Review of Thunderball (1965) - The Lavish Affair
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- Опубліковано 21 лис 2023
- Today, we tackle "the biggest Bond of them all". The one that had so much legal trouble preventing it from coming to the big screen, and will continue to cause legal trouble until fairly recently. Is it a film that was worth that frustration to bring to the big screen? The short answer is: no, but it's still pretty good.
Next in the series: Casino Royale (1967) - Розваги
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Great review, thank you! Now, in my opinion, "Thunderball"(1965) was the first BIG-BIG-BIG James Bond film! Great film! Although I really like the first 3 movies(1962,1963,1964), I think these movies were still a prelude to the greatness: THUNDERBALL!!! And you are so right: aspect ratio 2,35:1 is much better than 1,66 or 1,85 or whatever! ***** My Top-10 Bond movies are: 1965, 1967, 1969, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1995.
I am a simple man. I see SLJ Productions, I give it a thumbs-up.
Aw, thanks, man. You'll have two more videos by Friday.
My favorite climax battle with 2 opossibg comando scuba units battling over a nuclear package withe spearguns leading to domino getting the final blow on the hypersonic ship
I enjoy that battle people say it drags on but it is well shot I always laugh when the flipper floats out of the wreck after Bond blows up 3 frogmen.
You bring so much extra behind the scenes info to these reviews that other youtubers/reviewers fail to. You clearly do your research for every video, and it goes a long way. No one else is out there citing facts they got from two DVD commentary tracks. Great stuff, love the channel man.
The video left out the fact that the movie won an Oscar for best visual effects.
Great review of one of my favorite Bond films. The repetitious music in the climactic underwater batter is accompanied by the recurring use of the "scuba bubbles" sounds. The editing of those battle scenes seems to have run away from the control of director Terence Young in his efforts to "out do" Guy Hamilton. Thanks for the review.
For real man, that pool with the sharks that you couldn't get out of once covered - that became a childhood fear every time I'd get in a pool.
Big of all of the films and I’m loving these individual bond reviews. Can’t wait to see more of them!
Excellent review, enjoyed it a lot. As an aside, for me, "Thunderball" has my favorite Bond girl: Claudine Auger.
Ok this is going to seem really trivial, but my biggest issue with the underwater battle is the music John Barry uses. For the underwater battle, he uses the 007 theme like in the fight on the Disco Volante, except its played REALLY slow and it just sort of hobbles along. I feel like this choice makes the battle feel incredibly lathargic. If he had just used the song at the normal tempo, I think the footage we have right now would be plenty more exciting. Its interesting how even a choice in music can mean wonders for how a scene is interpreted
Thankyou for another comprehensive review - but am I blind or have you skipped Goldfinger? Thunderball is not amongst my favourite Bond films, sitting 5th amongst Connery's six EON films and 15th of 21 EON films that I care to rank. I do agree with you that the return of Terence Young was critical in the way Thunderball was made (ie, to be bigger and more bombastic than the hugely successful Goldfinger) and some Terence Young stylistic touches can be seen here there and everywhere. However it is the lesser of his three Directorial efforts in this series because it is overblown and slow. The source material is partly to blame for this, but plenty of screen adaptations of novels have managed to abridge the details without losing the story - and in this one, there is even the addition of Fiona Volpe who was not part of the source material. As interesting a character as Fiona is, it is the big role given to her character which adds a lot of run time to the film. Here's another thing: The name "James Bond" and his place in the scheme of things are already known to SPECTRE (in the film series) and so it would be expected that Largo would try to dispose of him very quickly lest the conspiracy be exposed. But he doesn't. And in the book, this was the first appearance of SPECTRE and Largo has no reason to suspect that Bond is a spy. So the characterisation and actions of Largo get mixed up between film continuity and book continuity (a similar problem exists in the film of On Her Majesty's Secret Service). Okay, I've yakked enough here. Looking forward to the next review.
You're not blind. I had a review of Goldfinger up for about a day a few weeks back, and then copyright bots struck. I've had to go through about 20 different edited versions to get one that finally lasted more than a day or two as an unlisted video. Check back in tomorrow; it'll be uploaded then (I wanted to give Thunderball a chance to shine).
New subscriber here. I've really been enjoying your videos.
While it does have it's flaws, I like Thunderball a lot. I can see why it was so successful. I agree with you that the film could have used a bit more editing. The big underwater fight at the end was very impressive, especially for the time, but it does run on too long. I think they were so in love with what the had shot for that sequence, and earlier scenes, that they over-indulged and just put too much in.
I appreciate the support.
Overindulgence is a good way to describe some aspects of this film. It's not as guilty of that sin as Casino Royale 1967, but you can tell Kevin had a weird fascination with underwater scenes. I agree they're quite mystical in a way, but that doesn't translate to gripping entertainment.
Sean Connery is the best Bond ever, he owned it then and owns it now.
For this films flaws I will still always love it for the Vulcan scenes. One of if not the most beautiful aircraft ever.
Also, one of my biggest issues with this film is how Kutzes switch to Bonds side is entirely glossed over, it should've been an important plot point.
Keep these video coming dude
Please read my thoughts why for me is the best classic Bond movie:
1) CONNERY'S PERFORMANCE:: In Dr No, Connery is still experimenting with the role and he is great but yet a bit stiff. In FRWL he explores more the "dark" side of the character. In Goldfinger he adds more charm and "witticism" and completes the formula. But in Thunderball he IS James Bond and the formula is perfected. Connery's performance on this is truly unique. He shows the greatest confidence ever. His style, his movements, the way he speaks, his one-liners, his demeanor and even the way he looks, everything that was built in the previous 3 films, reach perfection. He is "dark" and gritty and at the same time charming and stylish. He looks tough and ruthless which at the same time combines with a dark dry witt coated with venure sophistication and style. And he obviously enjoys playing the character more than ever, either before or after.
2) PLOT AND VILAIN: Τhis movie tends on focusing on Bond for the first time and not the vilain. It is a celebration of Bond himself as a character. The plot is smart and realistically believable. It has some great twists: It is not just the first reveal that SPECTRE wants to steal two atomic bombs. It is how they do it. The whole idea of seducing and killing a flying officer (Major Dervall) and replacing him with another pilot after a plastic surgery and how Bond finds out about it, is intriguing and it is revealed to us progressively and not from the start. As for the vilains: I always liked most the "invisible Blofeld" which we have only in FRWL and in this. As for Largo, he seems stylish, resourcefull and smart. He is dangerous and twisted. And most of all he is not relying on his henchmen to do the job (as Goldfinger for instance). He fights himself, he dives himself, he leads his men into battle. As for Fiona Volpe, what can i say! She is the icon of every "femme fatale" of the franchise.
3) THE SPY ELEMENTS: Bond is doing a great spy work and seems unstopable:
-He first gets in contact with the sister of Dervall. -Then through her he discovers Largo. -Then he is spying into his house. -Then he is diving under his boat to find out where the bombs are, he takes pictures, he fights, he gets attacked with grenades. -Then he tries to seduce Fiona and find out more. -He is captured and manages resoursefully to escape but gets wounded. -He gets surrounded but manages to escape again by killing her. -Then he disguise him self as an enemy diver and finds out where the bombs are hidden underwater. -He gets attacked again and escapes. -He notifies where the bombs are to the Parachute Special Forces. -He then enters into the underwater battle him self. -He heroically stops Largo to escape by fighting till the end inside the boat.
This is a far better spy work than in Goldfinger where in the second half of the movie he is a prisoner οf the vilain.
4) ACTION, UNDERWΑTER SCENES AND FINAL BATTLE: The action scenes are great. The first fight with Jack Bouvar in the beginning is gritty and violent. So is the final battle with Largo (even if the bad projector scene behind it is an unfortunate momentt). The gadjets are believable, smart (geiger counter, breathing machine, underwater camera) and not rediculous. Even the jet-pack which seems over the top, was a real thing and a revolutionary invention. The underwater shooting was a revolutionary achievement for the time and especially the final underwater battle was a unique sample of cinematography for 1965! The crisp underwater photography is excellently choreographing so many divers under the water at the same time in a full scale battle of epic proportions with some very gritty and violent moments. Such a complicated action scene has never been replicated in any other movie since.
5) THE "ESCAPISM" ELEMENT: It is also the ultimate "escapism" movie. Beautiful exotic places, wonderful scenery and landscapes, incomparable lifestyle, amazing women (Fiona Volpe is an amazing femme fatale and Domino one of the hottest Bondgirls). some of the greatest one-liners in the franchise, while it is even considered alongside with Goldfinger a "fashion icon" movie!
6) HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Thunderball is also historically extremely significant for the franchise that we love: It broke the smashing box office records. It is to this date the highest grossing Bond movie of all time (inflation counted). If Goldifinger created the "Bondmania", then Thunderball turned it into a high fever. The flms remarkable achievements transformed James Bond from a popular fictional hero, into a phenomenon in cinema history
7) FINAL THOUGHTS: If Goldfinger found the "classsic formula" of Bond movies, then Thunderball perfected it. It is the timeless epitome of the classic Bond movies, before Connery got tired of the role in You Only Live Twice and before the production turned the franchise to a more comical version of Bond, with Diamonds Are Forever and the Roger Moore era. Initially in Goldfinger but mainly in Thunderball, Connery' Bond reaches the fine line of perfection, as he becomes at the same time tough and refined, stylish and ruthless, a real killer with a sense of humor, who lives on the edge and therefore enjoys every minute of his life as if it were his last.
Thunderball will always have a special place in my heart as it was the first Connery Bond I watched on tv before collecting the films on dvd when I was 10. It was on tv on Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve and I immediately was captivated by Connery and the beautiful locations and girls of this film. Yes it has its flaws, but it does rank within my top 15
This and The Living Daylights sit outside my top 10.
@@stephenjarvis534 Thunderball I had as number 9 in my ranking but I think it’s slipped out of my top 10 The Living Daylights I had as number 18 believe it or not. It could tick up a couple places on my list. I don’t think it’s a bad film but like you I just happen to love a lot of Bond films and while I enjoy parts of The Living Daylights, there just happens to be other films I enjoy watching more.
Fans of Raquel Welch may find this bit of trivia interesting. She was in the process of being signed to play Domino when 20th Century Fox film executive Richard Zanuck, with the consent of Cubby, won her over to his Fantastic Voyage project instead.
Fiona Volpe is my single favorite Bond girl. Breathtakingly beautiful and pure evil
Darker side of Bond and you forget to mention Scaramanga! YOU FUCKED UP :) But I like your reviews off course ;) Keep up the good work!
Fair enough. My point was that the darker side of Bond character had been done better, and I probably could have listed a few more Scaramanga is in my top 3 favorite main villains, so I definitely agree with you there.
So you taught at university. That explains the intellectual rigor in your videos and their standards.
I liked the analysis because you identified the bugbear of the movie: its pacing and overindulgence. I think a lot of that Peter Jackson kind of padding was because Bond Fever was mad in 1964 and 65. Theaters were showing this movie around the clock and around the world. I spoke with folks who saw "Thunderball" on its opening release. (It was re-released several times after as a double feature with either "Goldfinger" or "You Only Live Twice" or by itself. Broccoli and Saltzman were printing money, and they figured they would adapt the S.P.E.C.T.R.E. books in order of publication. "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" was indeed slated next after "Thunderball". A warmer than normal winter prevented that from happening, but that's another story.
So my point is that just as "King Kong" was permitted a ridiculous runtime in 2005 on the heals of the Oscar win for "The Return of the King", so was "Thunderball" allowed more of a run time in response to the success of its predecessors. Obviously, it hurt the movie, but Broccoli and Saltzman were too busy gearing up to make the next film and couldn't care less. After all, it was a miracle "Thunderball" got made with McClory complicating the production. Bond was succeeding beyond anyone's expectations. Everything counts in large amounts.
A word about the Bahamas: it's beautiful, but nothing like the Bahamas of 1964. I grew up on Miami Beach and could ride my bike to the Fontainbleau Hotel from "Goldfinger". I admit it has probably been renovated in the last ten years, but in the 1970s, it was nothing like it was a mere decade before. (Yes, that pool with its glass walls in the deep end was real. So was Joe's Stone Crabs as mentioned in the book.) Grand Bahama Island has gorgeous beaches and is lovely to visit, but it's traded its shiny glamour for kitchy tourist value since the 70s. Just don't idealize these locations. I did to my bewilderment when I went there in 1990 and 2015.
I know you never clicked with Largo, but to me with his dubbed voice and eyepatch, he was a great introduction to Bond villains. (I watched this movie when I was 9 or 10 years old on a 9" black and white television that I managed to sneak into my room.) I had a crush on Luciana Paluzzi for years because of this movie. My first wife and several loves of my life were redheads, although only one had Italian heritage - that's how bad a crush it was.
And when the extended soundtrack came out some years ago, I listened to it anew with real joy. I loved this soundtrack, even when it recalled the scenes that plodded along.
I'm looking forward to your dissecting of "Goldfinger". I need to find you subscribers.
2005's King Kong is a really good comparison. I remember seeing that around the same time as I did the 1932 original. I liked it fine, but guess which one I have in my DVD collection?
I'm always really jealous when people share their amazing experiences with elements of Bond's world. I know that Thunderball presents a very glamorous view of a place that's been changed quite a bit, but then again, I found I had a similar experience with Cortina when I went there, and it was still a highlight of my trip.
I've danced back and forth with Largo. Robert Rietti's voice is always a delight (he would also voice several other characters in the series, including Strangways, Tanaka, and Blofeld in FYEO), I love how much Bond and he mirror each other, and he doesn't do anything particularly wrong with the part. I've just never found him particularly appetizing.
Can't argue about Luciana Paluzzi. She's a gem, and really easy on the eyes.
For me it’s a toss up between this and Goldfinger as my favourite Connery. Goldfinger benefits from a stronger style but it’s hard not to get swept up in the lavishness of Thunderball. Shame so many scenes feel as if they’re too long. Maddening sometimes, watching it and thinking “Cut here. Here!”
I happen to be doing a kind of Bond marathon at the moment, watching one more or less every week when I go to visit my father. Just got past Spy Who Loved Me. I’ll probably leave another comment when you get to it but I was surprised by how much I disliked You Only Live Twice, because I remember liking that one.
I've never been the biggest fan of Twice, though I do enjoy it fine. I'm looking forward to revisiting it soon.
Got to be honest, I really don’t like this film, have watched it 3 times in an attempt to have it grow on me but it just never has. The soundtrack is stellar thanks to Barry, the theme song is great and Connery is in his prime but otherwise it just bores me to tears. And this is coming from a massive bond fan who has seen all of the films multiple times. I almost feel guilty for not liking it since it’s such a classic favourite but it just doesn’t do it for me, such a step down from Goldfinger
Don't feel too bad. Some of these won't land with everyone, and that's fine.
I could swear blind that there exists a version of this film with "James Bond Will Return" in the end credits, although as I recall it incorrectly announced On Her Majesty's Secret Service as the next film in the series (much as you apparently found with a very early print of Goldfinger, although I've never seen that one). This was the version that used to play on ITV in the late nineties/early noughties when I started watching (and videoing) them religiously, so I've seen it multiple times. That wasn't the only difference, either: there were a few lines of dialogue that differed from the version now offered on DVD/Blu-ray, and possibly an alternate music cue over the final scene and credits. The version broadcast on British television (back then, at least) was always different from the one available on DVD, and some trawling around on UA-cam just now reveals comparisons of the different versions (alternate dialogue and final music cue), but I'm not finding any videos that reveal the missing credit... it's annoying, because it definitely exists! Or used to, anyway.
Incidentally, I'm glad that I caught this within a few hours of its being uploaded, because I didn't get to the one on Goldfinger before it was taken down again; hopefully, like James Bond, it will return...
Check back in tomorrow, and there’s a special one-off episode on Friday as a sort of apology for the inconvenience of the Goldfinger review being taken down. ;)
There are indeed prints of Thunderball out there that did have the "James Bond Will Return", and incorrectly stated it would be Majesty's.
While I love this film and it easily slots into my top ten Bond movies, the one part which drives me to distraction (and which I am surprised you didn't comment on), if this the horrendous quick cuts and over-cranking speed ups of the out-of-control hydrofoil during the final fight between Bond and Largo (and before the big bang when the boat collides with the rocks). It looks so farcical and amateurish and detracts rather than adds to the drama of the fight. My opinion, and others may differ.
You're absolutely right, but I didn't cover it because it's less than a minute and while it's very distracting, it's usually over before it starts to give me a headache. I did have to pause the film as the bit with the waiter just makes me laugh.
The only thing about Thunderball is that it gets boring when underwater - incl the fights.
Are you working on re uploading the Goldfinger review?
Check back tomorrow, with another special one-off episode on Friday. ;)
@@stephenjarvis534 👀
I like to underwater fighting hand a hand combated.
It's a shame they didn't use that outro music during the end and credit scene. I thought Moonraker was the most money milker.
"Adjusted for inflation". If you just go by straight contemporary box office numbers, Moonraker did over $200 million, and wasn't bested until Goldeneye.
While the legal back-and-forth is fascinating, the less said about the dumpster fire that is "Never Say Never Again" the better
I'm not a big fan of that film either, and yet I have received plenty of comments from defenders over one aspect of the film or another. My mantra is that no Bond film is without merit, even Never Say Never Again. However, it's the one Bond film I never look forward to rewatching.
On paper the plot of Thunderball should be a perfect Bond film, that went wrong during transfer to screen. I think the film overindulges Spectre's dastardly plan, so there is no tension left in Bond's attempts to thwart it. Maybe the heist should have been compressed into the pre credits sequence, with Bond and the audience left to work out the rest. Eon might have attempted something new - a procedural of an antagonist's evil scheme, tracked until eventually overthrown by Bond. The film has a startling harpoon death, a great climax and rousing score. The story is untidy, the acting almost uniformly dull. Connery acts as if he's bored and Celi and Paluzzi (the best things in the film), embarrassingly outperform him in every scene they share
Not sure if I agree with the acting note, but I do have to wonder about the idea to place the heist into the pre-credits sequence. Maybe it would have worked as a condensed version immediately after the titles, kind of like how Tomorrow Never Dies does the Devonshire sinking.
@@stephenjarvis534 Yes, like that in Tomorrow Never Dies, a very fine film on many levels
Bigger isn't necessarily better Most of the action.is underwater and could use serious editing
Nahhh Ladislav Kutze is not a real villian