Action, violence, sex, guns, bikinis, the Bahamas, beautiful women. All of this and more appeared in Thunderball, the fourth installment of the James Bond series.
This time around, James Bond, a.k.a. Agent 007, travels to the Bahamas in pursuit of two NATO nuclear bombs, which were stolen by SPECTRE. The world is held to ransom for £100 million (pounds) in diamonds, in exchange for not destroying an unspecified major city in either England or the United States. Upon request, Bond is sent to Nassau, Bahamas to try and foil SPECTRE’s plans.
Shortly after arriving in Nassau, Bond meets Domino while scuba diving. Like any Bond girl, Domino is ridiculously attractive and has a killer bikini body. She also turns out to be the mistress of Emilio Largo (SPECTRE Agent No. 2), the evil, eye-patch wearing villain of the film. Bond is drawn to Domino not only by her beauty, but also because of her connection to the case, or so he claims. Exploiting this connection, Bond meets Largo on several occasions. The two of them recognize each other as enemies, but instead of clashing immediately, they pretend to be friendly in an attempt to figure out each other’s plans. Largo sends out henchmen to kill Bond, but these attempts are unsuccessful.
Throughout the movie Bond and Domino become very close, so much to the point that Bond tells her what he is really doing in Nassau and that her brother, a French NATO pilot, was killed by Largo’s men. Domino, distraught from this terrible news, agrees to help Bond by telling him everything she knows about Largo’s plans. Shortly after, Bond disguises himself as one of Largo’s henchmen and he finds out where the nuclear weapons are hidden before blowing his cover. Narrowly escaping Largo and his entourage, Bond is rescued by his friend Felix, a CIA officer who then orders the U.S. Coast Guard to help stop Largo.
For the next ten minutes of the film, there is an epic underwater battle between SPECTRE and the U.S. troops, complete with guys getting harpooned, underwater fist fights and knife fights, and air tubes being ripped out leading to suffocation. The scene might seem dated now, but for the ‘60s this was unbelievable! Eventually, the surviving SPECTRE henchmen surrender, however Largo manages to escape to his boat which still has one bomb aboard. Bond follows him and sneaks on to the boat where he dukes it out with Largo. Surprisingly, Largo overpowers Bond and is about to shoot him when Domino comes to his rescue by shooting Largo in the back with a spear. With the boat speeding towards a group of rocks, Bond and Domino jump off just in time before it crashes and explodes. The film ends like any other 007 film; Bond gets the girl. The two lovers seem destined to be together forever.... or at least until the next movie.
Apart from the great action scenes and the beautiful women which are expected in a James Bond film, the dialogue and the smoothness that Sean Connery brings in this film are just brilliant.
For example... In one scene, Bond goes to a health clinic where he gets a massage from a physiotherapist named Patricia Fearing, whom he sleeps with shortly after of-course. She puts Bond on a spinal traction machine and sets it to the normal speed. Bond relaxes and shuts his eyes for a moment before a man working for SPECTRE comes in and sets the machine to its top speed, almost killing Bond! Fortunately, Fearing comes in and stops the machine. Here’s where the smoothness comes in. Fearing is frantic unlike Bond who after being asked if he is alright responds with, “I must be six inches taller.” He never seems to lose his cool even in the most hostile situations. Yet another reason why James Bond is an idol of mine.
The writing for most of the films in the James Bond series is quite good, however, there’s just something about Sean Connery that puts him ahead of the other Bonds. It must be his accent. Lets take a look at some of the clever dialogue.
Bond: That gun looks more fitting for a woman.
Largo: Do you know much about guns, Mr. Bond?
Bond: No, I know a little about women.
There are also many sexual references in the dialogue which are often witty and clever.
Bond: My dear uncooperative Domino.
Domino: How do you know that? How do you know my friends call me Domino?
Bond: It’s on the bracelet on your ankle.
Domino: What sharp little eyes you’ve got.
Bond: Wait ‘til you get to my teeth.
And...
Fiona: You look pale Mr. Bond, I hope I didn’t frighten you.
Bond: Well you see I’ve always been a nervous passenger.
Fiona: Some men don’t like to be driven.
Bond: No, some men just don’t like to be taken for a ride.
Overall, Thunderball is a great movie and in my opinion, one of the best Bond films in the series. If you like action, beautiful women, suspense and badass underwater fight scenes, this movie is for you.
