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http://www.mi6community.com/index.php?p=/discussion/7886/the-overrated-thread
Hopefully these can be merged.
Amen.
Not sure they should be. We don't have many threads exclusively about Thunderball, and this one is very interesting. In generic threads, often debates get spread around too many topics, too many movies and lose their strength.
(PS : Well I answered before reading the other posts before, and then there's nothing new here.. l at least the last line is still original).
Yet, TB is top #5 easily for me, and sometimes even #1 depending on my mood ! The gun/women line almost defines the movie Bond for me...
I mean many people have Goldfinger as a personal favorite or best release (I beg to differ in so many words) and then there's a release not far ahead in OHMSS that's about on the same plateau to many, and you got Connerys fourth adventure in the middle that would seem to be often neglected
That's just my perspective. Others will have there own thoughts and guess it really depends on how you feel about the respective releases of the 1960s, but reading this now, feel Thunderball deserves more praise than it maybe recieves. For sure the underwater sequences drag on too long and get damn boring mighty quick, but for the rest of it, you got perhaps the sexiest Bond girl in Luciana Paluzzi, an able Connery, decent main villain in Adolfo Celi and plenty of exotic locations to take in
My biggest concerns would be the pre-titles sequence, said underwater scenes, lackluster Tom Jones theme and Volpe being killed off in favor of Claudine Auger as surviving Bond girl. Those minor issues apart, it's a decent watch and maybe doesn't get the credit it deserves
Although I understand why many view TB as iconic as it was the first "spectacle" Bond film, in my opinion it didn't do anything that other Bond films (before or after) did better. TB just never did anything for me.
Dr. No - a little bit underrated; not by everyone, but a few overlook just how good it is)
From Russia with Love - overrated; takes a long time to get started, dull segments
Goldfinger - usually properly rated; some on this community underrated it these days however, but it deserves most of its praise
Thunderball - a bit overrated; okay, but not as good as the first three
You Only Live Twice - very underrated; it annoys me to so many people hate on this one, as I find it one of Connery's better outings
Diamonds Are Forever - properly rated; not the best film out there, but still entertaining to most
"Now don't you worry...I'll tell the chef"
-"What sharp little eyes you have"
-"Wait 'till you get to my teeth"
-"perhaps you'd pull one for me...seems terribly difficult (shoots disc easily) no it isn't is it"
"could it have been the front door bell"
"A gun...looks more fitting for a woman"
"You know much about guns?"
"No...I know a little about women"
-His smugness at the casino
-"She's just dead"
For me thats Connery on top form. True there may have been a few moments in which he looks a bit disinterested (his "nooo" when Domino asks if they must go on talking) but for me there's more positive than negative regarding his TB performance.
While Connery's performance was far from bad in TB, to me he just didn't have that same verve for life that he so perfectly projected in his first 3 Bond films. I think by TB he was already getting bored with the role and by YOLT he was going to let everyone know it. As I've always said Connery's tenure as Bond can be split into two sections of performances. DN/FRWL/GF Connery where, as a performer, everything the man touched turned to gold. And the TB/YOLT/DAF Connery where he was either doing it because he was contractually obligated or simply for the money. I enjoy Connery as Bond during either one but nothing can touch his first 3 performances. Except maybe Craig in CR and SF but that's just my opinion.
TB, YOLT and DAF are not great in my opinion first 3 Connery films good, last 3 not so.
I've generally rated it as the best.
One of the best Tom Jones song to me.
Absolutely,a brilliant entry into the series.
He didnt pass out and the end of it for nothing !!
Would the portable breathing device work? As long as you hold your breath. The PTS when he shoots water at the pursuers who are on foot. Why not just drive away?
GF by contrast has some great acting and insights into his character. Especially the scenes with Tilly.
"here for the hunting season?"
"Actually they're my ice skates"
"Lovely sport." The look on his face is timeless.
"My name is Bond. Ja-"
"Now." As Tilly shows no interest whatsoever in what Bond's name is. Great scene.
He does have some great scenes in TB as mentioned earlier and Sean plays them good but for the most part despite being the most spectacle of the first four, I still think it is the weakest as far as entertainment goes.
Good summary. It looks good, the cast is reasonable, has nice Adam sets and Barry's score is one of best, but it's just terminally dull. IMO one of the more overrated films around here. YOLT is much more enjoyable.
Yes, it's almost unrecognisable as a Terence Young film. He did such a good job with DN and FRWL, but TB just seemed to be wrong story for him.
I rank it 5th out of the Connery films, in front of DAF.
Dull?
I guess QOS is a favourite of yours then...?
I've always thought this about it - it's not something I've just thrown out there to wind people up. The title of the thread asks if it's overrated, so clearly the thought is in other people's minds too.
I love Connery, the film has all the right components and looks good, but just never really builds any excitement. The underwater fights are wonderfully shot, with a fantastic score, but as entertainment it just misses the mark. For me TB is the first bloated failure in the series.
:))
any way, you're missing my point. willfully, I suspect.
I don't look for 'rapid-fire' film making, just good film making. I'm one of the few on here who regularly sticks up for DN - hardly 'rapid fire' by modern standards.
TB is not well paced and the story is not particularly well told. It's nothing to do with me wanting it to be more like GE or TND, with endless machine gun fire and explosions. Isn't all that Brosnan era explosions stuff more your cup of tea any way?
As others have said, TB arrives at an odd and abrupt, anti-climactic ending. It just doesn't hold up well against the first three films in the series, which are indeed, better directed, structured and edited.
The machine gun stuff in Brosnan's films is actually much like the underwater stuff in TB; there's more than needed but not so much that it distracts me.
Seems a fair assessment, although I still prefer YOLT.
Broken down into individual elements there is much to appreciate in TB, but for me it is a case of a movie that overall is much less than the sum of its parts. The first three films are each almost perfect, and very different from each other. TB, for me, represents the first mis-step in the series - the beginning of the period when the films started to become much more hit and miss.
For the record, I'd still take TB over any of the Brosnan films, any day of the week.