Great post, chrisno1. {[] Can't say I really disagree with any of it. For me, TB is the most glamourous and "macho" of all Bond films. Oh, to have been old enough in 1965 to have been part of the event that TB was.
Bond seems more self-assured in this film than any I think of. This is both good (just so much fun to see him dominating everyone with ease) and bad (Connery was beginning to coast, a situation which would reach its unfortunate climax in YOLT).
Cannot agree more on the sloppiness of the editing. Jump cuts are one thing, blatant and repetitive continuity gaffes are another. I can accept continuity errors in any film -- hey, they happen -- but TB is rife with super-obvious ones. It's the only Bond film in which my enjoyment is actually diminished by its technical production mistakes.
Having been alive when Thunderball was released, I can attest to the anticpation for the movie. After the success of Goldfinger, TB was eagerly awaited. It was a lot different then. There ws marketingbut not to the point of saturation as there is today. Very few product tie-ins, and we did not have access to information as easily we do today. There was much more of a mystique to movie making, and not just to Bond movies. We all know too much ahead of time these days.
In those days, the Bond movies were unique unto themselves. There were no movies that approached them for their freshness and big screen presence. Other movies tried to copy Bond. Today, there are so many action movies released that Bond has to fight harder for market share and viewer percetion. This is espcially true for people who have not seen the movies on the big screen. A 40 year movie that you can watch on your TV does not always favorably compare to the modern action movies on the big screen. (They do to me.)
The entire home video market also influences people's enjoyments. The mention of technical gaffs, etc. illustrates that very well. When we saw TB on the big screen, a lot of the flubs are missed because you are so engrossed in the movie.(Of course the speeded up Disco Volante climax doesnt get by anyone.) When you can watch the movie on a TV, especially your own tape or DVD, you have time to examine it more closely and you catch the mistakes. I had seen TB dozens of times before I caught the dog lifting his leg during the Junkanoo. There is still something about seeing a movie as it was intended on the large screen. And I can admit there are a lot of mistakes in TB, but they never spoiled my enjoyment of the movie.
Napoleon, Sir Hilary, RJJB thnx for the feedback...interesting to hear much the same approval about the film from someone who watched it way back in 65/66. I have seen classics like "Gone With the Wind" and "Spartacus" on the big screen and thought they were fantastic, but on TV they now seem very poor. This isnt just a 007 problem. Maybe we should all have cinema screens at home!
Just to add, last night I watched TB again on DVD. I havent seen it for a number of years and I was suprised yet again by how fresh and exciting it is. I had forgotten that:
1. Connery is blistering in this. Witness the PTS fight scene where he prowls his quarry like a big cat. Through the whole film Connery's manner and demeanour is quintessential 007. I am not sure anyone has ever done it better (though he was bloody good in GF)
2. Claudine Auger is just beautiful, absolutely stunning. The '60s Bond girls have such an edge over the other eras because they were classy, feminine and (sometimes) dangerous. Damsels in distress maybe, but so much more mature. Domino doesn't flinch once at any of her peril; Stacy Sutton is a child in comparison.
3. The dialouge is excellent; the humour is our first real foretaste of Roger Moore's era, while the more serious lines are given gravitas by some solemn direction from Terence Young (who lets face it was always better at speeches than action)
4. And what action! The PTS fight, the Disco fight, hand grenades underwater, sharks, chases through carnivals, hijacking Vulcan jets... goodness me it never stopped.
5. Some Bond films seem to go on too long for me, they explain too much partly because they have indecipherable plots, partly because the writers want to show off. But TB is spot on, marrying its action with its story telling, to almost perfection. I only say "almost" because I still cannot fathom the excessive length of the underwater battle. Bond has been in the water 5 times at this point and it has become a tad repetitive.
6. Hell, lets get it over with...I just really enjoyed it!!!
It's still in my Top 10. It will take some good going for another film to dislodge it.
Comments
Bond seems more self-assured in this film than any I think of. This is both good (just so much fun to see him dominating everyone with ease) and bad (Connery was beginning to coast, a situation which would reach its unfortunate climax in YOLT).
Cannot agree more on the sloppiness of the editing. Jump cuts are one thing, blatant and repetitive continuity gaffes are another. I can accept continuity errors in any film -- hey, they happen -- but TB is rife with super-obvious ones. It's the only Bond film in which my enjoyment is actually diminished by its technical production mistakes.
In those days, the Bond movies were unique unto themselves. There were no movies that approached them for their freshness and big screen presence. Other movies tried to copy Bond. Today, there are so many action movies released that Bond has to fight harder for market share and viewer percetion. This is espcially true for people who have not seen the movies on the big screen. A 40 year movie that you can watch on your TV does not always favorably compare to the modern action movies on the big screen. (They do to me.)
The entire home video market also influences people's enjoyments. The mention of technical gaffs, etc. illustrates that very well. When we saw TB on the big screen, a lot of the flubs are missed because you are so engrossed in the movie.(Of course the speeded up Disco Volante climax doesnt get by anyone.) When you can watch the movie on a TV, especially your own tape or DVD, you have time to examine it more closely and you catch the mistakes. I had seen TB dozens of times before I caught the dog lifting his leg during the Junkanoo. There is still something about seeing a movie as it was intended on the large screen. And I can admit there are a lot of mistakes in TB, but they never spoiled my enjoyment of the movie.
1. Connery is blistering in this. Witness the PTS fight scene where he prowls his quarry like a big cat. Through the whole film Connery's manner and demeanour is quintessential 007. I am not sure anyone has ever done it better (though he was bloody good in GF)
2. Claudine Auger is just beautiful, absolutely stunning. The '60s Bond girls have such an edge over the other eras because they were classy, feminine and (sometimes) dangerous. Damsels in distress maybe, but so much more mature. Domino doesn't flinch once at any of her peril; Stacy Sutton is a child in comparison.
3. The dialouge is excellent; the humour is our first real foretaste of Roger Moore's era, while the more serious lines are given gravitas by some solemn direction from Terence Young (who lets face it was always better at speeches than action)
4. And what action! The PTS fight, the Disco fight, hand grenades underwater, sharks, chases through carnivals, hijacking Vulcan jets... goodness me it never stopped.
5. Some Bond films seem to go on too long for me, they explain too much partly because they have indecipherable plots, partly because the writers want to show off. But TB is spot on, marrying its action with its story telling, to almost perfection. I only say "almost" because I still cannot fathom the excessive length of the underwater battle. Bond has been in the water 5 times at this point and it has become a tad repetitive.
6. Hell, lets get it over with...I just really enjoyed it!!!
It's still in my Top 10. It will take some good going for another film to dislodge it.