Thunderball Review

Thunderball

Release Date: 23rd December 1965 - Australia

Production Companies

Eon Productions

Genre: Action

Rating: PG

Runtime: 130 minutes

Budget: $9,000,000

Box Office Gross: $141,200,000 (Worldwide)

Plot Summary

When Emilio Largo, SPECTRE's unscrupulous number two, hatches a sinister plot to hijack a Royal Air Force strategic bomber carrying two nuclear payloads, MI6 calls all its 00 agents to foil his scheme. British secret agent James Bond travels to sun-drenched Nassau, Bahamas, to investigate a fragmentary

trail of clues as a terrorist

organisation holds NATO

and the world under

international ransom.

However, a chance

meeting between the

beautiful Domino and

Largo brings a dangerous

secret into play. In the

shark-infested waters of

Nassau, what sunken

secrets lie hidden? In the

name of profit, can Bond

retrieve the warheads and

prevent a nuclear holocaust?

Cast

Sean Connery - James Bond

Adolfo Celi - Emilio Largo

Claudine Auger - Dominque 

"Domino" Derval

Luciana Paluzzi - Fiona Volpe

Rik Van Nutter - Felix Leiter

Bernard Lee - M

Guy Doleman - Count Lippe

Martine Beswick - Paula Caplan

Molly Peters - Patricia Fearing

Desmond Llewelyn - Q 

Lois Maxwell - Miss
Moneypenny

Phillip Locke - Vargas

Earl Cameron - Pinder
Paul Stassino - Palazzi
Rose Alba - Madame Boiter
Roland Culver - Foreign Secretary
George Pravda - Kutze
Michael Brennan - Janni
Reginald Beckwith - Kenniston
Anthony Dawson - Ernest Stavro Blofeld

(Body) (Uncredited)

Eric Pohlmann - Ernest Stavro Blofeld

(Voice) (Uncredited) 

Crew

Director - Terence Young

Based on the Novel "Thunderball" (Uncredited)/

Original Story - Ian Fleming

Based on an Original Story/Producer -

Kevin McClory

Based on an Original Story/Screenplay -

Jack Whittingham

Screenplay - Richard Maibaum

and John Hopkins

Associate Producer - Stanley Sopel (Uncredited)

Executive Producers - Albert R. Broccoli

and Harry Saltzman (Uncredited)

Production Designer - Ken Adam
Art Director - Peter Murton

Assistant Art Director - Michael White
Set Decorator/Chief Draughtsman - Peter Lamont
(Uncredited)

Director of Photography - Ted Moore

Production Supervisor - David Middlemas

Location Manager - Frank Ernst

Assistant Director - Gus Agosti
Second Unit Director (Uncredited)/Supervising

Editor - Peter R. Hunt

Underwater Director: Underwater Sequences -

Ricou Browning

Underwater Engineer: Underwater Sequences -

Jordan Klein Sr.
Action Sequences - Bob Simmons

Special Effects - John Stears

Optical Effects Supervisor - Cliff Culley (Uncredited)

Film Editor - Ernest Hosler
Dubbing Editors - Harry Miller and
Norman Wanstall

Sound Recordists - Maurice Askew

and Bert Ross

Main Title Designer - Maurice Binder

Composer: James Bond Theme - Monty Norman

Lyrics: "Thunderball" - Don Black

Singer: "Thunderball" - Tom Jones

Music - John Barry


Awards

1966 Academy Awards
Best Special Visual Effects - John Stears (Won)

Review
Not quite as perfect as the third Bond film, Goldfinger, THUNDERBALL is another exciting feature from the ongoing James Bond franchise. While it has some great moments, the things that made this movie worthwhile, besides Connery, include the evil female character Fiona Volpe, the theme song by Tom Jones, the underwater setting and the well-choreographed action scenes. The only problem is that these sequences get too long, which drags the film to an excessive length.

It takes a lot of steps to get this spy picture done. THUNDERBALL is a good impression of the world of Bond but also nearly as good as the previous instalment.

Star rating: (4/5) Good Movie

Back to Home