Thunderball (1965)

Director:

Terence Young

Writers:

Richard Maibaum (screenplay) and
John Hopkins (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

29 December 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

Tagline:

Look Out! Here Comes The Biggest Bond Of All! (British quad poster)

Plot:

James Bond heads to The Bahamas to recover two nuclear warheads stolen by SPECTRE agent Emilio Largo in an international extortion scheme.

Plot Keywords:

British | Bahamas | Extortion | Island | North Atlantic

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 3 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Sean Connery	...	James Bond
Claudine Auger	...	Domino Derval
Adolfo Celi	...	Emilio Largo
Luciana Paluzzi	...	Fiona Volpe
Rik Van Nutter	...	Felix Leiter
Guy Doleman	...	Count Lippe
Molly Peters	...	Patricia Fearing
Martine Beswick	...	Paula Caplan
Bernard Lee	...	M
Desmond Llewelyn	...	Q
Lois Maxwell	...	Miss Moneypenny
Roland Culver	...	Foreign Secretary
Earl Cameron	...	Pinder
Paul Stassino	...	Palazzi
Rose Alba	...	Madame Boitier

Also Known As:

Ian Fleming's Thunderball (UK) (complete title)
James Bond, Secret Agent (International: English title) (original script title)
Longitude 78 West (UK) (original script title)

Runtime:

130 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Iceland:12 | Singapore:PG | Germany:12 (DVD rating) | West Germany:16 (nf) | South Korea:15 | Brazil:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Canada:PG (video rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 (re-rating) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Peru:14 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG (video rating) (1987) | USA:Approved (original rating) | USA:GP (re-rating) (1970) | USA:PG (re-rating) (1994) | UK:A (original rating) (passed with cuts)

Filming Locations:

Anet, Eure-et-Loir, France

Company:

Eon Productions

Trivia:

The only individual James Bond movie to win a Visual or Special Effects Oscar (Academy Award). It was for Best Effects, Special Visual Effects and awarded to John Stears in 1966. Moonraker (1979) was nominated for Best Effects, Visual Effects in 1979 but did not win. Albert R. Broccoli received the Irving Thalberg Memorial Award from the Academy for producing the group of James Bond movies in 1982. Goldfinger (1964) won the first Bond Oscar for Sound Effects.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the Junkanoo (the parade) 007 is shot in the leg as he escapes. In the close-up shots of his legs there is a scarlet blood stain, in the long shots of him there is no blood pouring from either leg.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Madame LaPorte: The coffin - it has your initials: J.B.
Bond: At the moment, rather him than me.
Madame LaPorte: At least you've been saved the effort of removing him. Colonel Bouvar passed away in his sleep, so they tell me.
Bond: Mm...
Madame LaPorte: You sound disappointed you did not kill him yourself.
Bond: I am. Jacques Bouvar murdered two of my colleagues.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Men Behind the Mayhem: The Special Effects of James Bond (2000) (V)

Soundtrack:

Thunderball

So he strikes... like Thunderball

This is one of the TOP Bond movies of all time.

Sean Connery is at his peak of fame as 007 and his character of Bond works in an excellent way. His portrait of the suave sophisticated super spy is tough, ironical, glamorous and a bit cynical; physically he's in great shape. This is the definitive image of Bond -which entered the movie history.

"Thunderball" is the fourth 007 movie. Many things have changed since the small budgeted "Dr.No". Here we a have a larger than life adventure, full of gadgets and jokes.

When SPECTRE steals some nuclear weapons Bond has to investigate everywhere -also under the sea- to avoid World War 3. He does it, as usual, facing a spiteful villain -Adolfo Celi- and a femme fatale -Luciana Paluzzi-. The prize for his effort is Domino -Claudine Auger-.

The film is still exciting... 40 years after its release we always wonder how underwater scenes are so accurate. The film is a mix of revolutionary technology, British humor, sex and gorgeous women. In 1965 it was unbelievable to see such films. "Thunderball" in the Sixties was like "Matrix" in 2000, maybe with a stronger impact than the latter on audiences, popular culture and fashion.

"Thunderball" marks the peak of Bondmania in the Sixties and the beginning of the gadget era for 007 -although for someone the decline of the serious James Bond begins here...