Following the hijacking of an ultra-modern NATO military
aircraft and its nuclear arsenal by the international terrorist organization
SPECTRE, the British government was informed that this group demanded a ransom
within the next seven days, otherwise a major American or British city would
meet annihilation. Working with whatever leads it had, MI6 sent agent 007 to
the Bahamas, where the sister of the NATO pilot was residing.
The girl in question, Domino Derval, lived with a member of
the local wealthy elite, a certain Emilio Largo. Through his encounters with
Derval, 007 grew suspicious of Largo’s true nature. Following his investigative
instincts, it became apparent that Largo was in fact a member of SPECTRE, and a
high ranking officer at that. Getting to him, however, was not easy, for Largo
also believed Bond to be an enemy as well, and was soon dispatching his
minions, most notably a SPECTRE assassin, Fiona Volpe.
After a 1 film hiatus, Terence Young returns for one last
crap at the whip with Thunderball, a
film which tries its best to upstage
Goldfinger in a game of one-upmanship. The stakes are far higher this
around, with U.S. and British governments holding their collective breaths as
007 and company attempt to unravel a plot which could see an American or
British metropolitan area blown to smithereens. This is no race for a decoding
machine or the contamination of gold bullion. SPECTRE are upping their game
considerably this time around, pulling out all the stops in their never ending
quest for....for? Wealth? Political influence on the international stage? Who
knows, probably a little bit of both. Maybe they want some coupons for free Big
Macs at McDonald’s. At this point, SPECTRE’s ‘raison d’être’ is not to be
questioned. They are an organized hierarchical incarnation of evil, with tons
of liquidity to fund their dastardly operations. If you’re seriously going to
spend time figuring out how the intricacies of how they operate and how such a
gig is feasible, sorry, but check out another marathon thread.
After two films in which Bond travelled from one place to
the next in rapid succession, I thought it interesting that 007 is essentially
sent to the Bahamas and stays there for about 80% of the movie. Of course, one
of the reasons behind Bond’s popularity is his privilege of experiencing his
many adventures in ‘exotic’ locations, some of which are not easily accessible
for just anybody. Travel was not as prevalent back in the early 1960s, Youtube,
which allows all of us to intake snippets of life from around the glove, didn’t
exist and information didn’t travel as fast. The filmmakers on the Bond films
shot in location back in the day, and therefore seeing a Bond film at the
cinema was a little bit like going on a trip with 007 himself. This places
Thunderball in a strange situation. After all, the majority of the plot
transpires in the Bahamas (Nassau, if I remember). Exotic? Yes, in a sense, but
also very much of a tourist resort. It isn’t as if Bond interacts with many
locals in this instalment, which is absolutely the case with the previous
films. For this reason, one may be forgiven for thinking Thunderball to be
somewhat of a downgrade when compared with Goldfinger
(which many people do, even though they still tend to look upon this film
favourably). There is a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ which is lacking here in
terms of local culture, exploration and discovery. However, I’d argue that it
isn’t all bad. Instead rushing around all over the place, we get to see the
mission develop in a single place, hence the audience can grow accustomed to
the surroundings. There is also a tongue in cheek aspect to having such
gargantuan stakes being fought for at a place where a bunch of privilege, rich
white people hang out 365 days a year. The place is beautiful, relaxing, and
probably makes for a fantastic one week getaway, from underneath this veneer of
tranquility and fun rests an approaching firestorm storm which will destroy the
very place the vacationers have come from. I may be reading too much into all
of this, but I think the single exotic location of Thunderball has its fair
share of positives.
I really like the pacing of the Terence Young Bond films.
The director never wants to rush things along, preferring to have 007 make
contact with the necessary allies and foes, develop those partnerships and
antagonisms in little skirmishes, some clues here and there being dropped as
the movie trots along, with everything culminating in a massive climax of
explosions and violence. If anything, I’d say Young gave us a trilogy of ‘slow
burn’ Bond adventures, where the real spectacular moments occur in the last
third of the films, the previous two reserved primarily for little games of cat
and mouse. The rivalry between 007 (Connery) and Largo (Adolfo Celi) builds at
a solid pace, with some witty banter being thrown between the two, but always
with a clear underlying element of animosity. It’s like those standoffs we’ve
all seen in our favourite westerns, only this time the two foes are not just
doing it with their gazes, but with one liners and poorly camouflaged intensity.
Speaking of Largo and the actor who plays him, how’s that for a villain in a
movie which occurs in the Caribbean? I mean, the guy has an eye patch? He helps
SPECTRE steal hijack a NATO jet and loot its atomic warheads...Eye patch,
stealing, Bahamas, get it? On the surface it all sounds rather silly, but
personally I think it works fairly well. 007 versus the filthy pirate who
pretended to be upper class elite. Much
like with Gert Frobe in Goldfinger, Celi was actually dubbed for the final cut
of the film, so it’s a little difficult to assess the actor’s performance, but
he does have a pretty imposing presence.
Which brings us of course to Domino Derval, played by French
model and actress Claudine Auger. Of all the Bond girls, she’s one of my
favourites. I think her character has a solid arc, which isn’t something that
we can safely say about many of the Bond girls. At first we only know her as
the super hot sister of some NATO pilot who got jacked. We learn that she is
somewhat of a prisoner of Largo’s clutches, but that she does have a way about
her which belies any initial impression of a docile little girl. There is a bit
of playfulness and feistiness about her. She’s harder to get at than one would think,
and upon learning of her brother’s murder, she doesn’t want Bond to vanquish
Largo. Instead, she vows to dispatch of the villain herself, even though she
will need Bond’s help. I’d have a hard time arguing that Domino does a heck of
a lot in the movie, but I think the script and direction treat her character
with enough respect for he to be memorable. I also love the fact that, in the
end, she does...well, I won’t give it away, but the end of her story is quite
fitting.
No discussion of Thunderball
can be complete without mention of the climax, which is easily one of may
favourites in the series. Most of it takes place underwater, which slows down
the pace of the action significantly, but also makes for quite the spectacle. I
really feel like the experience allows the viewer to appreciate and revel in
all the great little one-on-one fights taking place. There is also something
that I find especially uncomfortable about dying underwater, so seeing a bunch
of guys get harpooned in the chest or face underwater makes for a rather
chilling experience. The cinematography and editing for the ballet of water and
blood is very impressive, and makes for a decidedly different climax in a Bond
(we honestly don’t see anything quite like this for the remainder of the
series). I enjoy every second of this final battle whenever I watch, and, as
some of you can imagine, I’ve it plenty of times already.
Wait a minute now. Remember how in my review of Goldfinger review I shared a slight
qualm regarding how the film treated Pussy Galore’s change of heart and how I
thought the filmmakers made up for it in Thunderball?
I’m speaking of course of the bedroom scene between Bond and the unbelievably
sexy Fiona Volpe. Shortly after sleeping together, Fiona’s goons surprise Bond
and take him hostage. She sort of looks at him in a dastardly way and taunts
Bond and his womanizing ways, laughing at how 007 always believes he can get
evil girls to turn to the side of light by screwing them. Bond, visibly
disappointed, tries to cover up by saying what he did was for Queen and
country. Finally admitting that he’s lost this one battle, 007 shrugs ‘Well,
you can’t win them all.’ Great stuff.
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