Thunderball: Am I the only one?
Odowan
Posts: 20MI6 Agent
Everywhere I look I see Thunderball being reffered to as one of the best Bond films. It makes me wonder: Am I the only person that dislikes it? I find it agonizingly slow paced. They seemed more interested in showing of thier underwater photography than moving the plot along. Also, the final battle along the Disco Volante is almost humorous. The speed at which it is happening and the way it is edited makes it look ridiculous.
Those factors add up to make it one of the lesser of the Bonds for me. I really can't bring myself to sit through it for fear of being completely bored.
Those factors add up to make it one of the lesser of the Bonds for me. I really can't bring myself to sit through it for fear of being completely bored.
Comments
I, on the other hand, love it to death for reasons I've elaborated a few times lately. Today is a new day, however, so here are a few of those reasons, in brief:
1) Sean Connery in his prime under Terence Young (this alone is enough to keep it in my top 10)
2) Perhaps the best ensemble collection of beautiful women in any Bond movie, the cherry on the sundae of which is the striking Claudine Auger as Domino, in my opinion the most beautiful Bond girl of them all
3) Fiona Valope-- easily the most effective villainess in the whole series. The whole scene starting with her in the bathtub and on to the Junkanoo (sp?) and ultimately her demise is one of the best scenes in the whole series
4) A semi-realistic and very suspenseful plot
5) Spectre in full effect
6) A great PTS
7) The whole scene at Shrublands is quite cool
8) As is the casino scene where Bond taunts Largo about the "Spectre" at his shoulder
9) Bond's meeting with Largo at Pal Myra is a scene I've always enjoyed ("It looks terribly difficult...no it isn't is it?")
10) A terrific John Barry score
Et cetera.
I admit that the underwater sequences bog it down in parts, and that the sped up fight scenes don't look all that great (the film is 40 years old, let's not forget) but all of those factors are easily overlooked in favor of the awesomeness that is TB (by me, anyway).
Well put, Lazenby. I couldn't have said it better myself. Except I consider Fiona prettier than Domino but they're both gorgeous.
My my do I hate TB. I wish people appreciated NSNA for the wonderful improvement that it was upon that travesty. Ick!
*Ahem* I take it you mean Count Lippe. In any case, he was hardly dispensable, being one of the chief architect's of Spectre's scheme and all...
That being said I'll take a sleepwalking "pig" (I wholeheartedly dispute that he was sleepwalking here-- in YOLT certainly, but not here) over a geriatric oafish playboy (Moore) any day!
I used to have this debate with myself all the time-- I have come to think that they're all equally good in their own way (in particular the contrast between Connery under Hamilton and Connery under Young), with my mood at whatever time being the main deciding factor. Though it is tempting to give TB the crown...
I like the sped up fight scenes! I thought the speed of the end of the movie added a lot of intensity to it.
Touche.
Are you sure you're a guy? No guy I know would call Bond a pig for his was at Shrublands. Sounds like something a woman would say. I don't know much about pigs, but I know a little about women.
As to the PTS sequence being pointless: During the sequence, Bond received his wounds that necessitated his therapy at Shrublands. So the PTS was hardly pointless.
I do give you points for a dramatic flair, though JFF. Saying that you loathe and despise a movie certainly ranks with Claudine Auger's acting talents that you dislike. And if watching the movie causes you such "misery and torment", why watch it?
And I can think of no better review of a Bond movie that your one word "Ick"
The whole "pig" comment is that Patricia Fearing saved the guys life and then he's like "Well thanks for saving my life, now have sex with me or I'll report you." Ouch. I love how this was fixed more in NSNA as well.
And I haven't watched Thunderball in two years now though I did by the DVD as it was packaged w/ TSWLM and AVTAK.
Why don't we agree to disagree? I don't want to have a feud start up on AJB and ruin the fun that everyone has here. That would make me rather sad.
Exactly. Thunderball is among my top five favourite Bond movies for those reasons, but I will also concede that the pace of the film is a little slow in parts, especially the Vulcan flight, underwater landing and concealment.
What sharp little eyes you've got.
Count me in the "love TB" camp, too. Lazenby's reasons are good enough for me, too.
The underwater scenes, especially the hijacking of the Vulcan are really exceptional. The "choreography" of the SPECTRE team as they secure and camouflage the plane is excellent. You get a real sense of being right there in the action. The is true of the underwater battle. Home theater can be excellent, but it will still not match a 100% true movie theater experience.
Thunderball does have some memorable characters including Emilio Largo, the beautiful Domino, and the sexy villainess Fiona Volpe. TB also has some memorable moments including the PTS, the title sequence and title song, the meeting of the 00 agents, Bond's night-time visit of Largo's residence, and Bond's dance of death with Fiona Volpe.
Overall, the parts don't equal the whole.
It is a very good looking film, Alex. I do not dislike underwater sequences per se, it's just they occupy too much of TB. And even though it's not one of my favourite's I will certainly be revisiting it (hopefully) many times before I am through. As for John Barry, the man's a musical genius.
You didn't come across to me as rather defensive and possessive. You are perfectly entitled to adulate TB. No apologies were necessary, Alex
OK, so TB is not one of my favourite Bond films, but it's not one of my least favourite's either. And those highlights I mentioned in my original post I thoroughly enjoy.
And we will always have FYEO.
Well stated Alex. From one fan who ranks TB at #1 to another, were did you rank CR(2006, of course). I don't see it on your list.
Probably would rank CR somewhere after the golden age. Hate to sound petty, but I didn't care for Dench's, "Everthing will be okay now that auntie is here" vibes. But that's a minor quibble. I just feel the information given to Bond could've been accomplished by personel other then the head of the department. But it's an excellent movie and Craig is commendable. (love the title sequence)
And Claudine Auger in that brown and white bikini is enough to make a dog break his lead. :x
BUT...
It's all so lethargic. This is one of the few Bond films where, from the very start, there is a deadline. Blofeld says a time and place where his demands must be met. One would expect that to give the film a certain urgency. It doesn't. The deadline is barely mentioned again.
Instead we are treated to what seem like hours of people in flippers hanging around under rocks. It just goes on forever. Perhaps, in 1965, the sight of a man in a wetsuit was genuinely innovative and exciting. From my perspective in 2007 (or even in 1989, when I saw it for the first time), it's just tedious. You reach a point where your heart sinks because you realise, yes, someone's going to pull on a diving mask for the next five minutes. Thunderball remains the only Bond film which I have fast forwarded on video. (Bond being trapped in the underwater cave - ok, in fairness, it was one of those odd versions of the film that had no music over the sequence, but really, it just went on forever). I do feel a bit guilty about it, I admit, but I was young. Life was passing me by.
After the wonderful, energetic Goldfinger, and before the truly, collosally over the top You Only Live Twice, Thunderball just feels... blah. It just trots along.
TB commits the worst crime of a Bond film; it bores me. If I wanted to be bored by films I'd go see something with subtitles and at least feel intellectually superior.
@merseytart
Funny how the mind works. The only consistent labor of love was 1960s Bondmania. {[]