007Thunderball

Thunderball (1965)

1965. My grandparents were about to be married and make dear old Mom just for me to write this review. It is, of course, for the fourth Bond adventure: Thunderball.

Emile Largo (Aldofo Celi) is a member of SPECTRE, who is ordered by Number One to put his plan into motion: steal some nuclear weaponry and hold the world hostage. You know, like Doctor Evil. But there is only one man to stop him: Austin Powers!

Okay, after being pelted by soft-back covers of Fleming’s art, it is, of course, James Bond who has to stop him. Because of this, it has become the biggest Bond film at that time (Inflation puts it at almost $1,000,000,000 on the B.O. charts) and a beloved favorite among the legions of Bond fans out there. Except for a select few and I am amongst that select few.

After being awed with the previous adventures, I was awaiting the awesome spectacle of Goldfinger mixed with the suspenseful espionage of From Russia with Love with a dash of Dr. No’s exotic locales. Unfortunately, it was an uneven mix for me.

From an outside standpoint, the plot was kind of lousy to begin with, but not being from that era of Cold War solitude, I am eternally jaded from this type of device. That and I'm too smart for such a lame concept. But I was hopeful with the return Terence Young helming this adventure (And in Cinemascope to boot!). Yet, he wasn’t really a good fit for this adventure.

Sure, he did terrific work on the first two, but with the overhang of Goldfinger’s girth spilling over Thunderball’s belt, this job was better suited to Guy Hamilton’s style of filmmaking, with epic vistas, outlandish plots and over the top gadgetry. Young was in out of his home field. At least he directs the stars excellently and sometimes his style breaks through, but I still could not have the feeling of what Hamilton could have done better.

Speaking of better, the acting is all top notch here, with everyone being at least on par and above. Connery still looks the role and plays it to his capabilities; I couldn’t help notice it being a touch ordinary. I mean ordinary Connery is better than… lets say ordinary Kliton Spilsbury, but he is showing signs of inert performance fatigue. Speaking of fatigue, the ladies in the film are really easy on the eyes. Too easy I might say.

Of course, everything is up to the usual standards of an Eon production, and puts new meaning to the word classy.

It’s just the film isn’t very strong for me, but I can see why so many enjoy it; fast cars, hot ladies (and for some, hot men), and a crap load of Q-Branch gadgetry, yet I need more than just those pluses to make it a whole sum. Not just the sum of the parts.

3 out of 4

reviewed by Jake Scarberry.