Thunderball (1965)

Goofy fun, but far from perfect.

This has a lot of memorable moments, even though the underwater sequences are overlong, but a good villain, great Bond girl, and of course Connery. See it. November 6, 2008

The Biggest Bond of All

I was around for this Bond films original release, you cannot imagine the excitement it engendered. Multiply this summer's excitement over "The Dark Knight" by 2. In terms of 1965 dollars, it is still the highest-grossing Bond. People were waiting out in the December cold at 8am in the morning the day it opened. Like Goldfinger before it, it played at various theaters 24 hours a day. Tons of merchandising were created for this film. I can still remember the excitement 43 years later.
Connery is at his coolest in this film, the direction by Terrence Young, (the director of Dr. No and FRWL,) is terrific and this film still has the greatest underwater fight scene ever done. (Compare it to the absolutely mediocre remake Never Say Never Again.)
A true Bond classic and one of my ten favorite Bond films. October 19, 2008

Thunderball - Blu-ray Info

Version: U.S.A / Region-A
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
MPEG-4 AVC BD-50
Running time: 2:10:23
Movie size: 29,00 GB
Disc size: 44,66 GB
Average video bit rate: 23.20 Mbps
Number of chapters: 32

DTS-HD Master Audio English 3436 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 3436kbps (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 1536kbps)
Dolby Digital Audio French 448 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 448kbps
Dolby Digital Audio English 224 kbps 2.0 / 48kHz / 224kbps
Dolby Digital Audio English 224 kbps 2.0 / 48kHz / 224kbps
Dolby Digital Audio English 224 kbps 2.0 / 48kHz / 224kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 224 kbps 2.0 / 48kHz / 224kbps

Subtitles: English SDH / French / Spanish

#"The Complete Special Features Library: Mission Dossier" - Audio Commentary Featuring Terence Young and Others
#Audio Commentary Featuring Peter Hunt, John Hopkins and Others
#"Declassified: M16 Vault" The Incredible World of James Bond - Original 1965 NBC Television Special
#A Child's Guide to Blowing Up a Motor Car - 1965 Ford Promotional Film On Location With Ken Adam
#Bill Suitor: The Rocket Man Movies
#Thunderball Boat Show Reel
#Selling Bonds - Original 1965 Television Advertisements
#"007 Mission Control" Interactive Guide Into the World of Thunderball
#The Making of Thunderball
#The Thunderball Phenomenon
#The Secret History of Thunderball
#"Ministry of Propaganda" - Original Trailers, TV Spots, Photo Gallery and Radio Communications October 14, 2008

Look Up! Look Down! Look Out! The biggest Bond of them all

Taking into account inflation, THUNDERBALL is, by far, the biggest grosser in the series. In 2008 dollars the film would have grossed nearly a billion dollars. It has some slow moments but by and large it is a large scale world shaking epic. The threat of nuclear blackmail has a sense of urgency that the remake, NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN, never achieves. Connery gives his most relaxed performance as Bond, Adolfo Celli is meancing as Largo, Claudine Auger stunning as Domino and Luciana Paluzzi as a deadly liason for Bond. Remembered for the underwater battle the film is based on Fleming's novel which inturn was based on a screenplay by himself, Jack Whittingham and Kevin McClory -- the basis for a major lawsuit that has reverberated over the decades and resulting in NSNA in 1983 (releasing the same year as Roger Moore's outing OCTOPUSSY -- which made more money) as well as an unsuccessful attempt by Sony and McClory to launch an independent Bond series in the late 1990's. MGM/UA won the battle and the dust on this whole affair has probably settled for good with the passing of McClory earlier this year. An interesting side note: like FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, Connery never utters the line "My name is Bond, James Bond." Among the special features (which pretty much uses the same from the previous edition)is the 1965 NBC special "The Incredible World of James Bond". October 9, 2008

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

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