Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Bond matures gracefully, but could do with a trim, 19 Aug 2007
It is hardly possible to imagine an actor inject so much charisma into a role as Connery does here as Bond in Thunderball. Truth be told, it is really the glue that holds a movie together that otherwise might look rather frayed round the edges, despite the spectacularly tasty ingredients on display.
So what is it about? SPECTRE, Bond's arch enemies, have hatched a plan to seize two nuclear warheads from the British by capturing a Vulcan bomber on a training mission. Then, of course, a diabolical megalomaniac asks for 100 million dollars while stroking his cat. All the double-0's are brought in to get put on the case - but Bond has a lead - and of course it involves seducing a beautiful woman, in an exotic location (in this case, the ex-Miss France Claudine Auger, in Nassau, Bahamas). Can Bond seduce her in time to find the bombs before they are used?
As a general rule, the better the Bond villain, the better the Bond movie - and so it proves in this case. Adolfo Celi plays the villain efficiently enough, without being truly inspired. He comes across as a well paid hired hand, rather than an egomaniacal adversary. The villainess, on the other hand, the sexy redhead played by Luciana Paluzzi, comes across as a much more sophisticated foil for Bond's charms and wit, with a genuine sense of menace.
Another plus for the movie is the photography. On every level it is superior to its predecessors - filmed for the first time in widescreen, Ken Adams outlandish sets have room to breathe for the first time, and the groundbreaking underwater photography is surprisingly (forgive me) fluid and clear. In fact, the underwater scenes are the true draw of the movie, adding a new dimension to Bond's skills - however, they also prove to be the movies drawback, as they are drawn out far too long in the climactic underwater battle. The movie is going swimmingly though (apologies again..) until the very final scene on board the yacht which jettisons its cocoon to become a hydrofoil. This has been so ludicrously speeded up for dramatic effect, as to do exactly the opposite, and spoil the moment.
The Ultimate Edition has the usual improved picture, and sound. The sound in particular has been given better depth without anything too tricksy and obvious with surround effects. For extras, as usual the Special Edition extras are all here, including the superb documentary charting the troubled history of the production. In addition, there is an abundance of archive material which will interest the die-hards...vintage promotional featurettes and an NBC hour long special on Bond up to this point. An interesting addition is some home movie footage from the set designer Ken Adams talking about the location shooting, and the fun that went on behind the cameras.
So to summarise, with a bit of trimming and more careful use of speeded up action scenes, this could have been a 5 star classic, as it is, it is still a very respectable and enjoyable 4 star entry into the Bond franchise, with Connery at his peak. This edition is certainly the way to see it.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This Is Connery At His Peak!, 26 Aug 2006
Thunderball was released at the height of Bondmania.Just like the previous Bond film Goldfinger, Sean Connery is again on top form, he was really looking the part. The pre credits sequence has never really been bettered for originality and the films plot is exciting. Under the guidence of it's number two operative, Emilio Largo, Spectre hijacks two atomic bombs from a British vulcan aircraft during a NATO training excercise off the coast of Nassau. An ultimatum is delivered to the prime minister of England threatening to use the bombs to destroy a major city in Britain or the USA unless a exorbitant ransom is paid. James Bond must find the bombs before it is too late! This is great viewing. As with all of the early James Bond films there are some memorable villains with Adolfo Celi playing Largo brilliantly and Luciana Paluzzi as Fiona Volpe was the first main Bond bad girl. Gadgets were starting to become a regular accurrance with the jet pack, the underwater breathing device, the geiger watch, the under water camera, the underwater propulsion unit and the radio active pill and mini flare device. Fantastic! Thunderball has been criticised for the underwater scenes being too long, I'd have to disagree with this. John Barry's brilliant score for the film keeps the underwater action exciting and for the times the underwater scenes were incredible. The film has also been criticised for being too long, I'd also have to disagree with this as well because in my opinion the longer the Bond the better.Connery would never be better again! You get the same special features on disc 2 as you got with the 2003 special edition release PLUS a lot more so I would reccomend this dvd to any Bond fan and film lovers!
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
GREAT PICTURE QUALITY DUMB MENUS!, 3 Aug 2006
Thunderball is the Ultimate James Bond flick. Terence Young has thought of everything when making this film and it works.
I was very Dissapointed in the Ultimate Edition DVD menus as you can't skip them nor is it easy to understand why most features are placed? The really unwanted feature is Mission Dossier in the Special Edition disc as it serves no purpose.
The previous Bond DVD's has some cleverly designed menus and this one has the same boring menus on every film(GoldenEye,Tomorrow Never Dies).
The picture quality is far superior to the previous DVD but I feel the R1 discs will have even better colours than this film as NTSC is a higher grade format.
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