Thunderball

Release Date: December 29, 1965

Rated PG for violence and sexual innuendo

Directed by: Terence Young

Starring: Sean Connery, Claudine Auger, Adolfo Celi, Luciana Paluzzi, Rik Van Nutter, Bernard Lee, Martine Beswick, Desmond Llewelyn, Lois Maxwell

Plot:
Based on Ian Fleming's 1961 novel. Here's 007 at his best. The fourth film in the Bond series finds the super spy battling a powerful organization named S.P.E.C.T.R.E, which has threatened to destroy Miami with an atomic weapon unless a huge ransom is paid. James Bond returns in: "You Only Live Twice." Academy Award Nominations: Best Special Visual Effects.

Review:
Thunderball is the fourth film for Sean Connery as James Bond and the fourth film in the series. In this adventure, Director Terence Young who directed Dr. No and From Russia With Love returns for one last time as a director for the film Thunderball. He has a great vision for adventure and shows it to the audience once again with this outing.

With From Russia With Love and Goldfinger the James Bond series reached its peak of experiments with the formula. From Dr. No to From Russia With Love, the series introduced Q Branch and had a pre-title sequence before the opening credits. Goldfinger then came along and had the formula perfected with the pre-title sequence, Bond's Aston Martin and demonstrations with Q on the different gadgets in his laboratory.

Spectre organization returns in Thunderball after being absent in Goldfinger. The film gives the audience a clearer and larger picture of how the organization works and on what terms. Just like in From Russia With Love, this film continues to tease the audience not showing Ernst Stavro Blofeld's face, but only his menacing voice. For all who have seen most of the bond films know he is revealed in the next film, You Only Live Twice.

Mentioning Spectre, the first actual meeting of the organization is held in Thunderball. In From Russia With Love there was a couple of meetings, but only with number 3 and number 11, not the entire crew. For one thing, the meeting was brief and brutal. Blofeld shows exactly what he intends to which is serving brutality to those that fail and owning the world.

One can clearly say Thunderball as a whole had a lot on its shoulders because of its predecessor. However, the script was entirely new and bigger budgeted than the other films and still manages to become one of the best of the series. Part of what makes Thunderball work profoundly is that Connery is still strong in his role and delivers a great performance with ease.

Bond in this film uses even more sexual innuendos than the past films. This provides for plenty of memorable elements and laughs. To add to that, Connery isn't wearing a tuxedo or a suit all throughout the film like in From Russia With Love and Goldfinger. In this film he wears them at points in the film, but also has his share of regular clothing, specifically shorts and at times no shirt.

Connery still looks great and is possibly the most charming yet. With so many beautiful women in Thunderball, James Bond could easily have them all and he does. First in the lineup there is Claudine Auger who plays Domino Derval in the film and she is easily the most prettiest of all the bond girls to come. This time around there is a big problem with herself and Emilio Largo after Bond spills some facts to her. For those confused, Emilio Largo works for Spectre and is considered as number 2 in Spectre.

Besides Domino, Bond also comes across a villainous woman named Fiona Volpe and is played by Luciana Paluzzi. With her, pops up one of the best quotes of the series. "Some men just don't like to be driven." "No, some men don't like to be taken for a ride." Hold your stomach and laugh away if you have any sense of humor in you.

Thunderball also one of the best sceneries of all the films. With underwater sequences there clearly was a shot at showing many distinctive fishes and animals. Besides that fact, the sets are beautiful and their Mardi Gras scenes are interesting to the eyes. A great amount of the film takes place underwater which serves up for a different, but great bond adventure.

Thunderball is not as great as From Russia With Love and Goldfinger, but it is clearly a great achievement and addition to the series. It has classic appeal and features all the elements needed in the formula. Connery is in top-notch form, Spectre is more known about and the film also features all the 00 Agents in one room together for a conference meeting. Thunderball in the end is a great bond film with the best James Bond.