Thunderball (1965)

James Bond heads to the Bahamas to recover two nuclear warheads stolen by S.P.E.C.T.R.E. Agent Emilio Largo in an international extortion scheme.

Director:

Terence Young

Writers:

Richard Maibaum (screenplay by), John Hopkins (screenplay by)

Stars:

Sean Connery, Claudine Auger, Adolfo Celi

Won 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sean Connery	...	James Bond
Claudine Auger	...	Domino
Adolfo Celi	...	Largo
Luciana Paluzzi	...	Fiona
Rik Van Nutter	...	Felix Leiter
Guy Doleman	...	Count Lippe
Molly Peters	...	Patricia
Martine Beswick	...	Paula
Bernard Lee	...	'M'
Desmond Llewelyn	...	'Q'
Lois Maxwell	...	Moneypenny
Roland Culver	...	Foreign Secretary
Earl Cameron	...	Pinder
Paul Stassino	...	Palazzi
Rose Alba	...	Madame Boitier

Storyline

James Bond continues on his fourth mission, with his aim to recover 2 stolen warheads. They've been taken by the SPECTRE organisation, and the world's held hostage as Bond heads to Nassau, Bahamas. Here, he meets Domino and is forced into a thrilling confrontation with SPECTRE agent Emil Largo on-board his boat, the Disco Volante.

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Plot Keywords:

underwater battle | official james bond series | nassau | femme fatale | 007 | 

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Taglines:

Look Out!...Remember there is only one James Bond and Thunderball's the Biggest of them All! (Australian theatrical daybill poster)

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The many underwater scenes stem from Kevin McClory's interest in diving.

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Goofs

Her let foot IS the one injured in the water. She pulls it up behind her right one to check for the spine.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Madame LaPorte: The coffin - it has your initials: J.B.
Bond: At the moment, rather him than me.
Madame LaPorte: At least you've been saved the effort of removing him. Colonel Bouvar passed away in his sleep, so they tell me.
Bond: Mm...
Madame LaPorte: You sound disappointed you did not kill him yourself.
Bond: I am. Jacques Bouvar murdered two of my colleagues.

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Alternate Versions

Broadcasts on ABC in the mid-1970s featured a censored version of the gunbarrel opening that omitted all footage of Connery walking across the screen and firing. Instead, all viewers saw were the initial dots moving across the screen, then a cut to the start of the pre-credits sequence.

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Connections

Referenced in Behind the Movie: No Time to Die (2020)

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Soundtracks

James Bond Theme
Music by Monty Norman

User Reviews

We've got ourselves a Broken-Arrow, James Bond style

Thunderball is the fourth entry in the ever ongoing James Bond franchise and in my opinion one of the better installments. This film features the secret services arch-enemy SPECTRE and I must say that in this episode of James Bond adventures it works better than in From Russia with Love. What I liked about this film, was that there were a lot of good one-liners from Connery, that there weren't too many goofy stunts / henchmen / gadgets and that the film was able to maintain exciting throughout. I've read quite a few comments stating that the underwater scenes dragged on too long, but I must say that I felt even that bit to be quite entertaining and thrilling. I actually have only one criticism and that regards the ending. I felt that the whole out-of-control boat thing was really stupid. I mean I understand that they tried to make it look spectacular, but in using the same technique they used to buff up the fistfights, they made it look cheesy and cheap. Luckily this is just one short moment in the film and the film is not ruined by something as a dreadful character or a bad actor. All in all this is one of the better Bond films and well worth watching if one sets out for 2 hours of pure adventurous entertainment with a standard-formula story.

7 out of 10

Details

Official Sites:

MGM [United States]

Country:

UK

Language:

English French

Release Date:

22 December 1965 (USA)

Also Known As:

Thunderball

Filming Locations:

Atlantis Hotel, Bahamas

Box Office

Budget:

$9,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$63,595,658

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$63,595,701

Company Credits

Production Co:

Eon Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1