Thunderball (1965)

 

Ah yes, James Bond returns to the Bahamas for a fun, albeit rather forgettable entry in the long standing series. It does have its merits, though.

A British Vulcan bomber is stolen and crashed near the Bahamas, with two nuclear missiles on board. This is all a plot by Spectre agent Emilio Largo, so the organisation can extort the British and American government for roughly 100 million pounds. But of course our intrepid hero James Bond suspects something and goes to Nassau on a hunch. 

This hunch has to do with the beautiful sister of the Vulcan pilot François Derval, even though the real Derval was switched out for a doppelganger. Bond of course hopes to get to Largo through Domino (the girl), as he soon finds out that Largo is of course the instigator of this plot. 

That was by no means a spoiler, as during the first few minutes of the film (intro sequence not included), Largo talks about his plan in detail during a gathering of Spectre agents. You all know that the evildoers explaining their deeds in great detail would always remain a staple of the franchise, even if they eventually made it so they would spill the beans to Bond himself instead of this more elegant dose of exposition. 

'Thunderball' is not really the best Bond, because the story is rather perfunctory. There are no great reveals, no extravagant gadgets to speak of and the climax is fun, but nothing memorable. That is actually the biggest problem here: the villains are fairly weak. Adolfo Celi as Largo looks the part, but he doesn't get to do that much of interest. So he's got a pool filled with sharks, so what? 

That is of course just so there can be no doubt the guy is evil. 

Connery as Bond is fun as usual, but you get the sense that he is starting to phone it in a little. Heck, some of his early interactions in the sanatorium are downright rape-y and will make you feel a little uneasy. 

This film always stayed with me for two reasons: Claudine Auger as Domino and Luciana Paluzzi as Fiona Volpe. The first because she is not only a beautiful woman nor the damsel in distress. Hell, Domino is actually the one who takes care of Largo.

Okay, so that was a spoiler.

The second because Paluzzi is very striking (a fiery redhead), and she is one of those female villains that can easily stand up to Bond and she does so with gusto. I always found her to be one of the more intriguing villains and it's always a bit if a shame that she is done away with. I know it wasn't really an idea back then, but she could have been a fun recurring character. Alas, it was not meant to be. 

The underwater sequences are cool to look at, but ultimately take up too much of the film's runtime and all in all, nothing really noteworthy happens. Maybe the stakes weren't high enough, maybe the script wasn't thrilling enough: who knows? As it stands, it's still a fun entry, but far from the best or the most enjoyable.