Thunderball (1965)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Terence Young

Writers:

Richard Maibaum (screenplay) and
John Hopkins (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

29 December 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

Tagline:

Look Out! Here Comes The Biggest Bond Of All! (British quad poster)

Plot:

James Bond heads to The Bahamas to recover two nuclear warheads stolen by SPECTRE agent Emilio Largo in an international extortion scheme.

Plot Keywords:

British | Extortion | Bahamas | Island | North Atlantic

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 3 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Sean Connery	...	James Bond
Claudine Auger	...	Domino
Adolfo Celi	...	Largo
Luciana Paluzzi	...	Fiona
Rik Van Nutter	...	Felix Leiter
Guy Doleman	...	Count Lippe
Molly Peters	...	Patricia
Martine Beswick	...	Paula
Bernard Lee	...	'M'
Desmond Llewelyn	...	'Q'
Lois Maxwell	...	Moneypenny
Roland Culver	...	Foreign Secretary
Earl Cameron	...	Pinder
Paul Stassino	...	Palazzi
Rose Alba	...	Madame Boitier

Also Known As:

Ian Fleming's Thunderball (UK) (complete title)
James Bond, Secret Agent (International: English title) (original script title)
Longitude 78 West (UK) (original script title)

Runtime:

130 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Iceland:12 | Singapore:PG | Germany:12 (DVD rating) | West Germany:16 (nf) | South Korea:15 | Brazil:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Canada:PG (video rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 (re-rating) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Peru:14 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG (video rating) (1987) | USA:Approved (original rating) | USA:GP (re-rating) (1970) | USA:PG (re-rating) (1994) | UK:A (original rating) (passed with cuts)

Filming Locations:

Anet, Eure-et-Loir, France

Company:

Eon Productions

Trivia:

This was the first James Bond movie to provide two key elements for the franchise's success. It was the first of Maurice Binder's opening titles sequences created in the form that they would become most famous for. It was also the first to have movie posters which had panoramic adventure-scene artwork. These would become a tradition for the series until Licence to Kill (1989). From GoldenEye (1995) onwards, photo montages have become the staple for James Bond movie posters.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Bond informs Domino of her brother's murder, Domino's tears make her mascara run. This is after a long dive that doesn't mess up her make-up.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Madame LaPorte: The coffin - it has your initials: J.B.
Bond: At the moment, rather him than me.
Madame LaPorte: At least you've been saved the effort of removing him. Colonel Bouvar passed away in his sleep, so they tell me.
Bond: Mm...
Madame LaPorte: You sound disappointed you did not kill him yourself.
Bond: I am. Jacques Bouvar murdered two of my colleagues.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Thunderball Boat Show Promo (2006) (V)

Soundtrack:

Thunderball

For entertainment this achieves the highest of any other Bond movie.

Connery is back, better and more buff than ever, as super agent James Bond 007, this time seeing him on a mission in the Bahamas to prevent a nuclear catastrophe from happening. The cinematography is beautiful, as the Bond Girl Claudine Auger, who looks smoking hot in her bikini.

For the acting, Connery is always there to take the spotlight. He zigs and zags his way around friends and foe in order to succeed. He is still the charming, witty, and deadly secret agent we have come to know him for. The villain is also good here, because not only he has one of the most diabolical plans ever, he also looks diabolical (an eye patch).

The action here is non-stop, especially the underwater scenes. Some call these scenes overlong, thus causing the length of the film to be 2 hours and 10 minutes, quite long, but to me, it's just breathless and pulse-pounding. Also, the beginning of the film will want you begging for more Connery. Most of the action sequences rely on the team's special effects, but it's no problem, since the special effects are damn good for a 1965 movie, even by today's standard. Which is why it deserved to win the Oscar for Best Visual Effects.

Crew also reigns here. Producers Brocolli and Saltzman return once again, as well as Terence Young, director of the first two Bond films. This was his final James Bond film before he went on to direct Audrey Hepburn in her Oscar-nominated performance in the 1967 thriller Wait After Dark. It shows that you have a class filmmaker at the helm. John Barry gives us a beautiful and fast-paced score that mounts up the tension every time.

Overall, probably the most entertaining Bond ever.

7.73/10

Delton