Bond thriller | Bond: Thunderball [VHS] | Sean Connery, Claudine Auger ...

Great Bond History | Bond: Thunderball [VHS] | Sean Connery, Claudine Auger

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	• Bond: Thunderball [VHS] Sean Connery, Claudine Auger MGM (Video & DVD), 1999 average customer review:based on 212 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Balls Of Thunder!

A Ball Of Thunder...

The porno industry would have been in uproar had Balls Of Thunder been the actual title. 1965 and for the fourth year in a row another Bond film hits the screens, again directed by Terence Young, the original Bond director. The Bond franchise had turned into a phenomenon, thanks to Goldfinger, making this one of the most eagerly anticipated movies of the year. It starts in a small way with Thunderball that Bond starts to transcend it's own boundaries of story and earthiness becoming more fantasy than spy thriller, living up the expectations of being a bigger and bolder movie than it's predecessor and to stand out against the number of imitator spy films popping up, in doing so it loses a little of it's soul. Terence Young's direction at least steers this adventure with the right look and feel maintained from the first few films. But it does suffer story and character wise trying to top previous entries. The bigger budget is obvious, there are more gadgets, girls and exotic locations than before and Sean Connery is still in his element with a nice enhancing hairpiece as his was starting to thin down by this picture and whose wouldn't when being pursued by paparazzi twenty four seven? Bond is ever more the womaniser, drinker and quipper although perhaps notable predicting the future this is the first film where we don't see the character smoke on screen. Plus the simple blockbuster plot groundwork is cemented for the series in this film. SPECTRE return with their most audacious plot, hijacking two atomic bombs and holding the world to a billion dollar diamond ransom or two Western cities will be destroyed. A similar plot would crop up again in future Bond pictures, even to Thunderball itself being remade as 80's Connery Bond `Never Say Never Again'. Good to see this is where the storyline originated. Italian actor Adolfo Celi plays the brutish, silver haired, eye patch wearing Number two of Spectre, Emilio Largo surrounded by a bevy of assassins a standout of which is Luciana Paluzzi playing Bond femme fatale, Fiona Vulpe, one of four woman Bond beds down as he lurches from one action set piece to another. Bond is numerically getting closer to Number 1, who is still frustratingly shown as a cat patting silhouette dishing out orders and frying the minions who have failed him, shades of Dr. Evil in years to come. However the simple plot is made up for with the rocket like pace for a film made in '65. Though it does drag a bit with the amount of underwater sequences the jet fighter hijacking and underwater theft being the most obvious. As far as the underwater photography goes though, the cinematographer, Lamar Boren, strikes gold with the clarity of these aquatic shots choreographed by Ricou Browning especially with Bond's underwater searches of Largo's yacht and the brutal underwater fight scene between the good guys and Spectre which benefits a lot from the crystal clear remastering and transfer to DVD. This Bond entry leaves no room for subtle brush strokes as he tracks down the dead pilot's sister froma Health farm in England to the Bahamas. `Domino' or Dominique is played by Claudine Auger, a former Miss France who is a passable Bond girl and it's here through no fault of hers Bond girls really begin to become bland in character. Bond and Largo play a game of cat and mouse totally lacking the finesse of encounters with previous Bond villains. Q makes his first appearance in the field to give out some gimmicky gadgets and Rick Van Nutter plays the third version of Felix Leiter. There's little doubt of the film's outcome about the only drama being when Bond suffers a minor bullet wound during a mid movie chase scene. More drama was happening leading to the film's prodcution, including the plagiarism court case surrounding the novel and screenplay initiated by Kevin McCLory against creator Ian Fleming which led to the former being given an on screen Producer credit. But despite this and the increasingly strained relationship between Connery and the press as fame overtook him, the film won an Academy Award for visual effects and adjusted for the 2010 box office is still the most financially successful Bond entry ever made. But as the pre credits sequence complete with massive fistfight and rocket pack shows the franchise was starting to head into the realms of absolute spy fantasy rather than spy thriller. However the DVD release covers the Thunderball phenomenon in a documentary and its impact on the way action films were heading and how the spy culture was creating many imitators on both film and television from films such as In Like Flint and The Ipcress File to Get Smart, The Avengers and the Man From U.N.C.L.E. Not only is this the cleanest looking remaster of 60's Bond's it's also the first that got the 5.1 surround sound treatment in it's first release, not that the powerful Tom Jones opening song needs that. Titbit - this is the first film to feature Connery in the famed gun barrel opening sequence, previously it was stuntman Bob Simmons in his hat.

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Bond thriller

Since being a S.Connery fan, I would probably purchase just about anything this artist performed. He brings his characters to life especially his Bond character with lady villains. Even though he is prompted to do his portrayal, he signifies great expertise in entertaining the product to the public.

Great Bond History

I wanted to watch the original early films of Bond, beginning with Dr. No. It's great to see Sean Connery evolve from film to film to become, I feel, the best Bond there ever was. I'm progressing in order from Dr. No, to From Russia with love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You only live twice, Diamonds are forever, and the later semi-Bond "Never say Never again". I know many fans of Bond dislike the last film Connery did, but perhaps they were expecting too much from a then, pretty weathered, franchise. I still have to watch the final two Connery films and am not expecting too much from "Diamonds" and even less from "Never". But that doesn't take away from the talent and artistry of Sean Connery and I'm more into those last films to simply watch how he slowly bows out of the James Bond role forever. It's sad film history to watch sometimes, but I'd rather watch these first Bond films again and again than to tolerate the works of Roger Moore and the others. Daniel Craig is a fresh approach to the role, but he lacks the warmth and humor that Connery brought to the role. I'd love to see one final film where Sean Connery has taken over the position of "M" and guides newer agents along, making them the best they could be. Sort of like an episode of "NCIS", I know, but it would be entertaining to see, none-the-less.

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A favorite Bond movie. Don't miss it!

Thunderball

This is the fourth film in a series that offers the best action / adventure plots. The James Bond movies surfaced a world of espionage, gadgets, secret weapons, beautiful women and amazing cars. As with the first three, the success of Sean Connery continued to enchant audiences the world over, creating an image so powerful that still to today, it is debated that he offered the best Bond character.

By now, we were riveted on the Bond films from the very start. The introduction was becoming one of the best parts of the movie, offering gorgeous female silhouettes as Bond walked across stage demonstrating his marksmanship.

For those of us who are fans of Tom Jones, this became the best film for the theme song is performed by him. Back in 1965, Tom Jones offered great appeal as the star with a powerful voice who wore tight pants, billowing shirts with wide collars and who was considered a sex symbol by admirers.

The song written by Don Black was a tremendous hit and the lyrics reaffirmed our perception of James Bond as the Secret Service Agent who ran while others walked, acted while others talked, wanted it all... so he stroke like Thunderball! Yes, for us Bond knew the meaning of success, calling him the winner who takes all, breaking any heart without regret while his fight goes on and on because he thinks the fight is worth it all!

The movie starts with James Bond at a funeral of SPECTRE agent No. 6. Bond follows his widow and we are soon shocked to find out that it is a man disguised as the widow, who in actuality is No. 6, Jacques Bouvar attempting to cover his identity to get away with killing two British agents.

Thunderball brings us a Bond on a mission to find two NATO nuclear bombs that were taken away by members of SPECTRE. The nuclear bombs are on a plane and SPECTRE has hired a man who has an operation to look identical to the real pilot, who is killed and replaced by the impersonator. The plane is on a training flight but the impersonator pilot gasses the rest of the crew then flying the plane to the Bahamas where he submerges the plane to be camouflaged to prevent detection.

The pilot had been engaged and promised a certain payment for his services but he reconsiders and asks for a lot more because of the pain and suffering he has undergone to look, speak, and act like the original pilot. Because of his attempt to extort more from the organization, it is now his turn to get killed by Emilio Largo, superbly played by Adolfo Celi, who is none other than Agent #2 at SPECTRE [Special Executive for Counter Intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion].

Largo and his men take possession of the atomic bombs under water and these scenes are magnificent for they offer something audiences the world over had not yet seen, underwater opening hatches, scuba divers and underwater weapons, machinery and tools that inspired many to take on new hobbies and see an underworld filled with possibilities.

Bond is sent to the Bahamas where he partners with Largo's mistress, Domino, beautifully played by Claudine Anger, who is the original pilot's sister and wants revenge for her brother's death.

When Bond and Largo finally meet, they sense in each other a dangerous enemy and the fun begins for these two initiate a psychological game to draw each other out.

Another SPECTRE agent, Fiona Volve, played by Luciana Paluzzi, is after Bond. The magic and fun of the Bahamas is introduced as Bond tries to escape from Volpe and we become part of the famous street parade known as Junkanoo or local carnival celebration. During Junkanoo, thousands of men and women unite under the banner of differing groups to produce beautiful costumes, music and dance, so it becomes easy for Bond to mingle in the crowd but because he was shot and is bleeding, the blood hounds after him are able to closely follow.

Bond and Felix Leiter, this time played by Rik Van Nutter continue to search for the plane by helicopter because Bond needs to understand if the weapons are still on board or if they have been taken and after days of searching the waters they find the Vulcan and Bond finds the crew corpses and the pilot's. Bond takes the personal items belonging to the impersonating pilot to later give these to Domino to let her know of her brother's death.

Much action ensues and the underwater battle between Bond, a unit of the United States Coast Guard and Largo's men is simply filming at its best. As usual, Bond saves the day and like Thunderball we are now forever fans of Bond, James Bond! Thunderball is and shall remain one of the best Bond films, don't miss it!

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Thunderball two disc edition

Thunderball is one of our favoite James Bond movies, and this "ultimate edition" gives us a lot to look at. Thanks to the CD format, we now have all of the Bond movies, and we enjoy watching them again and again

James Bond's fourth adventure takes him to the Bahamas, where a NATO warplane with a nuclear payload has disappeared into the sea. Bond (Sean Connery) travels from a tony health spa (where he tangles with a mechanized masseuse run amuck) to the casinos of Nassau and soon picks up the trail of SPECTRE's number-two man, Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi), and his beautiful mistress, Domino (Claudine Auger), whom Bond soon seduces to his side. Equipped with more gadgets than ever, courtesy of the resourceful "Q" (Desmond Llewelyn), agent 007 escapes an ambush with a personal-size jet pack and takes to the water as he searches for the undersea plane, battles Largo's pet sharks, and finally leads the battle against Largo's scuba-equipped henchmen in a spectacular underwater climax. This thrilling Bond entry became Connery's most successful outing in the series and was remade in 1983 as Never Say Never Again, with Connery returning to the role after a 12-year hiatus. Tom Jones belts out the bold theme song to another classic Maurice Binder title sequence. --Sean Axmaker

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