Thunderball is the fourth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions, starring Sean Connery. It is an adaptation of the 1961 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. It was the third and final Bond film to be directed by Terence Young, with its screenplay by Richard Maibaum and John Hopkins. The film follows Bond’s mission to find two NATO atomic bombs stolen by SPECTRE, which holds the world ransom to the tune of £100 million in diamonds or they will use the bombs to destroy an unspecified city. The search leads Bond to the Bahamas, where he encounters Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi) , the card-playing, eyepatch-wearing SPECTRE Number Two. There Bond meets with his friend, CIA agent Felix Leiter (Rik Van Nutter) and fellow agent Paula Caplan (horror movie queen Martine Beswick) Investigating Largo’s ship, the Disco Volante, he notices an underwater hatch. He visits Largo at his estate during the night, only to find that Paula has been abducted, and has committed suicide rather than talk. Largo henchmen/henchwoman Fiona Volpe (Luciana Paluzzi) catches up with Bond, but is killed. Backed by CIA agent Felix Leiter and Largo’s mistress, Domino Derval (Claudine Auger) Bond’s search culminates in an underwater battle with Largo’s henchmen. A long, long underwater battle. You have never seen so many divers get spear gunned. In general, a lot of this movie is by or in water. About a quarter of the film comprises underwater scenes. Connery spends most of the film in a swimsuit, with shoes that appear & disappear, seemingly at random. The good guys win the underwater war and the crisis is averted. Largo is killed after a fight with Bond, by his mistress Domino. With a spear gun. Go figure.
OK, on the the ratings;
Bond; 92 out of 100. Sean Connery. In a bathing suit. Sure.
Villain; 83 out of 100. Adolfo Cali has the look. And an eye patch. Sure.
Bond Girls; 92 out of 100. Claudine Auger as Domino, sexy and good, Luciana Paluzzi as Fiona Volpe, sexy and bad. And huge bonus points for Martine Breswick, who also appears in “From Russia with Love” as a catfighting gypsy.
Bond Theme; 74 out of 75. It’s Tom Jones. Sure.
Henchmen / woman; 35 out of 50 There kinda 2 . Luciana Paluzzi’s Fiona Volpe is a sorta henchperson, so is Philip Locke as Vargas. She’s way more dangerous and interesting, but neither is a real Bond henchman.
M, Q, Moneypenny & misc.; 17 out of 25. The trio of Bernard Lee as M, Desmond Llewelyn as Q, Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny are good as always, but Rik Van Nutter’s Felix Leiter? Hard to watch, man.
Total; 393
Scoreboard;
- Diamonds are Forever- 428
- Goldfinger- 419
- The Spy Who Loved Me.- 410
- Goldeneye- 407
- Spectre-397
- Live and Let Die- 396
- Thunderball- 393
- Skyfall- 383
- Casino Royale / Die Another Day / Skyfall- 382
- Tomorrow Never Dies- 377
- The World is not Enough- 367
- A View to a Kill- 359
- No Time to Die- 355
- Dr. No- 346
- The Man with the Golden Gun. 331
- License to Kill- 321
- Octopussy- 255
- The Living Daylights- 228
- On Her Majesty’s Secret Service- 201
practicallywell.net 