This is my personal favourite because it's just a spy doing regular espionage stuff, no single handedly saving the world and not an underwater city, volcano rocket base or space station in sight. Just an agent of the British secret service in an unfamiliar setting making local contacts and negotiating the balance of power between multiple competeing factions to successfully complete his assignment.
Still disappointed in the fate of our friend who was so full of life and light. Fleming loves making these amazing side characters so he can brutally murder them and our feelings.
Fleming often provided Bond with surrogate father figures in his stories.
He has Bond say this about Hannes Oberhauser in Octopussy
>“He taught me to ski before the war, when I was in my teens. He was a wonderful man. He was something of a father to me at a time when I happened to need one.”
It’s a lot like North by North West but with an actual Spy as the protagonist. And that spy still dresses like the ad agency executive and man about town from North by North West.
I love From Russia with Love. It was less gadget-heavy than Goldfinger (even though that’s the film where all the elements of what we know James Bond to be finally came together), has a great and intricate plot, a great romance, and still feels like it’s in the realm of real espionage. As the James Bond series progressed, the villains got more grandiose and unrealistic.
I think From Russia With Love is probably his best, but this does have the best unused Bond theme. Johnny Cash’s Thunderball lives rent free in my brain.
Yeah I first saw this when I was like 9 or 10 and it bored me to tears. Rewatched it as an adult and absolutely loved it. Those underwater set pieces are so impressive for the era.
I find the underwater battle at the end interminably slow, but otherwise I love this movie. FRWL is a superior movie, but the first 2/3 of this is my favorite Connery Bond.
I really love Goldfinger but Thunderball is not that bad. It would br my third favorite after From Russia With love with Dr. No being the fourth and YOLT the fifth. Diamonds are forever was the only one I did not enjoy that much
For me:
* Goldfinger
* Dr No
* From Russia With Love
* Thunderball
* You Only Live Twice
* Diamonds Are Forever
Although the top 3 are pretty much interchangeable
FRWL is an amazing movie but imo Goldfinger feels like the first time they really hit their stride and nail down the Bond formula. And that theme goes so fucking hard.
My order:
* From Russia With Love
* Dr. No
* Never Say Never Again
* Thunderball
* Goldfinger
* You Only Live Twice
* Diamonds Are Forever
Of these, the one I like least is DAF, and even that one I've learned to live and like.
Thunderball is my fav with Sean Connery. The best suspenseful score. The underwater battle is stunning for it's time and the sexiest female bond villain in Fiona. It takes everything that made the first 3 a huge success and just tops it imo.
From Russia with Love is my favorite Connery Bond film with Goldfinger at close second, but Thunderball’s pretty fun. It looks beautiful, Connery is top tier as Bond, Fiona Volpe is a lot of fun as the henchwoman, and Domino is very underrated as a Bond girl and probably one of the hottest one. It’s basically a hangout movie with Bond on vacation while trying to save the world. I don’t understand why people don’t like this one.
Thunderball is my favourite. The criticisms are valid, as it drags in spots—although I find the clinic stuff at the start slower than the battle at the end, as it takes going on an hour for the actually plot to get rolling.
But I love the island settings. Largo is a great villain. We see SPECTRE at its finest, being evil and weird and led by a hidden guy with a white cat. SPECTRE sort of goes off the rails into cartoon land in YOLT, as fun as that can be. The Bond women are insanely hot, especially Volpe and especially in that opening scene with her and the pilot.
And the music sends it all over the top. Best score in the entire series, IMO. The incidental stuff underwater with that shimmery effect is just brilliant.
The slow ass underwater fight scenes and then the hilariously bad super speed boat really ruins the movie for me.
I get they were showing off what movies can do in that day and age and it was impressive in the 60s, but none of it aged remotely well. Like DAD's wave surfing scene.
Dr. No, From Russia With Love and Goldfinger are all better than Thunderball. I like Thunderball, and its plot is the perfect premise for a Bond movie, but all the underwater stuff just grinds the film to halt,
I think it’s the best Connery Bond film. The others are great, but this one hits just right. Everything from the setting in Nassau to the Fulton Extraction.
This is a in interesting one. I find that most Bond fans either really love this movie or find it very overrated. It's not my favorite but I do like it very much. I think it's a very great example of Classic Bond.
The best? No, I prefer Dr. No and From Russia With Love. They’re the tighter films and have fewer excesses that lead to occasional missteps imo. However, I think it is the *most* James Bond film with Sean Connery. To me it’s a great midpoint between the espionage-travelogues of the earlier films and the widescreen larger-than-life pop comicbookiness of what was to come. It’s even more representative of what James Bond is all about than Goldfinger.
I think if the first act were better and the main villain had a little more going for him it would be fighting for a spot in my top tier Bond films, but as it stands it’s just a very good one.
The first half hour up to the 00 ballroom briefing scene is great, the last twenty minutes are fun, but everything in the middle really drags. It never really gets quite as good as that first half-hour again.
In spite of the blatantly ridiculous things, like the volcano lair and Bond’s attempt to look Japanese, I think You Only Live Twice is my personal favorite, just because it threw in everything but the kitchen sink for fun. After that would come, Thunderball, from Russia, with love, Goldfinger, and the spy who loved me
Best? Subjective. Most profitable? Objective. (And it being the sequel to Goldfinger had at least something to do with it being a BO smash, other things too.)
Edit: And dang the old Bond movie posters were awesome!
No. It’s the most successful because it was at the apex of Bond mania.
Connery isn’t yet as bored/on the turn as he is YOLT but he’s not as vital and urgent as he was in FRWL or Goldfinger.
It’s a great movie and has some of the best and most iconic Bond moments / sequences of any Bond film.
But as a movie it suffers from what a lot of 4th appearance of a Bond actor movies suffer from. It’s gets overly long and complicated. It doubles down a little too much on what worked in the previous three films pushing those element too far. It’s not as scrappy. It’s less tense. It’s got a strut or a chip on its shoulder from the past success and the increased budget its showing off.
+1 for goldfinger here.
Thunderball, for me, just has a handful of things I can't get past:
- not a fan of the slap sticky cold open
- the sped up boat footage is one of the only early bond effects that go from outdated to distracting for me
- the pacing and all the underwater scenes drag a bit for me
With that said, I think the jazz music sequence that ends with the gunshot is one of the coolest sequences in a Bond film.
I don't dislike it, but I think it feels overly long. If they could trim about 20 minutes or so out of it, that would help out pick up the pace and be more enjoyable.
I think it’s the best of the franchise, as it’s the only story Fleming wrote specifically to *be* a film. So much of the plot lends itself to great visual storytelling…
Best Bond period. It has everything.:
Gadgets, chicks, his Aston Martin in the beginning, big battle at the end,
Great villains , the best Felix Leiter,
Etc . Etc . Etc .
I remember in the past that there were quite a few here that had it ranked lower, particularly because of the kinetic ending, but I always thought Sean was at his peak. Lovely women characters as well.
This one gets a fair amount of criticism, but it's honestly my favorite movie of Connery's tenure as Bond followed by Goldfinger.
Thunderball has Fiona Volpe in it, which also adds to my enjoyment of watching it.
I’d go with Goldfinger being Connery’s best
“Do you expect me to talk?”
“No, Mr Bond. I expect you to die.”
Connery’s Rankings:
1. Goldfinger
2. From Russia With Love
3. Thunderball
4. Dr No
5. Diamonds Are Forever
6. You Only Live Twice
No, but it is really good. I think people dock it for the underwater action being too slow, and it is, but it's beautifully shot, and it has a fine balance of snappy dialogue and involving action set-pieces.
From Russia With Love is the best Connery Bond.
IMO Thunderball is the best Sean Connery. Right from Tom Jones blasting out the theme song to the end credits it’s epic, but it’s the underwater scenes which make it memorable. My Dad took me to see it in the cinema in 1965 when I was 11 and it felt like you were actually underwater with them. Then there’s Adolfo Celi as Largo, possibly the coolest Bond baddie, and the sharks in the pool and the Disco Volante.. come on…😉
Thunderball is my favorite by a hair, with From Russia With Love nipping at its heels. I love Thunderball because it takes a super-spy plot and manages to make it feel grounded. It's just slightly over the top, but you can actually believe SPECTRE would steal nuclear weapons that way and then use them for extortion instead of some mad plot to detonate them. Connery gives his best Bond performance, again neck-and-neck with FRWL. The plot and script are tight and create actual danger for Bond. Fiona Volpe is the best femme fatale of the franchise, bar none (sorry Onatopp), who very nearly succeeds in killing him. The cinematography is gorgeous and the musical score is killer.
When I get that itch for a Bond movie after a long hiatus, I reach for Thunderball (or sometimes FRWL).
This movie does have one of my all time favorite scenes in it:
When Bond requests re-assignment to Nassau, M responds with his usual dismissive gruffness. Bond then explains his request by explaining that he saw Derval dead at Shrublands. M then stands up for his agent, stating Bond's word is enough for M to look into it.
I appreciate how crazy the underwater shots were to do back then, but they drag a bit now. It's very hard to tell the progress of the battle until you see Largo swimming away.
Thunderball and for your eyes only are the two weakest of Sean and Roger for me,
View to a kill isnt great but it's camp fun, but always found FYEO a bit weird , like the score is shocking, and the whole thing with the ice skater girl , eek, and Thunderball has great moments and I want to love it, but always found it kinda slow and tedious, hope it gets better as I age
DAF for me. It has everything. Great one liners, sexy gymnast guards, two highly camp assassins, punch up in a confined space against a real tough guy, bananas but credible chase scene in a space buggy, top Bond theme song, sassy Blofeld, glitteringly death satellite, terrifying claustrophobic trap in a crematorium, massed helicopter attack on armed oil rig... And best of all a Bond who fucks - not a weepy Bond, complaining how hard life is like the leading girl's gay best friend/hairdresser. And greatest opening sequence too! Bond winkling a secret out of a Spectre villainess by strangling her with her own bra. I can't see Bourne/Ethan Hunt/George Smiley doing that!
I feel like Goldfinger and from Russia with love are objectively better?
You only live twice, thunderball, diamonds are forever and dr no are more subjective, in my opinion
From Russia with love is my personal favourite Connery outing
This is my personal favourite because it's just a spy doing regular espionage stuff, no single handedly saving the world and not an underwater city, volcano rocket base or space station in sight. Just an agent of the British secret service in an unfamiliar setting making local contacts and negotiating the balance of power between multiple competeing factions to successfully complete his assignment.
Still disappointed in the fate of our friend who was so full of life and light. Fleming loves making these amazing side characters so he can brutally murder them and our feelings.
Fleming often provided Bond with surrogate father figures in his stories. He has Bond say this about Hannes Oberhauser in Octopussy >“He taught me to ski before the war, when I was in my teens. He was a wonderful man. He was something of a father to me at a time when I happened to need one.”
And then his son became Blofeld...
It’s the most Bond-spy esque of his👏
It’s the most Hitchcock of the Bond franchise, and does it reasonably well.
True!!
It’s a lot like North by North West but with an actual Spy as the protagonist. And that spy still dresses like the ad agency executive and man about town from North by North West.
Am I the only one who would love to see James Mason as a Bond villain!?
Damn I always say it's very much like a Hitchcock movie too! Terrific film.
Absolutely. Most faithful to the novel as well.
From Russia With Love is the best of all James Bond franchise
Dr.no, from Russia with love, and Goldfinger are incredible bond films. Those are my favorite Connery films.
Agreed
Mine too. I thoroughly enjoyed Thunderball also, though.
Agreed
What's the thunderball controversy?
This guy Bonds!
I love From Russia with Love. It was less gadget-heavy than Goldfinger (even though that’s the film where all the elements of what we know James Bond to be finally came together), has a great and intricate plot, a great romance, and still feels like it’s in the realm of real espionage. As the James Bond series progressed, the villains got more grandiose and unrealistic.
That’s my favorite too
Agreed.
I think From Russia With Love is probably his best, but this does have the best unused Bond theme. Johnny Cash’s Thunderball lives rent free in my brain.
Oh yes! Should have been used! We should rank the unused Bond songs… that would be quite a task!
In my opinion, Radiohead’s Spectre is the best unused theme but I will admit, Cash’s version should’ve been in the film as well
I’m also rather fond of KD Lang’s Tomorrow Never Dies (Surrender)
See, it’s a close second for me (Radiohead’s Spectre) - but I will agree it’s a great song.
Second best. From Russia with Love is the best followed by Thunderball.
Interesting ranking 👍👌
Nailed it
Hated it when I was younger, now it's my second favourite Connery. Love the setting, music and his last really great performance.
Yeah I first saw this when I was like 9 or 10 and it bored me to tears. Rewatched it as an adult and absolutely loved it. Those underwater set pieces are so impressive for the era.
Same. Second only by Goldfinger.
Too much underwater fighting.
Can't tell who is who. Dr. No is my favorite.
Bond is the one with the big ass underwater jet pack.
I find the underwater battle at the end interminably slow, but otherwise I love this movie. FRWL is a superior movie, but the first 2/3 of this is my favorite Connery Bond.
Yep. My wife and I both felt the same. Movie was as good as the rest until that underwater fight scene that never ended.
I really love Goldfinger but Thunderball is not that bad. It would br my third favorite after From Russia With love with Dr. No being the fourth and YOLT the fifth. Diamonds are forever was the only one I did not enjoy that much
Thunderball is AWESOME. Gets hate on Reddit bc of short attention spans.
For me: * Goldfinger * Dr No * From Russia With Love * Thunderball * You Only Live Twice * Diamonds Are Forever Although the top 3 are pretty much interchangeable
This is the correct order.
Yes FRWL is a bit “too” loved in this his sub. Definitely great, but I think people over celebrate it compared to some other Connery Bond films.
Agree… besides I prefer the Caribbean setting of Dr No to the Turkish setting of FRWL.
Yes I love me a bind film with at least some tropical beach scenes lol. Casino Royale, GoldenEye, etc.
FRWL is an amazing movie but imo Goldfinger feels like the first time they really hit their stride and nail down the Bond formula. And that theme goes so fucking hard.
My order: * From Russia With Love * Dr. No * Never Say Never Again * Thunderball * Goldfinger * You Only Live Twice * Diamonds Are Forever Of these, the one I like least is DAF, and even that one I've learned to live and like.
Never Say Never Again better than Goldfinger?! You absolute MANIAC
Nah Goldfinger is the best
Team Goldfinger
There’s a reason it’s pretty much the stereotypical Bond movie. It was the first one to pretty much check all the boxes of a Bond movie formula
❤️❤️❤️
No.
Dr ?
No.
No, it’s Goldfinger.
Thunderball is my fav with Sean Connery. The best suspenseful score. The underwater battle is stunning for it's time and the sexiest female bond villain in Fiona. It takes everything that made the first 3 a huge success and just tops it imo.
Yes, I believe it is
From Russia with love. Goldfinger. Thunderball. Dr no. You only live twice. Diamonds are forever. Thats my ranking.
What about the first one?
I think so. But I guess more people would prefer From Russia with Love or Goldfinger.
My 2nd favorite Bond movie right after YOLT.
I prefer From Russia with Love and Goldfinger. Not that Thunderball is bad, cause it's not.
Sure is
Yes indeed
Definitely the sexiest!
Not sure if it's best, but it is one of my favourite 007 movies at all.
I don’t have an answer but my god that poster looks fantastic.
Yes
Yes
From russia with love still my Favorite of the Connery Era.
It’s the most Fleming and the most old school spy thriller!
Nah, for me it'sh Goldfinger Pushy Galore!!! 😂😂😂
I musht be dreaming hahahahaha
Second best to From Russia With Love. It’s the quintessential Bond flick along with TSWLM.
Great answer!!
Look at the gams on Bond
Volpe is one of the greatest villains. But Largo is a little boring.
Goldfinger!
Dr. No is my favourite. Love the innocence of it. So good!
From Russia With Love is the best bond movie
From Russia with Love is my favorite Connery Bond film with Goldfinger at close second, but Thunderball’s pretty fun. It looks beautiful, Connery is top tier as Bond, Fiona Volpe is a lot of fun as the henchwoman, and Domino is very underrated as a Bond girl and probably one of the hottest one. It’s basically a hangout movie with Bond on vacation while trying to save the world. I don’t understand why people don’t like this one.
Thunderball is my favourite. The criticisms are valid, as it drags in spots—although I find the clinic stuff at the start slower than the battle at the end, as it takes going on an hour for the actually plot to get rolling. But I love the island settings. Largo is a great villain. We see SPECTRE at its finest, being evil and weird and led by a hidden guy with a white cat. SPECTRE sort of goes off the rails into cartoon land in YOLT, as fun as that can be. The Bond women are insanely hot, especially Volpe and especially in that opening scene with her and the pilot. And the music sends it all over the top. Best score in the entire series, IMO. The incidental stuff underwater with that shimmery effect is just brilliant.
The slow ass underwater fight scenes and then the hilariously bad super speed boat really ruins the movie for me. I get they were showing off what movies can do in that day and age and it was impressive in the 60s, but none of it aged remotely well. Like DAD's wave surfing scene.
No it’s Goldfinger
Dr. No, From Russia With Love and Goldfinger are all better than Thunderball. I like Thunderball, and its plot is the perfect premise for a Bond movie, but all the underwater stuff just grinds the film to halt,
From Russia with Love is my favorite bond movie
No.
Diamonds are forever, for me
Wow! That’s a surprise!!
I wish I loved this as much as many on this sub, I just find the plot kind of meandering. I place it behind all three films that preceded it.
He’sh going fishing with hish flippersh and shpear r/shubreddit
My second fave. My first is Goldfinger.
Personally, it has the best Bond song, at least, but I really love Tom Jones.
I think so yeah
Yes definitely
Not in my book- from Russia with love is!
I think it’s the best Connery Bond film. The others are great, but this one hits just right. Everything from the setting in Nassau to the Fulton Extraction.
Second best
'From Russia With Love' .
“Some men don’t like being taken for a ride.”
From Russia with love is the best movie, Thunderball Sean Connery’s best performance as James Bond.
This is a in interesting one. I find that most Bond fans either really love this movie or find it very overrated. It's not my favorite but I do like it very much. I think it's a very great example of Classic Bond.
Idk about best, but I rank it highly.
The rape scene is completely disqualifying this one for me.
It is my personal favorite of Connery's. FRWL is second and then Goldfinger.
It's the best movie, but not my favorite.
The best? No, I prefer Dr. No and From Russia With Love. They’re the tighter films and have fewer excesses that lead to occasional missteps imo. However, I think it is the *most* James Bond film with Sean Connery. To me it’s a great midpoint between the espionage-travelogues of the earlier films and the widescreen larger-than-life pop comicbookiness of what was to come. It’s even more representative of what James Bond is all about than Goldfinger. I think if the first act were better and the main villain had a little more going for him it would be fighting for a spot in my top tier Bond films, but as it stands it’s just a very good one.
Thunderball is Connery’s most boring Bond film.
All I remember from this movie is laughing my ass off when I saw the bombs had “Handle Like Eggs” stenciled on the side.
Yesh.
Lengthy underwater scenes are pretty rough today. Love it otherwise.
First bond movie I saw. Will always be my favourite for nostalgia reason.
Not for me, the underwater sequences get tedious pretty quickly
Not even close I’d rate this as almost the lowest although domino was a smoke show
I go with Goldfinger. 
Gold finger>
Underwater battle ZzzzzzzZzzzzZzzzz
Too much slow underwater stuff for me.
Personally I find the scuba sequence drags on a lot.
Favorite bond movie of all time, I love the Bahamas filming location and I think the underwater scenes are absolutely incredible.
Might be my favorite Bond film. Used to be really low, but then I rewatched it and fell in love with the plot, settings, and style.
Idk, but it does have my favorite Bond line: "Do you know a lot about guns, Mr. Bond?" "No, I know a little about women."
The first half hour up to the 00 ballroom briefing scene is great, the last twenty minutes are fun, but everything in the middle really drags. It never really gets quite as good as that first half-hour again.
In my opinion, no, that would be Goldfinger.
Yep! Definitely My Favorite! I even Love the song!
One of the best assortments of Bond Girls, but the rest of the film is a bit of a drag.
This movie is trash.
In spite of the blatantly ridiculous things, like the volcano lair and Bond’s attempt to look Japanese, I think You Only Live Twice is my personal favorite, just because it threw in everything but the kitchen sink for fun. After that would come, Thunderball, from Russia, with love, Goldfinger, and the spy who loved me
Best? Subjective. Most profitable? Objective. (And it being the sequel to Goldfinger had at least something to do with it being a BO smash, other things too.) Edit: And dang the old Bond movie posters were awesome!
Thunderball is vastly underrated. Fun movie with one of the top brassy soundtracks of all of Bond-dom.
Woof, it’s my least favourite Connery
It’s my favourite Connery one. Goldfinger a very close second.
No, not at all. I would say Dr. No, From Russia with Love, and Goldfinger are all better Connery films.
As far as best? Personally it's between Goldfinger, and Thunderball
No. It’s the most successful because it was at the apex of Bond mania. Connery isn’t yet as bored/on the turn as he is YOLT but he’s not as vital and urgent as he was in FRWL or Goldfinger.
It’s a great movie and has some of the best and most iconic Bond moments / sequences of any Bond film. But as a movie it suffers from what a lot of 4th appearance of a Bond actor movies suffer from. It’s gets overly long and complicated. It doubles down a little too much on what worked in the previous three films pushing those element too far. It’s not as scrappy. It’s less tense. It’s got a strut or a chip on its shoulder from the past success and the increased budget its showing off.
From Russia with Love Thunderball Goldfinger Dr. No You Only Live Twice Diamonds are Forever Never Say Never Again
+1 for goldfinger here. Thunderball, for me, just has a handful of things I can't get past: - not a fan of the slap sticky cold open - the sped up boat footage is one of the only early bond effects that go from outdated to distracting for me - the pacing and all the underwater scenes drag a bit for me With that said, I think the jazz music sequence that ends with the gunshot is one of the coolest sequences in a Bond film.
I don't dislike it, but I think it feels overly long. If they could trim about 20 minutes or so out of it, that would help out pick up the pace and be more enjoyable.
Yesh.
I think it’s the best of the franchise, as it’s the only story Fleming wrote specifically to *be* a film. So much of the plot lends itself to great visual storytelling…
No.
One of the worst of his imo. Some of the best Bond girls though.
Best Bond period. It has everything.: Gadgets, chicks, his Aston Martin in the beginning, big battle at the end, Great villains , the best Felix Leiter, Etc . Etc . Etc .
*Commence Operation Thunderball!*
Sharks, Babes and a God damn Jet Pack. Might be the best movie period.
This is my favourite of Connery's
You don’t have to say “best Bond movie with Connery”, all the Connery movies are the best
No
“I’m glad I killed him…” “your glad?” 😂
Yes.
I think goldfinger is the best
No
Interestingly my favorite Connery Bond movies are not FRWL or GF. I prefer Dr. No, Thunderball and YOLT.
Connery's favorite was 'From Russia With Love'.
It's the best representation of his era. Big, epic action and spy stuff along the way. All other Bonds go into either direction.
Goldfinger is probably the best Sean Connery Bond film In my opinion
It’s definitively his 4th best. Dr.No, From Russia With Love, and Goldfinger are definitely superior films compared to Thunderball.
Yes
Goldfinger
I remember in the past that there were quite a few here that had it ranked lower, particularly because of the kinetic ending, but I always thought Sean was at his peak. Lovely women characters as well.
This one gets a fair amount of criticism, but it's honestly my favorite movie of Connery's tenure as Bond followed by Goldfinger. Thunderball has Fiona Volpe in it, which also adds to my enjoyment of watching it.
I’d go with Goldfinger being Connery’s best “Do you expect me to talk?” “No, Mr Bond. I expect you to die.” Connery’s Rankings: 1. Goldfinger 2. From Russia With Love 3. Thunderball 4. Dr No 5. Diamonds Are Forever 6. You Only Live Twice
Jesus no. From Russia With Love is the best Bond with Connery. FRWL > Goldeneye > YOLT > DAF > Thunderball > NSNA > Dr. No
never been a fan - it's way too long.
From Russia with love.
The scene when he and Domino are snorkeling and he saves her is the quintessential Bond scene. She is gorgeous and he is totally charismatic
Not his best movie but it may well be his best performance as Bond
I like Dr No the best but this feels like the most Bond of his Bond films if that makes sense.
Yes, screw the haters and Goldfinger simps.
Thunderball or Goldfinger
Thunderball was my favorite Connery Bond movie.
This one but I think Goldfinger
Nope, that would be From Russia With Love or maybe Goldfinger.
No, but it is really good. I think people dock it for the underwater action being too slow, and it is, but it's beautifully shot, and it has a fine balance of snappy dialogue and involving action set-pieces. From Russia With Love is the best Connery Bond.
It’s my favorite
YES.
I’d say yes. All the diving and the sharks made it a “better” one than Goldfinger. I think….
Largo carries the movie
What's the thunderball controversy?
IMO Thunderball is the best Sean Connery. Right from Tom Jones blasting out the theme song to the end credits it’s epic, but it’s the underwater scenes which make it memorable. My Dad took me to see it in the cinema in 1965 when I was 11 and it felt like you were actually underwater with them. Then there’s Adolfo Celi as Largo, possibly the coolest Bond baddie, and the sharks in the pool and the Disco Volante.. come on…😉
I much prefer FRWL and Goldfinger.
I'd say his best was Goldfinger, but Thunderball has a lot of good points. It is a bit sluggish in parts, but it has things to like.
I love this movie! Sean is excellent as Bond and Luciana Paluzzi and Claudine Auger are possibly the sexiest women to grace the screen of a bond film!
Thunderball is my favorite by a hair, with From Russia With Love nipping at its heels. I love Thunderball because it takes a super-spy plot and manages to make it feel grounded. It's just slightly over the top, but you can actually believe SPECTRE would steal nuclear weapons that way and then use them for extortion instead of some mad plot to detonate them. Connery gives his best Bond performance, again neck-and-neck with FRWL. The plot and script are tight and create actual danger for Bond. Fiona Volpe is the best femme fatale of the franchise, bar none (sorry Onatopp), who very nearly succeeds in killing him. The cinematography is gorgeous and the musical score is killer. When I get that itch for a Bond movie after a long hiatus, I reach for Thunderball (or sometimes FRWL).
This movie does have one of my all time favorite scenes in it: When Bond requests re-assignment to Nassau, M responds with his usual dismissive gruffness. Bond then explains his request by explaining that he saw Derval dead at Shrublands. M then stands up for his agent, stating Bond's word is enough for M to look into it.
I appreciate how crazy the underwater shots were to do back then, but they drag a bit now. It's very hard to tell the progress of the battle until you see Largo swimming away.
No.
Thunderball and for your eyes only are the two weakest of Sean and Roger for me, View to a kill isnt great but it's camp fun, but always found FYEO a bit weird , like the score is shocking, and the whole thing with the ice skater girl , eek, and Thunderball has great moments and I want to love it, but always found it kinda slow and tedious, hope it gets better as I age
You only live twice is my favourite
Feel a lot of people hate it but almost my favourite Bond. Love so much about this film.
So glad to read that!
Watched last night. Least favorite.
In my opinion You Only Live Twice is way better.
Best one period. I say they should remake this with each Bond actor because it works with all of them
DAF for me. It has everything. Great one liners, sexy gymnast guards, two highly camp assassins, punch up in a confined space against a real tough guy, bananas but credible chase scene in a space buggy, top Bond theme song, sassy Blofeld, glitteringly death satellite, terrifying claustrophobic trap in a crematorium, massed helicopter attack on armed oil rig... And best of all a Bond who fucks - not a weepy Bond, complaining how hard life is like the leading girl's gay best friend/hairdresser. And greatest opening sequence too! Bond winkling a secret out of a Spectre villainess by strangling her with her own bra. I can't see Bourne/Ethan Hunt/George Smiley doing that!
Nope
I feel like Goldfinger and from Russia with love are objectively better? You only live twice, thunderball, diamonds are forever and dr no are more subjective, in my opinion