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 two stolen warheads. They have been taken by the evil S.P.E.C.T.R.E. organization. The world is held hostage and Bond heads to Nassau, The Bahamas. Here, he meets the beautiful Domino and is forced into a thrilling confrontation with S.P.E.C.T.R.E. Agent Emilio Largo on-board his boat, the Disco Volante. Will 007 prevent the killing of millions of innocent victims?

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Plot Keywords:

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

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Taglines:

Look Up! Look Down! Look Out! Here Comes The Biggest Bond Of All! ["Look" is formed from the 007 logo]

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally, Bond was to escape from Volpe, after bedding her, by escaping down his hotel corridor, dressed in costume for the Junkanoo. He was to pick up a cookstove from a nearby waiters trolley and use this is as a weapon, although Volpe did manage to get a shot at him, which would have led into the Junkanoo sequence.

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Goofs

When the Royal Air Force officer is briefing the Double-Ohs about the Vulcan bomber's flying range using the large map on the wall, a close look at the United States portion of the map reveals that the map is not drawn correctly. The southeastern part of the states from Florida to about Virginia and across the Gulf states (Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and the southern part of Texas), as well as much of Mexico, are inexplicably covered by water.

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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

A scene shot but not used featured Domino showing around Bond on the Disco Volante. According to the documentary on the DVD special edition, the footage is presumably lost.

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Connections

Referenced in Outside Xtra: 7 Acronyms So Painful They Need an Ice Pack: Commenter Edition (2017)

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Soundtracks

Thunderball
Music by John Barry
Lyrics by Don Black
Performed by Tom Jones

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:

$63,595,658

Company Credits

Production Co:

Eon Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1