Thunderball (1965)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Thunderball (1965) – T. Young

At a certain point during Thunderball (Sean Connery’s fourth outing as James Bond, immediately after Goldfinger, 1964), I started to realise that the film was not much different from a Hitchcockian chase film (such as The 39 Steps, Saboteur, or North by Northwest). It’s all about the editing and great credit goes to director Terence Young and his team – the plot is just a schematic frame to hang the action sequences on. So, Bond is after a MacGuffin -- some atomic warheads stolen by S.P.E.C.T.R.E. and its #2 man, Largo (Adolfo Celi, wearing an eyepatch) -- and he moves from setpiece to setpiece, action-sequence to action-sequence, with barely any character development or even deeper plot development, between them. By this fourth entry, the tropes of the series are already there – Bond suavely seduces all of the women (whether on the side of good or evil), he drops double entendres wherever he can (especially with M’s secretary Ms. Moneypenny), he is a lethal opponent in a fight (by fists, poker, speargun, whatever is available – including gadgets obtained from Q), and he swiftly draws conclusions about the location of the MacGuffin and carries out a plan to secure it.  This time, the action takes place in the Bahamas, so there are beautiful locales and a lot of underwater action (perhaps too much, as it is difficult to tell who is who in their scuba masks). It’s fun but basically hollow at its core.