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Thunderball is the fourth film in the EON James Bond
series of films and stars Sean Connery as James Bond. The
film co-stars Claudine Auger, Adolfo Celi, Luciana Paluzzi,
Rik Van Nutter, Desmond Llewelyn, and Bernard Lee. ***
After a one-film absence, the SPECTRE terrorist organization
is at it again. Blofeld, the man in charge of this deadly
organization, has hatched a deadly new scheme – hijacking
nuclear weapons from NATO aircraft, and holding the world
hostage. He leaves this scheme in the hands of Emilio Largo,
his number two man. Bond heads down into the islands to
hunt for Largo – in the process befriending his mistress
and meeting a deadly female SPECTRE agent that, unlike past
Bond girls, actually is immune to his seduction techniques.
It’s up to Bond to endure numerous enemy attacks and underwater
battles as he attempts to hunt down the nuclear warheads
and save the world from Largo’s scheme. ***
This was the third and final Bond film for director
Terence Young, who previously directed the series first
two entries. His movies are amongst the best in the series,
and Thunderball proves to be no exception. While I wouldn’t
call this my favorite Connery Bond, it’s better than most
other films in the series. ***
Once again, the series assembles a great cast. In addition
to the series regulars, we have Luciana Paluzzi brilliantly
playing Fiona Volpe, the deadly female SPECTRE agent, and
Adolfo Celi as Emilio Largo, a man with the terror group
who is second only to Blofeld himself. As with most Bond
films, the cinematography is beautiful, and the plot and
script/storyline gripping. ***
I have some minor criticisms of the film. First and
foremost, the underwater sequences, including the big battles,
are overemphasized and overdone. It’s almost like a “gimmick”
the crew didn’t want to stop showing off, so they kept making
the scenes and making them longer. The other is the run
time. One of my major complaints with James Bond films (ones
after You Only Live Twice in particular) is that they run
too long. Thunderball could have been trimmed by about half
an hour, and still been a great film. Still, it’s excellent
and my criticisms are only minor. ***
Once again, the film gets a John Barry score. This
time around, the title song is sung by legendary crooner
Tom Jones. And his song is one of the most memo rable of
the many Bond opening credit themes. Barry’s score suits
the film perfectly, no matter what the scene may call for.
***
Thunderball isn’t my favorite James Bond film, but as
a Connery-era film with Terence Young in the director’s
chair, it’s still a masterpiece. Characters, actors, exotic
locales, it all comes together and the end result is one
hell of a movie. 4 stars out of 5. --- Image and Sound:Several
years ago, the James Bond movies (which had seen a ton of
home video releases already) underwent an extensive, frame-by-frame
restoration. A good deal of print damage and dirt were removed
in an effort that took several years to complete. ***
The end result is, to put it simply, well worth it.
***
Lowry Digital Images knows how to restore movies. Their
restoration of the James Bond back catalogue is, hands down,
the greatest restoration job this reviewer has EVER seen.
This film is no exception. They have taken movies, that
are in some cases, nearly half a century old, and made them
look as good as they day when they premiered in theatres,
if not better. The image is clear throughout, without any
sort of issue. From what I can tell, no DNR was used in
these transfers, and there is a staggering amount of detain
not noticeable in any standard-def release of the movie.
Lowry did one hell of a job restoring this franchise. ***
As if the image restoration wasn’t enough, the films
now have lossless audio tracks. If you’ve got a speaker
set, you’ll be able to experience these films (both audio
and visual-wise) like you never have before. ---
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