Thunderball (1965)
Terence Young
Bond, James Bond: Sean Connery
Arch Rival: Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi)
Bond Girl: Domino Derval (Claudine Auger)

Thunderball (1965)

Thunderball (1965)

The fourth offering in the so far successful Bond series, Thunderball,  takes the English agent into the island country of Nassau. The film starts with Angelo, a double who replaces the murdered French pilot Derval, and takes the responsibility of transporting nuclear bombs during a training session . He  tranquilizes the unsuspecting flight crew and crashes the plane into the ocean. Emilio Largo, or Number 2 in the infamous SPECTRE organisation, kills Angelo for protesting and takes away the bombs. Bond, meanwhile, meets Domino in Nassau, who happens to be the Largo’s mistress and tells her the truth about her brother Derval. She helps Bond in going into largo’s lair undercover which reveals Largo’s plans of blowing up Miami. With the help of long tiem CIA friend Felix Leiter, Bond manages to put down largo’s underwater minions and disarm most of the bombs. But Largo’s not down yet…

Undoubtedly the weakest link in the early Bond films, Thunderball is too long, too indulgent and tries too much. The only highlight of the film remains the fantastic underwater sequences that are shot masterfully. Perhaps, the makers got too carried away by the triple success and wanted to take it to a whole new level. Surprisingly remade as an unofficial Bond movie Never Say Never Again (1983) with Connery reprising his role for one last time.