›

"Oh, I travel... a sort of licensed troubleshooter." Thunderball Appreciation & Discussion

OctopussyOctopussy Piz Gloria, Schilthorn, Switzerland.
edited March 2020 in Bond Movies Posts: 1,081
My second favourite Bond film behind On Her Majesty's Secret Service and the definitive cinematic James Bond film.

If you ask the average person whether they prefer Goldfinger or Thunderball they will usually say the former due to it's iconography, but to me the latter has and always will be the superior film. Everything from the title sequence to the finale are mesmerising. Sean Connery is at the peak of his powers in this film and his swagger, masculinity and animal-magnetism are undeniable. The dialogue throughout the film is fantastic, but then again who's surprised when you've got Young behind the lens. The duo of Connery and Young is as scintillating as that of Lazenby and Hunt. Young understood what makes a great Bond film as evident in Dr. No and this is no exception. The dialogue is brilliant and Connery delivers one-liner after one-liner in such a way that doesn't feel camp, but rather classic. The cinematography in Thunderball is equivocally some of the best in the series and the underwater scenes were groundbreaking at the time and still hold up today. Bond's style in this film is also one of the best in the series with Connery wearing classic Bondesque pieces such as Wayfarer's and navy polos. John Barry's score is his best behind On Her Majesty's Secret Service and particularly during the underwater scenes are breathtaking. The supporting cast is brilliant with characters such as Fiona Volpe or Domino Derval. The relationship between Bond and Largo is superior to that of Bond and Golfinger and the repartee between the two is some of the best in the franchise. The scene where all the OO agents meet in a single room to discussion the mission, has to be one of the best moments in the series. To me Thunderball is also a film which wasn't afraid to show Bond in danger which I really appreciate.The chase sequence where Connery is being hunted down by Fiona and the Spectre agents stands out to me. I love that following the outlandish gadgetry of the DB5 in Goldfinger that every tool that Bond was given in Thunderball feels grounded in reality, even the Bell Rocket Belt in the title sequence was a legitimate and genuine device developed for the US Army in the 1950's. I could gush about this film for a long time.

I really do love this film and I feel that an appreciation thread is long overdue.

Comments

This discussion has been closed.