If less is sometimes more, then the reverse must also be true, and this sums up the major problem with "Thunderball." The movie starts out well, and the first half-hour or so is probably as good as "Goldfinger" in terms of storytelling and building interest. But the movie’s many underwater scenes - which at times slow the plot to a crawl - prove to be a big liability.
That’s a shame, because there are a lot of things the movie does right. Take the spectacular locations in and around Jamaica. This movie has me craving a trip to the Caribbean every time I see it, and the excellent cinematography almost makes you feel like you’re there, thanks to the quality of remastering quality of the DVD.
The movie also gives us the first of the big-scale plots in which nothing less than the fate of the world is at risk. SPECTRE gets hold of two nuclear bombs and proceeds to hold the world to ransom. Bond, of course, must save the day.
All this is fairly involving, and Sean Connery again manages to bring a playful quality to the role, when he’s not kicking some SPECTRE butt. I particularly enjoyed the sequence at the health clinic early in the movie, and the way Bond manages to get some tender loving care from an attractive nurse after an attempt on his life fails. And for sheer viciousness, the fight in the pre-credits sequence is hard to beat.
Unfortunately, that energy is what’s missing from the rest of the movie. Considering that the fate of the world is at stake, there is a strange lack of suspense. The movie seems to dawdle, in fact, as Bond searches for the bombs while pursuing a romance with Domino, who is the villain’s mistress. The movie should be ticking away like a wound-up clock, but instead takes its time sloshing through countless underwater scenes, in which everyone is wearing scuba gear and it is difficult to tell who is on which side. The flick won an Academy award for its underwater fights since it was too good for those days.
The villain, Emilio Largo, is SPECTRE’s #2 agent. As played by Adolfo Celi(whose voice was dubbed), Largo looks somewhat menacing, with his eyepatch, but is certainly not in the Goldfinger league. He lacks charm, and he and his men seem more like a band of petty thugs than sophisticated criminals out to threaten the world. The standout on the enemy front is Fiona Volpe, a gorgeous SPECTRE agent who is as deadly as she is beautiful. Here is a genuinely interesting character, but unfortunately she is not given that much to do.
Claudine Auger, as Domino, is rather low-key, and seems to spend most of the movie in jeopardy. She’s not one of the more memorable Bond beauties. In fact, I found Paula, Bond’s Secret Service liaison in Jamaica, more attractive and interesting.
On the other hand, Rik Van Nutter is one of the better Felix Leiters, and it’s a shame he didn’t continue in the role.
The gadgets are also beginning to take center stage with this film, and this is unfortunate, because "Thunderball" would have been much more compelling had it focused on Bond racing against time to stop SPECTRE’s fiendish plot. As it stands, the movie is somewhat less than the sum of its parts. A little less gadgetry and underwater action, and a little more suspense could have made all the difference. And not to be missed is the Title Track.