When I was a teenager, I have a very clear memory of rushing into my dad's office and I telling him I had just seen Goldfinger and that it was amazing. His response has always stuck in my head. "Just wait until you see Thunderball."
I will never know why I didn't just rush out and see Thunderball immediately. That's just common sense. The clips I had seen didn't seem particularly exciting, I suppose, but you would still think I would trust my dad and watch the movie. Years later, I finally did.
And, boy, was he right! Thunderball is pretty spectacular and easily one of the best films of the franchise. After sitting Goldfinger out, Terence Young (who directed the first two Bond films) returned to the director's chair. And I have a feeling that he looked at Goldfinger, realized that Guy Hamilton had just upped the ante, and responded by saying, "oh, yeah?! You think you're better than me? Get ready for a surprise!" Because Thunderball pushes things up to even bigger level - featuring a more interesting story with a true global nuclear threat, armies of scuba divers in a massive underwater battle, and two of the best Bond girls of the series.
An American jet and its nuclear warheads have gone missing. The culprit? SPECTRE, making a return appearance in a big way after taking Goldfinger off to lick their wounds. If the world doesn't pay $100 million, then SPECTRE will use the nuclear weapons to attack a major city. Bond only has a few days before SPECTRE makes good on their threat and heads to the Bahamas to track the warheads down. It's a simple enough plot, but the plots rarely matter in the Bond films. This movie is the franchise firing on all cylinders, from the action to the scripting to the acting.
The villain this time is Largo, SPECTRE's second-in-command. As played by Adolfo Celi, he is menacing enough and certainly efficient in carrying out his master plan. But he is overshadowed by his right hand, one of SPECTRE's best assassin, Fiona Volpe (played by Luciana Paluzzo). Paluzzo is superb, bringing the right balance of sexy and menace to the role. You know that Bond will eventually beat Largo, but you are not too sure about Volpe. Like Red Grant in From Russia With Love, you get the sense that she is not only equal to Bond, but possibly even better. I'm also a fan of the other Bond girl, Largo's trophy girlfriend, Domino. Though played by a former Miss France (Claudine Auger), Domino is more than just a pretty face, and unlike a lot of Bond girls, is essential to the plot.
I have some friends who are not a fan of Thunderball. They think it is slow and not particularly interesting. But I disagree. I think it perfectly blends the more methodical spy work of the first two films with the over-the-top entertainment of Goldfinger. The story is interesting, the stakes seem real, and Connery is at the top of his game. All in all, I think it is a great film.
Sure, if you want me to nitpick, I can. I can always find something I don't like about a movie. I've never been a fan of the jet pack gadget in the opening scene, and view it as a sign of bad things to come (invisible cars, anybody?). I don't care if someone really built a jet pack and used it in the movie. It's silly. The underwater battle, though exciting, probably goes on for 5-minutes too long and gets a bit repetitive, and bad rear projection and over-editing almost ruin the final fight on Largo's boat.
But I say "almost" because it's still fun for me and contains two of my favorite individual moments of the film. SPOILER ALERT. I love the second Bond bursts into the ship's bridge to kick butt, a badass moment perfectly punctuated by John Barry's score, and I love that Domino is the one who actually kills Largo. It's fitting, and from a filmmaking perspective, a beautifully framed shot. Okay, Spoilers over.
In the end, not everyone loves Thunderball. But I do. It takes what works best about all the previous films and then pushes the series into even greater heights. It has to be seriously considered on the conversation as the best film in the franchise.
RANKINGS:
For taking everything Dr. No, From Russia With Love, and Goldfinger did right, while not taking on their weaknesses, Thunderball leaps to the top of the rankings. Here is how the rankings are playing out so far:
1. Thunderball
2. From Russia With Love
3. Goldfinger
4. Dr. No
BEST LINE:
James Bond, after spearing Vargas to death: "I think he got the point."
MVP:
As good as Sean Connery is, I have to go with Luciana Paluzzo. She might be my favorite evil Bond girl actually. She is glamourous, edgy, dangerous and ruthless. But she also represents an important turning point in the franchise. Dr. No, while not physically impressive, was menacing enough that you worried for Bond's well-being. Red Grant and Oddjob both represented dangerous adversaries that we weren't sure Bond could defeat. Fiona Volpe belongs in the same camp as these icons, but she also represents the end of an era. Her stalking of Bond in the middle of the film marks the last time I felt that the super spy was in any sort of real danger for over four decades. The series has had its share of great villains with great dastardly schemes, but I never felt Bond was in any danger. Not even close. Not until Daniel Craig's Bond was tied naked to the chair and brutally tortured in Casino Royale in 2006 did I feel that Bond was vulnerable again. I am giving Paluzzo the MVP not only for her great performance, but also because this is the last appearance of a truly threatening presence, the likes of which we wouldn't see again for literally 41 years. That's pretty crazy.
TRIVIA:
Thunderball has a bit of controversial history. Originally, the story was conceived in 1959 as a screenplay called James Bond: Secret Agent, co-written by Ian Fleming, Kevin McClory, and Jack Whittingham. For whatever reason, that film did not get made and Fleming cannibalized the plot for his novel Thunderball. When Saltzman, Broccoli and Eon Productions obtained the film rights to the series, McClory immediately sued. After years of acrimony, the feuding producers decided to team up and produce this film together. The result was the most successful movie in franchise history. But then the partnership dissolved. While Eon Productions continued with the main franchise, McClory retained the rights to Thunderball and tried to remake the film repeatedly over the decades. He was constantly stymied by Eon's lawyers and his attempts kept coming to nothing. He did succeed once, in 1981, when he lured Sean Connery back to the role and produced Never Say Never Again.
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