Thunderball
“Thunderball” was (and still is) one of the more popular James Bond films. Plenty of novelties were inserted, the plot was dynamic and entertaining… and financially it could be considered one of the more successful Bond films.
The evil organization SPECTRE returns to the scene again, with an extremely diabolical (“How else…” – note from the subconscious) plan. Number two man in the organization, Emilio Largo, successfully devised and then realized a (quite cunning) plan to hijack a British Air Force tactical jet bomber armed with two atomic bombs. SPECTRE now holds all the cards, and demands that the organization be paid 100 million pounds, or they’ll bomb some city in America or Britain.
This dangerous threat requires mobilization of all 00 secret agents of the British service, including our charmer, JB. He submitted a request to, for the needs of this operation, be transferred to the Bahamas, because his intuition leads him that he’ll discover something important there… and he also saw a good-looking woman in a photo who’s relevant to this mission, whose significance he understood when he remembered his recovery in a rehabilitation center, where he almost lost his head (or to be precise, his spine).
Bond quickly makes contact with the girl from the picture (charming sexy lady named Domino), and soon in the casino meets face to face with Largo, and then puts two and two together, and realizes that Domino is Largo’s concubine.
From that moment begins a cat and mouse game between Bond and Largo, who “officially” became acquaintances who (supposedly) hang out, but actually try to outwit each other in various operations. Time, expectedly, isn’t on Bond’s side, because the clock is ticking until the deadline when SPECTRE will either get 100 million or some city in the USA or UK will become a flatland.
With the help of his friend, CIA agent Felix Leiter, colleague Paula Caplan and the indispensable Q and his gadgets, Bond will have to investigate Largo’s estate and waters around his yacht (Disco Volante) every night under cover of darkness, because the atomic bombs must be somewhere around there.
With the help of one (un)expected ally, Bond will get all the necessary information to prepare everything for a major operation against Largo and the return of atomic bombs under the crown of Her Majesty.
Visually, “Thunderball” dominated, which is why it won an Oscar in 1966 for best visual effects.
The opening number (Thunderball) was sung by legendary Tom Jones. There’s a story that the singer allegedly fainted during the recording of this song in the studio, because singing at the end of the song exhausted him to the maximum.
Legendary Sean still dominates with his charm, shamelessly provocative comments, as well as in action scenes, and I really think no words need to be wasted on his acting.
The main villain in this film, Emilio Largo, was played by the late Adolfo Celi who, though he acted in over a hundred films during his career, is remembered precisely for the role of the arrogant and overly self-confident second man of the notorious organization SPECTRE. Interestingly, Largo’s voice was lent by another actor.
The Bond-girl in this film is Domino, played by beautiful Claudine Auger. I mean, it’s enough to just say she was at the top during the (then) Miss France contest. But it’s not just about beauty, she really acted well in the film.
Of course, a Bond film couldn’t pass without a sexy villain lady, and here it’s the foxy SPECTRE assassin, Fiona Volpe, played by beautiful Luciana Paluzzi… ah that Italian beauty and sex appeal.
Though for me the (sexy) star of the film is definitely Bond girl number two, Molly Peters, as physiotherapist Patricia who helps Bond during recovery… and “during recovery.” My people, what a woman, and the last scene in which she appears with Sean… well, some films of another genre know how to start the way their scene ends. 😀
Bernard Lee (M) and Lois Maxwell (Moneypenny) are still standardly good in their episodic (few minutes) roles, and Desmond Llewelyn (Q) now got even more minutes to explain his gadgets.
This film also abounds in action scenes, but perhaps the most memorable is the one at the end of the film that includes fights at the bottom of the sea and sharks (keep in mind, those are real sharks, CGI wasn’t that good back then, duh 😁).
As for technology, Bond now gets some very interesting gadgets, like a jetpack, as well as its underwater version, then a pill that’s swallowed and acts as a locator, a watch and underwater camera with Geiger counter, a dictaphone hidden in a book, as well as a miniature flare gun.
Bond’s car of choice in this film is also the legendary sports Aston Martin DB5! On the other hand, Emilio Largo prefers a Ford Thunderbird.
Interestingly, Bond didn’t use his favorite pistol, Walther PPK, on this mission.
“Thunderball” wasn’t followed by too many traumatic problems during filming… although it was challenging to film in the Bahamas where sharks know how to approach the shore. Though John Stears (supervisor for visual effects) won awards for this film, he knew how to get a bit carried away in his dedication… for example, for the scene where Largo’s yacht should explode, experimental rocket fuel was used. Stears in his enthusiasm apparently, as they say, “poured” a bit more fuel than necessary, not knowing about its chemical instability… which resulted in an epic explosion of the yacht… but also all windows within a radius of 30 kilometers shattered… yep… oh yes, they also had a situation where a dead shark was secured for the film’s needs which during filming, well, came back to life… you can imagine the chaos that ensued on set…
However, the biggest controversy that followed this film was of a legal nature.
Most of the film was shot in the beautiful Bahamas, and the rest in “Pinewood Studios” in London.
The budget for this film was three times larger than last time and amounted to nine (9) million dollars (bigger than the previous three films combined), but therefore with profit reached an impressive 141 million dollars!
And some interesting facts that followed “Thunderball”:
- Here we see for the first time the famous intro where James Bond has a “duel” with the camera, which will become standard for all future films
- Terence Young (who worked on the first two films) took over the director’s baton again
- Bond’s jetpack was operated in the film by engineer Bill Suiter, who was one of two people in the world qualified to operate it
- This is the only film where we see (though only briefly) all 00 agents in one shot
- Thunderball is, by the way, a military term used for the cloud of smoke that appears from the use of an atomic bomb (also known as “mushroom”)
- Domino is always dressed in black and white, in accordance with her name
- The underwater scene where Bond and Domino meet and then end up behind a large rock (to “listen to underwater records”) was supposed to include a scene showing Domino’s bikini floating, but the producer thought it was too “suggestive”
- The filmmakers had the idea that in the short scene showing all 00 agents, actors who acted in other spy films of those years would appear, but this couldn’t physically be executed at that moment
- Claudine Auger was chosen for the role of Domino from among 150 candidates
- Famous actress and sex symbol, Raquel Welch, was initially considered for the role of Domino
- Actors and other employees on set were constantly bothered to give interviews, which drove them crazy. Sean Connery, in the end, gave an interview for only one magazine, and that was “Playboy”… gentleman…
- In this film Bond doesn’t drink his famous vodka martini, but instead opted for Dom Perignon 55
- Sixty (60) divers participated in the big underwater showdown in the film’s finale
- Tom Jones is the first male singer to sing the opening number for a Bond film
All in all, “Thunderball” is a good Sean film… but I still prefer the film that came after it. 😀
And you, dear reader, what are your impressions of this film? 🙂
Trailer
Imdb | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic
Format: Film
Premiere: 1965
