Thunderball (Special Edition)
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Movie Reviews of Thunderball (Special Edition)
Movie Review: Connery at His Unadulterated Best on DVD
Summary: 5 Stars
Double entendres abound in this aquatic tale of intrigue, action and adventure 007 style. And make no mistake about it; Sean Connery makes this his picture. This may not have the narrative flow of a "Goldfinger" but Connery's confident and energetic performance and the villain's well-laid out caper makes this one of the most entertaining, realistic and tongue-in-cheek films in the series. This film was made at the pinnacle of the James Bond phenomenon and it shows. No cost was too great. This movie is big and it looks and feels big in every way. The underwater bellicose -ballet is one of the best pieces of action ever put on film thanks to Lamar Boren's colorful and beautiful photography and John Barry's original, innovative and intuitive scoring. The opening fight scene between Bond and Jacques Boitier in the chateau is one the best choreographed and edited of the series. What really makes this film is the dialogue. Connery's one-liners, his banter with Adolfo Celi as Emilio Largo and Luciana Paluzzi as Fiona Volpe and his delivery is brimming with aplomb, wit, humor and confidence all rolled into one. Claudine Auger, Molly Peters, Luciana Paluzzi and Martine Beswick are the ultimate `Bond Girls.' Production designer Ken Adam, Art design Peter Murton, Cinematographer Ted Moore, Special effects expert John Stears, Editor Peter Hunt, Composer John Barry, Screenwriter Richard Maibaum and Director Terence Young make this one of the best Bond films of the series. Bernard Lee as "M," Lois Maxwell as Moneypenny and Desmond Llewelyn as "Q" all give their best performances. One of the best looking Bond films! It sounds better than ever in Dolby Digital 5.1 sound!Movie Review: CLASSIC BOND! CLASSIC CONNERY!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
1965's "Thunderball" roared across the movie scene only a year after the 1964 hit "Goldfinger". Some fans tend to believe that this is one of the weaker Connery outings as James Bond. In a sense it is true, the film just couldn't get any bigger than the colossol "Goldfinger" so in a way it is met as a slight disappointment after the 1964 007 adventure. None the less Thunderball is one of the series most memorable with Tom Jones belting out the classic opening theme. The movie has classic Bond villians, neat gadgets and great settings. Emilio Largo, Fiona Volpe and Vargas are some of the best Bond villians ever!
The acting is very good in this film. Connery plays Bond wonderfully as usual. Adolfo Celi is notorious as the ruthless Emilio Largo. Philip Locke plays the strong silient type with the menacing Vargas. Lucianna Paluzzi plays the evil (but beautiful) Fiona Volpe. Claudine Auger plays a touching role as the innocent Domino Derval. Rik Van Nutter plays Felix Leiter and proves to be one of the best but stil Jack Lord is better. Martine Beswick plays the small role of Paula and Bernard Lee returns as M and Lois Maxwell as Moneypenny.
Thunderball's lot is pretty formulaic. SPECTRE highjacks some nuclear warheads and holds the world hostage for a hefty ransom. Bond is sent to the bahamas to investigate and find the missing nuclear warheads.
In conclusion Thunderball is an underrated 007 outing. The plot is fairly solid and the acting is very good. The villians are classic and the sets are wonderful. Bottom line: get this DVD! It is classic essential Bond! Highly recommended!
Movie Review: Look Up! Look Down! Look Out!
Summary: 5 Stars
Advertised as "The Biggest Bond of All" when released in time for Christmas 1965 (one year after "Goldfinger"), "Thunderball" lived up to its tagline by dominating the box-office throughout the holiday season and into the early months of 1966, quickly claiming a position on the list of the all-time top 10 box-office champs, an impressive feat indeed at a time when the chart was still overcrowded with "roadshow" attractions like "Gone With the Wind" and "The Ten Commandments" that had the benefit of several reissues. When inflation is taken into account, this fourth 007 adventure remains the most successful chapter in the series. It also remains one of the best.More than its three predecessors, "Thunderball" finds the 007 formula smoothly blended and firmly in place. Exotic locales, extravagent special-effects, and women, women, and more women, all beautiful and a few scantily dressed, combined with witty, mildly risque dialogue, opening credits designed by Maurice Binder that were worth the price of admission on their own, and a John Barry score that was exciting yet somehow haunting enough to make you think that this was all pretty serious stuff.
The title song, performed by Tom Jones, may sound like "Goldfinger" sung sideways, and the emphasis on underwater battles sometimes slow things down, but this is the definitive James Bond film with Sean Connery's best performance in the series. (In comparison, the 1983 remake, "Never Say Never Again," made outside the official series, is a B movie.)
Movie Review: DVD Special Editions Worth the Price
Summary: 5 Stars
In truth, "Thunderball" never impressed me as much as the Bonds that preceded it, but this DVD release has certainly increased my respect for it. In fact, if I had to rate this film before the DVD release, I would have probably only given the film 3 stars. But it deserves 5 in this format, because the wealth of extra goodies really manage to put you back in the sixties so that you can appreciate the film for what it was at the time. I never knew, for example, that it had the biggest gross of any of the Bonds, and, if measured in 1997 dollars, made more money (and certainly a bigger profit) than "Titanic"--and that was when movies were under a buck a head. Also, this DVD goes a long way to explaining the legal "battle over Bond" between Kevin McClory and Cubby Broccoli which even today threatens to allow McClory to make a second, rival series to MGM's.
But perhaps most impressive is the participation of the Ian Fleming Society in preparing the two alternative sound tracks, which allow many, many members of the cast and crew to explain their involvement with the picture. All the while, the president of the Ian Fleming Society provides background information which neatly ties together the narrative given by the film participants. It's a truly novel approach to secondary audio tracks I've not seen elsewhere in DVD-land.
For anyone weighing the choice between getting this on VHS or DVD, or between getting the regular DVD or special edition, there really is no choice. Buy "Thunderball: Special Edition DVD".
Movie Review: The Sexiest women, the Sexiest Bond film
Summary: 5 Stars
Thunderball is in the water, which is a metaphor about sex, and this is the sexiest of the Bond films. Its a film about becoming one with the elements and a woman, more than an action picture, per say...the film makers want you to FEEL like you are in the Bahamas going underwater, attending the Mardi Gras and making love to the series two hottest women, which it succeeds in doing. If you really were participating in an actual James Bond-type adventure there would be long hours of detective work, swimming around, driving/flying around that movies generally can't spend time depicting in real time. So in a way its an audience mood film, great for a date.There are 3 action sequences worthy of special note; the jet pack escape, the ParaScuba infantry assault into the water and the Fulton STAR "SkyHook" recovery when Bond/Domino are "snatched" by a rescue B-17 bomber..these are real things and not make-believe devices like employed in the later remake; "Never Say Never Again". Read Ian Fleming's Thunderball and compare which picture captures his essence better.
At the film's end you realize that this is an end of an era, a mood that will never be likely to be seen again, and the later on Connery Bond films don't seem to quite capture the care-free, watery magic the Claudine Auger/Bond chemistry creates, though "You only Live twice" does create a nice Eastern reflective mood to events. Thunderball captures the mood, look/feel of the watery 007 play/battleground Fleming intended.