Thunderball (1965)
Guy Hamilton had found the perfect balance of camp and serious drama in Goldfinger so the idea of Terence Young once again returning to the directing position wasn't the most intriguing. Thunderball serves as his last outing with the James Bond franchise, SPECTRE is attempting their largest mission ever which includes hijacking two nuclear bombs and as always it is up to James Bond (Sean Connery) to stop them. I really hoped that Terence Young would either have seen the balance that Guy Hamilton had created in Goldfinger and would continue to use that balance or at the very least create something captivating and legitimately good like he did with From Russia with Love. Sadly Thunderball instead embraced the weak and confused pure camp that Young brought to Dr. No becoming easily the most boring and uninspired Bond film up to this point.
Where Dr. No was a mess of campiness and humour that failed to land at least it has a decent villain and plot that one could follow. Thunderball couldn't even achieve this. Giving credit where it is due, the overall Number One head of SPECTRE (Anthony Dawson) is iconic and memorable but he is only in a handful of scenes. The main villain of the film instead is Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi) who fails to give a compelling and fresh performance or character especially in contrast with a performance as iconic as Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe) from the film prior. The actual intentions of the villains are also just confusing and uninteresting. It is never super clear what their eventual goal is and the actual set of events present in the film feel extremely separated from the actual mission the villains are trying to accomplish. There was not a single point in the film where the plot actually felt engaging or interesting.
Sean Connery was also hugely disappointing here returning as James Bond, where before he has had a great level of charisma to him here it feels like he is just going through the motions like nearly every other aspect of the film. His character has also never been so unlikeable, not only through a modern context does his treatment of women continue to stick out like a sore thumb in the franchise but he continually makes bad decisions and struggles at every point in this film. Unlike previous outings, there are nearly any scenes where he comes off as legitimately cool or badass. Whether that was due to the plot or a phoned-in performance I hope that Connery can bounce back in future performances considering up to this point he was quite effective in this role.
The only real impressive part of the film is the editing by Peter Hunt and Ernest Hosler. This film is quite ambitious trying to have multiple underwater scenes, with the technology at the time where you could shoot underwater creating engaging action scenes required clever editing and where it never fully is engaging Hunt and Hosler do clearly try their best. The editing especially can be seen when the film has to show a pool of sharks as murderous and dangerous, considering the sharks are just calmly swimming around they have to piece together quick edits to actually make them look like a threat but I thought it was actually done quite nicely and effectively.
Sadly though past, the editing in no way is Thunderball a notable outing for James Bond. This is uninspired and boring with one of the worst plots and cast of characters this franchise has seen. Where Terence Young can be appreciated for starting this franchise and his work with From Russia With Love which remains a wonderful and engaging spy movie, the franchise is more than ready to move into a new directors hand who can push the series into a clearer direction when it comes to tone and atmosphere.
The only real impressive part of the film is the editing by Peter Hunt and Ernest Hosler. This film is quite ambitious trying to have multiple underwater scenes, with the technology at the time where you could shoot underwater creating engaging action scenes required clever editing and where it never fully is engaging Hunt and Hosler do clearly try their best. The editing especially can be seen when the film has to show a pool of sharks as murderous and dangerous, considering the sharks are just calmly swimming around they have to piece together quick edits to actually make them look like a threat but I thought it was actually done quite nicely and effectively.
Sadly though past, the editing in no way is Thunderball a notable outing for James Bond. This is uninspired and boring with one of the worst plots and cast of characters this franchise has seen. Where Terence Young can be appreciated for starting this franchise and his work with From Russia With Love which remains a wonderful and engaging spy movie, the franchise is more than ready to move into a new directors hand who can push the series into a clearer direction when it comes to tone and atmosphere.