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Why is that difficult to fathom?
Well, it sure is controversial opinion considering that the soundtrack is widely considered to be Barry's best, and the film itself as one of the most faithfull adaptations of a Fleming novel...
Right. And the film is Bond in spades and never flags for a moment. There's not a dull frame in it.
While I understand that I am in the minority, the entire movie is one lengthy dull moment of everything not-Bond for me. The soundtrack is way too overrated, I believe; it's annoying and gets on my very last nerve, especially that stupid "We Have All the Time in the World" and "Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown?". Those are the worst tracks in ANY Bond soundtrack! Talk about pathetic. Only the main OHMSS theme is redeemable, but everything else is truly awful. I honestly find it difficult to say one good comment about OHMSS, because even the "good stuff" of the movie has its downsides- for instance, the actions sequences are certainly on the higher end of the movie, but they suffer from very poor editing in numerous places. Savalas' Blofeld might be the best character in the movie, but even he has his moments where I would much rather have Donald Pleasance return from YOLT.
I just felt like typing my thoughts as they cropped up throughout the movie. I've never tried this before, so let's see how it goes:
- I don't care for Largo's introduction, just seems rushed and lacks any anticipation or excitement. The part with James on the rack is pretty laughable, as well. But, Connery's cries and pleads for help are made up for when he gets laid moments after.
- I do thoroughly love Connery's outfit (reminds me of Craig) and the soundtrack that plays as he searches through the health clinic at night. Also, Bond's casual knock out and fire alarm pull is rich as he acts clueless as to what's going on.
- I think the scheme to acquire the two MOS bombs is really far-fetched, but then again, this is a Bond movie. However, once the Vulcan crashes, the entire underwater sequence is great and very well done. I love the soundtrack here, too.
- The car chase is okay. I love how Fiona destroys Lippe, but the chase isn't nearly as long as I'd like and the crash of the car itself is incredibly dull.
- 007 and the other 00's in one room. Very, very cool.
- More underwater sequences. I'm a fan again, they are quite well done. I also love the scenes with Domino.
- I really enjoy Bond's casual run-in with the girl in the casino. I would love to see more of this, just like Craig running into the lovely tennis girls as they exchange looks at the club in CR.
- Random, but the hotel Bond stays at in Nassau is beautiful.
- I wonder who cleans the pool every time one of Largo's sharks kills someone...
- I love Bond's team of Paula, Pinder, Felix, and himself as they walk through the streets to meet Q. Also, the banter between Bond and Q is great here, as are the gadgets.
- However, I'm not a huge fan of James swimming outfit. At this point, we're nearly halfway through the film and not a whole lot has happened. It's still entertaining, though, and although I despise the PTS and title track, I think I'm enjoying it a lot more than GF.
- Largo's diver swims up to Bond as fast as possible, stops, aims at a completely stationary Bond, fires, and misses ENTIRELY! The Bond villains sure know how to hire 'em. Then we get to see Largo pull up two mini TV viewings of James and the diver fighting. I love the convenience that both of those cameras are pointed there. What next? Let's throw hand grenades at Bond underwater! We aren't carrying two atomic bombs or anything that could go off at any moment...
- Bond escaping the speed boat is pretty intense, so I suppose that makes up for Largo's incredible stupidity.
- I like James arrival at Palmyra. Very intense to me.
- Bond's cockiness at skeet shooting is excellent...then the sad transition of the death of Paula occurs. Shame.
- I do enjoy the fight and confusion Bond stirs up on Palmyra, especially the pool scene. It's fantastic. James manages to escape mere seconds before the shark arrives at where he hops out of the pool.
- James rips Fiona a new one by insulting the sex they just had. His escape from the car is pretty cool, but the transition from the shot being fired to him being struck by the bullet is awkward and corny.
- It just dawned on me somehow that Felix was the one flying James around throughout the film as they were looking for the plane.
- Wouldn't the corpses Bond finds in the Vulcan be a little more decayed than that, or at least been torn apart by sharks to some extent?
- The. Death. Of. Vargas. Is. Amazing. I love it so much. So intense, fast, and deadly. A main henchman is dead, Domino has joined up with Bond, and the finale can now begin.
- I've been loving the underwater action sequences until the finale. It's hard to tell what's going on and it doesn't really impress me.
- The dispatching of the soldiers from the plane to fight Largo's men is very cool, especially that moment of silence as they drift to the bottom of the sea floor to take them on. In terms of ridiculous weapons, I'd say the harpoon fight is better than the laser fight in MR.
- The finale is incredibly, incredibly, incredibly cheesy. It always kills me to sit through the film, enjoy the majority of it, just to reach a pretty dull conclusion between Bond and Largo. I don't care for it.
Overall, it's a very enjoyable ride (excluding the PTS, title tracks, and ending), and although it lacks a good bit of action like GF did, I heavily prefer it to GF.
Thank God you're not only part of a minority, but an infinitesimal one at that.
Just finished Thunderball. For a hundred reasons this is probably my favorite James Bond film now. Beautiful, sexual, lush, exotic, thrilling, and dangerous. The underwater finale is a marvel to watch and, in my opinion, never has a John Barry score been more "right" for the respective film. Intrigue and danger and exoticism at every turn. Connery is on fire, and in a way it's the end of an era (his 4 great Bond performances that solidified him forever as James Bond).
Yup! It's so evocative. SO Thunderball! Also I enjoyed reading your thoughts as well.
Thank you, even though I'm sure you didn't agree with many of them. I was hoping someone would have read what I typed, but since no one had, I didn't do the same for YOLT, which I'm roughly halfway done with so far.
I really like Gilbert as director. All 3 of his films are pure entertainment. In the end, can't ask for a whole lot more.
A bit shocked at the sudden mauling for TWINE though .
:-O
Neither do I.
Exactly. And Battlefield Earth is Travolta s 2001.
Used to prefer this to TLD, not so anymore. Dalton is still excellent, and the Wavekrest action set piece is awesome, but this feels too Miami Vice at times, with an absolutely disposable late-80's stock score from Kamen. Sanchez is an excellent villain, but not necessarily an excellent BOND villain. I prefer Dalton's performance in TLD as well as just about everything else.
edit: Also, not a fan of the near-R rated gore here either. I love horror films and films with gory special effects, but not so in a Bond film. Makes me cringe and takes me out of the film more often than not. With Felix perhaps it was necessary to help us "get behind" Bond on his quest for revenge but the rest I can do without. Again, perhaps another attempt to ride on the Die Hard high? Also I always have a laugh at the end of the film where Bond has just gone to INSANE lengths to avenge Della and (sort of) Felix and Felix is just chilling in the hospital bed as happy as ever.
The film is not without positives though, and the finale is certainly a thrill ride. Whenever I watch this film I also always LOVE Q's more extensive involvement as well as Professor Joe, one of the funniest minor characters in the entire series.
"Bless your heart!"
The movie has a lot of goodness to offer and it has Sean Connery albeit a bit on automatic but I realised that he still is awefully fun to watch. While his performance is perhaps not as good as Craigs Connery is James Bond compared to Jimmy Bond the Chav Terminator.
A great and fun movie with plenty of O'Toole and real women compared to the latest girlie women.
Not much to say really, as I have often discussed this film elsewhere on this forum. I still really like it, so nothing has changed there. While the editing definitely hurts the film at times, the Siena chase and Slate fight alone are two very memorable action sequences that really make the film feel brutal and intense. Both sequences are some of my favorites in the franchise, and I love re-watching them over and over. The cinematography is top notch, providing many impressive visuals for your eyes to enjoy. While a minor sub-plot to the ongoing action pitting Bond against Quantum, 007's many attempts to deal with what Vesper meant to him is interesting, most notably the opening talk he has about Yusef with M and the airplane discussion with Mathis, someone who was instrumental in getting Bond to forgive his love. I also like the ambiguity of the film. We don't know what Greene said to Bond in the desert, (though it had to have something to do with the location of Yusef) or what Yusef and Bond discussed in Russia. I think those scenes therefore retain more mystery and intrigue that way, something that would be lost if we were just delivered the information straight up.
This time when watching the film I really tried to hone in and pay attention to Greene and his plot. I really enjoyed him this time, more than ever before. He really is a psychotic guy, who can snap at literally the drop of a pin. He puts up a facade of an environmental liberator and scoffs in the faces of his donors while he lies right to their faces; I love it. His recounting of how he dealt with his mother's piano student that spoke ill of him and how he deals with his geologist that was selling information to Camille is chilling, showing that he is very sensitive to criticism and cares for nobody, especially once they've outlived their usefulness. Even Medrano proves expendable to him, because as Greene says, the man can be replaced easily if he refuses to sign over the water supply Quantum has stored away. I like the plot to reign in the water, a dastardly one for sure, and how the Americans were duped to pay a blind eye to Quantum's plan through the fake promises of oil was brilliant too. It isn't a take-over-the-world plot, but a realistic one very much in touch with our modern day concerns. For my money, Greene is one of the many underrated villains in these films. He's no Grant or Dr. No, but he deserves his moment to shine in the sunlight. Even Mr. White proves himself to be a great villain yet again, the Tosca scene being his best moment. While all the other members of Quantum flee like idiots once Bond blows their cover, White intelligently stays concealed in the crowd, and remains completely undetected by Bond. It's moments like this when I wish he'd return in the Craig era.
There is also a lot of great contention between Felix and Beam. Felix looks absolutely miserable in every scene, and it's no wonder since he's constantly around a man like Beam who proves to be an annoyance quickly. We get a Felix who is very conflicted as to where he is at; he understands that Quantum is into some dirty dealings but goes along with it at first in consideration of his standing in the CIA. As the film goes on I think he shows his true colors, eventually leading Bond to the desert hotel so he can stop this operation aimed at the Bolivian people through an orchestrated drought. Because of this Felix is promoted and Beam likely sacked; as Bond says, "the right people kept their jobs." I love Wright's Felix and hope we see more of him later on.
We've also got a great Bond girl in the form of Camille. She's feisty and tough, a great teammate to Bond on his mission. Her battle is the true fight for revenge here, as she tries desperately to avenge her family by killing Medrano. Her struggles make her easy to connect to and feel for, and I love that her and Bond have a largely platonic relationship, making her very unique in the history of Bond girls. I would love to see Camille return in the future as well, as I feel she and Bond have a great dynamic that I'd love to see developed more. It could start a precedent for having old Bond girls return again, something I'd be all for if the script was strong and utilized that return correctly.
And at the heart of the film is Bond, ever the bulldog. When everyone thinks he is a loose cannon out to have his revenge, he's actually the only one with his head on straight as he goes after leads leading to Quantum's plot in Bolivia. His ability to take on not only Greene and his associates as well as his own government and the CIA who have a bloody hit out on him is incredible, and he fights them all off to win the day in the end. We get to see a big development in his relationship with M here too, who trusts him despite her own concerns to do what he thinks is necessary. As Bond says at the end of the film, he "never left" at all; he's always the one to remain once all has been destroyed. It's also satisfying and compelling to see him still affected by Vesper, and the moments where he grieves over her prove to be some of the greatest this film has to offer.
All in all, I still don't understand the hate for this film. It isn't to be free of criticism, but what it has to offer more than makes up for its faults. There are scenes like the opera sequence, Slate fight, Siena chase, Mathis's demise and Bond's confrontation with Yusef that raise this film well over the lesser elements, some of which are in my top favorite moments in a Bond film. Some say this film lacks any Bondian flair, but to me it's pure Bond: a man facing off bravely against threats much larger than him, and beating them through his knack for survival. After seeing this film I still want Quantum back, and think that they could be utilized greatly in the next films. White and the organization is still out there and having Bond forced to rely on Yusef to locate them again could be quite interesting. How would Bond react to working with the man who baited Vesper and played her like a violin? It'd be great to see, if only, if only.
Plenty may well be the best of all secondary Bond girls. She's an absolute riot. Yet another reason to love DAF.
The striking thing with all the criticism that's being thrown at QoS, is how completely overblown and exceedingly hostile it is. Even the arguments that are anchored in valid points are exaggerated to such ludicrous extremes that it's hard to take them seriously. When self proclaimed "Bond purists" rank this film as the "worst in the series", I just find myself laughing in pure disbelief.
I strongly believe that the film's reputation will improve over the years as people get time to let it sink in and shake of the initial disappointment, not much unlike OHMSS and LTK have done before it. (I don't think it is on level with those two classics, but still…) Already now I sense that the exaggerated hostility is starting to wear of slightly… or, well... at least I wish that to be the case. ;)
Like you I was most impressed by Greene - one of the most underrated villains in Bondom, in my view.
However, as much as can I appreciate QoS, I can't love it, which is a shame, as I love the remainder of the Bond films.
There are still some great moments and elements (Tosca, Mathis/Bond on the plane, the cinematography, Arnold's best score) but in the end it doesn't quite fit up to my tastes like other Bond films do - and it occasionally feels anti-Bond thematically.
edit: I should clarify - QoS is NOT my least favorite Bond film.
edit2: similar to @jobo, I find the Siena chase much too frantic. It makes my head hurt and is impenetrably hard to follow. Perhaps that's a sign of my small brain power.
I personally love being part of a community where diversity is accepted instead of stamped out.
Moore's segue into the world of James Bond is a strong one. It has one of my favorite action sequences (the boat chase), one of the sexiest Bond girls (Solitaire), my favorite Bond theme song, and more. I think my only complaint with the movie would be Kananga's death, it's way too cheesy for my tastes.
Watched it the other week funnily enough. It's not bad (I much prefer it to DAF) but I certainly don't consider it one of the all time greats. The stereotypes are funny to watch in 2014 and there's some good 'bazaar' elements, but the film has a cheapness to it (the end set in the cave) and, although Yaphett Kotto gives a good performance, I don't think Kananga is one of the all time great villains. Also, the slapstick elements are pretty dated now.
@Creasy47. My main issue with his death when I watched it was that it felt like the producers rushed it to get to the train fight. Not even a minute after Kananga dies Bond and Solataire are merrily saying goodbye to Felix on the platform.