Thunderball is the fourth James Bond adventure. In this movie, Bond is sent to locate two atomic bombs stolen by SPECTRE during a NATO training exercise. Check out my thoughts down below.
Plot (contains spoilers)
In the film’s opening sequence, Bond assassinates SPECTRE agent number six Colonel Jacques Bouvar, who is hiding out pretending to be his own widow in a French chateau. Bond kills him after his fake funeral and escapes in a jetpack.
After the opening title sequence and song, this time sung by Tom Jones we meet the movies main villian, SPECTRE agent Number Two, Emilio Largo in Paris who has a plan to steal two atomic bombs that are on board a plane during a NATO training exercise.
In the meantime, Bond is recuperating in the Shrublands health resort close to the airport where the exercise is due to take place. Another guest at the facility is SPECTRE operative Count Lippe who arranges for French Air Force pilot François Derval to be murdered and replaced by Angelo Palazzi, who has been surgically altered to match Derval’s appearance. However at the last minute Palazzi demands more money, which fellow SPECTRE agent Fiona Volpe agrees to continue with their plan. Palazzi successfully hijakes the plane and lands it within the shallow waters in the Bahamas. Here Largo recovers the bombs but also kills Palazzi for asking for the additional money.
Whilst staying at the resort, Bond keeps an eye on Lippe and discovers the real Derval’s body after SPECTRE switch him for Palazzi, who has also been staying at the resort, shortly before the flight. Upon leaving the resort, he is tailed by Lippe but Fiona Volpe passes by on a motorbike and kills Lippe, for almost derailing Largo’s plan by choosing Palazzi.
Back in London, Bond discovers an MI6 on high alert and all double-O agents are called to an emergency meeting. SPECTRE have sent the Prime Minister a recording stating that they have the atomic bombs and unless the British Government pay them £100m in diamonds in a weeks time they will attack an unknown city. In the dossier they are given Bond recognises Derval with his sister Dominique so Bond asks M if he can follow this lead to the Bahamas but will he be able to recover the bombs in time?
Thoughts
After the success of Goldfinger, Guy Hamilton decided not to return to direct so this movie is the third and final Bond movie to be directed by original director Terence Young which for me gives the movie both positives and negatives and over the years Thunderball has been a Bond movie that I have changed my opinion on over time.
The movie does take quite a few leads from the success of Goldfinger, with this one probably having more action than either of the previous two entries directed by Young. However, much of the action does take place underwater which does mean it in some areas lacks the grit and immediacy of the action in Goldfinger and can be quite repetitive and very long when watching it which does mean I have to be in a certain mood to enjoy this Bond movie.
However Terence Young was always great at directing the spy-thriller scenes where the hero and the villain would be locked in a cat-and-mouse battle of wits and this forms quite a lot of the story of Thunderball, with Bond becoming known to Largo very early on and the two meeting in a few scenes but acting as if they don’t know who each other are. There is a very cat-and-mouse, espionage thriller tone to these scenes which Young creates perfectly.
Sean Connery is great in the movie as always and though contemporary reviews says he looked more haggard than in previous movies, this is probably more noticeable as Bond spends a lot of time shirtless and in swimming trunks in this movie but he still looked like a capable action hero to me. Claudine Auger’s character of Domino also has an interesting backstory of being Largo’s girlfriend whilst he also plotted the murder of her brother which adds a dynamic to her character beyond simply being Bond’s latest romantic conquest and being one of the sources of friction in the cat and mouse scenes I described above.
I also really like Luciana Paluzzi’s Fiona Volpe and she is probably my favourite character in the movie. Unlike Pussy Galore in the previous movie, Volpe starts as a villainess and stays that way – even commenting to Bond after they sleep together: “I forgot your ego, Mr. Bond. James Bond, who only has to make love to a woman and she starts to hear heavenly choirs singing. She repents, then immediately returns to the side of right and virtue… .” You can tell Paluzzi had a great time playing this character and I love every scene that she is in in the movie.
Overall the movie does have fun moments but the lengthy underwater sequences does mean it can be at times slow and difficult to get through.
Have you seen Thunderball? Let me know in the comments below what your thoughts are.
