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Thunderball (1965) Bond: Sean Connery The Evil Mastermind: Thunderball!..no wait, I got that wrong, it's Largo. The Henchperson: I'm going with Luciana Paluzzi as Fiona Volpe The Bond Girl: Claudine Auger as Domino Director: Terence Young Scripting: Richard Maibaum et. al. IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059800/ Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XNkTXKB18A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XNkTXKB18A Double-entendre that sums up this movie: "Is there any other reason, besides your enthusiasm for water sports? " - M to Bond After great mountains of legal issues, the first scripted James Bond movie "Thunderball" could finally be brought to the big screen. The success of Goldfinger enboldened the producers to spare no cost in the development of this movie, the lion's share of the cost going into an underwater battle that occurs near the very end of the movie. It seems that this one battle was the literal money shot, because the rest of the movie is just mulling about waiting to get to that scene.  James Bond versus Darkman There is a plot, but it is the most generic of fluff. The villain has stolen a nuclear weapon, he plans to use it on a major city unless he gets a lot of money, etc. I would be charitable and say that this movie is probably one of the first to use this tired plotline, but the story is so linear in nature that it really doesn't command your attention at all. For the most part, the plot is meandering, and aimless at times, such as the section involving Paula that goes nowhere, and the movie drags on at the speed of a Lorris on prozac at times. There is a scene half way through the movie where they cover a jet with a tarp that literally takes 2 minutes of screen time. No, I didn't say 2 minutes because there is a battle that takes place, or because the covering of the plane has deep symbolic meaning later in the film, they are just loving covering up a plane! They open the hatch, and load the tarp, and spread it out....well, you get the point. It goes on and on, and when they are done, it's time for a leisurely swim back to the loving boat! It's as if the producers had invented a new genre of film called Scuba Porn &trade. I clearly understand that the underwater equipment must have been very expensive, and I can imagine the producers saying "We want this in as many scenes as possible", but every once and a while, they should put Bond on the screen. He seems to have less screen time than in any previous movie. And when he is onscreen, what is he doing? Flying over the ocean looking for a plane that was previously covered with that loving tarp! But he cannot find it, so later in the movie, he goes out and looks for it again...You almost wish for Pierce Brosnan to show up, and just start blowing poo poo up.  Dear? There's a movie projection screen here to see you. Don't get me wrong, I think Young is a fantastic director, but it's clear that the script was designed for a story that lasted about 60 min. in length, and there is a great deal of padding going on here to keep the movie afloat. There is also another major difference - Peter Hunt who was the editor for the first three movies is noticebly absent, and it definitely shows. A fantastic editor can take a good director and make their movies great. Peter Hunt does come back for the next movie, and whatever may be said about it, it doesn't get as bogged down as this one does. This movie also contains the creepiest moment in Bond's filmatic history - the blackmail scene! When Bond doesn't get his way with the girl at the health clinic, he threatens to tell her boss that she was responsible for something that happened to him unless she has sex with him. I guess that just the way that men picked up chicks in the day.  The myth that no one will notice is not to be believed. If you haven't figured it out, I'm not really keen on this movie. It's long and tedious, and the payoff at the end is a fight underwater that is murky and hard to follow. They say in space no one can hear you scream, and in the depths of the ocean, they can't hear you scream at the banality of this movie either. They can sort of hear a soft gurgly sound that expresses your despair, however. The Good: Well, Connery is making the best of what we've got here. The Bad: Story that is too linear with very poor pacing. The Ugly: Must be the dog taking a piss at 87:21 in the movie. He wasn't a thunderball fan, either. FINAL SCORE As a Bond Flick:   As a movie in general:
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Nov 12, 2009 14:40
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| # ? Apr 23, 2024 15:15 |
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the train scene where he murks dude was bad rear end but roger moore sucks he didnt fight almost at all pierce brosnan was almost good but he didnt have enough good fights to be a believeable badass and was just a prettyboy so connery and the newest one are the best james bones because they will loving kil you in an awesome manner and not bat an eyelash mofo. please debate me because my memory of every single bond movie is waning and i dont want to spread misinformation.
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Nov 21, 2009 15:02
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