Thunderball (1965) Review

 "I think he got the point."

-James Bond

A NATO jet bomber is hijacked by SPECTRE and they get their hands on two atomic bombs.  SPECTRE demands 100 million dollars or they will destroy a major city in Britain or the United States.  On a hunch, James Bond (Sean Connery) travels to the Bahamas to search for the bombs and finds himself locked in a battle with SPECTRE's second in command, Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi).

What Works:

The pre-credits action sequence is really fun.  We get Bond facing off against SPECTRE member, Colonel Bouvar (Bob Simmons), but Bouvar is disguised as a woman.  It's a solid and brutal fight, made all the better because Bouvar is wearing a dress and high heels the entire time.  Plus we get Bond's iconic jetpack and the return of the Aston Martin DB5.

My favorite part of the movie is the character of Fiona Volpe, played expertly by Luciana Paluzzi.  Volpe is a classic femme fatale and the movie sets her up to be a character that Bond is going to seduce and she will join his side.  Nope, that's not what happens at all.  I mean, the seduction part happens, but Volpe scoffs at the idea of switching sides.  She's unrepentantly evil and extremely ruthless.  She is hands-down, my favorite Bond girl.  She also gives Bond an excellent character moment in her death when he pushes her in front of a bullet meant for him.

The main villain, Largo, is also very solid.  Adolfo Celi is very menacing and he and Bond also have a good amount of screen-time together.  That's the best way to develop a villain in these movies.  Give them scenes together!  He's no Goldfinger, but he's solid and memorable in his own right.

Finally, the underwater action sequences are beautifully shot.  On a technical level, they are extremely impressive, especially for the time period.  They look crisp and you can tell what is happening all of the time, even if you can't always tell who is who because the characters are all wearing scuba gear.

What Sucks:

The problem with this movie boils down to pacing.  It's too slow most of the time, but at other times it's too quick.  Thunderball takes almost an hour to get really interesting.  There is a massive amount of setup for the plot of the film and it takes Bond forever to actually get to the Bahamas and get to work.

The underwater action sequences, though beautiful, drag on for far too long, especially in the final battle.  There is no dialogue, so the only communication is through hand gestures.  With nearly a quarter of the movie being underwater, it's easy to lose interest.  Even the big climatic battle, though exciting at first, drags on for too long.  You could have cut the sequence in half and it would have worked much better.  There's only so much you can do in an underwater knife fight to keep the interest of your audience.

Finally, the movie rushes through some parts as well.  It's mostly small stuff, like the introduction of Domino (Claudine Auger), but the big offender comes right at the end.  Domino is able to save Bond's life at the end because one of Largo's henchmen, Kutze (George Pravda), turns on him and frees her.  Together, the three of them escape Largo's boat before it explodes.  As soon as they jump overboard, Kutze disappears from the film.  He didn't drown because he jumped in with a life preserver, but only Bond and Domino are rescued.  He's just gone.  It's little things like this that make the final product feel rushed.

Verdict:

I enjoy Thunderball, even if it is the weakest of the first 4 Bond films.  The villains are great, Fiona Volpe is my favorite Bond girl of the series, the opening is awesome, and it's very well shot for its time.  However, the pacing really drags the movie down and the film feels rushed at times.  Still, this movie has got it going on.

 7/10: Good 

Ranking:

#1. From Russia with Love

#2. Goldfinger

#3. Dr. No

#4. Thunderball