Thunderball (1965)
Average Rating: 6.8/10
Reviews Counted: 39
Fresh: 33 | Rotten: 6
Lavishly rendered set pieces and Sean Connery's enduring charm make Thunderball a big, fun adventure, even if it doesn't quite measure up to the series' previous heights.
Average Rating: 6.4/10
Critic Reviews: 6
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 1
Lavishly rendered set pieces and Sean Connery's enduring charm make Thunderball a big, fun adventure, even if it doesn't quite measure up to the series' previous heights.
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Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 61,196
My Rating
Movie Info
Thunderball finds James Bond matching wits with the sinister espionage organization S.P.E.C.T.R.E, (which stands for Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion). This time, S.P.E.C.T.R.E. hijacks a NATO nuclear bomber, hiding the bombs under the ocean depths and threatening to detonate the weapons unless a ransom of 100,000,000 pounds is paid. The mastermind behind this scheme is international business executive Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi), who maintains a pool
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Cast
-
Sean Connery
James Bond -
Claudine Auger
Domino Derval -
Adolfo Celi
Emilio Largo -
Luciana Paluzzi
Fiona Volpe -
Rick van Nutter
Felix Leiter -
-
Martine Beswick
Paula Caplan -
Guy Doleman
Count Lippe -
Molly Peters
Patricia Fearing -
-
Lois Maxwell
Miss Moneypenny -
Roland Culver
Foreign Secretary -
Earl Cameron
Pinder -
Paul Stassino
Maj. Derval -
Rose Alba
Mme. Boitier -
Philip Locke
Vargas -
George Pravda
Kutze -
Michael Brennan
Janni -
Leonard Sachs
Group Captain -
Edward Underdown
Air Vice Marshall -
Reginald Beckwith
Kenniston -
Bill Cummings
Quist -
Bob Simmons
Jacques Boitier -
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All Critics (39) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (35) | Rotten (6) | DVD (26)
If Thunderball's gimmickry seems to overreach at times, Actor Connery gains assurance from film to film, by now delivers all his soppiest Jimcracks martini-dry.
Top CriticSlightly bloated Bond, with too much technology for my taste and a climactic slaughter that's a little too mindless to be much fun.
There's visible evidence that the reported $5.5 million budget was no mere publicity figure; it's posh all the way.
The fourth Bond, marking the point at which spectacular hardware began to dominate the series. Sleek and quite fun all the same.
Top CriticThe color is handsome. The scenery in the Bahamas is an irresistible lure. Even the violence is funny. That's the best I can say for a Bond film.
Classic 007 -- not the best picture in the long-running series, to be sure, but a more-than-worthwhile diversion for the action-loving escapist in us all.
The fourth, most commercially successful Bond to date, is known for its pre-credits sequences, underwater battles, and escalating number of violent deaths.
Connery's Bond was never better than this.
The ambition is evident throughout, but the execution just doesn't have enough energy to sustain it. THUNDERBALL is very sluggish.
Turgidly paced and overly reliant on less-than-thrilling underwater sequences, it's the "Moonraker" of Sean Connery's run -a misstep defined by heyday technology that the producers thought would look cool in the era but feels hopelessly stale today.
A particularly energetic, jaunty Bond adventure, the kind that is just plain fun to watch, in a perfectly relaxed and undemanding register.
Even James Bond can miss his mark.
Thunderball, the biggest, most lavish, and longest Bond film at that time, was the most popular of its day.
It was still fun despite its shortcomings.
Sean Connery's fourth Bond film, Thunderball, slips from the peak of From Russia with Love and Goldfinger, but still provides plenty of thrills of the brand only 007 can provide. [Blu-ray]
Relatively disappointing.
Formulaic it may be, but this is still classic 007 action, featuring great underwater sequences and a wicked femme fatale.
Sean Connery is fantastic
Certainly among the top five of all Bonds, and still socko.
Audience Reviews for Thunderball
Super Reviewer
Well, it doesn't take long before Bonds sets of for Nassau to foil this diabolical plot, and he's get a few beautiful woman to accompany him along the way.
This is a fun one. It's Connery (once again), and, while he's not as strong as he was in the previous two entries, he's still quite strong here, and very comfortable with the role. It's a solid film, but maybe one of my least favorite of the Connery era. It's not a bad movie, just not quite as exciting as some of the others. It's a bit goofy, but I think it really only adds to the charm.
Plus, we get some great underwater scenes, and those are quite well done, especially for the time period. Those are some of the best parts, but the cinematography in general is quite good, and there's some okay land sequences as well.
With a decent title theme from Tom Jones, a fine score in general, and an entertaining title sequence, this is a really fun movie, and a decent entry in the long running series. Give it a go.
Super Reviewer
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- Domino Derval: I'm glad I killed him.
- James Bond: You're glad?
-
- James Bond: I hope we didn't scare the fishes.
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- James Bond: It looks very difficult. [Shooting from the hip, Bond shatters his clay pigeon] Why no, it isn't, is it!
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- James Bond: Placing Fiona's body in a chair after she is shot on the dance floor] Do you mind if my friend sits this one out? She's just dead.
-
- Patricia Fearing: What exactly do you do?
- James Bond: Oh, I travel... a sort of licensed troubleshooter.
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- James Bond: He got the point.
Discussion Forum
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Latest News on Thunderball
April 12, 2013:
Digital Multiplex: Classic James Bond movies, The Hunger Games and MoreThis week in streaming, we've got enough James Bond movies to have yourself a little 007 marathon, a...
October 24, 2008:
Bonding with Bond, Day 4: ThunderballCommunity Manager RT-Ryan has never seen a single James Bond film, except for 2006's Casino Royale....
June 30, 2006:
ANOTHER "Thunderball" Remake??Movie producer Kevin McClory owns "some" of the rights to the old-school Bond classic...
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Foreign Titles
- Feuerball (DE)
- Operación Trueno (ES)
