Thunderball for me is a dreary Bond film. It is almost as if Goldfinger was a massive party were everything went right and you over indulged, and Thunderball is the morning after hangover. For me, it strays to close into the same slow moving teritory as Dr No [1962] and From Russia With Love [1963]. This could be due to the fact that the fun loving fast moving Director Guy Hamilton [Goldfinger] was replaced by Terence Young, who directed the first two segments to the Bond Cinematic Exploits. Perhaps it is a turning point. Sean Connery is the real saving grace. His performance echoe's his own performance in the aforementioned Goldfinger, but the whole feel of the film is caught in a time warp.
Granted, everything that should be in a Bond movie is here. There is the fantastic action set pieces, such as Bond in the pre credits sequence, pulling on the Jet Pack and flying off [Pure Comic Book]. There is a memorable and catchy song sung by Tom Jones, wich isn't as good as the previous Title song by Shirley Bassey, but no less well performed. The Main Titles by Maurice Binder look garrish though, resplendant in greens and blues, but with beautiful sillouhettes to catch. John Barry's music is another high point of the film, his themes again being beautiful and moving. In truth Thunderball has many excellent moments, so why in my opinion doens't it work?
It is because it is too slow. Terence Young may have shaped the whole look of the Bond films for years to come, but with scenes were the action should be rousing he fails. He is good with character interplay such as Bond with Largo [Connery and Adolpho Celi], but scenes wich should be tension filled, such as Bond in the Shark infested Swimming Pool just dont hit the mark. However, Sean Connery proves again what a great Bond he is, and his presence can save many scenes any many more films.
Adolpho Celi is quite good as Largo, but you cant get the memory of Gert Frobe as Goldfinger out your mind. Perhaps that is another problem, Goldfinger is too fresh in memory for any other film to ahve much of an impact. Claudine Auger and Luciana Paluzzi make lovely looking female leads. And Q's gadgets are again very usefull and wondefull additions to the movie, my favourite being the under water camera. The script too could be really, really exciting, with Largo and SPECTRE holding the world to ransom with Nuclear Hardware [one wishes Guy Hamilton had been given this to direct] But the direction and acting is too slow, and this makes it uninteresting.
A missed oportunity if there ever was one.
Granted, everything that should be in a Bond movie is here. There is the fantastic action set pieces, such as Bond in the pre credits sequence, pulling on the Jet Pack and flying off [Pure Comic Book]. There is a memorable and catchy song sung by Tom Jones, wich isn't as good as the previous Title song by Shirley Bassey, but no less well performed. The Main Titles by Maurice Binder look garrish though, resplendant in greens and blues, but with beautiful sillouhettes to catch. John Barry's music is another high point of the film, his themes again being beautiful and moving. In truth Thunderball has many excellent moments, so why in my opinion doens't it work?
It is because it is too slow. Terence Young may have shaped the whole look of the Bond films for years to come, but with scenes were the action should be rousing he fails. He is good with character interplay such as Bond with Largo [Connery and Adolpho Celi], but scenes wich should be tension filled, such as Bond in the Shark infested Swimming Pool just dont hit the mark. However, Sean Connery proves again what a great Bond he is, and his presence can save many scenes any many more films.
Adolpho Celi is quite good as Largo, but you cant get the memory of Gert Frobe as Goldfinger out your mind. Perhaps that is another problem, Goldfinger is too fresh in memory for any other film to ahve much of an impact. Claudine Auger and Luciana Paluzzi make lovely looking female leads. And Q's gadgets are again very usefull and wondefull additions to the movie, my favourite being the under water camera. The script too could be really, really exciting, with Largo and SPECTRE holding the world to ransom with Nuclear Hardware [one wishes Guy Hamilton had been given this to direct] But the direction and acting is too slow, and this makes it uninteresting.
A missed oportunity if there ever was one.