Thunderball is the fourth Bond film in the franchise. And while it was met positively by critics when it first came out, there does seem like something is missing throughout the entire film. Like it’s on the tip of everyone’s tongue, and nobody can figure it out, but everybody keeps looking around, wondering what is missing from the movie that nobody can quite put their finger on….
And I don’t even mean that metaphorically. There’s a chase scene where they’re chasing Bond through a parade, and they’re constantly ducking through the crowd, and popping up and looking around, and ducking back down and slinking away again. It just makes you think in the back of your mind, what are you missing from this movie that’s making you look so desperately around that parade route?
And there are some scenes that just go on way too long. The aforementioned parade chase scene being one of them. That really dragged on and took a real toll on the pace of the movie. And the underwater scenes near the end were almost limitless. Those scenes could have been cut in half and they still would have been long enough to make the entire sequence longer than it needed to be.
Aside from those things, I like the story. It’s a good plot, bringing SPECTRE back into it. That’s actually a good joke. When Bond meets Largo at the casino, he keeps using the word “spectre” in the middle of sentences and giving him this sly look out of the corner of his eye. That seems like something that James Bond would do just to be a dick.
So, yeah. Go and see Thunderball. It’s definitely a good Bond movie. Not the best Bond movie. But they can’t all be the best. I can’t write every Bond review and tell you that each one is the best Bond movie. That’s irresponsible. I have to at least give you some semblance of truth. And as always, keep on watching, with a smile on your face…
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