If it doesn't live up to its illustrious predecessors...well, it still has Connery, and that's a plus in anybody's book.
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The viewer may be forgiven for feeling a little waterlogged after watching this fourth major installment in the Bond series. "Thunderball" has enough underwater scenes to keep a marlin happy. If it doesn't live up to its illustrious predecessors, "Dr. No," "From Russia With Love," and "Goldfinger," well, it still has Connery, and that's a plus in anybody's book.
Released in 1965, the film focuses on an issue of concern both then and now: The threat of nuclear weapons falling into the wrong hands. In "Thunderball," Emilio Largo, the number-two honcho in the world-crime syndicate SPECTRE, steals two atomic bombs and demands a fortune from the U.S. and Britain or he'll blow up a city. Bond stumbles onto the scheme while enjoying a stay at a posh health club. It doesn't take him long to head for the Caribbean and get knee deep, nay, over his head, in plots, double crosses, bad guys, and beautiful women.
As 007, Sean Connery was never more charming or self-assured as here, his double entendres flying as fast as ever. He also never looked better or more fit, just the right age for the man described by Bond author Ian Fleming as perennially thirty-five. But the film moves at a slower pace than the previous films and especially slow compared to the latest Brosnan vehicles, where something blows up every thirty seconds. Still, there is a beautifully choreographed underwater battle at the end that is well worth the wait.
Adolfo Celi as Largo is not as colorful (or evil) a villain as others in the series, despite his eye patch and swimming pool full of sharks; and the main female interest, Claudine Auger as Domino, is not as characterful as other Bond heroines. Bernard Lee plays "M," Lois Maxwell is the original Moneypenny, and, as always, Desmond Llewelyn plays "Q." Is there any actor who has played the same film role longer than Llewelyn? Lucianna Paluzzi (what a name!) plays Fiona, a SPECTRE hit man, er, woman, and this time out Rik Van Nutter plays the CIA agent, Felix Leiter.
The movie was directed by Terence Young, who had done the first two Bond films and made this one his last. Some eighteen years later, Connery would take his final bow as Bond in a remake of "Thunderball" called "Never Say Never Again." It seemed even longer the second time around.
Video:
The film's Panavision screen size has been largely preserved in a 2.13:1 aspect ratio, and the picture quality is mostly good. Definition is sharp and colors are bright and vivid. However, there is an above-average number of jagged and fluttering lines that may be distracting to people whose DVD players are unable to alleviate the condition.
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[release]3018[/release]