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Connery at his most confident,
impossibly beautiful women including a devilish femme fatale,
a memorable villain with a weird trademark,
faceless Blofeld,
Felix Leiter,
a great PTS,
a spectacular finale,
SPECTRE,
extraordinary cinematography,
John Barry music,
Ken Adam sets,
Terence Young direction.
While GF might be more iconic, TB perfects the formula and includes for instance the femme fatale and the exotic widescreen scenery. Therefore it is my number 1 Bond film.
There are a lot of parallels with SF for me. When I break the films down into constituent parts there are a lot of elements and ideas I love, but as a whole the film doesn't work for me.
Having said that, I'd rather watch TB any day!
Well said sir!
Can't argue with any of that lot either and I too prefer TB to GF, which definitely is overrated!
So the mere fact the film has a confident Connery, Felix, SPECTRE, John Barry music and Ken Adam sets makes it good?
Exhibit A = DAF. Has all of the above and is extremely poor.
I'm also a little confused as to why everyone keeps saying the film has a memorable villain in the shape of the dull Emilio Largo. He's not even the most memorable villain in his own film for Christ's sake.
The worst villain of the 60s films by some considerable distance.
In addition Scaramanga, Drax, Orlov, Khan, Zorin, Sanchez, Trevelyan, Carver, Le Chiffre, Silva, Oberhauser are all far more memorable.
Largo is probably in the bottom third when it comes to 'memorable' Bond villains along with Gray's Blofeld, Kananga, Stromberg, Kristatos, Koskov, Elektra, Graves and Greene.
Not saying he's utterly awful but he's the dictionary definition of average.
So mediocre he could've been played by Rory Kinnear!
One thing you certainly cant criticise the Craig era for is the fact that these days we are hiring serious talent to play the villain instead of Eurotrash nobodies like Celi.
Adolfo Celi starred in Le Fantôme de la Liberté by Luis Buñuel, Diabolik by Mario Bava and also appeared in Von Ryan's Express, Grand Prix and Carol Reed's The Agony and Extacy.
Not entirely a nobody I'd say.
There is indeed nothing Eurotrash about Adolfo Celi. Or about Largo.
I note you didn't mention Operation Kid Brother when you were listing his credentials?
In any event Yaphet Kotto, Curd Jurgens, Julian Glover, Robert Carlyle and Mathieu Almaric are all very decent actors but it doesn't make their Bond villains any less underwhelming.
I thought Adolfo Celi in TB was fine.
I agree, that in particular Curt Jurgens as Stromberg was not very memorable in TSWLM.
I liked the love triangle and Celi demonstrated a menacing jealousy as Largo that was discomforting, particularly on the boat. A thug looking chap certainly and a physical match for Connery.
Not as whiney as Greene or Carver in similar situations. Only Sanchez seemed like a similar fella a girl wouldn't want to cross. "What did he promise you? His heart? Give her his heart!"
1. Witty dialogue, arguably the wittiest dialogue of any Bond film.
2. Two distinct acts, each with its own level of intrigue: Shrublands and Nassau. Both are confining, for different reasons. The confinement bolsters the level of suspense.
3. As another poster mentioned: the underwater sequences, for that time, are extraordinary.
4. The scene between Bond and Fiona, after they have slept together. It is the most emotionally gut-wrenching scene of any of the Connery films. And anyone who has slept with someone for all the wrong reasons would understand the emotional underpinnings of that scene. Bond says, not all too convincingly, "What I did was for king and country. You don't think there was any pleasure in it, do you?" Oh, man, the look on Connery's face says it all. He is indeed conflicted. Of COURSE he enjoyed it. And she did too. But business is business. Oh what a scene!
5. Great Tom Jones title track!
6. Bond's mission is clear, with a definitive deadline. This also ups the ante.
7. The flight sequence, with the water landing, is superb--again, especially for that era. Notice how the special effects took a step backwards with YOLT.
8. Vargas.
9. Domino is one of the sexiest Bond girls ever.
10. The PTS isn't too shabby, either.
I don't think GF is overrated in the slightest. This whole 'formula' thing is a fallacy. The Bond formula is something applicable to the canon as a whole, not necessarily individual films, which is why I find those films that attempt to shoehorn in everything considered 'formula' work less well than those that do fewer things, but well and more uniquely. GF is lean, it's tight, it has one of the best villains in the canon (Largo doesn't even come close), unique locations, action, some of the best dialogue in the series and an indelible soundtrack. It's a real shame that GF has become the default 'best' film for your average cinema goers because I think it taints it's brilliance for the 'hardcore' who tend to be contrarians and consider themselves a little more esoteric. I'm happy to go with the crowd, I think GF is seminal and sorely underrated around these parts. It's the only 60's film that could be released today and still be an enormous hit imo.
IMO GF is about equal to DN & FRWL (classics).
TB is great mainly because of Connery & some great dialogue.
I could not agree more with your post.
Of course I didn't. If I wanted to list Mads Mikkelsen's credentials I wouldn't mention Clash of the Titans either.
Agreed.
In my estimation, it is a worthy holder of that title and encapsulates everything that Bond is and should be for the masses. Just pure class all round. The only other film that I would want in that lead position is TSWLM, for similar reasons.
But I'd argue that TB is a far more proper James Bond. TSWLM dwells far too much into sci-fi territory. TB is a proper espionage operation.
And some people say here that there's no feel of urgency, of what's at stake. I disagree. Such a scheme would be dealt with exactly like this: with investigation and what it requires of discretion.
Absolutely. Thunderball somehow manages to convey the sunny exotic locale in a way no other film does for me.
It's because it's juxtaposed with the mundanity of a British health spa. This is what Fleming always did best and is why I don't mind more significant use of British locations (earlier in a film). You need the light and shade, the balance of English stoicism with the exoticism of far flung locales. While I feel TB, objectively, is more bloated and indulgent than it's predecessors, it does nail this aspect.
IMO, at that time, it was a direct reference to the Pussy Galore scene the year before, understood probably by most of the audience. Fiona basically quoted the Pussy Galore twist " She repents, and turns to the side of right and virtue", and Bond explained he would not save the day in the same way this time, despite already having succeeded with the therapist earlier in the movie.
To me, "Well, you can't win them all" can be perceived as breaking the fourth wall.
So I feel it had some strong intended humour in it that may be less present now.
were Thunderball and Casino Royale, both for their tropical settings.
Domino appears very virginal (even though Largo has been shagging her) like Solataire and her beauty is almost overwhelming but she comes in fourth when compared to the leading ladies in the previous films.
Fiona is one of the brightest spots in this epic film. that face, that flame red hair, that drop dead body. I daresay she is the hottest of the women in the Bond films.