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Thunderball |
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Director TERENCE YOUNG Presenter ALBERT R BROCCOLI & HARRY SALTZMAN
Producer KEVIN McCLORY Screenplay RICHARD MAIBAUM & JOHN HOPKINS
Based on anoriginal story by KEVIN McCLORY, JACK WHITTINGHAM & IAN FLEMING
Director of Photography TED MOORE Editor PETER HUNT Production designer KEN ADAM
Music JOHN BARRY
Starring SEAN CONNERY James Bond ADOLPHO CELI Emilio Largo
CLAUDINE AUGER Domino Vitali LUCIANA PALUZZI Fiona Volpe
RIK VAN NUTTER Felix Leiter
With DESMOND LLEWWLYN As Q BERNARD LEE As M & LOIS MAXWELL As Miss Moneypenny
Release Date: UK & USA 29 December 1965
Running time: 130 Minutes |
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Orginally intended to be the first bond film, Thunderball became the center of legal battles in the early 60s and still is in the midst of copyright battles today. Kevin McClory and Jack Whittingham sued Ian Fleming soon after Flemings 1961 novel was released. McClory and Whittingham claimed Fleming had based his novel on a failed screenplay the three wrote and planned on filming. Eventual the lawsuit was settled and McClory retianed certian rights to the novel. Soon after, Fleming suffered from a massive heart attack which many claim was caused by the ordeal. Around the same time Saltzman and Broccoli began work on bringing bond to the big screen. They wanted Thunderball to be the first of the series, but chose to go with Dr No instead, due to the legal troubles at the time. By 1964 bond was hot property as "Bondmania" was reaching its peak, Broccoli and Saltzman heard McClory was planning filming Thunderball. Not wanting serious competition with their "official" EON series, Broccoli and Saltzman asked McClory if he would like to produce Thunderball as part of their bond series. McClory accepted under the conditions that it be shot after Goldfinger and he be the sole producer. Therefore, the EON duo were credited as "Presenter's" of the film. |
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Thunderball was released in the UK & US on December 29th, 1965 and grossed over $141 Million dollars. Theaters had to be open for 24 hours straight to accomodate the crowds. The film recieved rave reviews and was nominated ( and won) for an Academy Award (Visual Effects).
Although by far the most spectacular bond film yet, it seems to have lost the edge that the earlier films such as From Russia With Love and Dr No had; instead continuing with the shear spectacle direction Goldfinger took the series. Bond relies more and more on his gadgets to get him out of trouble. Another issue is the amount of scenes which take place underwater. While they are exciting in smaller doses, there are too many of them and they last for too long. With so much of the film taking place underwater, the actors have little time to...act. Which is a shame because the cast and writing are superb. |
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Which brings us to the positive. Sean Connery, though begining to show how tired with the series he is, is still terrific in the film and delivers his lines as if he were Bond himself. Another great performance is Luciana Paluzzi as the dangerous Fiona Volpe. She is by far the best of the female villians in the series yet and to this day is rivalled only by Famke Janssen's performance in Goldeneye (1995). Its a pleasure whenever she appears on screen. The other female lead, Claudine Auger is considered one of the most beautiful bond girls ever in the series and its hard to ague with that. Her acting may not be at the level of Luciana's but she does well and makes her character, Domino, one of the most loved of all bond girls (despite being dubbed through the whole film). Domino is one of the more tragic characters throughout all 19 films and Claudine does a great job of making the audience feel for her character. Domino serves as a Mistress to the villian: Emilio largo. Adolpho Celi (also dubbed) is good in the role and shows moments of great menace, but doesnt capture the screen the same way as Gert Frobe (Dubbed yet agian) as Goldfinger in the previous film. Nonetheless, he gives a good performance and Largo eventually joined the ranks with DrNo, Blofeld, Scaramanga, Red Grant, and Goldfinger as one of the more loved (and Loathed) villians in the series. Rik Van Nutter portrays Bonds CIA friend, Felix leiter. Van Nutter is the third actor to portray the character in as many films, following Jack Lord and Cec Linder. Although not matching Lord's performance, his depiction of Leiter is far more realistic than Linder's and you can see him being a close friend of Bonds instead of an "uncool", bumbling old spy. unfortunetly, Van nutter did not return to the role and the producers continued the path that Linder had begun taking the character in Goldfinger, by portraying Leiter more and more as the "uncool" style and less and less as the American version of 007. Bernard Lee, Lois maxwell and Desmond Llewelynn (whos performance in this film is one of his best in the series) all return as the staff of MI6. |
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Richard Maibaum and John Hopkin's script is top notch and even improves on many aspects of Flemings novel (such as the relationship between Domino and her brother). Its too bad so much of the film took place underwater, becuase Id like to hear more of this films dialaoge, which happens to be some of the best in all 19 films. The exchange between Bond and Volpe after bond finds her in his hotel room is terrific as is the scene with Bond and Domino on the beach.
This would be Terence Young's final bond film, (his other two: From Russia With Love & Dr No) and he is still regarded as one of the best directors ever to wotk on a bond film. The film version of Bond is as much a part of his contribution as Broccoli's, Saltzman's and Maibuam's. The character that we see on the films is not the same as the one we read in Flemings novels and its Young's style and idea's that make this so. |
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For an In Depth Look at the story behind bringing Thunderball to the screen, click here |
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Rating
Teaser Sequence: Although exciting, doesnt match the wit of Goldfinger's
6/10
Credits: One of the best in the series, also one of the most spoofed
8/10
Theme Song: Tom Jones does a great job and makes "Thunderball" one of the best theme songs in a bond film
8/10
Music: John Barry out does himself once agian. His best score yet in a Bond film. His use of the 007 theme is terrific
8/10
Plot: The threat of a nuclear attack is frightening enough and the added scenery of nassau is enough to make it arguaebly better than Goldfingers and among one of the top 5.
8.5/10
Location: The aformentioned Nassua is simply gorgeous and is shot in a way that makes it the most exotic in the entire series
10/10
Bond Girls: Domino and Volpe simply smolder on screen
10/10
Villain: largo is among the best in the whole series
8/10
Gadgets: The rebreather and subs are terrific and most of the gadgets seem realistic enough to make them believable...Plus the Aston martin DB5 is back
10/10
Overall: Though not the best, it is a terrific bond film as is still thrilling today over 35 years after it was released
8 /10 |
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Foreign Names
Germany : Fireball
France, Italy, Spain, Belgium : Operation Thunder
Japan : Thunderball Fighting
Denmark : Agent 007 Into The Fire |
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The James Bond Films |
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