Review of Thunderball (1965) by Taylor W — 08 Apr 2010

James Bond 007 is back and as usual, the fate of the world is at stake. The evil SPECTRE organization has stolen two atomic bombs from a jet bomber and will be deployed unless they are paid a heaping sum of one hundred million dollars. Bond heads to the Bahamas to find the bombs, defeat the bad guys, and of course make time to get the ladies. The story is actually kind of dark and more serious than some of the previous films with some interesting plot points that seem to reflect the Cold War paranoia of the time, even the overal tone and atmosphere of the film tends to be dark, which makes this another one of my favorites in the series. The violence is sometimes wrenching though seldom graphic and the sexual overtones are quite blatant, though I think we're used to that by now. Sean Connery portrays James Bond for the fourth time and has all the confidence and charm that makes him such a joy to watch in the previous installments, he may even be getting bored at this point with mostly having to swim, fight and be a womanizer, but he does a fantastic job anyways, his chemistry with the other chracters always work perfectly. Also, we see that sometimes even he needs a little help from time to time and makes a few mistakes from time to time. This is a great entry in the series, but I guess there are a few minor flaws. First of all, it seems to move just a little slowly at times. One of the things people really complain about is all the gadgets, yes there are a lot of gadgets, but I don't mind. I love the opening where Bond makes an escape with a jet pack, now that's just classic.

The other characters are just wonderful, Adolfo Celi is great in the role of Italian Emilio Largo, the main villain of the film. This guy is just brutal and cold hearted, never reluctant to kill one of his own henchmen, he is even willing to torture his mistress when he discovers her betrayal. He just looks and acts like such a stereotypical villain, a dark heavyset man with short white hair, a menacing voice, he even has an eyepatch to complete the villanous ensemble. The villainess of the film is the seductive Fiona Volpe played by Luciana Paluzzi. She's a great femme fatale if I ever saw one, during a brief chase scene she saves Bond from from one of her fellow villains, she also seems to enjoy seducing her victims before having them killed. The main Bond girl however is the lovely Domino Derval played by Claudine Auger. I have to admit that she really brings warmth and humanity to an otherwise harsh assortment of characters, she is Largo's mistress unaware that he is preparing to launch a possible nuclear armageddon and he has had her brother killed in their plot to take over the world. Still, she is a strong character and her performance is very good. Felix Leiter also returns, this time portrayed by Rik Van Nutter. Fortunately we get appearances by series regulars Moneypenny, M and Q, who provides Bond with his many awesome gadgets.

One of the things I love is that the action takes place in the Bahamas, I love when Bond's adventures take him to exotic tropical locations and it gives us the opportunity to enjoy some great underwater sequences. The action scenes are also a real treat to watch, including the spectacular underwater battle during the climax, which I still consider to be one of the best I've ever seen. The cinematography and special effects are definitely noteworthy for the time, everything is sleek and realistic and puts you in the right mood. The same thing goes for the music, John Barry returns for the fourth time providing us with the tunes of the title song and the traditional theme music, the music score itself ranges from dark and brooding to upbeat and exciting and even romantic. In regards to the title song, it's great Tom Jones singing to an outstanding music score accompanied by the silouettes of girls swimming with psychadelic colors in the background, I've always enjoyed that particular title sequence, sleek, surreal and sexy. Maybe the one problem with the movie that people seem to notice is that it definitely goes for being a straight up action thriller, the plot of atomic bombs being stolen is simple enough, the constant use of gadgets and weapons while simple hand-to-hand combat takes a bit of a backseat. No surprise, seeing this was the most expensive Bond film yet and the producers being well aware of how big a moneymaker the series was. However there are very many who really enjoy this film and I'm one of them, it's still one of the most solid and enjoyable entries in the series and ultimately satisfying.