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Thunderball (1965)

A review by Damian Cannon.
Copyright © Movie Reviews UK 1997
The shadow of SPECTRE (if that's not an oxymoron) falls across the globe when NATO is held to ransom, with 007 the only man perspicacious enough to help. Opening with the usual pre-credits sequence, James Bond (Sean Connery) is secretly viewing the funeral of one of his arch-enemies (who coincidentally has the initials J.B.). The twist comes when Bond realises that the grieving widow is in fact the supposedly passed away villain, leading to a rollicking fist-fight. His opponent does pretty well in a skirt but inevitably succumbs to Bond, who escapes in a cloud of smoke (thanks to Q). All of this preamble serves to place Bond in a middle-England health spa, where the real story commences.

Somewhat conveniently this quiet retreat is also the base camp for the most audacious scheme yet conceived by Blofeld and SPECTRE. Their cunning plan involves substituting a fine, upstanding NATO officer with a SPECTRE doppleganger, allowing them to walk away with a pair of live nukes. Almost immediately Bond suspects the shifty looking foreigners, especially when they try to dispose of him on a diabolical looking back-stretching machine. Typically unruffled, 007 fights back. Unfortunately he's just a step behind SPECTRE, too late to prevent the disappearance of the Vulcan bomber. M (Bernard Lee) convenes a top-level meeting (of all the 00 agents) and explains the huge ransom demand received. Bond flirts with Miss Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell) then jets off to the Caribbean, already following a hunch.

Once in the land of sun and surf Bond wastes no time making himself known to Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi), the #2 man in SPECTRE and obviously the criminal mastermind. The weak link in Largo's team is Domino Derval (Claudine Auger), his sexual plaything and sister to the real NATO airman (whom SPECTRE replaced). Bond concentrates on breaking down her reserve, with the assistance of trusty CIA agent Felix Leiter (Rik Von Nutter), while simultaneously baiting his adversary. Largo may have a shark-filled swimming pool and an army of hired goons but he can't kill Bond (to do so would instantly alert the Secret Service). It's a real dilemma and Bond expertly capitalises on it, whilst bedding every female enemy agent.

The forces of good and evil, distilled into individuals, once again do battle, with the usual last minute victory for "our" guys. However, the hook for such a film is not the destination but the style in which you get there, with Thunderball making a credible attempt at an exciting journey. A whole host of gadgets are abused by Bond, then thrown away, while Largo does a fine job of menacing the world. Some of the showpiece stunts are pretty good, such as the underwater skirmishes, but time hasn't treated the effects kindly.

The real problem is that Bond never seems to be in danger, his escape routes are always clearly telegraphed. Hence a respectable level of last-reel tension never builds up. Coupled with dialogue which is often despairingly naff and women who just can't help throwing themselves into Bond's embrace (this may have worked in the Sixties but it sure grates now), the result is a little silly. Anyway, a Bond movie where he never orders a vodka martini, and the big bad boss doesn't waste time explaining his plan, can't be up to much.

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