Bond Series - Part 2

Thunderball (1965)

Thunderball is another great Bond film, but it’s not quite as good as the two immediately preceding it. It’s a little over-the-top with its gadgets, including a jetpack, but it still has solid action and a compelling story.

SPECTRE is at it again, murdering people and stealing atomic bombs. Bond goes to the Bahamas after a great scene in a massage parlor of all places. There he meets the beautiful Domino Derval, SPECTRE agent Emilio Largo’s mistress. There’s some action, some shark attacks, etc.

The climax of the film is absolutely ridiculous but undeniably entertaining. It’s an underwater war with harpoons being shot through people.

Bond rating: 8/10

Bond girl (Domino Derval) rating: 7/10

Bond villain (Emilio Largo) rating: 8/10

Plot rating: 8/10

Action rating: 10/10

Song (“Thunderball” by Tom Jones) rating: 3/10

Overall rating: 7/10

You Only Live Twice (1967)

You Only Live Twice is a fairly large step-down for the franchise, though I wouldn’t call it bad. There are some excellent elements in the film that I love, but there are also some goofy moments.

As the title hints, James Bond fakes his own death, and then heads to Tokyo to investigate a missing spacecraft that the British believe was stolen by the Japanese. This is the first film in which we see Ernst Stavro Blofeld, and the look of him is great. Played by Donald Pleasence, he’s a bald and scar-faced man in a gray suit. He makes for the primary antagonist and an awfully good one.

What is completely random here is when Bond goes to a martial arts training facility. It seems so out of place in the series. It’s almost like you don’t really feel like you’re watching a James Bond movie with all these ridiculous things going on. To cap it off, the martial artists all attack Blofeld’s fortress (which looks great, by the way) at the end of the film with Bond. There is some decent action, but it all feels pretty fake.

Bond rating: 7/10

Bond girls (Aki and Kissy Suzuki) ratings: 5/10

Bond villain (Blofeld) rating: 10/10

Plot rating: 6/10

Action rating: 6/10

Song (“You Only Live Twice” by Nancy Sinatra): 6/10

Overall rating: 6/10