Thunderball (1965)
UK 130m, Colour
Director: Terence Young; Cast: Sean Connery, Claudine Auger, Adolfo Celi, Luciana Paluzzi, Rik Van Nutter, Desmond Llewelyn, Bernard Lee
Thunderball is the fourth, and arguably the best of Sean Connery’s Bond films. It is based on Ian Fleming’s 1961 novel of the same name, and follows Agent 007 to the Bahamas as he attempts to track down two atomic bombs stolen by SPECTRE – a nefarious group of super villains with a swimming pool filled with sharks. Much of this very technical production is filmed underwater and as such, boasts some stunning photography. Notwithstanding a few obvious rear projection effects and the oddly sped up film during the Disco Volante sequence, which was intended to make the boat look like it was going faster than it was, Thunderball is a beautiful film, with a good number of exciting action sequence, plenty of gadgets and many hilarious lines of sexual innuendo (Klaus Ming January 2011).
I have to admit that I am quite surprised that Thunderball is so divisive. Reading the reviews, some agree with you that it’s a superb example of Bond, while others consider it somewhat padded and bloated.
I always thought it was somewhere in the middle, myself – I never knew it was such a controversial Bond film. Well, “controversial” until you get to On Her Majesty’s Secret Service – now that’s divisive.
Same here! I hadn’t read a single review for Thunderball until just after I posted. And yeah, I was really surprised at the range of comments.
While Goldfinger may be my all time favourite Bond Film, I think Thunderball is the better of the two.