Review of Thunderball (1965) by Jay R — 01 Dec 2009

Merry Christmas with Bondfreak - Episode 4.

Im pretty sure it is impossible to top Goldfinger, but this is still a massive amount of fun. The introduction is very cool indeed, the women are sexy, and the showdown underwater is a massive achievement for 1965. Believe it or not this is the Bond film that is the most successful Bond movie of all time and it won an Oscar for Best Special Effects and deservedly so. Thunderball is exactly what a follow up to Goldfinger should be, a great action adventure beneath the waves.

Sean is excellent here delivering some great one liners, he has the charm, and every time he utters his name, its a relief to hear. What I liked a lot about this movie is how it goes more in depth about how SPECTRE works. Through the villain Largo, we see just how everything works which was really neat. Largo started a stereotypical trend of villains with eyepatches. He isn't all that menacing actually, but more intellectual which took away the feeling of evil. The only part where he shows any menace is when he feeds the guy to the sharks, and then walks away sucking his ring of SPECTRE. Personally I found that laughable. However Thunderball also introduces a girl as the villain by the name of Fionna who is quite a bitch in the best way. But the main Bond girl is actually stunning to look at by the name of Domino Derval played eloquently by Claudine Auger. While playing Bond's insider, she radiates with the right amount of intelligence and revenge-driven personality so that we actually roots for her. She even gets in on the action in the films finale.

Its is the action that makes this movie memorable. The underwater battle is actually so visceral and jolting, it was like Braveheart beneath the waves. Every harpoon hits with gut wrenching impact, and you can feel the points whistle by the enemies. Im going to throw in an interesting fact here. The final boat fist battle is choreographed well. But when Bond and Domino get off the boat, and the boat hits the rocks, that was done for real. But the explosion of the boat was so big, that is shattered windows 50 miles away. It is obvious they pulled out all the stops for the action in this movie.

Thunderball is not a classic by any means. The villain isn't too menacing and underdeveloped and the tribal chase through the streets is not thrilling its very slow. But Sean Connery, one of the hottest Bond girls yet Domino and the epic and memorable action sequences make this Bond film a big winner still. Thunderball has the elements to make a very successful action movie and its success is well earned. Thumbs up!