We've reached the height of Bond-mania where lines outside the theater were wrapped around the block as everyone wanted to be a part of this thrilling franchise. When adjusted for inflation, Thunderball still holds the record for highest domestic box office. Here is what makes 007's fourth mission riveting.
1. We finally get to see the actor playing James Bond do the gun barrel sequence. Prior to this movie it was stuntman Bob Simmons.
2. The hand-to-hand fight in the pre-title sequence is exciting, even if the sped-up editing is a little jarring. Also, the jet pack is wonderful, but watching our hero have to put the helmet on prior to takeoff does lessen the thrill factor a bit.
3. The title sequence in Thunderball is what all later title sequences are copying. With the prior movies doing some interesting visuals on the screen, it is Thunderball that brings us the naked women silhouette motif. Maurice Binder had certainly worked in the film industry prior to James Bond, but the sequence in this movie is what made him famous among cinephiles.
4. Fiona Volpe is a knockout. Every scene she's in commands the viewers attention be on her. She steals every moment.
5. We will talk about this a little later, but for now I will just briefly say the underwater filming is exquisite. It gets a little tedious after so long, but in short samples it really is a marvel to watch.
6. I love it when James Bond goads the villain in conversation by purposefully hinting at things. In this film Bond does it during the gambling scene by mentioning SPECTRE to Largo, but passes it off as meaning something else. I also like that he bests Largo in every hand at chemin de fer.
7. Q in the field! I'm not sure which I like more, scenes in Q's lab where we get to see the different gadgets his team is working on or Q being annoyed at having to be in the field. I probably just like seeing Q in general. He is always a delight.
8. "That gun. Looks more fitting for a woman." "You know much about guns, Mr. Bond." "No. I know a little about women."
9. The Palmyra night raid is a forgotten, but enjoyable, sequence. It shows Bond having to combine stealth as a spy and action when things go wrong. As the series goes on we don't get a ton of actual spying in this spy franchise, so it is always a pleasant sight when it happens.
10. The Kiss Kiss Club is a reference to what was supposed to be the main theme song, titled Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. It was originally recorded by Shirley Bassey but due to syncing issues in the title sequence they needed a longer version and Bassey was no longer available. So they got Dionne Warwick to re-record it. I love Bassey's performance, but actually prefer Warwick's version. The story goes that the producers didn't want a song that didn't have the name of the film in the lyrics so they ended up scrapping the whole thing and going with Tom Jones' title song we now know. Barry was going to place the Warwick version of the song at the end of the film during the credits, but Bassey ended up suing and audiences missed out entirely.
11. The technical work and behind-the-scenes information regarding the underwater battle sequence between Largo's men and the U.S. coast guard is actually more interesting than what we see on the screen, but that's coming from someone who has seen Thunderball at least 20 times. By the time we reach this fight we've seen so much underwater filming it just sort of drags on, but when the film was originally released this kind of thing was revolutionary.
12. Ignoring the rear projection video, the last fight between Bond and Largo's men on the Disco Volante is pretty great. It definitely reminds me of the train fight in From Russia with Love, but tweaks it with more space and more enemies.
13. The balloon-airplane rescue has constantly been looked at with humor and sideways glances, but then Christopher Nolan does it for Batman in The Dark Knight and nobody bats an eye. You just remember, James Bond came up with this crazy exit strategy first.
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