The 007 Files: Thunderball

Thunderball is the fourth 007 adventure, known most for its extensive use of underwater scenes. With the phenomenon that was its predecessor, Goldfinger, this film was granted the highest budget yet for a 007 film, by far: $9 million.

The picture was actually meant to be the 1st oo7 adventure, but a legal dispute over writing credits held that up. This is likely a good thing because had Thunderball been first, it would’ve only had a $1 million dollar budget. Thunderball is definitely the biggest 007 movie in scope, especially with all the underwater action. The lesser budget would have meant there would be no way it’d look as good as it does. In fact, the massive budget (for the mid 1960s) allows the film to still hold up remarkably well even today and I can’t even imagine how impressive it looked in 1965.

The pre-title credit sequence continues the Goldfinger started tradition of having little to do with the rest of the film, but it’s a good one. Bond attends the funeral of a nemesis, who of course turns out not to be dead in quite spectacular fashion. The baddie is dressed as a widower… yep, that’s right. It’s a man, baby! Of course, this sequence is also known for Bond rocking a jet pack and the return of that beloved Aston Martin DB5.

Thunderball returns to the evil shadowy organization known as SPECTRE, which gave us the villains in Dr. No and From Russia with Love. Just like in Russia, we glimpse the ultimate Bond baddie that would come to be known as Blofeld only from the neck down, as he gives orders to fellow criminals only known by their number. The chief villain here is #2, Emilio Largo, played by Adolfo Celi. He is the mastermind of a plan to steal two atomic bombs from NATO, holding the world ransom for $100 million dollars until SPECTRE gets their demands. The theft of the bombs involves the facial reconstruction of one of the NATO pilots, which we discover in an extended sequence where 007 discovers some of this while having some R&R in a health clinic. In that health clinic, Bond is nearly murdered when a baddie sets a spinal traction machine to its fastest setting. Of course, an eventual Bond love interest saves the day by shutting the machine down. Just four films into re-watching the franchise, I’m already struck by how many times 007 would be dead if not for the women in his life. Who says the Bond women are just window dressing? Not me.

Bond is, of course, tasked with the mission of finding the bombs, which means making friends with the evil Largo. This means making even better friends with his mistress, Domino, played by Claudine Auger. He also beds down another Largo employee Fiona Volpe, a memorable character portrayed by Luciana Paluzzi. Her death while dancing with 007 is a Bond classic.

Of course, before Bond is sent on his mission, he gets the visit from Q. His gadgets this time are a little funny in retrospect… a watch and a camera that work underwater!!! Of course, they do come in handy.

All this intrigue leads to a big showdown in the waters of the Bahamas, where the majority of Thunderball takes place. Largo also has a pretty bad-ass collection of sharks, even though they do not have frickin laser beams attached to their frickin heads, unfortunately.

The main villain and main Bond girl in Thunderball do not fully measure up to what we’ve seen before in three previous entries. And we also have a pretty by-the-numbers Bond theme from crooner Tom Jones. This isn’t “Goldfinger” by Shirley Bassey, but most aren’t.

However, what Thunderball lacks in those departments, it makes up for with this fact: it’s a damn exciting big-budget action spectacle. That final underwater showdown between Bond and allies and the SPECTRE villains is is truly impressive.

After taking a one movie break, director Terence Young is back at the helm for this one. This would be Young’s final 007 picture, but his contribution to helming Dr. No, From Russia with Love, and Thunderball makes him one of the most beloved and important figures in 007 film history.

Audiences responded with intense enthusiasm to the Thunderball release. It grossed an amazing $141 million worldwide, which would be equivalent to about $1 billion today. In other terms, Thunderball did Skyfall numbers upon its release. It earned $63 million dollars in the U.S. in 1965, placing it third after The Sound of Music and Doctor Zhivago. This picture is a celebration of the successes that the three previous entries allowed for its high $9 million budget. The makers of Thunderball reward the audience with a rousing and exciting action flick that is just a lot of good ol’ fashioned fun.

Here are the facts:

Film: Thunderball

U.S. Release Date: December 21, 1965 (December 29, 1965 in the UK)

Director: Terence Young

Screenplay: Richard Maibaum and John Hopkins

Bond: Sean Connery

Main Villain: Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi)

Main Bond Girl: Dominique “Domino” Derval (Claudine Auger)

Theme Song: “Thunderball” – performed by Tom Jones

Budget: $9 million

Worldwide Box Office: $141.2 million

My James blog series will return in “The 007 Files: You Only Live Twice”