if not better!!) than when it was released almost 45 years ago. There is also superior sound. There are two extras in the form of audio commentaries.

Finally, here is some information to consider. This DVD is actually the first disc of the two disc "Ultimate Edition." Bond fanatics might want to purchase this two disc Ultimate Edition since the second disc has "the best collection of special features ever assembled for Bond." (Unfortunately, the Ultimate Edition is no longer available but can be purchased second-hand.)

In conclusion, to date this is the highest grossing Bond movie and some say the best one. I leave you with some more witty dialogue from this movie:

This dialogue occurs right before the example dialogue given above where Bond and Largo are about to do some skeet shooting. Largo is carrying a rifle for skeet shooting:

Bond: "That [rifle] looks more fitting for a women."
Largo: "Do you know much about [rifles and] guns, Mr. Bond?"
Bond: "No. I know a little about women."

(1965; 2 hr, 10 min; wide screen; 32 scenes)

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May 22, 2008

One of the best of the original Bonds...

Sean Connery's fourth outing as James Bond, 1965's "Thunderball", finds him and the franchise in high gear in a spy extravaganza filmed on location in and around beautiful Nassau, the Bahamas. The underwater film sequences were pioneering at the time and hold up pretty well today.

As the movie opens, Bond is at a health spa in England, recovering from one of his recent adventures. He can't help getting involved in another. The clues he picks up at the spa will lead him to a SPECTRE plot to steal a British bomber with two nuclear bombs aboard, stash the bomber in the ocean, and sell the devices to the highest bidder. Bond ends up in the Bahamas, where his investigation leads him to SPECTRE agent Largo (played with haughty menace by Adolfo Celi) and his beautiful mistress Domino (Claudine Auger). The movie manages two equally thrilling climaxes. One is the huge underwater fight between British and American frogmen and Largo's SPECTRE henchmen. The second is a struggle between Bond and Largo for control of Largo's escape boat as it careens toward destruction on a reef.

Luciana Paluzzi is an added bonus as a gorgeous but deadly red-headed SPECTRE agent who dogs Bond's footsteps. Their meeting in his bathtub features one of the more priceless tongue-in-cheek Bond dialogues, as she asks for something to wear and he hands her a pair of sandals.

This movie is very highly recommended as one of the best of the original Bond movies, featuring Sean Connery at his wise-cracking best as the prototypical Bond. March 10, 2008

THE BOND FEW REMEMBER

Top rate Bond film, completely forgotten by many. As I've mentioned before, Connery is absolutely no match for a 2007 Matt Damon (Jason Bourne), but in 1965 he had no peer. As usual in these films, the plot is both simple and outrageous. An organized international banditry group wants to extort 1 million pounds from NATO countries. They steal a bomber with 2 armed nuclear warheads as ransom. Bond arrives both casually and late at headquarters, having nearly been already killed and having had his mandatory sexual encounters with two gorgeous underground types.(If you ever see Shirley Booth or Rose Marie in one of these films, they've accidentally wandered onto the wrong set). With time running out, again and again the enemy has a chance to put Mr. Bond away for good, but fails to do so, thus lengthening the film, but also enabling a wild, realistic finale,accompanied by beautiful photography and a stirring musical score. Do not let alleged inferior Bond films fool you; this production can stand tall against the best of the others. February 19, 2008

Bigger budget does not always make a better movie

After the success of "Goldfinger", the Bond producers secured the film rights to "Thunderball" and tripled the budget. The basic plot is simple but good: Largo, working for Spectre, steals atomic missiles and demands a ransom. Unfortunately, "Thunderball" is considerably longer than the previous movies, but there's less plot. The script is dull and the direction lifeless. Most of the budget seems to have been spent on the underwater sequences. But they're not well made, only chaotic and go on for way too long. They become the anticlimax of a movie that had already lost my interest. "Thunderball" is one of the few Bond movies that manages to bore me. Not recommended. January 25, 2008

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